Aug 19, 2020
Ways to make money from music in these hard times
The experience of lockdown and the effect on live music and music education has been significant, and it does not look as if there are any significant changes on the horizon. It is therefore up to us to look for opportunities in these rather chaotic times. It is safe to say that there are always opportunities but they may not be obvious, they certainly will require us to look very differently at what we have to offer.
Often in these situations the answer is found somewhere else, for instance if you are looking for an answer to your problems look elsewhere in another industry or discipline.
Where are the problems that music teachers are having at the moment?
You cannot assume that things will go back to normal; this event has caused a seismic change in the way that you are going to do things in the future. If you been able to teach online, that is going to be an important component to the work that you do in the future, even if you are able to resume face to face work. It can increase your catchment area to the rest of the world; the only problem is people finding you.
Online recording work,
There is literally no barrier to where you could work in the world if you are set up to record at home. I have a number of friends who have over the years supply music for films and artists around the world from the comfort of their own home studio. LinkedIn is probably the best place to forge those contacts because it is the platform for professional people of numerous areas of business.
Don’t just limit yourself to the world of music
Other businesses require music for their presentations and maybe some sort of in-house training this is a brilliant time to be able to offer that, particularly if you can do it online because businesses who are strapped for cash may be able to afford you doing the training as a sort of experience day.
It is also a good idea to create a check list of other skills that you have and see if they can be useful at this point. I know musicians who are skilled in computer programming and others who are keen gardeners, instrument makers, meditators etc. If you have a van and happy to carry things about there is always the (Wo)Man with a van.
Support for others as a Mentor
If you have expertise in a particular area, whether it’s in teaching or performance, how about mentoring those who are starting out? You could mentor someone who is a teacher who looks up to you as being an expert in their discipline or you can mentor somebody fresh out of college looking to develop their skills as a musician in the real world.
Remember that people will buy from other people that they trust.
Make the most of the goodwill that you have developed over time with your customer base, whether that is in the form of teaching or concerts. A good customer knows that times are difficult and therefore when you advertise you can ask for their support. Now is the time to record lessons to sell, remember to focus into a niche in the market. You may think that everything is already free on the internet but there are still people making money from Diets and Yoga all of which are abundant on YouTube
Experience days
Companies such as Airbnb, buyagift and experiencedays may be a good port of call getting on a platform that could show your work. Not only does it give you some sort you kudos within the industry but is a very good way of being able to spread your name.
Think of how you could package your things is an experience day maybe ‘beginners guitar in a morning’
And it’s always about innovation and technology
Whether we like technology or not (and I’m not particularly keen) unfortunately we are where we are. Technology has always been an essential aspect of a human’s interaction with the world. Fire is a technology which meant we could travel very far into temperate zones and apart from offering us warmth it also offered us protection and the ability to create things.
We used it to create implements, it stimulated culture, stories were told around campfires and were the great spiritual force in humanity. But it is also an amazing destructive force when out of control, so think about it, you know we could use modern technology for good and not so good, but we can’t step back from it, however much we would like to. I can assure you I am a bit of a Luddite at heart. I prefer to do things manually however I do play the electric guitar and not acoustic so in that regard I am hypocrite.
So let’s embrace new tech as we’ve got and use it anyway.
Think of creative places to play
Look around you and see what great ideas other people are having, from gigs in your front garden being streamed online, to the possibility of gigs in big open spaces. From the aircraft hangar to the open field, the possibility of a silent disco, which we can turn into a silent concert where all the audience wear headphones, to the drive in movie becoming the drive in concert.
So it’s time to open your mind up and come up with his many interesting and novel ideas. These are often not the solutions on their own but the idea is that they stimulate other ideas. It’s a little bit like meeting somebody at a party; they know somebody who would be the perfect contact for you. Like Stanley Milgram’s 6 degrees of separation, where you are only six people away from anyone else in the world. I think it’s the same with ideas; one idea will introduce you to another idea. So with that in mind get out there, start talking to people in other businesses and industries and see what ideas they have and see what it stimulates in you.
So for those of you who are in need of personal help and some form of mentoring I currently have on my Patreon site a Guitar Mentoring program to help you through your problems and find answers. This is explained on the intro video visit https://www.patreon.com/vichyland
Yours Vic