How to make a living with music if you want music to be your life's work

Hi guys! I've wanted to write a post about this for a long time. I'm just structuring my thoughts from my experience and maybe in this post a young musician will find answers to his questions.

I've been doing ONLY music for over five years. I quit a job I didn't like and started doing what I love. Yes, I'm not a superstar, but all these years music feeds me. This is my water and my bread. This is my life. I play guitar (mostly jazz), write my tracks, and play on the street and in establishments.

In this post, I will talk about different areas where you can realize yourself as a musician and earn money from it.

1) Street Music

The easiest thing to do is just go on the street. By the way, this is what I do too.

If you are a vocalist, then the guitar and your voice will be enough for you to start. This way you can earn the first money and invest it in amplifiers, a microphone and other necessary equipment.

If you are an instrumentalist, then you will definitely need a battery amplifier. An acoustic instrument simply won't be heard over city noise. You can play both solo pieces and pieces with a backing track. You can find backing tracks on YouTube. For example, on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7AFRFZxIDfET05mNFCc2zQ

If you don't know which amp to buy, I recommend boss cube street. It's not as expensive as Roland, but it sounds decent. You can connect a microphone and a guitar. It also has a built-in looper. The approximate cost is 300 euros.

I understand that for a beginner musician this amount can be expensive. You can also watch something from portable speakers. But this is only for the first time because their quality is terrible.

If you play a wind instrument (or brass), accordion, or violin, these instruments often do not require amplification in the street. It will be enough only bluetooth speakers for the backing track.

Street music has both pluses and minuses. You depend on the weather, people can call the police on you and even attack you, but mostly you will meet kind and grateful people. The main thing is to respect everyone and to be a good person yourself.

2) Writing scores and arrangements

Move on. Live performances are not for everyone. Some people just want to sit at home and create. If you can pick by ear and are good at harmonies, you can write sheet music and sell it. Yes, people buy it!

The most common product is light notes of famous songs for piano. Or guitar tabs.

There are many places for sale. You can sell sheet music on youtube. Leave a link in the description that will lead to your site. There are also special sites for selling sheet music.

For example:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/
https://www.musicnotes.com/

You can also make money on the YouTube affiliate program by posting videos of these notes. And you can also pick up solos of famous people by ear and do transcriptions. As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities!

3) Selling your own music

Audio Stocks:

Audiostocking is the oldest earning activity for composers. These are sites where people buy music for movies, commercials, video presentations, and more. The competition in audio stocks is very high and today it is very difficult to break through. But you can try! I know people who make huge money on it!

Sites:
https://audiojungle.net/
https://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty-free/stock-audio

Selling stock or author music throught YouTube:

If audio stocks are not for you, then do not give up! There is another option to sell your music through YouTube. You can not stick to stock templates and create as you wish, and sell music through YouTube links! You can open your own online music store here: https://bandcamp.com/

I myself sell music through this site. Only I write backing tracks for musicians. This is a separate niche that I like. Finding your niche is important! You can also sell your samples, loops, and sounds that you have created yourself!

Selling rap beats:

This is a separate niche with a lot of competition, big money and big opportunities! Most sales are made through YouTube. Usually guys sell beats through a link in the description that leads to this site: https://www.beatstars.com/

4) DJing

Another way to make money from music is to become a DJ. You don't have to be able to play any musical instrument or write your own music. You can play other people's music and make money from it! I know people who do this and they are quite successful.

If you want to go down this path, then the first thing I would advise you is to go to DJ courses. This will save you a lot of time and money. The masters of this business will advise you on the equipment you will need to get started and will even be able to offer second-hand equipment at competitive prices. Where to play music? As one DJ said to me: I just come to the club and ask: what does it take to play in your club? That is, in this industry you need to be brave and assertive and everything will work out!

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I hope this article was useful for you. If you know any other ways to make money on music, I will be glad if you share your experience in the comments. Subscribe to my page. Sometimes I will write about making money on music from my experience and share insights. A little later, I will talk in more detail about the street game. See you!

Believe in yourself and don't listen to people who say you can't make money from music. You will succeed!