How to get paid to make music
How to get paid to make music through sponsorships
With your streaming royalties trickling in and your fanbase picking up steam, you might be wondering how else you can get paid to make music. Sponsorship is an often overlooked monetization method that can help you subsidize your music career. Find out how to get sponsored for your music and your creative process.
Make a list of potential sponsors
Break down your music making process. List all of the tools, software, instruments, etc that are involved in your creative process. Include everything from your guitar strings to your music production software. Then make a list of brands that produce the things you use. Research the best contacts to reach out to for sponsorship from that band and build a big contact list.
Research brands that sponsor musicians. Drinks brands like Jameson’s and Jack Daniels have a history of sponsoring artists’ performances. This is known as “branded entertainment”.
Understand your value
Despite what you might think, you don’t need a huge fanbase or following to get sponsorship. Companies are looking for quality content that makes them look good. To get a sponsorship you need to convince your contact that you can add value to their brand. Instead of explaining why you want to work with them, tell them why they should work with you.
For more tips and advice check out this free streaming guide.
Here are some of the ways you can help them with sponsored content:
You can create high quality content that showcases their product being used to create great music.
You create lasting value for their brand. The content you create will be there forever and you can push it for a long time, exposing it to more people as you gain a fanbase which benefits the company long term.
By sponsoring you, the company will demonstrate that they support the independent artists that use their products = great PR for them.
When messaging each contact think about how you benefit them individually. Send out personalized messages that show that you truly understand their brand vision, and how you can help them on their mission.
Explain your vision
Help your contact understand exactly what it is you’re offering them. By sponsoring you they are essentially placing their faith in you to create something that reflects their brand well. Put them at ease and earn their trust by explaining your vision as clearly as possible.
If, for example, you’re planning on creating a YouTube video, it helps to have an existing video with similar content. Failing that, use references to other videos to help sell your idea.
Whatever your vision, make sure it has an obvious and direct benefit to your potential sponsor.
WATCH: How to get paid to make music? Getting Music Heard II
Isn’t it selling out?
Not necessarily. If the brand that is sponsoring genuinely helps you as an artist, if the brand’s ethos and aesthetics fit your own, and if you’re not contractually obliged to that brand then sponsorship is an artist friendly way to get paid to make music.
For more tips and advice on how to promote your self released music, download our FREE guide.
