Pond5 Review: How I made $300 in one hour

That title isn’t an exaggeration.

I used the 1-Hour Rule to make a song for Pond5.

And it has made me more than $300 so far.

This Pond5 review will show you how I did that so you can do the same.

How Pond5 Works

Pond5 is a royalty-free library of content, full of music, sound effects, images, and videos. 

So when someone licenses your song via Pond5, they’re not required to report the use of the song to royalty-collecting companies, like Publishing Rights Organizations (PROs).

They simply pay a flat fee upfront and that’s it. 

In contrast, if your song is synced through a standard licensing company, the company reports that usage to your PRO and you’ll get paid royalties.

Like when my song was placed on NBC via Crucial Music, I got paid an upfront sync fee. 

But I’ll also get royalties because a song played on TV is considered a public performance. 

So with Pond5, you get paid a licensing fee. And that’s all. 

You can set your own price, and then Pond5 takes a portion based on the type of license. 

Here’s how it works:

1. You upload your track to Pond5
2. Assign moods, instruments, your price, and other info
3. Submit it for review
4. An independent Pond5 reviewer will approve/deny the song

I’ll talk more about the submission process in a bit. 

But first, let me share how I create music for Pond5…

The 1-Hour Rule: How To Make More Money in Less Time

In order to save time and maximize my profits on Pond5, I follow the 1-Hour Rule.

The 1-Hour Rule is where I give myself no more than an hour to create a track for Pond5, front-to-back. 

I sit down at my computer to make a song. And when I stand up an hour later, I will have produced a song from scratch, given it a quick mix, and submitted it. 

Because here’s the thing…

My Pond5 payouts have ranged between $5-50 (varies greatly depending on the price you set and the type of license). That’s not that much. 

However…

If I’m only spending an hour on each song for Pond5, then 2-3 licenses of that song would make it worth my time. 

This is exactly how I made $300 for one hour of work. 

I created a song using the 1-Hour Rule and, so far, it’s made me more than $300 in revenue…

And as you can see, the second song on this list has made me nearly $170. This is a song I made in high school with a bunch of GarageBand loops (yes, it’s legal — more on that below).

And the third song on this list has made $60, which is another 1-Hour Rule song.

To put this in context, as of this writing, I have 36 songs on Pond5. 

Many of those are songs I made over a decade ago. Many are songs from one of my side projects called The Forgotten Brother.

And several of them are 1-Hour Rule songs that have made nothing. 

But with Pond5, having a large quantity of decent tracks is the name of the game. The top artists have hundreds or thousands of tracks in the library. 

And let me be very clear about something…

I really enjoy making these 1-Hour Rule tracks.

If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be doing it.

But this method gives me a chance to play around in different genres. 

I get to test out new plugins. 

I’m improving my production skills. 

And this process is teaching me to be more decisive because I only have an hour.

Don’t follow my advice in this post if you don’t enjoy this process. 

Tips on Making Music for Pond5

The next step in this Pond5 review is to share some tips on how I make music for this library.

And how you can too.

Use loops and samples (legally!)

When I make a song with the 1-Hour Rule, I often base the entire song on a loop or sample. 

This saves time because it gives me a place to start. It’s also a really fun way to start a song. 

So I’ll grab a sample that I can build a song on top of. 

It’s usually a piano, guitar, or a synth. Something I can easily repeat for 1-3 minutes and add other parts to. 

Here’s where you can find free, LEGAL samples and loops:

• Citizen DJ (verified legal samples from the Library of Congress)
• Freesound.org
• SampleSwap
• GarageBand loops (Mac users only – I’ve verified it’s legal)

So just grab a loop, drop it in your DAW, and start building a track.

Follow what’s trending

On Pond5’s homepage, you can see what type of music is trending.

Presumably, this shows you the types of music buyers are searching for and licensing. 

And because this library is all about getting found via searches, it’s smart to make what’s trending. 

Like, as of this writing, meditation songs are hot. 

So I’ve been making calming, ambient tracks. 

