Making a living with what you love is living the dream, right? Absolutely! But what if you love music – and you can’t necessarily make it? Are you doomed to misery in uninspired jobs, working for the weekends when you can dance the night away? NO! There are so many ways to make money from your love of music – while working from home no less! – and I just know that whatever your skill set is, whether musician or not, there’s something here for you.
For Music Lovers
Are you a music appreciator more than a music maker? Check out these jobs or side hustles that’ll have you working with your passion.
1. Music Streaming Customer Service with NexRep.
As a Music Streaming Customer Service agent with NexRep, you would be working with customers of Jay-Z’s streaming service, Tidal. While this job has you interfacing with the music industry obliquely, you’ll still be helping fellow music-lovers get their listening on by handling email queries and resolving customer issues.
2. Music Rating.
This one won’t make you tons of cash, but it is a fun side hustle that’ll make you a little spending money and introduce you to new musical artists! You can sign up as a Music Rater at sites like HitPredictor, Music Xray, and research.fm. After you sign up and qualify as a rater, you simply listen to music and give your honest responses when asked. Each site’s exact process differs, but these processes often end in a modest amount of money made in gift cards.
3. Become a work-at-home agent with a ticketing company.
Many musical artists tour and those tours require ticket sales and that process needs a whole host of support folk from ticketing agents to customer service to tech support. Look out for remote jobs in this industry, for example with companies like Live Nation or Gametime.
4. Remote jobs with music streaming services.
Streaming music online is a lucrative industry, and there’s room for you at the table! Keep your eyes peeled for positions with companies like Pandora or Spotify, and more – for example, FlexJobs has listed telecommuting jobs recently with Pandora in areas like social media, curator-programmers, and customer support (just to name a few).
5. Teach it!
This job can work for you whether you play an instrument or can’t even carry a tune in a bucket. All you need is knowledge and the willingness to share it. If you can play an instrument, consider taking on private students – there’s no end to cheerful amateurs looking for affordable guitar lessons! You can offer these lessons in real life, or through online lessons. You could even develop an e-learning course that could become a tidy passive income for you: develop your classes on services like Skillshare or Udemy, or on your website. If you’re a master of theory rather than practice, offering lessons online works for you, too! Go independent as above. Or you can choose the semi-traditional route of looking for remote teaching jobs with colleges where you can teach the academic side of music.
6. Write it!
Perhaps you’re more skilled with words than tunes. If you’re not striving to become a songwriter, try becoming a freelance writer who’s an expert in music instead! You can become an expert in any number of ways, from studying music in school to consistently publishing music reviews to interviewing industry professionals. Whether you’re a newbie or an old hand when it comes to the music industry, use your passion to monetize your writing: you can create a blog, sell articles to magazines, or seek out staff writer positions. Visit job boards like FlexJobs, Problogger Jobs, or Journalism Jobs and keep your eyes open for these writing opportunities.
7. Podcast it!
So maybe you’re not particularly skilled at writing, but you do have the gift of gab – that works in your favor, too! People love new things to listen to (besides great music), especially in a world where the majority of folks spend so much time on their way to somewhere else. Or working through endless gym sessions! You can come to their rescue by putting together your podcast. At its most basic level, all you need is a decent mic, a great topic, and some free recording software (like Audacity) on your computer. You can specialize in sharing the latest music news in a personable way, doing hilarious or engaging breakdowns of the hottest new music, or in interviewing musicians (even if you start with local musicians still waiting for their big break). The directions you can take a podcast are endless, and its opportunity to scale is fantastic.
For Music Makers
Are you a musician trying to make a work-at-home income? Even if you’re just waiting to make it big, you can develop your skills and grow that early following today that’ll be your fan club tomorrow. This section is also for all you music producers, remixers, recording engineers and related pros!
8. Start a YouTube channel.
Do you know how many musical artists have been discovered through YouTube? All you need to know is that the list includes names like Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, and Pentatonix. You don’t need a slick set-up or a high-end camera: you just need musical skill and the will to share it with the world. (Okay, yes, and some form of camera and computer to get your video made and uploaded.) Your channel can grow and improve as you grow a following, take advantage of video monetization, and this next item.
9. Sell your music online!
Whether you’re writing pop songs, doing some freestyling, creating parody songs, or composing instrumentals, there’s a market for your music! Putting up your music for sale does require access to some decent equipment and may even involve renting some studio time. However, you can use the following you’ve already built online to crowdfund an EP and then release your music through a service like Bandcamp.
10. Write music for others.
You can also build a successful freelance business as a music creator, whether as a composer or a musician. The avenues for building your business are endless – as is the list of industries you can work in. You could meet your next client after playing a live gig or sharing an original piece of music you created on YouTube. You could write music for video games, jingles, podcasts, commercials, indie films, or more. To get started on this track, consider offering your services through a platform like Fiverr.
11. Record music for others.
If you’re not a big composer – or as an add-on to your music composition service – you can use your home studio and access to instruments (or music software if you don’t play any) to record music for others. This freelance business grows just like the one above and will depend on what sort of jobs you’re pursuing.
12. Produce music for others.
Many music artists out there need help shaping and refining their recorded sound, figuring out how to best produce their work, getting their recordings in shape for release, and more from editing to remixing. If you have these skills, hire them out to musicians in need! You’ll create an income, help other artists, and forge professional ties that can further develop your career. You can conduct this business either through private referrals, if you know the right people, or start out on a platform like Fiverr as I mentioned above.
Are you ready to rock? Get out there and make your love of music work for you!