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How to make money as a struggling musician?

When you are traveling, trying to get noticed, what are some ways to make money on the road? I am planning to travel the country with a friend of mine and I was wondering what could work for money making while away from home.

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8 Responses to “How to make money as a struggling musician?”

  1. mr pickle said :

    E-mail ahead to coffee shops on your route and let them know you are coming to town! Also, playing on the street corner can bring in tax free tips.

  2. 60187guy said :

    You could also try to get “free exposure” at sandwich shops, book stores and college taverns in exchange for food and beverage.

  3. Ed Atun said :

    Call the local tv stations in every city you visit. Ask if you can appear on their morning show at 6am and play. THey need entertainment at that hour.
    Call all the local rock radio shows, too. They always have room for a musician or two.
    They hope that you get discovered..

  4. lilblackdress said :

    In addition to calling places ahead and trying to get gigs, you can sell band merchandise at cafe press and downloads at Broadjam and itunes.

    If you have a computer you can start up a small business online.
    You can do affiliate marketing, take legitimate surveys for cash and oher income producing activities. Check out my earn at home website, listed in resources for ideas.

  5. ♠Tøø§lim♠ said :

    Idk if u have a computer to use but you can make easy money online by filling out surveys and trying products. i do it and make about $800-$1200 extra a month
    click here for more info

    http://makesomemoneyonline.weebly.com/

  6. Allen F said :

    Hi Kaitee!

    I’m a musician myself and also a professional flea market dealer. Hopefully you also sing?

    Here’s a way to pick up some extra cash during the day on weekends: flea markets and swap meets! Seriously! Space rent starts at, like, $5 per day, the other vendors at the market will attract customers for you and you could literally have ten thousand people pass by in a day at the larger markets. (And the other vendors will enjoy the live music and the crowd that it attracts. Just have fun and keep smiling while you play!)

    You can make money in a couple different ways: by opening your guitar or violin case and setting it on the ground in front of you for tips (throw a bit of change in it to give people the idea, they’re not always on the ball…), then simply stand there and play your music, or

    If you have your own CDs, you can set up a card table and sell your music. People can get a taste by listening to you play.

    I came across a fiddle player who had made his own CDs on a laptop at home. He set up a cardtable with a small boombox on it and played his CDs right there, sometimes playing along with it. He even had his picture on the CD cases to show people that that was really him! He was selling them for $10 each (I thought that was a little low) and sold maybe ten or fifteen each day and that was at a small country flea market. (He played country religious songs, nice slow stuff that the older folks like, and he didn’t even sing.) Imagine what you could earn at the larger markets!

    That’s gas money, most of it in cash! (Accept personal checks only if you feel like it, because you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Most flea markets and swap meets have an ATM in the office for those who run short on cash.)

    Traveling with someone, you can both play together in the same space or you could each have your own space, one here and the other one on the other side of the market and you could both make money. A lot of married couples will do that, each have their own booth and double their income.

    Every time you sell a CD, be sure to also include a small advertisement for any other CDs you may have but don’t have with you. That way you could begin making money through mailorder.

    And it’s also good to begin building an email list. What do I mean? Get the name and email address of your buyers. (To do that, tell them you’ll keep them up to date on the latest info about you or create a contest for a free CD. If you want, you can let anyone sign up for it, not just your buyers, but make sure you keep a list of the people who bought, not the freebie seekers.)

    Once you have their email address you’ll be able to stay in touch by email, like once or twice a month send them an email letting them know about your latest music, where you will be playing and the dates when you go on tour, etc. (It’s important to stay in touch so they remember your name. Who knows? One of them might know somebody, who knows somebody in the business, you know how that could go.) You could create a fan website about you and your band, let people learn more about you, find out the latest, where you are, where you’re going next, etc.

    If you tour, be sure to hit those cities and towns where you sold CDs at the markets! People will already know your music and will want to hear more, especially live.

    See? Flea markets and swap meets can actually get you some much needed exposure, especially with the crowd that doesn’t normally hit the clubs and coffeeshops. It’s a method that most musicians completely overlook.

    To make your space look nicer, bring a carpet to spread out and don’t forget something to sit on.

    You can also make a respectable income while traveling by selling at flea markets and swap meets as a good sideline to your music career. I am a professional vendor and only sell at flea markets and swap meets. I travel coast to coast all the time, on the road 24/7/365 because I like ‘life on the road’. I buy brand new mechandise from wholesale companies and sell them at flea markets, doubling and tripling my investment, and getting paid in cash, too.

    I tow an enclosed trailer, which is where I keep my flea market business. If you have something to sell, you can literally work your way across the country any time you want.

    To learn more, check out the Source url below.

    Hope this gives you some ideas, Kaitee! Good luck!

  7. Maryann said :

    Visit my blog for hundreds of money making ideas!
    http://makesomeextracashnow.blogspot.com/

  8. Brandy said :

    Try out this website http://website.ws/brandy7142

    After you join, and work at it,(a hour or so a day) the website basically does the rest itself. There are millions of people that make hundreds and thousands a week doing this. This is truely the best online work available out there. Give it a try.




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