Alternative Income Streams for Musicians

Alternative Income Streams for Musicians: Untapped Potential

As a musician, it’s difficult to find balance between work and art. Whether you work a day job and do music as a hobby or dedicate your life to music, hoping to cash in. Unfortunately, unless you’re a major artist or a somebody with a large following – it may feel like a pipe dream to make money off your talents. With that said, there may be some alternative income streams for musicians that you may or may not have thought of. Let’s go over a few ideas to get you started.

Creative Services

Offering creative services to other musicians or companies in need of music related needs can be a great way to cash in on your skills. Perhaps over time you have gotten really good at mixing your own music. Offering an engineering service to other musicians can be a great way to generate some dough. A lot of musicians lack the confidence, skill, or technicalities involved with recording, mixing, and mastering. Granted, it is a bit more popular these days to be able to record and mix your own music. However, it is still a highly sought-after service.

Producing or writing music can be another great service to offer. Song writing, composition, and lyricism can be extremely valuable. Finding the right artist for your service might not come as easy to you though. Think outside of the box, perhaps writing jingles or creating theme music might be in the cards for you. Creating and selling samples and loops is another one of the great alternative income streams for musicians. Recording atmosphere and re-creating sounds can be sold as well. This type of service is popular in post-production for film.

Creative Gigs

If your skill sets include singing, playing an instrument, or DJ – you may find that working as a studio musician works for you. Not always in demand though so it would be wise to network with local musicians and studios and make them aware of what you can bring to the table.

Performing can be a great gig as well. I don’t necessarily mean in concert. What I’m referencing is providing music for weddings, parties, or local businesses looking to attract a crowd. These types of creative gigs are excellent alternative income streams for musicians. Performing pays fairly well and it exposes you to a new audience.

If you’re familiar with performing and the equipment involved, being a stage hand may be another creative gig that can interest you. Whether it is carrying equipment, setting up, or monitoring – these are jobs that need to be done for most performances.

Finally, music education. You would be surprised to know how many people want to learn how to sing or play an instrument. Teaching others these valuable skills you’ve acquired can be a great source of alternative income.