Just to be clear, I don’t recommend making a style of music that’s trending if you don’t enjoy it. 

I’ve already made ambient music, so I knew meditation songs would be fun. 

Making music is all about the enjoyment. 

Focus on moods

When a podcaster or YouTuber needs some music, they’re going to say, “I want something that feels like X.”

That’s why it’s a good idea to focus on moods. 

When you go to Music → Collections on Pond5’s site, you’ll see “Moods” as one of the categories. 

So instead of making certain genres of music, you can focus on the mood of a track. 

How can you produce a song that makes you feel energetic or inspired or sentimental?

Emulate the top performers

Go to a mood, genre, or another category. 

Then listen to the top track and use that as inspiration for yours. 

Obviously, don’t just copy it. But use it as your reference track. 

This is the song that most people who need that kind of music are buying. 

It shows you what licensors want so you can make that kind of music. 

Again, only if you enjoy it.

Organize your music into Collections

Once you’ve got some tracks on Pond5, you can organize them into Collections. 

Because I use Pond5 as an outlet for making all different types of music, I put them in my different Collections. 

So I have hip-hop songs, ambient songs, meditation tracks, and others. You can even sort the songs into genres and/or moods. 

Why do this?

Well, when someone clicks on your track to learn more about it and/or license it, Pond5 shows them related tracks as well as your Collections.

For example…

If they need an upbeat rock track but the one you made doesn’t quite fit, they can check out your other rock songs in your “Rock Songs” collection.

Plus, it’s just a nice way to stay organized.

The Submission Process

To start submitting music to Pond5, go here and hit “Start Selling.” It’s totally free.

Once you’ve created your profile, you’re ready to submit your first song.

Go to Uploads → Upload New File. 

After you upload your song, it will take several minutes (or sometimes hours) to finish processing. 

Once it’s processed, hit “Edit” and you’ll be able to set your own price and enter all the info about the track.

You’ll choose the moods of the song, what instruments are in it, and any other relevant keywords.

This is an important step.

This is how people find your music. 

So figure out what type of music a podcaster or YouTuber needs. 

How? Just be listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos. 

Then envision what they would search in order to find that music. 

And that’s how you find your keywords.

Pond5 also gives you a big list of suggested moods.

Choose as many as you want, as long as they’re actually descriptive and accurate. 

Once you’ve filled everything out, hit “Save and submit for review.”

This will send it to a Pond5 independent reviewer. 

Being a stock music library, they’re not too picky with submissions.

So if they reject your song, there’s probably something really wrong with the engineering, production, or mix.

Pond5 Pros and Cons

Now let me highlight the good and not-so-good of Pond5…

Pros:

• Free to join and upload songs
• Set your own price
• Can make multiple genres of music (it’s fun!)

Cons:

• Low payouts (but remember the 1-Hour Rule)
• Because of the size of the library, it can be difficult to get found by potential licensors

Final Thoughts

With Pond5, the people licensing my songs are independent creators with smaller budgets.

Podcasters, YouTubers, rookie filmmakers.

So it makes sense to spend only an hour per Pond5 song.

So each license is worth my time. And I can easily make a track that’s licensable in an hour.

If you spend any more than an hour on a song for Pond5, it’s probably not going to be financially worth it.

Anyway…

My main points in this Pond5 review are:

• Use the 1-Hour Rule to maximize your profits
• Start a song with a (legal) sample or loop to save time and spark inspiration
• Make songs in multiple different genres so you have a better chance of getting licenses (and for the fun of it)
• Pay attention to what’s trending, popular moods, and what the top artists are doing

And most of all, make music for Pond5 only if you enjoy it. 

If this approach doesn’t appeal to you, I don’t recommend it for you.

But if it does, I say you should start today. Like right now.

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Caleb J. Murphy is a songwriter/producer and the founder of Musician With A Day Job, a site that helps part-time musicians succeed. He also sends a weekly email called 5 Things To Help You Keep Going.

This post originally appeared here.

Pond5 Review: How I made $300 in one hour