This article was written by Brian Casel on Serve the Song.
It’s a question that so many songwriters that are just starting out will ask themselves: “Should I sell my music or give it away for free?” You may be thinking, why would you give it away?! If you want to make music your career, then you need to make music make you money! True. That is certainly the long-term goal of many songwriters. But is charging a buck per song from the very beginning always the best way to acheive this goal?
When you’re on your very first EP or demo release, and you’re an unknown fish in a sea of gigging artists and bands, your goal might have a bit of a twist: Get your music heard and appreciated by as many people as possible. Maybe charging for your music is not the fastest way to acheive this goal.
But what about all of the hard work you put into writing, recording, and performing your music? Do you not deserve to be compensated for this effort? I say you absolutely do. But the harsh reality is that only a lucky few ever reach a level of success that brings in real money from selling your music. Furthermore, this is the wrong thing to be focusing on.
Focus on your passion. It’s the reason you create music in the first place. It’s the reason your music is good. It’s the reason your music is appreciated. I say set your music free by spreading it to as many mp3 sharing listeners as possible. If your songs touch people’s souls, and you work hard to grow your fanbase and churn out more music, monetary success will come.
There other ways to keep your musical career afloat financially while you work to advance your career. Drawing crowds at your live shows will earn you some cash. Touring outside of your local scene has the potential to pay even better (although touring does have many expenses to consider). Selling merchandise at shows and through your website is another way to monetize your musical endeavor. But these methods will earn you nothing unless you have a growing fan base that is hungry for your goods.
Give the people what they want. Free music that they can share with their friends.
Consider option 1: A first-time visitor to your website or Myspace page is absolutely floored by the streaming audio preview of your song. They want the mp3 for their ipod, but it requires purchasing with a credit card. Sure it’s cheap, but it requires getting out the plastic, typing in the credit card number, expiration, blah blah blah… “oh forget it, I’ll do this later” they think to themselves. They forget to do it later. You lost a potential fan.
Consider option 2: A first-time visitor adores your music and clicks to download the free mp3. They throw it on their ipod, jam to it in their car, and play plugs your name or band to their friend. The friend checks you out on the web and is not quite as sold on your sound as the first person was, but takes the trusted recommendation for what it’s worth and downloads the mp3 anyway. After a week of listening they’re converted. And they email your web link to a 3rd friend…
What do you think? Is music for free the only option for budding artists in today’s music industry?
