If we take this idea of diversifying income streams further, it doesn’t necessarily need to be based on our music. Investing in real estate is a solid method of building an alternative income stream (provided you take the time to learn all the nuances of investing in real estate). I’ve been having the same idea for quite a long time, but haven’t taken any action yet.

Both of Cameron’s points (building a catalog and putting in context) are strong methods of establishing our brand as a musician. Thanks for the article Cam, now it’s time to actually put this into action!

Cheers,

Your post is well-written and spot on. I wanted to add that the multiple streams of income concept for a musician isn’t limited to only musical activities. While our desire as musicians is to focus solely on our craft, putting all our income eggs only in the music business basket is a risky move.

Just as you mention diversifying musical styles, diversifying income streams is equally important. Even though we artists prefer to focus solely on our craft, there are income streams out there that require little thought or focus on our part. With just a little thought and time, we can set ourselves up to make a full-time career of music without the risk of becoming a starving musician. For example, investing in real estate or another business that is managed by someone else can provide a steady monthly income while you continue to focus on your craft. In the event music sales dry up, you still have streams coming in from elsewhere.

The difference is in the type of business you’re running. A band is sort of like a partnership, where everybody profits and takes losses together. A solo artist, such as myself, gets to keep more of the profits, but also has extra expenses such as hiring sidemen.

I’d argue that the path is really no different. Meet me in the forum, I’ve got some other thoughts for you.

Thanks for your thoughts on monetizing original music. We’re going to give the iMix idea a try – even having a contest for our fans to make their own iMix containing one of our songs for a chance to win a gift certificate to iTunes. We don’t seem to have much success with online sales though, despite following some of the common advice and taking care of all the low-hanging fruit (making sure our iTunes, CDBaby, etc. is linked from everywhere).

Most of our sales come from shows with lots of people. Our T-shirts have also been really popular (we completely sold out our first run). Most bands I see just slap a logo on their T-shirts and expect people to buy it but ours is actually a 70′s cartoony superhero design that a lot of people find hilarious or endearing. Some people who don’t even care much for our music bought a shirt just cause they liked it.

I do think the path for the band is vastly different than the solo singer/songwriter – or at least typically so. The band costs a lot more money to support than one person living alone and it’s very difficult to dedicate yourself to the band full-time (playing frequent gigs, having time for rehearsal, writing new songs, promotions) while still giving fair attention to other projects and paying the bills.

Any money we make goes right back in to the band, along with our own personal funds.