Tips for Artists to Make Money From Side Gigs

As a full-time musician, making a living from recording, gigging, and touring is the ultimate goal. Regardless of your talent, you may find that the income is unpredictable, leaving you to deal with financial challenges such as paying bills.

However, many side jobs are flexible enough to accommodate your musical needs. You’ll find jobs that utilize your musical talents integrated with education and training. Such gigs allow you to build your value to clients.

Many options relate to music, performance, and entertainment. Art Dealer Street presents some of these options below.

Selling Beats Online

Selling beats online allows you to earn extra income as a musician. It involves making instrumental hip-hop tracks and selling them to upcoming rappers. The songs you make should be simple, with only a hook and a verse.

There are online sites that allow you to post and sell beats. Begin by enrolling on one of these marketing platforms. The platform is responsible for all processes like generating contracts, providing customer service, and processing credit cards. This allows you to concentrate on creating and selling the beats.

A major advantage of using these websites is that it takes away the hustle of looking for clients. They already have clients, and you'll not need to build your website or market yourself. Some of the best sites to use are Airbit, BeatStars, Rocbattle, and SoundClick.

Once you have established your beat selling business, you can think about getting your website and dealing with clients directly.

Selling Sample Packs and Patches

Selling instrument patches, midi patterns, and sample packs is a great way to utilize your studio skills. If you have already created some amazing sounds for yourself, sell them to make some extra income.

Ensure you use materials from an original source as opposed to using copyrighted samples to start. The sample packs you make should align with your capabilities. For instance, you can make genre-specific drum samples and patterns. If you’re skilled in playing real instruments, you can record yourself as well.

To market your creations, use your website or YouTube channel. Have a unique, captivating theme and matching artwork to draw attention.

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Promoting Events

There are many events and concerts held throughout the year that need marketing. As a musician, this is a great opportunity you can take advantage of. Start by reaching out to the event managers and offering your services. Introduce them to some of your pieces and convince them to use the pieces to promote the event.

If you already have a growing fan base, you can easily land such a gig. The owners of events can utilize the fan base to build hype around their events. Your fans will think about attending the event because you are also related to it. Since it took time and effort to make your fan base, take this chance to earn some income from it.

Another way to earn is by promoting your events. The more people you get to attend your event, the more money you'll earn. Additionally, you'll be in a good position to network with industry personnel and build your brand.

Conclusion

The side gig you select should be flexible and earn you enough revenue for you to have spare time to pursue your career. If you implement some of these ideas well, you will be on your way to prosperity.

As your side gig gets established, it's time to think about turning it into a small business. While running the business on your own, it can get overwhelming as you expand. Therefore, take it a step at a time. One of your first actions should be to get an Employer Identification Number. This lends legitimacy to your small business, as well as separates your personal and business assets for added protection. Later on, you’ll find that it’s easier to hire employees, get funding, and gain contracts, as well.

There’s no dearth of ways you can thrive financially and career-wise as a musician. But make sure to always find ways to continue learning and growing in skill and, by extension, in the industry.