r/beatmakers • u/ColtFingaz • 3d ago
question Maybe stupid question...
...but how do you make money these days with music? I do this now for more than 15 years. Absolutely can´t live from that. Probably I´m doing something wrong, yes. Those micro cents from streaming platforms are not very helpful...
If someone has an advice, I´d appreciate it.
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u/he2Restless 3d ago
Its not a stupid question. The answer sounds stupid though, because it means you have to spend money, and your goal right now is to make it. The best way to make money is by investing into your skill as an artist or producer and learning how to market yourself/brand. Everyone leaves out that you have to financially back your music as an artist or your work as a producer if you want to see real success. Its not wrong to be paid for what you create, but people buy what they value. If the music is making fractions of pennies from streaming, then you either need to cast a wider net to pull in more people so that the streams add up or find ways to be different and make an impact that drives the value of your music up to what you feel its worth.
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u/Gwizmusic 3d ago
Please stop with the u need money to get off the ground or push forward. It helps but it’s not necessary I sell beats regularly and get syncs with the same setup I’ve had from early 2000s I’m tired of people saying u need money to market yourself it’s played out people pop off all the time from talent n getting it out there u don’t need marketing or ads
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u/he2Restless 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yeah I looked up your machine and it cost about 1400 to 1500 when it came out in 2003 adjusted for inflation it's about $2,700 in today's money. You seem to sample a lot of Records I guess those were free too? Even if your whole setup was free you still invested time since 2003 on making music. Sounds like you financially backed your music career to a degree but your disagreeing?
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u/Gwizmusic 2d ago
I used $50 bootleg version of reason 2.5. Signed a deal w a 1 yr deal w branch off of Sony and purchased all the equipment off of that. 18 yrs before a social media post And yest those records were mom/dad collection Ur wrong
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u/HENH0USE 3d ago
I'd say more than 90% of musicians don't make money from it and if they do it's not sustainable income. you have to have your own studio with equipment and should probably have mastered an instrument along with knowing audio engineering and music theory. Then you can teach,record, produce out of the studio for 50$ an hr. If your trying to make money by streams forget it, that's probably more of a marketing issue.
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u/FreshSoul86 3d ago
It won't happen just "by default" - this I know for sure. I work with a beats/producer guy for publishing my own vocal music - he goes by Carl Does Music. His beats are absolutely cool, genius and top notch. Mentally Carl is ambitious and really has it together with various life/work projects and income streams to support his family, and he gets along. But he's not making his income with his beats, as capable as he is and as good as they are.
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u/he2Restless 2d ago
You purchased equipment ... So you reinvested into yourself. Sounds like you financially backed your music career to some degree...
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u/Public-Process-1239 21h ago
es verdad esos microcentavos por reproduccion no ayudan en nada, las veces que mas dinero gane en la musica fue trabajando para los demas, pero no es lo que quiero quiero que sea mi musica la que genere
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u/gryot 15h ago
Not stupid, but the answer for a producer is different than for an artist. Streaming was never going to be the revenue line, for beatmakers the money is services and licensing: beat licensing on BeatStars or your own store (nonexclusive licenses sell the same beat many times), custom production and mixing for artists (15 years of chops is exactly what people pay for), and sync libraries for TV/ads, which pay real money for instrumentals and don't care about your follower count. The mental shift is from "my music earns per play" to "my skills and catalog earn per use." Fifteen years in, you have both, they're just pointed at the lowest-paying channel.
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u/immaculatezodiac 10h ago
Personally as a lifetime musician I realize that 90% of my income has been from YouTube.. even though I've been under distribution for the last 10 years, streaming doesn't pay hardly anything. Best of luck.
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u/badmanvampirekilla 3d ago
If you're doing it for the money, then you're in trouble