By Julia Kater of Bandzoogle
As a beginner musician, your best bet to make money is likely playing live shows and cover gigs. But once you start to build a following, you can turn that interest from fans into online revenue. And here’s the good news: you don’t need a massive audience to get started. Even a small, engaged fanbase can generate meaningful income when you’re selling directly to them.
The dream is to make money while doing something you love, and that you’re good at. Your own professional artist website is the first place you should be making money from your music online.
There are several ways to make money commission-free with your website. We’ve outlined a few different ways you can make money online from your music, so see which ones might suit your time and abilities:
- Make money with merch
- Digital music sales
- Make your music available for streaming
- Sell tickets to shows
- Collect virtual tips
- Collect earnings for live stream shows
- Monetize your YouTube channel
- Offer fan subscriptions
- Monetize your music on social media and TikTok
- License your music
- Remote session work
- Teach music lessons online
- Finance your next project through crowdfunding
1. Make money with merch
The most lucrative online income stream for musicians in the past few years here at Bandzoogle has been band merch sales. In 2025, Bandzoogle members generated over $7 million dollars in merch sales through their websites, with all of that money going directly to them. Bandzoogle doesn’t take a commission on sales, so you keep all 100% of the earnings you generate through merch sales on your website.
Popular merch items include CDs, vinyl, T-shirts, and other wearables, as well as digital items like videos and sheet music. T-shirts and other wearables tend to generate the highest margins, while bundles that pair physical items with digital downloads often drive higher average order values. If you’re just getting started, consider launching with a single well-designed T-shirt or hoodie to test demand before expanding your offerings. If you’re not already selling band merch through your website, it’s time to try it out!
2. Digital music sales
Fans like to support their favorite bands directly. Selling your music online right from your own website is an excellent way to make the most of that interest. When fans buy directly from your site, more of each sale ends up in your pocket compared to purchases through third-party retailers who take a cut. Also be sure to release music from your website directly, letting your fans know that sales made there are commission-free and go straight to you.
Distributing your music to major online retailers like Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music can also provide your fans a convenient way to buy your music online if they already have accounts with those online retailers. DistroKid is a great way to distribute your music to online retailers, and is 10-20x faster than any other digital distributor.
3. Make your music available for streaming
The vast majority of listening is happening on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. This means that making your songs available on these platforms is essential to reaching your current fans, as well as gaining potential new fans.
While streaming earnings are usually measured in fractions of pennies per stream, they can add up over time. As a rough benchmark, Spotify pays around $3 to $5 per 1,000 streams, though rates vary based on listener location and subscription type. You want to give your fans every opportunity to support your career, which includes having your music available to stream when they search for it, while directing your most engaged listeners back to your website for direct purchases.
4. Sell tickets to shows
Whether you’re putting on your own show or want to collaborate with a venue to sell tickets, make use of your website to sell tickets commission-free to your fans. You can promote ticket sales to shows through your built-in email newsletters, making sure you get a decent turnout. You can also easily generate links for events posted on your website, making it easy for your fans to share the purchase link for your upcoming show.
5. Collect virtual tips
Another commission-free way to earn income is by adding a virtual tip jar to your music website. You can rely on fans to send tips as they please, or to give this a boost, offer a live stream concert from time to time.
On Facebook Live and Instagram Live, this can be as simple as sharing your PayPal.Me link, Venmo username, or providing a website link to your viewers. TikTok Live Gifts offer another way for fans to tip you in real-time during streams. You can mention your tip jar during live shows, and this is especially effective when you’re playing for free.
6. Collect earnings for live stream shows
If you’re regularly doing live stream shows, you may be able to collect earnings for your performances. Check with your PRO (Performing Rights Organization) to see if you can submit the show’s information and set list to receive payment. Your PROs might include ASCAP in the US, PRS For Music in the UK, and SOCAN in Canada.
7. Monetize your YouTube channel
The first step to monetizing your YouTube channel is to upload all of your music to your channel. If you distribute your work to YouTube via a distribution service like DistroKid, they send your work to YouTube Music. Following that, a monetized play happens when YouTube displays an ad on the video, or when a YouTube Music paying subscriber streams your track.
When you distribute through DistroKid, your music is also registered with YouTube’s Content ID system. This means if someone else uses your song in their video, you can earn a share of the ad revenue from that video. Ad-supported plays on regular YouTube videos typically generate lower per-stream earnings than plays from YouTube Premium subscribers, but both contribute to your overall earnings from the platform.
8. Offer fan subscriptions
Fan subscriptions have emerged as a reliable source of recurring revenue online. Subscriptions (sometimes referred to as fan memberships) give your most loyal fans access to exclusive recordings, performances, videos, merch, and other perks in exchange for a small monthly contribution. And you can sell fan subscriptions directly from your artist website, commission-free.
Most musicians price subscriptions between $3 and $10 per month, depending on what’s included. Content that works well for subscribers includes early access to new releases, behind-the-scenes videos, and exclusive acoustic versions of songs. As part of offering subscriptions, you’ll want to consistently release new content and rewards. This is an excellent way to form deeper relationships with your fans, and generate recurring revenue at the same time.
9. Monetize your music on social media and TikTok
Another source of online revenue for musicians is making money when your music is used in videos on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. If you distribute music with DistroKid, for example, you can earn money when it’s included in a video by a TikTok user.
On TikTok specifically, earnings come from the Commercial Music Library, where your song becomes available for creators to use in their content. When videos featuring your track perform well, you receive a portion of the platform’s music earnings pool. The more your sound is used and the more those videos are viewed, the more you can potentially earn.
10. License your music
Getting your songs placed in films, television shows, and ads is easier said than done, but even one placement could be a game changer for your music career. Some musicians earn most or all of their income from licensing alone.
Connecting with the right music supervisor with the right song at the right time certainly involves some luck, but there are a few things you can do to set yourself up for music licensing success.
11. Remote session work
Remote collaboration has become the norm for working musicians. As a result, more musicians are now set up to independently record and produce session work than ever before, and artists are hiring musicians from around the world to contribute to their latest tracks.
Recording music remotely can be a great source of revenue for indie artists, on their own schedule. See these tips to get started: Remote production for indie artists.
12. Teach music lessons online
Over the last few years, many musicians found an extra revenue stream by teaching their instrument online to their fans.
Whether through Zoom or recorded video lessons, teaching music lessons can be a great way to generate additional income. You can even take it a step further and sell video lessons, sheet music, and more using fan subscriptions, or by providing these items for purchase directly in your website’s music store.
13. Finance your next project through crowdfunding
If you have a growing and supportive fanbase, crowdfunding can be a great way to generate revenue to help cover the costs of your next project.
The key to successful crowdfunding is to build excitement with your most engaged fans by showing them what’s behind the curtain and inviting them into your creative process. You can generate creative ways to reward them for their support, from offering customized small gifts to providing your contributors early access to your releases.
Final thoughts
It’s not advisable to throw yourself into trying everything at once. Start by trying to build out a couple of these revenue streams that appeal to you, and see if you’re enjoying the process.
Then do more of what works for you! Making money with music online can be a lucrative (and diverse) revenue stream. It may provide exactly the support you need to continue performing live while focusing on building yourself a sustainable music career.
For more ideas, be sure to check out Bandzoogle's list of 18 ways to make money as a musician and 17 ways to promote your music online.
