5 Unique Ways To Invest In Your Music Career

If you want your career in music to be a success, you're going to need to invest in it, but this doesn't necessarily mean financially. There are a number of other ways to put yourself out there which will increase your liklihood of making new connections, engaging with your audience, and building a larger following. Here we look at five such unique opportunities.

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Guest post by Olivia Wolfe of MusicGoat

Question: Did you know that if you invest in your music, you’re more likely to make new connections, engage your audience and gain a larger following?

There are numerous ways to get out there and be proactive about your music or music business.

My best friend is a vocal coach, and her student list is so full that she can’t accept any more students. How fantastic is that? But then again – does that mean she just stops, because she is full?

The easy answer is yes, she’s reached the point in her business that she does not need to attain any more students. However, even with this, she does not stop investing in her business. She has begun to invest in her music in other ways.

But – is it worth it?

I’m sure you are asking yourself this question.

If you decide to invest in your music, it can only aid you. Truly. There is no way that you can grow or scale any business without some type of investment.

Multiple investments ensure that you’re serious about your music, and continued investments also mean that your business is always going to grow.

There are some creative and unique ways that you can invest in your music:

1. Take Lessons

If you’re a practicing musician or singer and you’re not keeping up with lessons, you’re missing out!

There are some amazing ways to continuously perfect your craft, such as doing private lessons in NYC, virtual online lessons, and more.

Musicians should never put their own learning on hold while building their business or teaching others; you can always learn more and grow through taking lessons yourself!
Not to mention there is a great benefit to taking lessons that most people aren’t always aware of – when you practice an instrument or sing, you will lower your stress levels, and there are studies that actually suggest learning music can increase your IQ.

So learning more, calming effect, and smarts. Sounds like a great investment!

If you already feel like you’re good at your instrument or your voice is top notch, it may even be worth it to look into taking on a new instrument, or trying some voice lessons if you’ve never done so.

You never know – you could find yourself another passion in your music endeavors, which will only help to grow and expand your knowledge of the industry and it will reflect in your music.

2. Build a Website / Social Media Following

Social media and the online world is one of the best ways that you can advertise and get your business noticed today, as we all rely on technology.

So if you’re looking to increase your following, add to your team, find more musicians to play with, or obtain some new students for lessons, your best bet is to get yourself out there through social media and possibly even creating a website.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are all free so they don’t require much of an investment.

You can create Facebook ads that do cost some money, but it’s not a large investment.

A website doesn’t have to be a large investment either.

You would just have to purchase a domain name and then the actual website platform you plan to use and there are many out there: Bluehost, WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace are a few popular ones, with very manageable plans.

Websites also help your business look professional and established, which can lead you to broaden your audience and following.

You can even go as far as looking into setting up a funnel through an email list.

3. Sell a Product or Service

This is where you can get really creative with things, and a great idea of how to invest in your music.

If you teach music or singing, you could:

1. Make your own vocal warm-up CD
2. Shoot a vlog or short video on how to change strings on your instrument
3. Shoot another on how to tune your instrument
4. Create a tutorial on how to play scale.

Anything you can dream up, you can make into a relatively easy product to sell. This provides your business with some passive income, which is great for a growing business to have.

It requires quite a bit of work up front, as you have to create the product or service to sell.

But the payoff is that once it’s done, that’s it.

>> side note: click here to read more on how to make money teaching music online <<

You can sit back and put it out there to promote yourself and utilize yet another income stream.

You can even lay down tracks if you’re in a band or a singer, for purchase on iTunes or Amazon Music if you have access to a studio.

The possibilities are endless!

4. Have a Giveaway

Related to selling a product, another way to get that brain working: think about what you can do to entice your audience, get them excited about your music or your teachings.

You can use something as simple as a t-shirt or a gift card and advertise the heck out of it online and with your audience to stir up interest.

It has multiple benefits because people LOVE free things.

Plus, you can even add some sort of incentive for people to subscribe to your giveaway, such as receiving your monthly newsletter or signing up for one of your classes to be entered.

So this way, you get more people interested in your music or your music business without having invested very much at all.

You can do a simple mug with your logo or band’s name, or even just a cool music quote on it.

5. Hire A Team / Virtual Assistant

If you’re able to, another great way to invest in your music is by hiring a person or two, maybe even more, that can help you with your publicity.

You can hire someone to do PR or advertising for your next gig, or promote your business via social media so you don’t have to worry about creating engaging Facebook ads or Instagram Posts.

Virtual assistants are big right now, too.

They are people that you can hire by the hour or on a per project basis that can organize your email, advertising, website, gigs, lessons, etc. and keep you on the ball so you can focus solely on your craft.

Your music, band or business may not be at the point yet where you can hire a person or a few people to help out, but the investment is definitely worth less stress on your time.

If you find that you are spending more time answering emails, phone calls, and texts than you are writing your music or teaching your lessons and practicing your instrument, it might be worth it to do some networking and see if you can find someone that will help and work within your budget.

Creativity is Key

There are so many options and ideas out there that you can invest in to get yourself noticed.

What vision did you have for your music to be when you began?

Visualize where you see yourself, where your passion is, and make the investment so that it happens for you.

Any of these options can grow into more new and adventurous ideas to transpire.

All of these investments show growth and sustainability for your music, so go for it!

Guest post by Olivia Wolfe: Olivia has had a love for music since elementary school when she took her first pianolesson. Having tried her hand at numerous instruments, she now spends her time writing about music and teaching lessons. Olivia is a contributor on multiple music blogs and loves creating helpful articles for her fellow musicians and teachers.