Making money on your music in 2021
2020 has been a ride. Musicians, venues, and the industry on the whole have faced the need to change the way the operate and find new streams of income from music and shows that allow for social distancing and comply with quarantine measures.
Times have been tough and the indefinite nature of the pandemic didn’t make things easier. In the UK, hundreds of musicians have been reported considering quitting the industry altogether.
Others have turned online to try and monetize their music on digital platforms, through online music streaming, sales, and concerts. Merch and vinyl/CD releases have also played a role, albeit a smaller one due to challenges in distributing goods during some of the lockdowns early in the year.
All in all, selling music and online show tickets online have been the winning strategies for 2020. Fan subscriptions and tipping also played a role. What will the 2021 hold?
All things going the way they are, it’s likely that vaccine distribution and pandemic fight are going to last well into the next year. This means that contactless means for earning money off music will remain in high demand both among the fans and musicians.
Some venues have come up with rapid testing systems to allow for in-person shows for large crowds. Case in point — recent Primavera Sound festival event in Barcelona with 1,042 people in attendance at a 1,600 capacity venue. While it’s unclear how scalable are such events, the concept is very optimistic for all live music fans and music pros.
That said, online concerts have proven to be a concept that has legs of its own — people can comfortably tune in, choose the type of ticket they want, connect with the artist during the livestream, and interact in a way that felt artificial in the times before the coronavirus pandemic but seems pretty entertaining now.
Fan subscriptions are also a great way to get fan support in the form of small tip-like contributions as opposed to just following on social media. One of the ways to utilize this tool is Show4me Artistclub where fans can subscribe to the artist — a band or a musician — either for free, or at $1/year with a premium subscription that opens up unlimited music listening to the artist plus DMing capabilities.
What’s unique about Show4me Artistclub fan subscription functionality is that a fan can choose to contribute more than $1/year, just by typing in the number manually and thus contributing a larger amount to the artist.
Read more about music sales, music licensing, and a few more ways to make money off your music in 2021 in our full blog post here.
