**Guest post written by Nick Voorhees, founder of Melody Nest.

 

"It’s absurd to think that the “starving musician” stereotype proves to be true more often than not. Producing, composing, and engineering songs to a professional standard is inherently valuable because thought-provoking sound is necessary to the human experience, but many musicians find themselves broke regardless. It’s usually not due to a lack of talent or drive, but because musicians tend to be un-blissfully ignorant of the abundance of digital opportunities available within their electronic reaches.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

A question music artists should ask themselves is this: "Would I feel as burnt out if I was generating real money to write music?" To many people in this world, money equals validation, and validation can prove invaluable to a creator with a nascent career in the music industry. There are plenty of online resources that can help musicians increase their incomes, and many of those options are increasing in popularity. However, despite their rising status, most of these platforms are still relatively unknown, so to help, here are 5 opportunities to start utilizing today:

+5 Internet Side Hustles That Are Perfect for Musicians Who Need Extra Cash

Epidemic Sound

A booming marketplace valued at around $1B, Swedish company Epidemic Sound enables video producers to browse songs to license for a monthly subscription fee. Buyers range from influencers on YouTube to corporate video streaming goliaths like Netflix.

Sellers have to apply for their music to be accepted, so Epidemic Sound is geared towards the seasoned musician. But music creators itching to break into the entertainment industry may find that Epidemic Sound is a must-use strategy. Not only can music licensing be highly lucrative, but it's a great way to get your foot in the metaphorical “industry” door.

Melody Nest

Launched in May 2019, Melody Nest has made a sizable impact in less than two years. They have already started generating thousands of dollars for artists per month, and Melody Nest is rumored to be raising venture capital funds in 2021.

Melody Nest works with studio singers, audio engineers, instrumentalists, music producers, graphic designers, and other creative professionals that want to find paid jobs. Artists can set up their shop with a portfolio of work and creative-services to sell to other musicians, DJs, and entertainment businesses. Jobs range from cover art to mixing and mastering.

+How to build a team of experts to support your DIY music career

Beatstars

Beatstars is the biggest online marketplace for selling "beats." Many vocalists, rappers, hip-hop artists, and more need finished songs on top of which they can sing or rap, and to do that quickly and efficiently, they turn to Beatstars.

Most music producers have myriad finished songs gathering digital dust in their hard drive. Using Beatstars, these once-forgotten products can be uploaded and licensed out to music creators for a set price.

EDM Ghost Producer

It’s widely understood that even Shakespeare had ghost-writers, so it would be naive to think that most popular artists don’t use them too. EDM Ghost Producer created a successful business by enabling artists to sell the rights of a song to another artist. Unlike Beatstars, where singers purchase a finished track and record vocals on top in more of a collaborative sense, ghost producing entails selling music to another person to say that they made it themselves.

Ghostwriting and producing may not be for everyone. However, for musicians that can get past the idea that someone else will get credit for their work, there is a lot of money to be made.

+Get Other People To Do The Dirty Work For You!

Fiverr

Now a household name, Fiverr is easily the leading freelancing platform on the internet, with a market cap valued at around $5.5 billion.

Fiverr made a name for themselves by establishing their services for around $5 (hence the name Fiverr), but that low price has increased over the years for most jobs, as freelancers no longer want to be devalued. Fiverr still hosts many musicians that sell jobs at criminally low prices, but there are a decent amount of talented sellers generating revenue that match some full-time jobs.

Conclusion

Music is everywhere and that isn't an accident. Businesses from one-person teams to thousand-employee empires need musicians and their specialized skill sets. It may not always seem this way but if artists knew from the start about all the options that are available today, we could break this cycle for good."

 

 

Related Blog Posts:

+The Top Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Music Career

+4 Free Tools to Keep Your Band Organized and on the Ball

+The Benefits of Collaborating With Other Artists in the Songwriting Process