Business Resources

Make sure when you book a show, you've got merchandise to sell to your supporters. Regardless if you're in a coffee shop, at an open mic or you're selling out the Toyota Center...you should be able to bring merchandise with you to every show you do. THIS is one of the most helpful ways to make a living in this game.

Friendly Advice: don't give your merch away to people. Lots of your "friends" might expect you to give them merch so they can "support" you, but nobody is actually supporting you if they're causing you to lose money. That is not support, it's a handout. It also devalues your merch. Know your worth and move accordingly.

This is a big one right up there with merchandise. When you book your own shows, you should get a high percentage of ticket sales (80% is pretty typical) or a performance fee for your time/services.

Now the price that you charge for a performance fee is 100% up to you...nobody else can really put a price on it.

Now: you won't always get ticket sales or a performance fee from every show you do. Some shows are free for the audience to attend, some shows you're opening for a bigger artist and the opportunity is bigger than just the money. 

BUT when you book your own shows, make sure you're getting a good percentage of the ticket sales or a performance fee unless there's something else in it for you that goes beyond money.

This one is like a little secret.

PROs (Performance Rights Organizations) pay royalties to you for any public performance of your music. If you want to know more about that, you can dive into it on google or book a meeting with Eduardo to ask away with all your questions.

BUT the gist of this is that if you intend to perform often, it's worth registering with a PRO such as ASCAP or BMI. Once registered, you can report your setlist from each show to these organizations. Once it's reported, they process the report and about 6 months later they will send you a check for the songs you performed at the show. You won't become a millionaire off of this until you're doing arenas, but it IS YOUR MONEY and tbh it's probably more than you'll be getting from spotify (unless you've got tons of streams).

Sync is another hidden gem. There are many artists who are relatively small that have made quite a bit of money from having their music synced to picture. 

Cool bro, what the fuck does this mean tho?

Sync is when you have a song of yours that gets put in SYNC with a video. Examples of that include your music getting placed in a film, movie, TV show, Commercial, Advertisement, YouTube Video, etc. 

How the hell can I do that?

First and foremost, you must have a splitsheet signed and ready to go for the moment your song gets chosen. If you do not have this, the movie producers CANNOT use your song. They mean strictly business & will not play around when it comes to this.  

Second: you MUST have an in-house beat that you or your producer created. if you're using a beat from the internet, you're essentially disqualified from this possibility as there can be way too many legal complications that arise from this. 

Third: The beat CANNOT have any samples in it (I know, these guys are sticklers). A sample in your song turns your song into a derivative work which means the movie producers would have to clear rights with all creators of your song AND all the creators of the song you sampled. It's too much work and they'll just find another song to use instead before they go through that hell.

Okay you made it past the first 3 requirements, what's next?

Research music libraries to apply for and upload your music to these libraries. Music libraries are catalogs of music that movie producers and music supervisors utilize/browse to find music for their films. Some examples include Musicbed and Crucial Music.

• We should have splitsheets on deck at the studio, just ask Anthony for a copy if you need one.

Fuck streaming. Unless you're uber-famous, you will not make a living off of this. Don't let the size of your Spotify Monthly Listeners consume you. It's really not that important. 

You might feel like people don't buy music anymore and you're right. Most people do not. BUT if your supporters understand how little Spotify pays and they want to genuinely support you and your career, asking them to purchase your album might work better than you think. It's what got Yung Delirious on both the iTunes and Bandcamp charts. It's also what put Alfred Banks on the Billboard Heatseekers chart at #79. 

You got this.

Another way I've seen artists make a living off of music is with the direct to consumer approach where the artist essentially monetizes their connection with fans. 

What do you mean?

By creating something like a Patreon account and posting exclusive content that the rest of the world cannot see (such as behind the scenes studio footage, unreleased music or exclusive merch discounts), you are actually giving your energy, value & attention to the fans who care most about your music and story. And those fans will APPRECIATE that! You're not spending all of your energy fighting for the world's attention...you're instead giving your attention directly to your supporters.

