If you’re like many other musicians, then you likely wish you could make money doing what you love. While doing so used to take extensive touring and the hope that a talent agent may see you perform at a random show; today, you can go on YouTube, build a fan base and perform for potentially millions of fans. It won’t happen overnight, but with the right social media strategy, you can accomplish your dream. Let’s look at the ways that you can make money on YouTube and how to gain fans and keep a sustainable career.
YouTube Helps You To Make Money
YouTube is not just a passing fad that teenagers use for entertainment — almost 400,000 people a year make a full-time living on the app. Musicians are no exception. In fact, 93% of the most-watched videos on YouTube are music videos. Since the platform isn’t going away anytime soon, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon.
So many people make money on YouTube because the platform offers a partner program you can enter once you receive a predetermined number of views and subscribers. Then, you can make money by placing ads on your videos, playing ads between videos, and having people that are considered premium subscribers watch your videos.
YouTube provides every user with a YouTube studio, where you can check on your stats and edit your videos so you can ask people to subscribe and try to get them to click on even more of your material. Create a music video for every one of your songs and if your audience watches each video for your entire album, you could start making good money.
Ads are only one avenue. Other ways to make money on YouTube include selling products and merchandise. Add affiliate links to your video’s description for your albums and t-shirts, so followers can click on the links to make their purchases. You can make additional income by creating an account on a platform like Patreon or Kickstarter. While there you can ask for contributions for short or long-term investments.
Get More Fans
All of these strategies depend on how many people are actively visiting your channel, watching videos, and clicking your links. If you’re a young band or musician, you need to draw in new fans, but you don’t necessarily need to tour the country to get them.
One of the easiest ways is to use keywords. Use them to attract people looking for a certain type of music. This method can be beneficial if you play a unique style of music like punk or funk. Add the keywords to your video description and bio, and people may find you when they search.
Once you get the customers to your page, you need to keep them there, so the other tip for success is to create a lot of content. Strong content might include:
- Making music videos
- Shooting behind-the-scenes footage at concerts
- Hosting a live Q&A session
- Streaming a concert
You should also make sure your videos are aesthetically pleasing for viewers. This may include setting up a professional background and making sure you’re dressed for the occasion — think of anything that may be considered semi-formal to business casual. Taking your appearance into consideration will not only attract viewers, but it may also help build your confidence in your self-image. The more confidence you have, the more prepared you’ll feel for all the demands your Youtube career will ask of you. Your confidence will also help attract more viewers, further growing your musical career online.
Resist the urge to post a video, set it, and forget it. Instead, it’s smart to be active on the channel, especially in the comment section. When someone says how much they enjoy the band, thank them. If they have questions, answer them. It’s also important to forge friendships and keep in contact with other bands and YouTube content creators. You may be able to partner up and bring in even more subscribers.
Keeping A Sustainable Career
You must continue to try everything possible to ensure that people keep finding your content and that you can make this a sustainable career. Once you set up your YouTube channel, make it a point to branch out. It’s wise to join other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and add a link to your YouTube profile so people check it out.
Spend some time creating killer content on those platforms as well, including videos that are exclusive to that channel, and add contests and giveaways for your merchandise. Make it a point to use the best software and hardware, including microphones and cameras, so people keep returning for high-quality content.
Finally, protect your YouTube channel from bad actors who want to steal your information or your subscribers’ data. Always remember the importance of cybersecurity because it only takes one hacker to delete all your videos and force you to restart from scratch, and you could lose many of your subscribers. Even worse, a hacker could inject ransomware into your account. That malware allows them to take over, and they could pretend to be you and cause a lot of reputational damage.
To protect against ransomware, be cautious about the types of emails you open or the links you click in the comment section because one click can open a doorway for hackers. Once you begin to make money, another option is to invest in cyber insurance so you can have an ally if your subscriber’s data is compromised, and they’ll help with the costs of rebuilding your reputation.
Stay dedicated to your craft and always be creating, and you can find success on YouTube for the foreseeable future.
By Indiana Lee
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