Music Law: Intellectual property, copyright law for musicians
September 8, 2020
Jack Joseph Puig Interview with Andrew Scheps
November 25, 2020
Music Business: Ways to make money from your music studio
22 September 2020
Good to see you here. It means you want to grow your career and are not scared to look for new opportunities in the pro audio market. I’ve put here few ideas that might inspire you to expand the services you of fer and make money while doing it.
There’s no better time than now to reconnect with your clients and find new ones using the freedom of digital media. So how to make money from music studio? That’s few examples:
- mastering
- voiceovers
- podcasts
- noise reduction
- mixing
- recording
- audiobooks
- format conversion
- studio rental
- off-site recording
- social media content
MASTERING
How to make money from mastering?
Audio mastering is perceived by many as a “dark art”of music post-production but it can be an extremely lucrative source of income if you learn the craft well enough to attract paid clients to your studio.
There aren’t many reputable sources online or online courses where you can learn how to master songs but that shouldn’t discourage you from trying.
With more and more bands deciding on in house mastering engineers or mates who have some experience this is your chance to explore this market and make your connections.
Once you learn how to master you can reach out to all of the bands that you know, all of the friends that make music and offer them your services. Additionally, there is a much wider market for audio mastering services outwith recorded music.
Opportunities:
- albums
- EP’s
- singles
- video clips
- audiobooks
- jingles
- youtube content
- re-mastering
- live performances
- mastering for iTunes & Spotify
- mastering for vinyl
VOICEOVERS
How to make money from voiceovers?
Recording voiceovers and post-production on voiceovers has grown massively in the past decade thanks to the internet and the multimedia content it produces.
More and more companies are looking for professionally recorded, edited and mixed voiceovers to use in their content.
You don’t have to be the “voice” but you can certainly be the one who does all the recording and post-production.
Opportunities:
- recording
- editing
- mixing mastering for radio & theater
- tv
- commercials
- internet content
- presentations
PODCASTS
How to make money from podcasts?
Podcasts are the fastest-growing submarket of the audio industry. Thousands and thousands of podcasts are created every week and the content being consumed is consistently increasing.
This has led to high demand for recording and post-production services in this submarket. If your studio can accommodate 2-3 people comfortably sitting and recording a podcast for 2-3 hours you can easily offer people your place as their recording spot.
Once the podcast is recorded guess who they’ll ask to edit and mix it for them? You’ve guessed right – you! Even if you don’t record the podcast there are hundreds of podcast creators who would rather outsource the editing and mixing to someone else who can do it swiftly and are willing to pay good money for it.
Additionally, if you’re musically skilled, you can offer custom music production for podcast intros, background music, and outros.
Opportunities:
- recording
- editing
- music production
- mastering
- studio rental
NOISE REDUCTION
How to make money from noise reduction?
There are plenty of situations in which audio recordings are of low quality but still hold high value. Recordings can be damaged or simply recorded poorly due to the nature of the situation in which they were made.
There is a market for skilled audio engineers who can reduce noise in audio recordings to either restore music to a usable quality or decode voice messages. Lawyers, for example, will pay a lot of money for de-coded recordings they can use in court.
Noise reduction can be time-consuming and tricky to learn at first but if you persevere you can find a nice and lucrative niche for yourself.
Opportunities:
- restoring damaged records
- restoring audio from the video
- decoding voice
- recording for court cases
MIXING
How to make money from mixing?
One of the most popular ways to earn money is to mix songs for other artists. Especially now with the evolution of plugins and the power of computers you can mix songs using only your computer and have them sounding really good.
Every band needs their recording to be mixed and this is your opportunity to dive into the market. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to get the mix right; a lot of revisions and emails can be shared between you and the artist but that’s how relationships are built and this shouldn’t discourage you to go down that path.
You can either charge per hour or per track but if you’re just starting out maybe start with a set fee for each song as it’ll take you a long time to get the mix right.
