Are you in search of methods to make more cash out of your music? On this weblog, we’ll offer you 10 important locations to begin.
A few of these steps are faster fixes — like accumulating royalties you’ve already generated. Others take extra time, like constructing a repeatable advertising technique. However collectively, they’ll add as much as a extra sustainable music profession.
1. Accumulate all of your royalties
Earlier than you discover new earnings streams, be sure to’re getting paid for income you’re already producing.
CD Child pays you recording royalties from streaming routinely. However there are different royalties you could be lacking — like mechanical and digital efficiency royalties you possibly can gather by way of CDB Enhance or micro-sync royalties by way of CD Child’s Social Video Monetization.
You must also register with a Efficiency Rights Group (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC) to gather efficiency royalties.
Should you’re not arrange throughout all of those, you’re leaving cash on the desk.
2. Create a advertising technique
A music advertising technique will help you maximize income from upcoming alternatives. In terms of selling new music, asserting reveals, or dropping new merch – doc what ways work nicely and formalize them into methods. Robust advertising methods make it easier to construct momentum and maintain income.
3. Promote your catalog
Your music catalog is one among your most useful belongings. In truth, 2025 information from Luminate reveals that catalog tracks (songs older than 18 months) account for a whopping 75.8% of U.S. streams. Proceed selling your catalog by taking part in dwell reveals, playlisting your music, selling music on social media, and remarketing older songs with a brand new music video or alternate model.
4. Enhance your streams
In case your streams are slowing down or solely spiking round new releases, you want a stronger streaming platform technique. Discover ways to strategically attain your first 1,000 streams to find essential insights about your followers and advertising gaps and strengths, then channel these insights into your street to five,000 streams.
5. Fanclubs and subscriptions
Begin a fan membership or subscription-based program (like Patreon) to present your high followers entry to unique content material, merch, and extra. You don’t have to begin monetizing a fan membership instantly – particularly in the event you’re an rising artist. Develop your group organically, then give followers extra monetized methods to assist you.
6. Play dwell
Dwell performances are a quick and easy method to earn extra income. Diversify your dwell reveals by taking part in a mixture of ticket-share and guaranteed-pay concert events. Discover ways to ebook reveals right here.
7. Promote merch
From t-shirts to stickers and key chains, artist merch is extra widespread than ever. Add your artist title to your merch for the extra good thing about free publicity. Discover ways to create and promote merch right here.
8. Promote bodily releases
Newest information from the IFPI International Music Report reveals development in bodily launch gross sales outpaced digital for under the second time on document. You may print vinyl and CDs by way of our companions at Disc Makers.
9. Organize collaborations
Attain new audiences, develop your catalog, and even earn up-front income by collaborating with different artists. Learn our information to business networking to study how one can construct connections and organize fruitful collaborations.
10. Educate your craft
Educating is a standard income stream for musicians and one of the best half is you don’t want to show full-time. Taking over a pupil or two part-time can pad your income (and make it easier to keep your chops).
Distribute your music with CD Child
Prepared to begin incomes extra out of your music? All of it begins with getting heard.
CD Child gives inexpensive pay-per-release distribution to over 150 streaming platforms world wide. Since our begin in 1998, we’ve paid out over $1 billion in royalties to impartial artists similar to you.
Create a CD Child account as we speak to arrange on your subsequent launch. We’ll be there to assist you out of your submission to your launch day and past.
