8 Steps to Turn Your Music Composition / Production Into a Money Making Business… Even If You’re Not Sure Where To Begin

Are you trying to turn your music into an income? Tired of all the generic advice out there? Then you'll likely get a lot from this.

I made this guide for the passionate but overwhelmed music producer / composer who is very serious about their craft, but currently feeling stuck.

If you are past the phase of wanting to “be famous” and you’re ready to build something realistic & sustainable from your music, this is especially for you.

The goal is to give you 8 practical steps that will lead to turning your music & skills into an actual income-producing business.

As an independent composer / producer who has earned income through placements & client work from my craft since 2013, I will be teaching you what I’ve observed works well.

Hope it helps you.

Step 1: Understand the opportunities.

You cannot hit a target that you cannot see. And this is the biggest reason why so many music producers are lost.

What do you ACTUALLY want from your music? It’s okay to not have a super clear vision… it comes with time… but at least have an understanding of your direction.

For example, what future situation inspires you?

• Composer for game developers?
• Ghost producer for DJs?
• Song producer / beatmaker for artists?
• Production music composer for TV?
• Composer for brand film?
• Artist with a loyal following?
• Educator with passionate, steady students?

What do you want? Pick a direction. (Yes, you can have more than 1, but for now focus on 1…)

Then move to step 2…

Step 2: Position yourself to build active and passive income sources.

For anyone serious, it only makes sense to build up your passive and active sources.

Active = Work you are doing for clients, for money now.

Passive = Work you are doing now, to hopefully earn money later.

In general, “Active” = client work and “Passive” = music licensing royalties or product sales.

For example:

You could be a video game composer offering custom soundtracks (active) and a stock audio store (passive) for game developers.

You could be a pop producer offering song production for artists (active) and beats on a store (passive.)

You could be a composer offering custom scores for brand films (active) and also work with music libraries for TV placement royalties (passive.)

You could be an artist who is selling tickets to events (digital or physical) (active) & royalties from streaming (passive.)

You could be a producer offering private lessons (active) & earning streaming income or income from a course (passive.)

What market will you be in? Who will you be serving? 

What do THEY want? 

Yes, I know. This can be a challenging thing to think about, especially when you are not used to this.

But being UNCLEAR ON THIS is ALSO why so many people endlessly struggle and just revert back to “I just want to make whatever I want and have someone else take care of the business side.”

But c’mon… that’s not realistic. And that’s not empowering. And if you DO do that, you will probably be taken advantage of, because if YOU don’t know what you want, how will THEY know how to help you?

Which leads us to the next step…

Step 3: Understand the metrics for what successful music sounds like based on your direction, and start “doing the work” now. 

Like any professional, if you want to grow & serve the world with your music, you need to understand how to do the work.

Wanna make video game music? Go grab footage from video games, and start writing.

Wanna produce for pop artists? Go grab acapellas, and start producing.

Wanna compose for brand films (aka Advertising)? Go grab some ads, and start composing.

Wanna be signed? Study the top artists of the label, and create your own version of that sound.

Listen to what the “top people” are doing… and take diligent notes, so you can borrow the same principles. 

If you want the work, you gotta do the work first.

Don’t lose yourself in this process though. 

Study hard. But don’t try to be someone you're not. 

Figure out how your unique voice blends into the best practices.

Show up every day for the craft.

Systematize your process so you finish what you start predictably. (I help my students with this.)

And create good work, that’s relevant for the direction you’ve picked.

Which leads up to the next step.

Step 4: Put together a simple website, demo reel and lead generation form. Consider making a free offer and giving it away to everyone who joins an email list.

Now that you have examples of your work that you have been doing, you should demonstrate your skills and work clearly, and give a way to contact you.

This is what your demo reel & website is for.

To make your demo reel, put together your best work, side by side, in a simple, but attractive way.

For example, visit elevate-audio.com to see our demo reel.

Depending on what’s on that site when you get there (we edit it time to time), you might notice we have more than one.

But you can start with one.

I recommend 3-6 pieces of work you are very proud of, and are a fit for the path you picked previously.

As for your website, you can use a Squarespace template and create a professional feeling site in less than an hour.

Make sure to put a lead generation / contact form on the page.

At minimum you want a clear statement of who you are and what you do, your demo reel, a short bio, and a contact form.

You can also consider creating an email list and a free giveaway. The key to this working is to think about what your potential clients are looking for, and give them a taste of it.

Here’s a few free giveaway examples to get your mind moving:

“9 free easily loopable tracks ready to drop into your game.”

“8 things to consider before hiring a music producer for your song.”

“5 free release-ready beats.”

"10 electronic production tips that improved my sound"

Then setup an “autoresponder” using a service like Mailchimp to send out your giveaway to everyone who enters their email.

Next, setup a series of 10-20+ emails that get sent out on a regular schedule that provide more value, and ask questions to build a relationship with the subscribers and create conversations.

Remember, ALL work comes from communication. You want to create human-centered emails that feel like you are writing directly to the person, and inviting conversation back to you.

Note: You do NOT have to make an email autoresponder or giveaway in the beginning. This is “bonus points” and can be something you grow into.

Once this is done, it’s time for the fun part…

Step 5: Set yourself up on the “marketplaces.”

