Update: A few months ago, I mentioned a song called “Beautiful Life” by Annie Barker. It’s beautiful. I bought it on iTunes even before it finished playing on a music podcast I listen to. Want to hear it? Listen to the full track on my MySpace page music player. I asked her to add it to her music player so I could upload it to mine and share it with you. I hope other artists listen and respond to their fans! 
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In an ideal world, bands could focus solely on the craft of creating, composing, and recording music while earning a decent living, almost passively, through the sale of that recorded music. Making a lot of money performing that same music would be—pardon the tired cliché—icing on the cake.
But unless you’re signed to a label with star-making machinery churning in the background for you, that ideal world is just that. Today, artists have to do a lot more than sell recorded music to support themselves.
By now we know all about the ground-shifting little MP3 file. Digital downloading, legal or otherwise, has cut deeply into the sale of physical media like CDs. Even if users choose to pay for digital music, they have the option of buying only one or two songs from an album. An entire album: $12. Two songs: $2. Somebody’s earning less money, wouldn’t you say?
I’ve heard and read enough “music in the digital age” stuff that I can say this with confidence: artists must find other ways to make money besides selling recorded music if they want to earn a “full time” income. This month’s Rolling Stone magazine has a story about that very issue: Rock’s New Economy: Making Money When CDs Don’t Sell.
Among the ways artists are making money in the digital age:
- Licensing music for movies, TV shows, commercials, and video games – “While up-and-coming bands may find most of their licensing offers in the $2,500 range, established bands can make much more: from $30,000 at the high end for TV shows to $100,000 for movies and $250,000 for commercials.”
- Touring – Grow the fanbase, tour like crazy, and put on a good show.
- Selling merchandise online and offline – “[T]he White Stripes have focused on touring and coming up with creative merch: The band sells limited-edition CD singles on the road, as well as unique posters created for each show.”
When artists own all rights to their music, they can do with it whatever they want. At the risk of being labeled a sell-out, they can seek and obtain lucrative licensing deals.
Besides selling CDs, flash drives loaded with music, T-shirts, jewelry, and other products, bands can generate income online and offline creating and offering things fans can’t get anywhere else, such as special posters and recordings of live concerts.
Bottom line: You can practice your craft and maintain “artist integrity” by eschewing marketing, public relations, and income-generating licensing deals, or you can be a full-time musician building your brand, attracting more fans, and getting paid to do what you love. And still maintain your artistic integrity!
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