HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST IN 2021
LET’S FACE IT…
Exposure doesn’t pay the bills! For many independent artists out there, having consistent income from one’s art is pretty rare. We all know that streaming services aren’t paying enough per stream and earning back the money you spent on production, mixing & mastering, artwork, visuals, and social media content is basically impossible.
Like myself and many others, taking on a part-time job or Gig work has been a necessity to cover the costs of our art. Through trial and error and research, I’ve compiled a list of side-hustles for any independent musician to try out.
*quick disclaimer but I’ve tried the majority of these “side-hustles” throughout the years and have found some success in a small amount of them. One thing to keep in mind is that results will vary and you may find more success in others.
It’s everyone’s dream to support themselves financially from their art - Here’s how you can do it…
non-creative GIG WORK
def. non-standard or gig work consists of income-earning activities outside of the standard, long-term employer-employee relationships.
ex. Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, Grub Hub, Instacart, Bird, etc.
Instacart (8/10)
Instacart is similar to Door Dash and Grub Hub except you shop for people’s groceries. You are paid per “batch” and are guaranteed a minimum payment based on the minimum wage in the area you’re shopping. For example, if a batch pays me $15 but takes at least 2 hours and I’m in an area with a $15 minimum wage, then I will be paid $30 for the batch instead of $15. For me, batches would average 1-2 hours depending on how many orders and how many items.
Positives
A very fast onboarding process.
Payment at the end of each week.
Batches are pretty easy to find and can work in other cities.
Negatives
Batch pay can differ dramatically between weeks.
Tips can be adjusted after you complete an order.
Some customers who live in apartment buildings can be hard to locate.
Gas will become expensive (you are allowed to deduct for tax purposes using the mile average rate).
Requires a car or a mode of transportation that can hold a lot of food.
Tips
Never accept a 3-order batch - Very difficult to organize the items and will end up costing you more time.
Never accept batches without a tip-minimum - Many customers try to order without leaving a tip. It’s best to avoid orders without one.
Start your first batch from home - Saves you gas money and gives you time to work on music if there aren’t any orders.
Use a mile-tracker app - I use Driversnote to keep track of my miles. Do keep in mind that you can only deduct the miles between the store and the customer’s house.
Bring extra plastic bags - Sometimes stores will not have them in stock.
Personal opinion: I Instacarted for the first half of 2021 and ended up making around $2,300. I spent around 8 hours per week, mostly working on weekends to fulfill orders. This was one of my preferred side-hustles since the payout was good and I could schedule my own hours. However, Instacarting can become competitive as the company onboards new workers every couple of months. While working/shopping, I was able to listen to new music, music-related podcasts, and give music feedback for collaborators - making this a very multi-task friendly side-hustle.
Door Dash (9/10)
Door Dash is pretty simple. You pick up food from a restaurant and deliver it to the designated customer. Very simple. Similar to Instacart, Door Dash offers a minimum wage pay based on the number of hours you work. For me, each order would average 10-20 minutes depending on the distance and amount of items.
Positives
Extremely easy to do.
Payment is relatively quick.
Orders can be consistent and can be very lucrative at mealtimes.
Negatives
Door Dash will not reveal the tip amount until you’ve completed an order (there used to be a workaround but it was shut down).
Almost 50% of the time your order won’t be ready when you arrive.
Somewhat inconsistent when doing orders at weird times during the day.
A lot of miles and gas (you are allowed to deduct for tax purposes using the mile average rate).
Tips
Make sure to only accept orders that are $2 or more per mile - For example, if it’s a 2-mile order, the order payout should be at least $4.
Bring extra cutlery - Restaurants make mistakes that ultimately the driver is blamed for.
Use a mile-tracker app - I use Driversnote to keep track of my miles. Unlike Instacart, you can deduct the miles between your starting location, the store, and the customer’s house.
Personal opinion: I Door Dashed for the summer of 2021 and ended up making around $500. I spent around 4 hours per week, mostly working on weekends to fulfill orders. This was one of my preferred side-hustles since the payout was good and I could schedule my own hours. While working, I was able to listen to new music and music-related podcasts since the majority of the time is spent in your car. While I prefer Instacart, Door Dash is more consistent and can earn you a lot more money if you’re willing to work.
honeygain (10/10)
Unlike Door Dash or Instacart, Honeygain is a bit different. You essentially earn money passively by employing devices and a network connection anywhere in the world.
Positives
Extremely easy to do once installed.
Can load on multiple devices at once.
Negatives
Payouts take a while to earn as the minimum amount is $20.
Tips
Sign up with the link above to have $5 automatically added to your account.
Keep the application open while doing anything non-CPU intensive like emails, listening to music, etc.
