9 Smart Ways You Can Make Money On YouTube With Your Music! (2019)

Today I´m going to talk about how to make money on YouTube with your music and get MORE out of every video you create.

Now, there are tons of different ways you can monetize an audience, specially in the music industry, you can promote your gigs, your next album, or even yourself as a brand, and that´s great.

But.

YouTube has its own way to get people to listen, engage, and earn money from, and that´s what I want to talk about, so let´s start!

1. Playlists Power

The first step is to take advantage of the power of playlists, let me tell you exactly how.

If you want to earn more from YouTube as a musician then you NEED to get more views, right?

Well, one of the easiest ways to do just that is by maximizing the time spent by every new viewer that clicks on your video.

The best part?

You can even make playlists that rank on YouTube!

Therefore, you´ll be able to get MORE views, rank better on the search engine, and take full advantage of every user by suggest more related content to watch after they´ve finished with the first video.

Plus! you can use the well-known strategy of “celebrity status”. Here´s how it works:

You create a playlist with high-quality videos from other musicians that have similar audience to yours and you simply slap in your video into the playlist! That´s it.

2. Cash In With Content ID

You´ve probably heard all about YouTube content ID system so I´m going to be brief.

This is another way both to protect your material as well as earn some extra cash by splinting ad revenue with those that make a cover of your songs or use your compositions in their videos in ANY way.

The YouTube Content ID system allows you to manage and monitor your content in the platform, block videos that use your stuff without permission, track their viewership, and yes, monetize their content or split the ad revenue.

Now, beare in mind that in order to be a copyright owner and be able to make claims about your contnet to other YouTubers you have to meet specific criterias.

So, if you want to learn more exactly how to do it then head over to YouTube Helps.

3. Earn MORE By Driving Views

Although YouTube is one of the most known ways to monetize a music career not many people learn how to maximize their earnings with it.

You know there are skippable, non-skippable, overlay, display, and a few other types of Ads, right?

Well, in case you don´t then let me tell you that you can use them better in order to increase your revenue, pretty much overnight.

Here´s how:

You can use the Cards feature to drive views to your other platforms, such as Spotify, Google Play, iTunes, etc.

I mean, if Luis Fonsi is doing, why shouldn´t you too?

This way you can easily double your earnings by taking full advantage of a simple (but yet effective) multiplatform strategy.

So, let your video run for a few more seconds, even if your song has ended, and make sure to put a card on it by using the YouTube Studio´s feature.

Caution! You should NEVER put an Ad in the middle of your video that could interrupt your listeners from enjoying your music.

4. Affiliate Marketing For Musicians

Another way of increasing your revenue as a musician on YouTube is by properly using affiliate marketing to recommend other´s people products and services.

You can find a ton of great examples of YouTubers that share their revenue from affiliate products, in fact, some of them make most of their money that way.

So, how can you do the same with your music channel?

That´s easy! You should try to find the most suitable option out there for your affiliate campaigns to make money and serve your veiwers as well.

Here´s how:

You can head over to Google and type strings like “keyword + affiliate program”, and that way you´ll be able to find if there´s any affiliate option for any product or service you want to recommend to your viewers.

Now, if you don´t know where to start then let me give you a quick list you might want to check out:

American Music Supply – Take in consideration that they take it down from time to time so you might check it out later if it´s not available right now. They´ll give you 6% commissions and the cookie (aka link from which you send the user) lasts for 60 days!
Virtual Sheet Music – This site receives over 20 thousand unique visits per day and is one of the most popular music sheet download sites out there. You´ll get a 30% commission and your cookie will endure for 30 days, more than enough to make your first sale!
Rocket Piano – If your viewers want to learn how to play piano then this is THE program to send them to. They´ve been around for more than 10 years now and have never stopped earning from their affiliates around the world. They offer 75% commission for every download of Rocket Piano and 25% for each hard copy edition purchase. In addition to that, the cookie will last for 3 full months!
Guitar Center – It is a great program for those who want to teach how to play guitar to others or just use one to play their own songs, people always look up to what instruments their idols use to play. You´ll earn 6% for each purchase and the cookie lasts two full weeks. They offer thousands of different products and ship to more than 100 countries.
Singorama- One of the most popular skills people want to master all over the world is singing. So, using that to your advantage and recommending a good program where they can learn. Affiliates will receive 70% of instant downloads and 40% of shipped media courses. Plus! the program also uses Clickbank so you can be sure you´ll get some sales.

