5 Ways Rappers Make Money

If you have been grinding as an indie rapper for some time; putting in work to see that your music reaches the masses. You will come to a point where you want to finally make money from your efforts. As you should. There are many indie rap artists out there that are starving artists because they simply don’t know the outlets on how to make money.

In this featured content we are going to list the 5 Ways Rappers Make Money in hopes of you taking heed and starting your road to financial success within the music industry.

1) Album, Mixtape and Single Song Sales

The most common way to make money as a rapper is through album, mixtape and single song sales. these sales do still account for the majority of income for an artist. Yes physical sales are declining but digital sales are up. Way up.

Artists who place their music on popular online retail stores and know how to drive traffic to those platforms, can make thousands from sales. Still wondering how to distribute your music worldwide on Itunes, Tidal, and Pandora? Check out our article CDBaby The Music Distribution Giant

2) Concert Ticket Sales/Show Performances

Second up on our list of ways that rappers can make money is through performances at shows and concerts. This can be very lucrative demanding on the sale of the ticket and how much you net after all taxes and other fees are deducted.

Many up and coming artists think that only major artists can be the only ones to make bank on shows. That’s not true. many indie artists can make thousands of dollars on a performance, they just need to know how to.

If you a registered to a Performing Rights Organization you should without a doubt be getting paid for every performance. Yes even as an up and coming artist! if you have called the venue owner and asked for compensation for you to perform your COPY RIGHT content (Music) you should be getting paid.

It is the law that all musical compositions that are copy right and are performed, used, played etc. are subject to to a performance right fee. And that fee is to be paid to it’s creator/s (YOU).

This is the law. If you performed and didn’t get paid then that’s on you for not knowing you should get paid. Fill out a Performance Notification so that your Performing Rights Organization can go collect your performance money.

Also Read: 5 Ways To Get More Soundcloud Plays

3) Merchandise Sales

Merchandise sales are a great way to make money. Merchandise can be in the form of T-shirts, Fitteds, belts, shorts, shoes etc. As an artist you can sell this 2 ways. The first way is through your website, which is a very popular medium. The second way is selling your merch at your shows.

You can sell the merch from your tour bus or car, but the best way is through the venue. The venue will have you set up a table to sell your items from. Often times they will ask for a “House Fee” which is a percentage of your sales.

The fees are negotiable to be prepared to haggle.

2) Appearances/Hosting

Another way rappers get paid is through making appearances or hosting a music event.  The terms are that you usually get paid half the money before you show up, and the rest after you have filled your duties for the night. The appearances can be at music seminars, album signings, schools, or clubs.

It is best to know how much you are worth for an appearance before trying to book yourself for one of these events. Know how valuable your time is, and how much people you can draw to the venue, so you know how much you can charge.

Also Read: How To Promote Your Mixtape Online

1) Music Licensing

One of the most lucrative ways to make money as a rapper is through licensing your music. In fact you need to know that as you become older within the music industry and no one is buying your albums, or booking you for shows, or buying your merchandise; licensing your music is always going to be profitable. Licensing your music doesn’t require you to meet up with anyone or for you to perform any where. Licensing involves you charging individuals a fee for using your music. That’s all.

Whether it be radio stations, Tv, night clubs, or video games, these entities have to pay you for the use of your music. And even long after you retire royalties from licensing will still be rolling in. So go out and try to license your music as much as you can.

Good luck. Go out there and make a success of yourself. I hope you make millions of dollars while out there pushing your music to the world.