Streaming revenue Publishing royalties CD sales. These revenue sources have been discussed a lot. Today we will be focusing on passive income, a less-known source for music revenue.
What is passive income?
Any revenue that is generated after work has been completed is called passive income. Your work has been completed, and your product is now ready to be used.
Music is an example of passive income. It’s generated after you have released a song or uploaded a video. You could also consider passive income the revenue mentioned earlier.
It could also be a sign that you are earning tangential income by sharing your music and video content via affiliate links. It could also mean that you earn repeat subscription income before you ever create anything else!
These passive income sources will be covered below. First…
How can passive music income be of benefit to me?
Passive income is for and. This money comes in after the hard work of making music. This can be months, years or even decades. It’s impossible to predict who might be interested in something that you have completed long ago.
It’s great to have a lot of passive income. Even if your revenue isn’t huge, it’s still a lot of money that you can use for music promotion.
What are passive income sources available to musicians?
Passive income from music falls under several categories:
- Affiliate programs
This is the largest source of passive income and the most difficult to find for indie artists. What is an affiliate program?
Affiliate programs, also known as affiliate marketing/affiliate models, are advertising types that scale based on performance. An affiliate program is an online retailer such as Amazon that pays a small commission for sales and referrals. You post a link to a product/service. You earn a percentage of any purchase made by someone who clicks on the link.
Many content creators dream of becoming affiliate marketers to make money. Ever notice how a YouTube creator mentions in a video that viewers can purchase the product through links? This is affiliate marketing!
How can musicians use affiliate marketing? It’s pretty much the same thing as everyone else but tailored to your particular music career.
These are just a few affiliate programs that musicians should be aware of.
How to make passive income with the Amazon Associates Program
This is an important one because Amazon is the biggest online retailer in the entire world. It also has the easiest affiliate program.
Amazon Associates Program allows you to use link-building tools to direct your audience towards products you recommend or use. These links allow you to earn commission on sales.
Do you have a favorite VST or guitar? You might also be interested in the DAW (audio interface) you use for home recording. You can recommend them to Amazon Associates Program members and earn money every time someone purchases those products via your links.
Amazon’s affiliate program has a lot of power for musicians. You can earn a commission from a referral to your songs on Amazon Music.
Bounty is a method to do this. These are fixed commissions that you earn when your customers sign up for a trial or subscription to Amazon Music*. This is how you can share your music and earn money!
Two ways to earn Bounties from Amazon Music
1. Music Deeplinks: These allow music lovers to choose their Amazon Music songs and create an image they can upload to their website. A fan will be given a trial of Amazon Music for free if they hit “play”. You can earn a bounty if they sign up.
You can create a Music Deeplink by selecting a track, an album, station or playlist from Amazon Music. Click on the circle-shaped icon and select “Share Playlist.”
Click “Copy Link” and then add your StoreID to the back of the Deeplink that you just created.
2. 2.) Embed Widgets – These enable you to embed your track or album in any content you post. You earn a bounty for accepting a listener’s offer to try Amazon Music free of charge.
Click on the circle icon and then click on three dots to create a widget. Next, select “Share Playlist” and copy the link. Then click on “Embed”. Your Store ID should be added at the end of the embedded URL.
How to make passive income with Apple Music
Apple Music Premier Partner Program is based on a bounty system similar to Amazon Music’s deal. You earn a commission when you refer someone who converts to Apple Music for the first month.
These referrals can be made through Apple Music links that you can create via their Apple Music Toolbox. These links can then be placed on your online profiles. To generate subscriptions to Apple Music or iTunes to earn a commission for download sales, you can link to Apple Music.
Even more fun is to place a QR code that fans can scan. Instead of clicking a link, the QR code will direct them to Apple Music. For a sweet kickback, simply add your affiliate code!
Are you active on Twitter? A 30-second preview track can be embedded into a tweet with your affiliate code. This will allow you to earn commission on any subscriptions that result from your clicks.
How to make passive income with Deezer’s affiliate programme
Deezer’s Affiliate Program (Dealers) allows you to earn money by referring people to the service via specially tagged links.
This offer is only for subscriptions to Deezer’s HiFi service that streams in lossless FLAC.
Deezer adds sweetness to the deal by giving affiliates a Deezer HiFi account for free.
Revenue from fan subscriptions
Subscription-based income can be generated directly by people who follow your art and contribute in a reliable, regular manner. Subscription services are a steady source of income for content creators.
It’s like a monthly or paid membership to your music career!
Because the fans pay their favorite artists directly, these models can foster a stronger relationship between content creators and their audience. It’s like walking up to your favorite musician and handing him a few dollars. But fans also get cool content.
These subscription services are available to musicians:
- Patreon The most popular subscription service for content creators, Patreon offers a wide range of flexible options for musicians. Your subscribers can access exclusive content such as music videos, lessons in instrument use, and demos of new tunes for a monthly fee. Patreon takes a 5- to the 12-per cent commission on monthly income earned by creators. They charge 2.9% plus $0.30 for donations above $3, and 5% plus $0.10 on donations below $3.
- Bandzoogle Can you use Bandzoogle for your website hosting? You can even create a subscription service on your website! Bandzoogle offers a subscription option that allows fans to pay a commission for their access to your content. For different levels of access, you can also create subscription tiers.
- Set it up yourself: Musicians who are motivated enough can build their own subscription/membership model. Although it may take some time to link a payment system to your website and your email/SMS management systems, the result is that you get all the money and can build it your way.
Monetization
Monetization can be defined as many things in the music business. This is revenue that’s generated by the use of your music in media such as:
YouTube Content ID Did someone use your song in a YouTube Video? YouTube will place an advertisement on the video when that happens. You earn revenue every time someone clicks on your ad.
Sync licensing Similar to Content ID, sync licensing works by song placement in media projects. Sync licensing can be used for any media type: TV, movies, games, or anything else that uses music.
CD Baby’s sync licensing program places your songs into a database that music supervisors across the entertainment industry can access. They can contact our sync team to discuss using your song in their project. This could lead to a large payday!
You don’t have to do anything other than wait for your upfront payment. Music supervisors also love our catalog because it is easy to use. Music supervisors love CD Baby because they only have to go through one party to find the right song.
Online courses
This is an income source that musicians often overlook. You can teach an online class if you are an expert in your field. You can also create your curriculum and market it.
Do you consider yourself a great guitarist? Perhaps you have been creating your music for years or booking shows. Now you want to share your expertise with other indie musicians. Online courses can be created and paid for by anyone who enrols.
Do you have some knowledge that you would like to share? These online schools offer the opportunity to become a teacher:
- Skillshare
- Udemy
- Teachable
We’re sure there are many other passive income options for musicians. We’d love your suggestions!