Amazon Associates

Here´s another great place to get started if you are just starting out as a musician on YouTube.

Amazon converts cold leads into buyers every single day of the year, you´ll send people into one of the most successful platforms there are online.

So, if you want to show what instruments, mics, headphones, or even software you use then get into the Amazon program and start earning!

PRO TIP! You want to say that you are an affiliate both on your video and your description when using affiliate links. Nowadays YouTube is more and more agressive with this matter (trust me) and you don´t to be caught by the YouTube robots! 🤖

5. Grow Your Audience With SEO

If you are able to grow your audience you´ll grow your income. Period.

No matter how you do it that IS the point, and SEO can take you there if you know how to apply it to your music career on YouTube.

Now, in case you never heard of it, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is another way of saying that you can create content (whether that is a music video or an educational video) and make it discoverable for potential viewers.

I know I´ve talked about this before but that´s becuase it is such an important point to make.

So, here´s what to do to take advantage of SEO on YouTube:

You have to make searchable content. That means creating content that can actually be found online and that people are searching for.

If you do that you´ll get some exposure to some of your videos and you´ll make more money as a result.

TIP! You can even get to rank your entire channel, which will make your audience grow as nothing else can. Take a look at this example for the search term “Yoga“:

Yep, Adriene is certainly dominating the Yoga industry by simply putting the term in the name of her channel. THAT is the power of SEO.

6. Use Patreon… Effectively!

In case you don´t know what I´m talking about then let me tell you…

One of the latest ways that YouTubers have found great sucess with is through crowdfunding, which is a fancy way of saying that your fans support your work through monthly payments.

Now, Patreon itself is a membership site that allows you to create an account where you share more about yourself and your content, usually more exclusive type of videos, and where people pay to get access to.

So, here´s how you can use it… effectively!

First off, promote your Patreon account on your videos and make sure to drop the link in the description box.

Then, you should mention that if people want to get access to how you compose your songs, a daily vlog where you share your struggles or give a more intimate outlook at your life, or maybe you simply talk about how you make your YouTube videos then they would be interested in becoming your Patreon.

Finally, you want to show much appreciation and don´t oversell your Patreon account.

7. Get To The End Screen

It´s all about using YouTube the best way you can.

Whether is that you use annotations, cards, or you simply create a good-looking video in order to entertain your audience, YouTube can be such a powerful tool for any upcoming musician out there.

Now, one of the best ways to get the most out of your music channel is to aim for the first rankings in every search result and suggested feed you can.

So, how do you do that?

Simple! You MUST encourage veiwers to keep watching in order to increase your watch time, which is one of the key ranking factor YouTube monitors.

The more time your viewers watch of your videos the better you´ll rank. Period.

The best part?

Better rankings = more views and more opportunities to make money!

You can improve your watch time by using the End Screen feature, like this:

You should make it simple to catch their attention so that they click to watch another video. Plus! adding the subscribe button can be super useful.

8. Live Streams Pay Off

If you are a live performing musician and you want to literally (and digitally) get in front of your audience then Live Streams are for you.

They offer many advnatages for those who are corageous enough to get to the next level and engage with their fans live.

In fact.

YouTube itself tries to encourage creators to go live MORE. They even have a full course teaching you exactly how you can use live streaming to get your fans to engage with you.

Now, when it comes to making money through live streams there is a very specific way: Super Chatting.

The super chat is pretty much the most DIRECT way to make money on YouTube as a musician.

You can encourage viewers to add “tips” while you play your songs or converse with your audience, and that way the interaction gets to another level as Super Chats get highligthed and stay pinned in the ticker for a while.

In addition to this, YouTube promotes much more live streams than any other type of videos as they are highly effective to keep people on the platform, which is ultimately what YouTube wants.

9. Premium Memberships

Finally, you can also, once you´ve reached a certain level, offer exclusive content for your viewers in exchange for a paid membership.

That´s right! YouTube now offers the possiblity to add “extra” value to your audience, whether that is sharing more about yourself, upcoming music projects you have going on in the background, expert advice, etc.

The goal is to get people interested enough so that they pay for MORE exclusive videos that you can easily make for them.

You can earn “extra” cash by promoting your membership videos and give a sneak peak of what you actually offer to them.

It is basically an alternative way to Patreon by making money from your viewers through a membership program but keeping your fans on the platform.

Now, if you want to learn more about how this works then you might want to check out the Creator Academy course on “Ways to make money beyond ads“:

The Digital Hustler

How To Make Money On YouTube With Your Music