If you charge $5 per month for exclusive access to more private content and you have 100 fans who are subscribed, you're making $500/month. That's $6,000 per year. It's the exact same business model as onlyfans. And it's really not as difficult as it may seem. 

Caveat: You will need somewhat of a fanbase to pull this off successfully. If nobody is rocking with you yet, put your energy into getting people on board in the first place. Then worry about this.

Getting on tours can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish in this industry. Everybody and their mother wants to live life on the road and because of that there's endless competition. Here's how you can put yourself in the best position to hop on the road opening for a bigger artist.

• Have a very nice EPK that displays who you are as an artist along with your accomplishments, ESPECIALLY detailing your experience with live shows.

• Ensure the artist you're reaching out to is a good fit with your music stylistically. If you sound like Usher and you're trying to open for Guns N Roses...that's just never gonna happen. Make sure your music and branding aligns with the headliner's music & branding.

• Bring value to the table. You can do this in multiple ways, but you must be of value to the headliner or else they have no reason to let you be on the road with them. Now: how can you bring value?

  • Sell tickets. If you can sell 25% of the venue capacity in the market/cities you're trying open a show or tour in, you're more likely to get booked.

  • Offer to run the merch table. If you can be the reason the headliner hires one less person on his team: that might be worth the price of letting you open for them.

  • Buy on as direct support. Money talks. There's many situations (especially in hip/hop) where the opening act has to pay a fee to hop on a tour with a much more established artist. This doesn't mean it's a scam, it's simply part of the game sometimes. There ARE scams out there so be careful with this. But it is a thing. Weigh your options if you get an offer for this and see if it's worth it for you before committing.

Booking your own shows might be the second hardest thing to accomplish in this industry. Here's how you can put yourself in the best position to book your own shows.

• Again: have a great EPK that displays who you are as an artist along with your accomplishments, ESPECIALLY detailing your experience with live shows.

• Have a lineup already in place before you reach out to the venue's agent or owner. Having the show entirely planned out proves to the venue that you're serious. It also gives them less work to do because they won't have to worry about booking openers themselves. Make their lives as easy as possible.

• Build a lineup that can bring a crowd into the venue. That's what the venue cares about. The more people in the door, the more drinks they sell. The more drinks they sell, the more money they make. BRING PEOPLE IN THE DOOR. 

Sound difficult? It can be. Luckily for you there are multiple ways to go about this. Solo or with a PR firm/team.

• The first way you can go about this is on your own. That will be the cheapest method. It also will be the least effective and take the most effort. Here's a solid step-by-step plan for you.

  • Step 1: Ensure you have a good story to take to the press. If you simply released an album and that's it...probably not enough to catch the attention of many publications. BUT if that album has some juice already (it charted or had a mega-big feature on it) you have a much better chance at getting interest from the press.

  • Step 2: Brainstorm publications that you feel you'd be a good fit on.

  • Step 3: Search for journalist email addresses associated with the publications you're reaching out to. Browse their website, ask Chat GPT, or even call them if need be.

  • Step 4 (Optional): Create a fake email account that claims to be your agent, publicist or manager. A fake name, fake profile picture, the whole nine. It just looks better from the Press' perspective if you have somebody representing you. They're more likely to take you seriously.

  • Step 5: Send off an email detailing your story and why it matters. Introduce yourself (as the agent or artist) and be polite.

  • Step 6: Follow up. They didn't respond for 4 days? Follow up. Then follow up again. These guys are probably much busier than you. Follow up until they give you coverage or tell you to fuck off. 

• The second way to go about this is with a Publicist or PR Firm. Lots of these are fake so BE CAREFUL. A couple of options with a reputable clientele list would be Tinderbox & Planetary Group if you need a place to start looking. 

  • This will run you roughly $2,000 on the cheap end. So before you reach out and waste energy, make sure spending that amount of money makes sense for you and your situation.