The days of solely relying on music sales and touring to bring in the big bucks are long gone. Don’t wait until January 1 to start planning your year. Here are 8 ways your music can make you more money in 2021 right here. Let’s dive in…

8 Ways Musicians Can Make More Money in 2021

Streaming

Having your music on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc. is a no brainer. Luckily, we’ve got a bunch of articles to guide you through getting your music on these platforms and how to optimize their performance.

• Where Does The Money from Master Recordings Come From?
• How to Get More Spotify Streams
• How to Claim your Label/Artist Pages

Publishing Royalties

Royalty collection is a complex business. The two most common music publishing royalty types are performance royalties and mechanical royalties. With our Symphonic Publishing Administration, these would be the two main types of royalties we’ll collect for you.

Even though we do all the complex administrative work for you, it’s vital to understand how they work and how you can best leverage them to maximize your earnings. Not sure if you’re already earning these? // This post breaks it down for you.

Want to learn more?

• Types of Publishing Deals and How They Work
• Typical Music Rights And Royalties For Creative Licensing

Live Streaming

Since the beginning of quarantine, live streaming has taken over the music scene. All the while, artists have become more creative and tech savvy than ever. Don’t get left behind! With in-person shows at bay, live streaming is the next best thing.

If you’re looking to get sustainable results by monetize your streams, you’ll need to get creative.

Here are some ideas to help you out:

• Host a Live Q&A // Promote an upcoming release by turning on a live stream and hanging out with your fans for 30 minutes. All you gotta do is hop online and start a conversation. Hosting a Q&A not only gives your fans a chance to get personal with you, it also gives you valuable feedback on what your fans want to see in the future or even which songs they want on the next album! — You get free, instant data AND the revenue from ticket sales & tips.
• Plan a Series of Live Streams // Erykah Badu stepped it up and created “Quarantine Concert Series: The Apocalypse” from her home in Dallas. The series is made up of three separate streams, all unique and full of life. For price, she charged $1 for the first, $2 for the second and $3 for the third. — Streaming is not limited to sitting down in a single room and turning on a laptop camera. Get creative!
• Stream Behind-The-Scenes // Give your fans a backstage experience they can’t get anywhere else. Show your creative process, you making beats, ask and answer questions, maybe even take some song requests and jam out with your fans. Keep it engaging, down to earth, and personal. Making this connection will foster more dedicated fans who will support you in the long run

This article, “Creative Ways To Monetize your Live Streams”,  breaks it down even further.

YouTube

YouTube is another platform that continues to garner major success for independent artists. The easiest way to earn money on YouTube is with Content ID, a digital fingerprinting system that content creators (like record labels and artists) can use to easily identify and manage their copyrighted content on YouTube.

• If you’re a Symphonic client, you would upload your music to us and we’d go ahead and upload it to YouTube’s Content ID system. When that happens, any song that is uploaded is compared against audio and video files that have been uploaded by many users all over the world.
• If a match is found, we will monetize the video that has been matched and claimed, thus bringing you more royalties and ensuring that your works aren’t being illegally shared and monetized by others.

Video Games

The most engaging video games have great soundtracks to go with them. There’s a reason players get so immersed in their virtual worlds, and the music is a major part of that. — Consider putting out an instrumental version of one of your best tracks just for gaming playlists.

Merch 

Merch has always been a key source of revenue for independent musicians. Although live shows aren’t what they used to be, live streams are a great opportunity to keep your merch sales going strong. // Check out, “How To Sell More Merchandise During Your Live Streams” to learn how.

Sharpen up your merch game with these helpful resources:

• The Best Places To Order Custom Merch Online
• How to Sell Merch on Amazon
• Instagram + Merchbar Integration

Sync Licensing

Any time your song is featured in a TV show, movie, commercial, or any visual media, that’s called a “sync placement”. In addition to performance royalties you earn for airing on TV, sync placements also pay an upfront “licensing fee”, which is determined based on the song’s market value as well as the various details of how the music was used in the production. // “How To Optimize Your Songwriting For Sync” can help increase your chances of landing placements.

Micro-Sync

Just as an artist would be paid licensing fees and royalties for a placement in a TV show or film, they would also be owed “micro-sync” fees and royalties for smaller features.

Some examples of the types of common micro sync placements include:

• User generated content, i.e. YouTube
• Social media posts
• Internal company videos
• Video presentations at events and conferences
• Professional wedding videos
• Podcasts

In Conclusion…

2020 has been hard for all of us. With this crazy year finally coming to an end, its time to look towards the future with hopeful eyes. Whatever the New Years brings, move forward with optimism! If you made it through a global pandemic, you can make it through anything.

Following hashtags remains a highly underutilized function on Instagram, and it’s one that can be highly beneficial—and it’s so easy! You can follow a hashtag and the photo-focused social platform will include pictures and visuals that have been posted with it into your main feed, as it would new uploads from your friends, family, and coworkers.

This helps you because sometimes there will be content you don’t want to miss coming from people you don’t know, and thus, don’t follow. As someone looking to connect with strangers who share a common interest—in this case, your art—this is a tool you need to be using.

