It is now easier than ever to make money creating your own music or audio tracks. It still requires time and effort but if done successfully it can be a great source of passive income.
Traditionally if you wanted to be a musician it would involve a long, difficult process of finding a producer who would put your creative work out into the world. That wasn’t even the hard part. If you made it that far you were then up against the top musicians in the world. The way people got hold of your music would be to go to a shop and purchase a CD or somehow get it played on a radio. As with so many industries, the rise of the internet changed all that.
Now if you want to become a musician you can do it from your own home. You need nothing more than a microphone, some musical instruments and recording software. You could get started with nothing more than a smart phone. Then upload it to a social media site such as YouTube or TikTok. If you are good, people will share your stuff and you can build a following. It doesn’t just have to be music in the traditional sense. You can create music from your PC using a piece of software.
If becoming a musician on social media isn’t appealing, you don’t have to put yourself in front of the camera. You can create a sound track or song and get paid a license fee or receive royalties every time someone uses your audio. There are many people who create jingles, relaxation sounds, parody or audio tracks. See below for stock music sites which will license your audio tracks for you.
Extra Cash
If you have talent in a musical field then you could also charge to teach or create an online course. If you have no talent, you could teach yourself a musical instrument from scratch through lessons or an online course and document your progress on social media.
Top Tip
Making money through music or audio tracks is best suited to those with an interest or natural ability in music. It allows you to turn your passion into your profession. Maybe you already have all the equipment required to record songs or audio tracks. There are many examples of people who make fortunes simply creating jingles for radios or TV commercials and then sit back and receive the royalties whenever it is used in a production piece.
Recommended reading
Making Music Make Money by Eric Beall
Sites to use
PremiumBeat – Create stock music With Mixdown Music ran by Shutterstock
Soundcloud – Create with a large community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music.
StockMusic – Get your music into films, videos, television, and more.
Audiosocket – Get a non-exclusive, contractual deal where you retain 100% ownership.