It might be a good idea to give your music away for free

What?! But that’s crazy!

You’re right, it is crazy, if you’re a well-established artist.

But for those who are hardly known or just starting out giving your music away is the way to go.

Keep in mind, I’m talking about giving digital downloads away for free, not expensive CDs.

I’ll explain to you why.

Are you really making that much money anyway?

According to Tunecore indie artists make less than minimum wage per month.

Sure, maybe when you launch your new EP a few hardcore fans will pick up a copy, but after that is there anything?

Is throwing away a countless number of potential fans really worth the Starbucks coffee you bought with the 12 dollars you made on your music this month?

Definitely not.

Why would someone buy music from an artist they don’t know?

If I’ve never heard of your band before and you’re asking me to buy your album there is a 100 percent chance that I will not buy your album.

How can I spend 10 dollars on something I don’t even know if I like?

And there’s the problem. People don’t buy something unless they like it.

And to like it, what do you have to do? Listen to it. How can they listen to it if you want them to buy it first? They can’t.

If you give your music away for free people can now listen to it and decide if they like it.

And if they like it you just got yourself a new fan.

If I give my music away for free, how can I make any money?

Getting more people to listen to your music means more potential fans.

That means you can get more people to come out to your shows where you can sell them your merch.

Just because your music is free doesn’t mean you can’t also sell it. Print 100 or so physical copies and bring them to your shows and sell them at your merch table. When you run out print 100 more.

You can also still sell music digitally. Bandcamp is incredible for this, allowing fans to name their price. Meaning they could snag it for free, or pay 10+ dollars for it.

Let’s put all this into perspective

You can’t be a successful band without fans and by putting them behind a paywall you are hindering your band’s success.

By giving your music away for free you are gaining far more potential fans than you would have making them purchase it.

More fans means more people to buy t-shirts, hoodies, posters, CDs, etc… and more people coming out to your shows.

All good things.

Psst… Here’s a tip

On some sites, including your own if you have one, you can give your music away for free in exchange for an email address.

Doing this on your own site is best because you can use Mailchimp to keep track of all your fan’s emails.

Other sites like Bandcamp and some Facebook apps allow you to grab fan’s emails when they download songs.

Having a personal contact with all your fans is huge, especially when trying to make money.

Now you can email your fans whenever you release a new song, new merch, playing a show, etc…

Personally, I’d recommend building up your brand before you try to make any cash with your music.

Let’s finish this article up!

Share this with your bandmates and tell me what they thought by leaving a comment below.

YEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!