October 25, 2021 I’m an introvert. I have to be excited about doing something in order to leave my house. So work-at-home music jobs are a godsend.
I sit on my butt, make music, and earn a consistent income doing it.
This post will introduce you to six ways to make money from music without leaving home, all of which I’ve done before.
March 4, 2021 When your band is growing and seemingly on the cusp of a major breakout, it’s easy to forget about financial necessities. After all, record deals and sold out venues seem to be just around the corner. It’s important to remember, however, that you will still have to spend more money before the major profits come through. Touring, buying better equipment, and recording music all involve some serious expenses. With that in mind, you should be thinking about how to raise some funds while your band is in the process of taking off. Here are four ways to make some money for your growing band.
July 10, 2020 April 17, 2020 They say go all-in.
They say quit your job and don’t give yourself a safety net, or else you won’t succeed in music.
But is that actually true? Should musicians have a backup plan?
Let’s talk about this idea of backup plans, diversifying your music career, and creating long-term goals.
April 1, 2020 To say these are trying times would be an understatement. While we won’t go over all of the ins and outs of the Coronavirus outbreak since it’s on the news every day, we do want to focus on how it’s impacting musicians and artists, and what you can do, financially, to get through this rough patch. Obviously, musicians aren’t touring or playing their most popular gigs right now to avoid gathering large groups together.
Advice, Coronavirus, Finance tagged coronavirus, earning money, job, work March 5, 2020 As with any business, life as a working musician can involve some pretty monotonous and repetitive tasks, which quite frankly we could all do without.
At Bands For Hire agency we’ve built our internal systems to reduce the boring everyday administrative chores and spend more time on what really matters. For you, that means more time writing music, rehearsing and marketing your original music - for us it means more time with clients and doing the things we love such as creating content, listening to new acts and well… developing helpful little tools.
February 24, 2020 As a musician, your career probably demands that you move around frequently, especially if you’re still getting established. But how sustainable are each of those moves that you make? Every move consumes fuel, packing materials, and more, and moving isn’t the most sustainable, eco-friendly activity to begin with.
Advice, DIY, Finance tagged living, moving, sustainability, sustainable January 9, 2020 Creating a great body of work is the first step towards a successful career in the music business, but getting the songs heard by countless people across the world should be the next move. It can be challenging to get your first album distributed and into the homes, cars, and playlist of music listeners, but it is not impossible. Below are some of the ways that you can handle the distribution cost for your first album, putting you even closer to a great music career.
Advice, Digital Distribution, Finance tagged Album Release, Distribution, cost, finance, money December 20, 2019 December 11, 2019 As a musician, you’re used to fending for yourself. Whether you’re picking up a side gig to pay the bills, researching the latest Gibson to see if it’ll improve your sound, or figuring out the logistics for your next tour, you know how to get things done. With that said, though, even the most responsible musically-inclined entrepreneur can overlook things from time to time.
Advice, Finance tagged Artist Advice, financial advice, musicians June 3, 2019 Guest post by Gideon Waxman. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper
Being an independent touring musician might seem like a dream job for many. But the truth is that it’s not quite as glamorous as it’s made out to be, and the early stages of touring for an artist or band can be tough and grueling.
The fees aren’t great, and if you’re lucky to sell out of merchandise while on the road, that might just be your biggest source of income for the tour. In order to maximize your earnings you will need to minimize your spending. As the old English proverb says: “look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.” Instilling good spending habits will allow a band to continue to grow while being financially sustainable.
April 24, 2019 Hitting the road and taking your band on tour is exciting. Whether this is your first tour and you’re still getting your feet wet or you’re veterans of the road, it’s important to make sure you stick to a budget so you can get to your designated performance locations with ease (and have a little fun along the way).
Playing music professionally is actually more of an investment than people tend to think. Until you reach “rockstar status” or you have a record label paying for your travel expenses, most of the money spent on a tour will come out of your own pocket.
April 12, 2019 Guest post from Soundfly’s Flypaper. This article originally appeared on the Royalty Exchange Blog
Most of us songwriters have no idea that there’s a special tax loophole created just for us. For some artists, this change cuts our taxes right in half.
In 2006, Congress lowered the tax rate for songwriters who sell a part of their catalogs. It did this by reclassifying income from the sale of a catalog as “capital gains” instead of “ordinary income.”
Don’t worry, we’re not going to go full tax accountant on you. Here’s the simple explanation of what this means.
April 1, 2019 Guest post by Willa B.
Recently, my band, Storm the Palace, did a weekend tour in England, in the London area. The whole thing offered some good general takeaways for getting the most out of a short space of time when you don’t have much money, being your own PR machine, and utilising the differences inherent to every venue.
