“Blogging will not be a daily event just yet, I will however update as I go, hopefully once a week. I know there’s no ‘quick fix’ to this and I don’t expect to find one. It’s a journey that may not be successful, but surely it’s worth a try?”

I remember typing that thinking once a week was doable… I was wrong! Week number eight and here’s blog number two. I thought it would be a good idea to share an update of what’s happened following the three step plan.

Step 1 – Start With What You Know

Well. I got another bill through on music that’s already been published and I earned another £50, so we’ll add that to the total for this year. It’s an increase on last year and more than £0 so I’m happy. I have sent another two pieces off to be published. One I wrote two years ago and was just sat around doing nothing and the other I wrote last week so we’ll see where this goes! 

Step 2 – Grow Your Skill Set

I have tried this and love it! I spend a lot of time playing the piano even though I can’t and I love playing around with chords. I have had some ideas that I have then recorded into my DAW and messed around with. I am massively influenced by music from the musicals so some of it is a bit cheese but it’s starting to get there with practice! 

Step 3 – Spread The Word

As you can see by my lack of blogging, this bit hasn’t gone well. I constantly get reminders from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram telling me that “visitors to your page haven’t heard from you in a while” and since writing the first blog there’s no likes or follows on any of the pages. All I can do is keep trying, the links are at the bottom!

This is going to be a long journey!

Running total: £50

Twitter – @Moneyfrom_Music
Facebook – @MoneyfromMusic
Instagram – @Moneyfrom_Music

If you have stumbled across this blog trying to find an answer to the question “how do I make money from music?” then this might not be the place you find your answer as I haven’t actually found it myself yet. What this is, is a place to ponder the question and explore how many ways there are to get exposure as a musician. A place to ascertain if there is an answer to this question, is there a way to ‘break into’ this industry? 

Currently, I’m a teacher. I teach music in a high school to students aged 11-16 so you could say I already earn a living from music, but that’s not what I imagined when I got my music degree. Like many, I want to do what I love and earn a living from it; so this year I’m going to try and ‘figure it out’. You could call this my New Years Resolution for 2019!

All too often you hear the same story. “I was living on a sofa bed with my cousins roommate from uni in London. I had no money and no where to live until one night I did this gig and was spotted.” I’m afraid I don’t have the time to try the ‘sofa hopping’ thing. I have a roof over my head with bills to pay and a job that demands an awful lot of work at home. There must be another way to do this. So to start off, here’s my three step plan.

Step 1 – Start With What You Know

I have got music that is published already however I have a lot more just sat on my computer that I never do anything with. This is where I’m going to start. How much music can I get published this year? More importantly, how much money will that bring in? I have two pieces published currently, and last year that made me £30… It could take a while. 

Step 2 – Grow Your Skill Set

I currently spend my spare time writing and arranging music for brass bands. This is as good a place as any to start but to accomplish this goal, I feel that I might need a wider skill set. I’m going to try writing some music in different genres. There will be a place on this site to access some of this in time to come. I’m not promising amazing things from this but who knows, it could be a hidden talent of mine! 

Step 3 – Spread The Word

As I was born into the world post-internet creation, I like to think of myself as “tech savvy”, I have however always avoided social media. During my degree, we were quite often told how important an online presence is especially in today’s climate. To this extent, I have created social media pages across a range of platforms (links can be found below) to help advertise both this blog and my music. Any follows/likes/shares etc. would be greatly appreciated. 

Blogging will not be a daily event just yet, I will however update as I go, hopefully once a week. I know there’s no ‘quick fix’ to this and I don’t expect to find one. It’s a journey that may not be successful, but surely it’s worth a try?

Twitter – @Moneyfrom_Music
Facebook – @MoneyfromMusic
Instagram – @Moneyfrom_Music