All musicians, big or small, need to look at their career and themselves individually as a brand and business, and as would be done in any business, they need to look at their income and expenditure as you would in an organization. Here is a very basic outline of the potential income streams for a musician:
– Concert performance fees – This is the bread and butter of any group or solo musician, the income from touring and live performances will far supplant anything that can be earned from record sales.
– Royaltiers – An income stream that, although not entirely substantial, will continue for years, long after the glory of a new hit has faded.
– Distribution channels – Look at the new and innovative distribution channels that have surfaced over the last few years such as online music sales, mobile phone ringing tones, streaming video and audio. You can also look at mechanical royalties, performance royalties, synchronization fees, sheet music sales, commercials and jingles income.
– Merchandising – Your real fans will want to own anything that has a connection to you, this is where merchandising comes in. These could be in the form of t-shirts, posters, mugs or anything else that can be branded and sold.
– Miscellaneous – artists can also look at other income sources such as investment income, product endorsements, book and/or video sales and multimedia product sales.