6 ways artist can make money during a pandemic
Nowadays we might all be in panic. I am looking at my festivals and they have all taken a hit as of yesterday. Coachella, SXSW, Reggae Rise Up and many more. Now the jokes and memes have become less and the reality of making less money is more. We’d like to all figure out that even thought massive bands who sell tickets and WMEs and CAA’s are dealing with losing millions, now is a great time for DIY bands and acts who sell under 250 tickets (or even 50 tickets) to thrive. Now is. time the big bands might be forced to do small shows too.
Here are some things I plan to do.
1. DIY House show for 10. – $100 gigs are not the most epic but they are still coming to a pull. Imagine doing small intimate shows as such and creating a tour of house concerts. You can still manage to do this all across the world. Merch sales will be strong. I just had a SOFAR Sounds show scheduled tonight…but it was cancelled. Check DIY City groups (on Facebook) and there are usually places to find and play. You can’t quarantine a house concert.
2. Online lessons – Have you ever taught voice lessons? Have you taught anything ever? $40 to $50 online is nice and even $25. Find yourself your fans as all the kids are home from school. Now is a time to do it!! Dive in and figure it out. You are good at what you do. You can atleast make an extra $300 a month doing this. Rap lessons. Song lessons. Writing lessons.
3. Minimalism – I have vintage and I have old merch. I have old stage outfits. Custom made things are awesome. I am planning on selling it all. I keep finding in the crevices of my boxes in the closet.. Bring it out all and begin. To sell it. There is tons of shit that you don’t need. Now is the time to launch custom crazy sales. Have no fear in selling. Get rid of it and use the extra cash. Create content from it.
4. Patreon and Podcast – Now is the time to launch your Patreon or podcast (like hustle beach) . This enables you to get a monthly paycheck. Acts like Southern Avenue who have had their tour cancelled have gotten it. I have one launched as well. Wanna see how the world capitalizes on small sponsorships and zooming on their fans? Trust me. You better do it now while people are suddenly caring. Some people have real jobs that still pay them. Many Like myself do not, but I do know that everyone needs entertainment. Everyone wants to know how others will survive. We are all glued to the internet. My patreon will show you all of SXSW remains. We need to create community in times like this and here is our chance!
5. Release new music – Don’t be afraid to listen to new music. So much is direct to consider right now that you will be the person. Give your people new excitement while sitting thru this. You have tons of unreleased new music. Put some up! I have a new song out today with Matisyahu. We can’t always plan things. Jay Electronica finally released music too. Lol.
6. Stage IT – live streaming concerts – Why not take a chance and do a online concert? They are currently upping their tickets to 80% of what you are selling during this time. Get 50 of your fans to check you out!! 10 bucks each? $400 right there! If you can’t use that….feel free to try youtube live and use donations or literally setting up your own DIY live stream and asking people to pay you via venmo / PayPal / Cashapp etc.
Kosha Dillz is a rapper that flew in from Israel to do OY VEY SXSW and is still headed to Austin even though it is cancelled He is still going and he wrote about it for Variety. He has a podcast and a patreon and a new song with that came out today. Reach out to him on twitter or rapperfriends at gmail dot com
