Waylon Barnes is the founder & CEO of C2 Management, a global music marketing agency for independent artists and labels.
Return on investment: the three words every artist ponders when investing hard-earned money into promoting music, and for good reason. For most tangible things, ROI is quite simple to measure, but for music, you’re comparing apples to oranges. Understanding ROI is paramount to making good on your investment in your musical career, so let me clear it all up for you.
Indirect Income Makes Music Most Profitable
Contrary to popular belief, music is not as directly profitable as it once was. In today’s world, attention is the biggest commodity for any business, and art is no exception. The ancillary revenue streams that attention to your music brings are your golden ticket. Most independent musicians find their biggest opportunities in these indirect returns.
I recommend concentrating on getting music placements in movies and television, striking up brand deals, merchandising, and, fingers crossed, live performances. The attention will be well worth it. But first, you need to make some noise by marketing, and marketing well.
Your Numbers Are Your Resume
Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Apple Music, X, Facebook, Amazon Music … the list goes on. These days, your social proof is your resume. And for good reason: It supports the value proposition you’ll need to get the gig.
How can the theme song for the next hot Netflix series be yours if users on any social media platform won’t use your sound? Or how is it possible to open for the biggest act in your genre when you can’t demonstrate an active fan base on streaming platforms? Will that promoter trust you to sell tickets when you can’t garner enough streams for credibility? Or what about brands? Will they feel you have enough attention to bring in sales for their next product?
It seems grim, I know, but your followers, streams and views tell a story of an artist who is either in demand or not. The money will follow accordingly.
Marketing Is A Tool, Not The Whole Solution
So, you’ve invested in a marketing agency, and your music is the best you’ve ever made. Sounds like you’re done, right? Wrong.
As attention pours in, make the best of the hot iron and strike. Now is not the time to kick off your shoes and relax. It’s time to sharpen the other tools in the shed while the spotlight is on you.
Be prolific on social media, actively seek out sync briefs, network with the folks who’ve been on the back burner and tell everyone you can about your successes and your project, because if you aren’t going to talk about it, they certainly won’t.
You Have To Put In The Work, Or No One Else Will
People want to be part of something bigger. They want to be inspired, and they want to feel their work makes a difference. Contributing to others and finding a place within your community are the keys on the path to happiness, but there is an obvious obstacle to attracting people into your own community: you.
Leading by example and working hard shows that you value your own community. If you aren’t working hard enough, people will notice, and let’s face it, they’ll probably doubt that being in your community will lead to something bigger.
There are only 24 hours in a day, and part of maximizing your ROI is having a motivated team around you that will also maximize their time. That starts with you. Motivate them with your dedication. No one is going to work harder for your career than you, and hard work in itself tends to encourage others to do the same.
There’s No Direct Path To ROI
Please note that this isn’t the holy grail to ROI in music. There’s no one direct path to being profitable; you can only take suggestions from those who’ve seen it or experienced it (if you’re lucky enough to get their two cents).
If you make efforts to market your music properly, you can demonstrate the social proof and credibility needed to open up ancillary opportunities for you to earn revenue. This newfound social proof will also provide plenty of opportunities to attract the right team members and make the best of the attention to finally make your dream profitable.
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