Today there are many “marketplaces” where you can list your services.

For example:

fiverr.com

airgigs.com

soundbetter.com

freelancer.com

And there’s many more.

Personally, I’ve gotten clients from both Fiverr and Soundbetter.

Sometimes these clients go on to work with me for months or even years! 

I had one client who found me on Soundbetter who has literally been my consistent music client for over 5 years.

This one client has paid me thousands and thousands of dollars, all because I existed on that website and he was able to find me.

The trick with these marketplaces is that you CAN NOT RELY ON THEM AS YOUR ENTIRE STRATEGY.

You want to be there so you can “scoop up” any clients who happen to “stumble into you” there.

Why wouldn’t you want to be in a position for this to happen?

But if you ONLY rely on these marketplaces, you are putting your business OUT OF YOUR CONTROL and you may still struggle because of how inconsistent the clients might come.

And this brings us to the next step.

Step 6: Show up consistently SOMEWHERE. (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, etc.)

 As you keep “doing the work,” you need to share it. 

But not just the finished result. 

The process.

Ask yourself:

• What is one cool piece from what I’m working on that I can share in a clear, concise way? 
• What is one thing I learned from doing this?
• What is my favorite part about this?
• What is something I wish I did better?
• What is one thing that was unexpected about this?

Think of this process as an extension of your art, in a way that is telling your story, demonstrating your expertise, and just being a cool person sharing helpful stuff around what you love and do, in a way that can be entertaining or informative for others.

This becomes an unfair advantage if you do the above, but also in a way that would specifically be interesting to the people who you want to be hired by / work with.

Because…

Your content demonstrates your expertise. 

It shares your story. 

It helps people learn things they didn’t know before.

And people buy stuff from people they Know, Like and Trust.

Good content, created authentically from your ongoing music creation, does all of that.

Step 7: Connect with new people everyday in and around your market, in a way that is human, and service focused. 

This will build your “authentic opportunity network.” 

Strive to connect with the people who can use your work, given your direction.

Game composer? Go leave positivity on game dev profiles.

Pop producer? Go leave positivity on songwriters & artists profiles… also consider doing this on Labels profiles who represent artists that inspire you.

Production music composer for TV? Go leave positivity on profiles of Music Libraries.

Brand film composer? Go leave positivity in the posts and DMs of video production agencies.

You are not doing this with the intention to “sell.” You are doing this with the intention to “seed relationships.” 

I think one of the best ways to view social media is like some event where everyone is showing up with name-tags. 

It’s a little awkward, but a lot of people are really cool. 

And just like in a meetup, you probably shouldn’t run up to strangers and shout “HI I CAN DO WORK FOR YOU” or “HI LISTEN TO MY SONG!”

We all know what happens to messages like that… instant delete.

To succeed, we need to be smarter than that. 

We need to be interested in planting the seeds to real relationships, with real people, who by you reaching out, can learn about who you are, and what you do… and you can learn the same about them.

Because in life, opportunities don’t just “happen…” 

They come from people.

So if we consistently connect with more people, in a service-oriented way, with a clear profile that showcases our story, process and work… 

It’s just inevitable that we will begin to “get lucky.”

Depending on your path, this can be extra effective when combined with smart cold emailing.

For example, if you’re going for the pop producer route, you can also consider reaching out to labels asking about what they look for in a producer (and of course link back to your social media and demo reel.)

Or if you’re going for brand film, find creative agencies or production music houses and email them and ask if they ever need custom music, and link to your demo reel.

Or if you’re going for game developers, find their websites and reach out and ask what they look for in a music composer or sound designer… and of course link back to your demo reel.

Remember, everything comes from your connection to someone. 

NOTE: If right now you’re thinking “Yeah, but what about all those gurus telling me about paid advertising? Or just making a huge social media account and getting people into a complicated marketing funnel? "

I invite you to think deeply about this… ALL OF THAT is just making connections with people.

So again… ALL opportunity comes from your connection to someone. There’s no avoiding it.

Because to profit you MUST be providing value to someone else. Period. 

(Unless you’re a scammer. In which case you are setting yourself up for a terrible life and terrible karma.)

Don’t shy away from this… embrace it.

Step 8: As you start to get opportunities, be professional, be a problem solver, and create work so good you can use it to get more work, and create client experiences so smooth they want to tell all their friends about you.

If you keep following steps 6 and 7, you will inevitably stumble into opportunity. (Share your work and network with more people.)

And when opportunity comes, seize it. Don’t drag your feet. Make it count.

This is the work you can use to kickstart further growth. 

Repurpose your finished work into more social media posts… into your demo reel on your website to pull in future clients and showcase your process…

You know the saying - “work breeds work.”

And don’t get egotistical about it! You are here to SERVE with your musical gifts.

If you have successfully followed these 8 steps, you will now be in an upward cycle of inevitable growth.

Opportunities will come. Your music will improve. Your confidence will grow. Your future trajectory will transform.

Turn the process of creating, sharing & networking into a habit, and your life will be changed.

It can be as simple as this.

If you are serious about your craft… just do this. 

This is “THE WORK.”

If you are inspired by these 8 steps, but want a little help, reach out to me and we’ll brainstorm a plan for your music.

Reach out here:

[email protected]

I hope you got value from this!