Last updated on January 12th, 2025 at 09:48 pm
Yes… I made some money doing this (stick around till the end to find out how much 😁).
About a year ago I was reading an article on the internet. I’ve always been a fan of reading CNBC Make It, so when I saw this article on my news feed, I figured, “eh, I have a few minutes… why not?” The title, 26-year-old brings in $33,000 a year from 2-minute side hustle that cost next to nothing to start, was a bit click-baity, but, once I started reading, I became more intrigued. There was nothing in the article about how to publish a music album, but I wondered how hard it would be to go through Michael Turner’s process. After all, I knew my way around a DAW, and, ever since my earliest study binges in college, I’ve been a fan of lo-fi music, so I decided to give it a shot.
I’ve made plenty of songs, but I’ve always fallen into analysis paralysis before the release phase. The solo on the guitar wasn’t good enough. The piano was too loud. There was a slight hiss in the microphone recording, and I could NEVER FIND THE RIGHT FREQUENCY to cut out with my EQ plugin! It was somewhat frustrating. However, producing lofi music eliminated all of those concerns. The whole idea behind lofi (low fidelity) music is that it is supposed to be short, simple, and raw. There’s not supposed to be a lot of processing and time put into it.
A finished lo-fi song is supposed to serve as background music for various activities, such as studying, working, or simply unwinding after a long day. It has a unique ability to evoke emotions and set the mood. Whether you want to create a sense of nostalgia, calmness, or reflection, lo-fi’s melodic elements and soothing rhythms allow for that. And the fact that people use them to study, and sleep means they loop the songs, which racks up your listening time on your tracks and potential earnings. They take mere minutes to make as well. So, I sat down that night and made a couple. Still, my OCD started to act up. The drums weren’t right. The tempo was too slow. Besides, lo-fi was a saturated market. There was no point. So, I stored those songs away on some nondescript folder in the corner of my hard drive and set the whole idea on the back burner.
Then, a few days ago, Google Labs dropped MusicFX. AI music generation was now at my fingertips for the low price of free! The idea sparked in my head. What happens if I generate a lo-fi track? After all, they are so simple surely even artificial intelligence could generate a passable song snippet right? I could then load that sample into my DAW and modify, expand, and tweak it. Then I could wash, rinse, and repeat until I had an album!
I’ve put together an extensive document with a step-by-step guide you can get for FREE if you want to replicate the process. Get it below👇👇!
Then it’s all yours 😁. Okay, the general overview for setting it up goes something like this:
- I signed up for an account with LANDR Music Distribution.
- I generated AI lo-fi music using some free software online (MusicFX and Suno).
- I used Canva to create album covers and art.
- I released the music on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple, etc.
Simple in theory, but a little bit harder in practice. There are a couple of key things that you need to consider if you want to make this a successful venture.
ThemING
It’s not enough to just submit a bunch of AI-generated garbage into the void. You have to have a theme to engage the listener to continue to listen to the album. There needs to be some sort of synergy that you can build album recognition and branding around. You can do this a few different ways.
- Album Art
- Song Names
- Track Order
A good way to go about this is to think of each album that you release as a story. For instance, if I were going to create a standard jazz album, comprised of jazz love songs, I might have the cover be a silhouette of a man and woman embracing, with roses and candles and a sax or something in the frame. I don’t know. I’m just riffing right now (no pun intended)
After the cover, you want the song names and the right track order. It needs to stick, and it needs to perpetuate the story’s progression. If I were doing a 6-track EP, I might use alliteration to help it stick, and the theme and mode of each might be slightly different to aid in moving the listener through the progression. Probably something like the below:
- Mystic Meeting
- The story begins with the serendipitous encounter of two strangers. The song captures the magic and uncertainty of that first meeting.
- Fluttering Feelings
- This song explores the initial stages of their relationship, marked by the excitement and nervousness of new love. The lyrics delve into the butterflies in their stomachs and the joy of discovery.
- Blossoming Bond
- Here, the love deepens. The song celebrates the growth of their connection, the commitments made, and the shared dreams. It’s about the peak of their love, where everything seems perfect.
- Drifting Dreams
- The narrative takes a turn as the couple begins to feel the strain of distance or differing life paths. This track is about the slow realization that their dreams might not align, causing a subtle drift apart.
- Waning Warmth
- The love starts to cool; the warmth they once shared fades. This song conveys the sadness of love diminishing, the talks that grow fewer, and the moments that become less sweet.
- Broken Bonds
- The final chapter. The relationship ends, and this song encapsulates the heartbreak, the acceptance, and the hope for healing. It’s a melancholic farewell to what once was a beautiful love story.
Reach
The reason that Michael Turner was able to succeed in this side hustle was because he already had reach. He was an established musician who already had an official fan base. Therefore, they knew his music and knew to look him up. That’s the hardest part of this entire venture. If you don’t have the name recognition, you’re going to have to do some advertising work to get your music out in front of an audience.
There are a couple of ways that you can go about doing this. Obviously, you could run ads on Spotify, Pandora, etc., but if you’re trying to keep costs to a minimum you have to be a bit more creative than that.
The easiest way to advertise (other than word of mouth) is to use social media reach. I recommend setting up an Instagram, X, Soundcloud, TikTok, YouTube, etc. as an artist account.
- Comment on posts and reels in the same genre of music you’re targeting.
- Drop likes and hearts left and right. Spread positivity.
- Have a Linktree set up in your bio to point people to your music pages on all the music apps. (Here’s mine 😁)
- DM other artists in the same genre, asking for collabs.
- DON’T ask for unwarranted shout-outs or given lazy pitches to listen to your music. No one cares that much.
Time
LANDR pays out monthly, but it takes up to 3 months to receive royalties from the various streaming services. So, if you’re trying to put together some quick cash for a night out this upcoming weekend, you will be entirely out of luck.
That said, if you have some time on your hands, and you just want the money to dribble in, then this shouldn’t be an issue. This time frame is industry standard, so regardless of which service you use (LANDR, DistroKid, CD Baby, etc.) you’ll have this wait.
Taxes
Before you can withdraw money, you have to fill out tax information (Uncle Sam always gets his cut lol). This is a bit of a hassle, but you must do this if you plan on making any real money from this side gig. At the end of the year, you’ll get forms to submit when you file your taxes. This just makes sure that you’re on the up and up when it comes to how you’re using your money.
How much I made (and was it worth it?)
To date, I’ve made $53.46. Yep. That’s a far cry from $33,000 a year right 😆?
Below, I’ve included just some of my tracks that have been generating moolah while I sleep.
As you can see, because this is LANDR, I keep 100% of my recording shares, so that’s pretty nice. I could easily see where this could be scalable as an artist to gain some traction. That said, I’ve been unsuccessful in my venture to acquire this buzz. With the ease of publishing in the digital space, there are around 100,000 new tracks added daily, so I can see where it’s easy to get lost in the mix.
That said, I was able to recoup the cost that I paid for a yearly subscription to LANDR, so I’d consider this experiment a break-even. I may mess with it a bit more, but I’m not going to be giving up my day job any time soon.
Now… if you want to try your luck with LANDR, use my affiliate link here!
This will get you 20% off any LANDR subscription or the LANDR Mastering Plugin
So you get a discount for trying it out, and I get $15! It’s a win-win.
Like I said earlier, if you want to see the step-by-step process of how I created music in-depth using LANDR, just sign up right after this and I’ll send it directly to your inbox within minutes. (just make sure to check your spam and promotions folders 😉)! Until next time!!!
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