Personal opinion: I tried Honeygain a few years ago and just recently started using it again. I have a few devices in my house that run Honeygain in the background while they aren’t being used. The only drawback so far is that it takes a pretty long time to earn the minimum payout. With this in mind, Honeygain is passive income and doesn't actually require any work to be done.
creative GIG WORK
def. non-standard or gig work consists of income-earning activities outside of the standard, long-term employer-employee relationships.
ex. Upwork, Soundbetter, Fiverr, Reddit, etc.
soundbetter (8/10)
Hence the name, Soundbetter is a database of the world’s best mixing & mastering engineers, singers, songwriters, producers, and studio musicians for hire. Need a singer? Here are 100 Grammy-nominated vocalists that want to work with you. For me, I’ve earned around $2,500 in the past year doing stem mixing and mastering for artists.
Positives
Recently acquired by Spotify (more likely to stick around as a platform).
Very straightforward interface.
Easy to interact with clients.
You have the ability to customize your own page and provide which services you wish to offer.
Consistently getting 1-2 proposals per month without needing to advertise elsewhere.
Clients have to pay for projects before they begin.
Negatives
Soundbetter has a 9% commission fee for any proposal on their platform.
Offers a “premium” membership that can cost providers a yearly fee.
The skill level of your clients will range drastically from amateurs to people extremely hard to work with.
One negative review can halt any additional proposals from coming in.
Tips
Make sure to complete your interview questions fully - Gives new clients an idea about who you are and your experience (check out my page here for inspiration).
Be professional and courteous of your client’s time - Soundbetter is very competitive and it’s important to make yourself stand out.
Make sure to cut off the last 15-20 seconds of your files before sending - Makes sure the client will send payment once the project is finished.
Do a lot of lower-paying projects and ask for reviews - A new page without any reviews can look sketchy. Get some collaborators to order projects and get some reviews.
Make sure to update your credits/portfolio often - Many providers give a Spotify playlist of music they’ve worked on.
Don’t accept projects you’re not able to do - Pretty self-explanatory but stretching yourself too thin won’t help anyone.
Personal opinion: I’ve used Soundbetter for a few years and it’s never really let me down. I’ve worked with a lot of different artists and only one of them has caused me issues. My only issue with Soundbetter is the % they take off the top. This is something you should factor in when pricing your services. I’ve found the most success by doing stem mixing and mastering for people. I would avoid offering production work due to the necessity to track royalty splits and copyright registrations.
Fiverr (6/10)
Similar to Soundbetter, Fiverr is a freelance hosting website for clients to get digital and physical products completed for very low costs. While being somewhat notorious for low costs and taking advantage of freelancers, Fiverr is a solid place to make some extra money if you work fast.
Positives
Gigs can be anything and are extremely customizable.
Easy to find new clients using the Buyer Request section.
2-3 new orders every month without any advertisement.
Negatives
Fiverr has a 20% commission fee for any Gig on their platform.
The skill-level of your clients ranges extremely.
Hard to work with some clients due to the language barrier.
Certain music terminology can be hard to convey.
Tips
Be professional and courteous of your client’s time - Fiverr is very competitive and it’s important to make yourself stand out.
Do a lot of lower-paying projects and ask for reviews - A new page without any reviews can look sketchy. Get some collaborators to order projects and get some reviews.
Make sure to update your credits/portfolio often - Many providers give a Spotify playlist of music they’ve worked on.
Don’t accept projects you’re not able to do - Pretty self-explanatory but stretching yourself too thin won’t help anyone.
Make sure to set your deadlines based on your availability - Sending an order late can have a negative effect on your account.
Personal opinion: I’ve done work on Fiverr for the past year on this account and I’ve earned about $500. My main advice for selling on Fiverr is to offer something you can do fast with decent quality. There is no rhyme or reason to spend days on something you’re being paid $5 to do.
Melody Nest (3/10)
Similar to Soundbetter, Melody Nest offers music freelancers a place to sell their services to people online. Unlike Soundbetter, Melody Nest is independent and doesn’t have the same audience size as Soundbetter.
Positives
Easy to set up and provides a decent amount of customization.
Very similar client-side interface to Soundbetter.
Offers different forms of payment.
Negatives
Melody Nest has a 15% commission fee for any proposal on their platform.
Lacks clients to make it worth it.
Provider-side interface is hard to deal with and doesn’t allow a lot of flexibility.
Unlike Fiverr or Soundbetter, you will need to actively promote your page.
Website loads very slow.
Tips
Do a lot of lower-paying projects and ask for reviews - A new page without any reviews can look sketchy. Get some collaborators to order projects and get some reviews.
Make sure to update your credits/portfolio often - Many providers give a Spotify playlist of music they’ve worked on.
Spend a lot of time updating your page - The more experience you have the better.
Don’t accept projects you’re not able to do - Pretty self-explanatory but stretching yourself too thin won’t help anyone.
Personal opinion: I signed up for Melody Nest about a few months ago and haven’t really spent time on it. The platform seems like a knock-off Soundbetter with fewer features and a smaller client audience. With a high commission fee and no consistent orders, it doesn’t make sense to promote on Melody Nest when I could earn more on Fiverr or Soundbetter. Like any other freelance service, it is worth it to create a profile and offer some services. You never know which service will bring you new clients.
There you have it!
Hopefully, this post will be useful for those looking to supplement their income! There are a few platforms that I still want to try out (like Upwork and Melody Nest (again)), so look forward to an updated review soon!
