How To Make Money As A Music Producer In 2023 - 3 Easy Steps With Examples

HERE ARE SOME OF THE TOP WAYS MUSIC PRODUCERS ARE MAKING MONEY IN 2023!

 

As the music industry changes, there are more and more ways music producers can earn revenue. Years ago, the only way producers could make money was through placements. The modern age of music producers provides countless methods when it comes to generating revenue and today we’re going to be breaking down the top ways to make money as a producer in 2023.

 

SELLING BEATS:

 

One of the most common ways producers earn money is by selling beats to artists. There are many different ways to sell beats, so you will need to find the best method for you. A very popular method in beat selling is leasing your beats. This is when you lease a beat to different artists with a streaming limit. If an artist who leases your beat releases a song that goes over your streaming limit, they will have to upgrade their lease. You enforce these caps with a contract.

 

How to make money leasing beats

 

Another type of beat to sell is an exclusive beat. This is the type of beat that most record labels will purchase. In an exclusive deal, you cannot sell the beat to any other artists, which makes the price much higher than a typical lease.

 

Exclusive rights for beat license

 

Some popular online beat-selling websites are Beatstars, Airbit, or traktrain. Once you pick your store, you need to begin promoting to drive traffic to sell beats.

 

Here are some good ways to promote your leases or exclusive beats:

 

YouTube:

 

Posting beats to YouTube is a great way to market your beats. The most common way to use YouTube to promote your beats is with “Type Beats.” Posting with the type beat format will let your audience know what genre or artist would fit the beat. This allows YouTube to promote your videos to users that search for the type of beats your promoting.

 

Selling beats on YouTube

 

A YouTube type beat guide could be a completely different blog all in itself, so what I will say is that the most important thing is consistency when it comes to YouTube. Posting every day or once every two days will give you a much higher chance of hitting the YouTube algorithm.

 

Instagram:

 

Posting beats on Instagram is great for promotion because any artist who is interested in a beat can simply send you a DM. While YouTube beats can be posted with just a picture of the artist behind the beat, Instagram requires a little more engagement to be boosted. I recommend posting a video of you performing the beat with a midi keyboard or drum pad, or even just sitting in front of your computer listening. These are all better than posting a beat with just a picture behind it. As always, consistency is the most important thing when it comes to posting.

 

Email:

 

Sending out beat catalogs through email is a good way to preview your work to your audience. While they may not see your beats on YouTube or Instagram every day, emailing them will send your beats right to their inbox. Make sure you send tagged beats and make it clear that a lease or exclusive purchase is required to release a song with any of your beats.

 

STREAMING:

 

Every time you listen to a song on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or any other streaming platform, the artist and producers earn some money. This is the same for any music you release on streaming platforms. As a music producer, you can tap into this method by either releasing music with an artist or on your own.

 

Making money from streaming music

 

Split Streams With an Artist:

 

As a producer, you are always entitled to a percentage of royalties in any song that is released with your beats. This means that anytime an artist releases a song that you produced, you should be receiving royalties from every stream. You can also give up your advance fee for a higher royalty percentage

 

Something that a lot of producers do is send out free beats for a 50% royalty share. This will entice many artists into using your beats and you will collect more royalties as you grow your catalog.

 

Drop Music Yourself:

 

Producers have more to offer than they give themselves credit for. Without a beat, no one would listen to rappers. Without vocals, people would still listen to instrumentals. Drop your own music! You can get artist features, drop as a collaboration song, or release instrumentals. While you do get creative control and a higher percentage in the song, you’re also in charge of promoting and marketing your music to an audience.

 

SELL SOUND KITS:

 

Selling sound kits can mean different things to different producers. There are many different types of packs that can be sold and bought. Here are some examples of sound kits to sell:

 

Sample Packs:

 

Compile your best melody loops into a sample pack to sell for a certain price to other producers. You can sell anywhere from 5-100+ samples in a sample pack for any amount of money you choose. You also get to choose the terms for using the samples. For example, any sample pack you buy from wavgrind.com is 100% royalty-free! This means that any song that is released using a WavGrind sample does not require and percentage share with us.

 

 

Drum Kits:

 

Creating drum sounds for other producers to use is also a great method to make money. Make sure to include modern industry sounds and unique drum samples for your audience to enjoy. Also, make sure to include all drum instruments to make sure anyone can make a full beat with your drum kit.

 

Drum sample packs

 

One Shot Kits:

 

VSTs can be extremely expensive and unreasonable for many producers. This is why the one shot market is very profitable. Instead of paying $500 for a plugin, producers can pay as little as $5-20 for a folder full of all the necessary instruments to make industry standard melodies. Creating melodic one-shots does take some sound design knowledge, but it is a great way to generate income as a producer.

 

Bundles:

 

If you really want to increase your outreach when it comes to selling sound kits, create bundles! This is when you include melodies, drums, one-shots, effects, and whatever you want. Wavgrind has many options for bundles, available on the home page!

 

There are many more methods to make money as a producer, which means I will be creating a part two for this blog very soon. Be on the lookout for part two!

 

 

Conclusion:

 

Making money as a producer has never been easier. In 2023, there are countless ways to create revenue streams from your music. While it is great to be an expert on any of these, it is very important to diversify your time and increase your knowledge in different methods. Increasing your streams of revenue is the best way to grow your income and knowledge.

 

In summary, here are ways to make money as a music producer:

  • Sell beats on youtube, Instagram, and email
  • Collect royalties from streaming platforms
  • Sell sample packs, drum kits, or one-shot kits

 

Good Luck!

 

Written by Jake Tompkins

@jaketompkinsvevo

 

 

 

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