It’s the dream of every musician to scrape every penny that comes from their music. So, the thought of giving some of their music away for free could be scary. As a musician, especially an upcoming one, a lot of production and writing efforts goes into your work, and you would really appreciate getting some bucks off your sweat. However, you should not cringe on giving away some of your songs for free download, particularly if you need to get many fans. The moment your name has picked to the level of getting nominated for music awards, you can now commercialize all your music.
Putting a price tag on your music early can deny you a following. You see, free music gives many people a chance to listen to your artistic work at no cost at all. No one is willing to shelve out money for an unknown artist because they don’t know if they’ll dance to your tunes. But when you make it free, they will listen to your music, like it and tag along as they wait for your new album.
Making your music free for download is actually one of the best advertising methods for a musician. Let’s see why it is essential to have some of your music free for download.
Benefits Of Giving Away Some Of Your Songs For Free
1. The audience gets a chance to taste what you offer.
Movies provide trailers, television offer pilots, and industries, on the other hand, provide (food) samples. Music is not any different. Samples give customers a sneak peek into what you offer to judge whether it’s suitable for them or not. If they like your music, they will scour through the internet resource for more.
2. Bloggers will access your music.
Bloggers are marketers, and they have a wide following. When you provide a blogger with a link to stream your music, he can review it and share it on his blog, email lists, and social media sites for his followers to listen to it. This gives many people access to your music.
3. You get more sells.
Truth be told, it’s pretty hard for a budding musician to make money through selling their albums. The music industry has undergone rapid changes and how you make money doesn’t solely depend on selling your music. If you make some of your music available for free, you get a following, and these people will show up during your tour to buy more of your products.
4. Your music won’t be free forever.
This is not an advantage but something to motivate you. Making your music free for streaming or downloading doesn’t have to be forever. You can put a limited time on it to allow people to listen and direct other folks to taste it too. As the time ticks towards the end, the sense of urgency will make many folks visit your links which further promotes your work.
If you don’t feel like giving away your songs for free, there is still a way you can go about it. Give the audience a chance to buy your music with whatever they can. This is a kind of an “honor system” that makes people more inclined to buy from you, even those that shy away from price tags. Don’t be surprised when this method pays you more than when you would have attached a price to your albums.
Giving away your songs for free should never make you cringe. There are advantages attached to it. If there is any consolation, there are still many other ways you can generate income from your music rather than attaching a price to them. The common ones include playing on shows, licensing your songs, music publishing and merchandise sales (shirts, Can Koozies or cozies and posters with your photo on it).
Your Turn to Sound Off!
Have you ever given any of your music for free? What were the results?
Let us know in the comment section below!
