Spotify has a merch integration with Shopify, allowing you to promote merch on your artist page.

When asked how most artists make a living off music today, Cehryl is blunt “Working other jobs.” She adds, “Merch is definitely good but it is best when it’s brought on tour.”Īlthough merchandise is a mainstay of touring acts, you can also promote it directly from streaming services. And if an artist has to share that money with a record label, they might need even more streams to make a living. Apple Music and Tidal seem to pay artists more per stream, but the harsh reality is that only millions of streams per month can earn indie artists enough money to live on streaming alone. That equates to roughly $3,200 per million streams, roughly in line with what predicts. My music project, Lonely Singles, has earned around $125 from about 40,000 streams on Spotify. Despite its reputation for adult content, some musicians even use OnlyFans to connect to their listeners.Īlthough streaming is a great way to find listeners, only a tiny percentage of artists can live off of streaming royalties. From Patreon to Ko-fi to cryptocurrency donation QR codes, today’s artists have a wealth of ways to make money off their work.

If each fan spends $100 on your art each year, you’d have revenue of $100,000 and could make a good living doing what you love.

WIRED founding editor Kevin Kelly famously claimed that artists needed 1,000 true fans to survive.

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