For over ten years now, I've been talking about the importance of having a website for your music, your band, your songwriting, your teaching...your music pursuits.
There are the obvious promotional benefits:
- An electronic press kit that helps you get bookings, press, airplay, etc.
- A one-stop virtual location where fans and potential fans can connect with you after hearing your music live, on social media, on streaming, etc.
- Links that can come up in an online search when people are searching for specific things you offer, your genre, location, etc.
Those are all really great reasons you should build a website for your music using my favorite website platform specifically for musicians (and the only one that is built by musicians for musicians) - Bandzoogle.
But let's get to what you came here for...making money with your music website.
Merchandise is the most obvious way to generate income from your website, so I won't even list it below. But I will say that Bandzoogle reported artists made close to $9 Million selling merch on their website platform in 2023.
Here are 7 musician-specific and less common ways you can earn money from your website. If you're not doing them yet, you should think about adding one or all of them ASAP.
- According to the RIAA, sales of CDs and vinyl jumped by 11% in 2023, with vinyl posting a 17th consecutive year of growth. Your website provides an opportunity to take pre-orders too so you can earn money before you even have the album in hand.
- Digital downloads remain a strong source of revenue for many independent artists. In 2023, Bandzoogle members sold over $1.7M worth of digital albums and singles direct-to-fan through their websites.
- Sell tickets to in-person shows from your website. You can do this for house concerts, release parties or other venues and even set up tiers for seating preference, special perks (like green room access or after concert hang out).
- Sell access to online shows. You can offer a private feed on social, a zoom link or even host a livestream on your website behind a password-protected wall.
- Crowdfunding can be a great way to raise money to help cover the costs of your next musical project. Whether thatโs producing an album, releasing a series of singles, producing videos, promoting your album, or even raising funds to press vinyl for your project. You don't need to use IndieGogo or KickStarter, you can do it right from your website.
- With subscriptions, fans subscribe to your website and pay a monthly fee for access to exclusive rewards and content. You can also provide early access to new music, offer merch discounts, exclusive subscriber-only live streams, and more. This way you don't have to pay fees to sites like Patreon.
- Sell your music-related services. Whether you're teaching lessons in person or online, producing or arranging, or even writing custom songs, you can sell any service you want on Bandzoogle, commission free.
You can promote these money makers to fans through your email list, social media and at live shows. Create a QR code to send people to specific products or services.
If you want to try out my favorite website platform for musicians that can help you do all of the above and more, you can try it for free.
โCLICK HERE TO TRY BANDZOOGLE FOR FREEโ
Jump in there and play around with all the awesome features. And if you get stuck, they have best-in-class customer service. I have heard nothing but rave reviews from my community about how awesome they are (even if you struggle with tech).
Once you're ready to go live with your site, you can get 15% off your first year by using coupon code BREE15.
I can't wait to see what you create and hear about all the new income it generates for you.
Always in your corner,
โBree Noble