Here are half a dozen hashtags you should be following on Instagram:

Your Band Name

I’ve placed this first because it should be the most obvious.

Following your band name is the first hashtag you must follow, since it’s likely the one your fans are going to be using the most. Whether they’re sharing a picture of the group, a video they captured at a recent show, or even just the art for your latest single or album, chances are they’re going to utilize this hashtag before all others….and if that’s what they’re doing, it should be what you do as well.

Also, unlike many other items on this list, your band name isn’t going to change (or, it shouldn’t), whereas songs, tours, and albums are all just eras in what should be a lengthy and illustrious career.

Your Own Name

This list item won’t apply to everyone, but it’s worth mentioning here just in case. If you write, record, and perform music under your actual name, this won’t be any different, but when it comes to groups, individual names are important to follow as well.

You need to make sure you have followed your own name as a hashtag on Instagram, as it may end up being used, and these are images and videos you’ll want to catch. Casual fans and those who don’t even know your music but who end up at a concert or hearing you somewhere may tag you or use your band’s name as a hashtag from time to time, but only super fans and close friends and family will choose to use your real name.

While you’re following your own name as a hashtag, you may want to tell your bandmates to do the same thing, or perhaps you should just follow all of them as hashtags as well.

Your Tour Name

If you’re heading out on tour, keep in mind that every show you play is a fantastic opportunity to catch videos and photos taken by fans in the audience, and one of the best ways to see what they’re posting and make sure you can tell when it’s from is to ask them to use a hashtag that is specific to your current tour.

You can use the name of the tour or something similar, but as long as you’re advertising it well—either by saying it out loud while on stage or having signs that ask fans to use it whenever they share content to Instagram—you should be able to get what you want.

Your Song Name

Do you have a new song coming soon? Have you been teasing the music video? Has the audio just arrived on streaming platforms?

You should immediately begin following your new single’s name as a hashtag from the moment you make it public. People who follow you and enjoy your music may be sharing the news with friends, and you should thank them for doing so. Maybe they’re posting covers, in which case you should comment and say something nice about their work.

You have the power to make your single even bigger if you put forth a bit of effort on the social media front, and the best way to start is simply by following the name of your new tune and interacting with those who choose to share something related to it.

Your Album Name

An album isn’t just a piece of music, it’s an era of your musical career, and fans may be sharing content related to it for weeks, months, or potentially even years. If that’s the case, Throughout that time, you may choose to follow many different hashtags (including some I mentioned above), but since fans like to identify with phases of your musical progression, do what they’re doing and make sure you’re following the title of all your albums.

Your Fan Base’s Name

If you’re just getting started, there’s a good chance your fan base doesn’t have a name yet…in fact, there’s a good chance you don’t even have what on would call a fan base. That’s okay! If that’s the case, you need not concern yourself with this just yet, though it’s never too early to begin branding and sharing this name.

Lizzy Jane has the right idea with her popular hashtag, #LVRGNG. Her fans look at the hashtag from time to time to keep up with any new announcements she may have, share their own #LVRGNG content, and to spread love within a huge community of supporters. Coin a name that sounds right with your musical moniker and get your fans to use it. Then, make sure to follow it to stay on top of what they’re sharing.

Instagram introduced it’s ‘stories’ feature a couple years ago, and everyone has been obsessed ever since. With this feature, you are no longer confined to a single post. You can post a set of as many photos or videos as you want in a slideshow-like format that disappears at the end of the day. This opens up a whole new world of ideas for promotion and the ability to gain more organic insight from your followers in a cool, new way.

Over 250 million people use Instagram stories every day. What’re you waiting for?

Here’s some ideas to help you increase fan engagement through the use of Instagram Stories.

Go Live.

Anything can happen on a live feed, and everyone loves feeling like a part of something that feels exclusive and genuinely authentic. Your audience can comment and interact with you in real time. They can send emojis and ask you questions in the comment section. Fans of yours will love being able to personally interact with you and feel more connected to you and your music.

Use a compelling call to action by adding a Swipe Up link to your story.

Link your music, promote ticket sales or include a link to your merch.

Ex. Check out my newest release on Spotify… Swipe Up.

Give your followers a behind the scenes look at your new projects.

Any time you’ve got things in the works, keep your fans intrigued by sharing pics, boomerangs, or videos of the cool things you do.

Tease an upcoming announcement.

Countdown the days to an event launch or album release. Keep your fans on their toes.

Let someone else take the wheel.

Find artists or influencers to collab with on a live story or let someone else manage your posts for the day to cross over into a whole new territory. This method combines your audience and theirs for the ultimate marketing tactic to connect with more viewers and gain new fans.

Be Different.  Make your story stand out with cool stickers and unique visuals.

Instagram Stories lets you customize your posts with emojis, music, and special effects. You can even use your own branded typography by using an app like Canva. Using your own branded text will increase and establish some universal brand recognition. Viewers will appreciate your brand’s unique, personal flair.

Share user generated content.

Releasing a new song or album? Have your fans tag you and your music in their stories or posts, and re-share these on your own story. You can even promote being featured on your page as a way to get your fans even more excited to be involved.

Post a poll to your story.

Posting a poll for your viewers to interact with is a cool way to get more involvement easily and effectively. Ask your audience anything and watch as the votes roll in.

Creating a poll is simple: After recording your story, open up the ‘stickers menu’ and tap the ‘Poll’ sticker. Then, just add your question and customize your answer choices. Your followers will be able to vote and see how the results fluctuate in real time.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that your band is on Facebook. They’re probably on Twitter and Instagram as well. That’s because, gigging aside, social media is pretty much the number one way in which bands promote themselves these days. Ask anyone with even a modicum of music industry knowledge and they’ll tell you: if you want to make it, make sure you’re using social media.

The problem with this advice is that, while pretty much everyone is using social media, very few people are using it well. I’m frequently dismayed by the number of awesome bands who come across terribly online. Often, these bands use social media so badly that they end up sabotaging their own attempts at self-promotion, damaging their brand in the process.

I understand that you didn’t become a musician because you wanted to be a master of social media. But you need social media skills if you want to make your band successful. With this in mind, here are my five top tips for making the most out of your social media account. Put these into effect, and you can maximize your online presence, boosting your band’s fan base in the process.

Keep It Relevant

Your band’s Facebook or Twitter page is not your personal account. This should go without saying, but the amount of bands I see using their social media page in this way is baffling. If I’m following your band, I’m doing so because I’m interested in your music. I don’t care what you had for breakfast or what you thought of last night’s episode of Better Call Saul, so don’t tell me!

Even worse than bands who post irrelevant content are bands who post irrelevant content that is offensive to their audience. Think carefully about the kind of people that follow your band before you post. If there is the chance that a proportion of that demographic might find your post offensive then don’t post it, even if you find it hilarious or relevant to your band. Doing so is a sure fire way to lose fans and tarnish your reputation.

The occasional off-topic post is fine. Strategically posted, they give your followers a better sense of your band’s personality. But you’ve got to keep things relevant to your band and your music, otherwise your followers are going to get bored very quickly. Which brings me to my second point…

Always Have Something to Promote

If you want to keep your social media followers interested, you need something for them to be interested in. That means regularly generating new content that you can promote via your social media accounts. I should clarify that, by content, I’m not necessarily referring to music videos or new studio recordings. Those things are expensive to produce, and are prestige products that your band should only be putting out intermittently. Your more day-to-day content includes things like gig photographs, live clips, rehearsal clips and video updates- they’re basically media tidbits to keep your fans engaged and to show that your band is an active unit.

There is a caveat to this. Whatever you end up posting needs to be quality. Unfortunately there are plenty of bands out there who are prolific promoters of rubbish content. Clogging your social media stream with crappy smartphone videos and blurry, out-of-focus photographs doesn’t do you any favors. In fact, it makes you look like a bunch of amateurs. Invest in a halfway decent setup to produce your AV content; buying an HD camcorder and a portable audio recorder is a good place to start. Alternately, make friends with people who can do it for you. Student photographers and filmmakers are great people to make friends with when you’re in a band. You might have to spend a bit of money, but the impact on your social media presence will be noticeable.

Engage With Your Followers

The people who follow you on social media are doing so because they want to connect with you. So you need to connect with them! Gone are the days of rock star mystique and massive egos; you need to be approachable and interactive. That means if someone sends you a message saying they enjoyed a gig, then get back to them as soon as possible and thank them for coming. If someone likes your band’s Facebook page or starts following you on Twitter, take the time to send out a personalized message thanking them and follow them back. These are small gestures, but they mean a lot to people. If your fans know that you appreciate them, then they will keep coming to your shows, keep buying your merch, and will promote you to their friends. Your social media followers are also your customers. Treat them right.

Big Up Other Bands

For some reason, there are many bands out there who view their contemporaries as competitors. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition, but seeing other bands as your enemies is stupid and detrimental to your local scene. If you discover a local band who you like, then let your followers know about them. The more bands are doing well locally, the healthier your scene is. This means better gigs opportunities for you. Be nice. It will pay off in dividends.

Conversely, if you find yourself in a situation where another local band has disrespected you, your social media account is not the place to rant about it! The same logic applies to promoters, venue owners or anyone else who you might encounter on the local scene. Regardless of whether you are in the right, taking to social media to talk smack about another act makes your band look childish and amateurish.

Learn How to Write

There are plenty of bands out there who are great at observing the first four points, but still have a terrible social media presence. The reason? Their written communication is awful. Check out how your most successful favorite bands behave on their official Facebook and Twitter pages. You’ll notice a distinct lack of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in their posts. Clarity of communication is tremendously important on social media. If your followers have to spend time trying to decipher what your posts are trying to say, then they will stop reading them. Brush up on your grammar and proof-read everything that you write, you’ll engage with more people and make your band look professional.