It’s very beneficial to keep in touch with the band’s mastering engineer for additional feedback and instructions on how to get your mix to sound better.
Opportunities:
- mixing vocals & music for bands
- audiobooks
- commercials
- film
- games
RECORDING
How to make money from recording?
The oldest way to earn money in the pro audio sector – recording. If your studio can accommodate bands or even a singer-songwriter set up you can get really decent money for recording them.
The initial investment is probably the highest from all the ideas outlined here but recording gives you plenty of other opportunities once the recording is done like mixing, mastering and producing.
Build your website, print your leaflets, go see bands playing live and offer them recording sessions. Easy as that.
Opportunities:
- recording bands
- advertising
- voiceovers
- audiobooks
- youtube content
- podcasts
- presentations
AUDIOBOOKS
How to make money from audiobooks?
With society being busier every day we can see spike of audiobook consumption. And thanks to Audible I don’t think this will go away any time soon.
Thankfully, can be an opportunity you’ve never thought about and that requires minimal investment on your side – audiobook production.
Simple recording set up, decent acoustic treatment and you can start your audiobook production company.
Get your clients to feel comfortable, offer them recording, editing, mixing bundles and you might have customers for life.
Opportunities:
- recording
- editing
- mixing
- mastering
FORMAT CONVERSION
How to make money from format conversion?
Being able to convert someone’s favorite recording or the only copy of the session from not so common formats like reel to real, cassette, vinyl, ADAT or CD can be a very unique way of earning money with little to no competition and minimal investment.
Put the ad in your local gumtree and you’ll probably get a few clients per week in the need of format conversion. Once transferred to digital you can offer all sorts of different enhancing services too.
Opportunities:
- format conversion
- noise reduction
- mixing
- mastering
STUDIO RENTAL
How to make money from studio rental?
Having a nice space you can rent out to beatmakers, singers or bands for the production process or rehearsal can be a nice way to generate passive income for yourself (so long you take copies of their photo ID in case of damages).
Having a rehearsal space for rent is a typical add on to recording studios but many producers or singers would love to rent more intimate spaces for their creative time, especially if your studio sounds much better than the one they have in their home.
Opportunities:
- rehearsal room rental
- production room
rental
OFF-SITE RECORDING
How to make money from off-site recording?
Can you pack up your mixer, a few mics, and go out? If yes there are plenty of opportunities for you to record off-site.
From music to comedy to festivals and public speaking, there’s always someone willing to pay you for your time in exchange for recorded content. Just look up live events in your area and shoot a few emails offering your services.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many replies you get. Once recorded it naturally leads to other services you can offer like editing, mixing, and mastering.
Opportunities:
- recording, editing,
mixing, mastering of
live music - school performances
- comedy stand-ups
- interviews
- conferences
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
How to make money from social media content?
With billions of active accounts and social media being the, “new TV”, the need for skilled audio engineers is higher than ever. In a world where YouTube uploads a day counts in thousands, you can be sure your skills to edit, mix, and even master audio are in demand.
Get in touch with YouTubers that you know or reach out to ones you don’t and offer them your services.
If you don’t try you’ll never know how many of them need your help.
Opportunities:
- YouTube videos
- Vimeo videos
- Facebook videos,
Hope that was helpful and will encourage you to act.
Get to work!
Tom
Absolutely amazing service just received my cd sleeves today and they look sooo good!! Tom was absolutely brilliant I’ve never done this before and he helped me through the entire process and went that extra mile to make sure I got the cds before a gig highly recommended and will be using there service again in the future ❤️
Stevo ClarkNovember 12, 2021
If ya looking for the right sound of your product, dont waste your time. Tom is the person you need!!
Henna JonezDecember 16, 2020
Thank you for all the help with mastering my tracks.
I happily recommend anyone looking to have work mastered to use Audio Unity. Their service is fast, professional and incredibly understanding and helpful. Definately using you guys again in the future.
The songs sounded crisp and nicely balanced……..great job!!!
Many thanks
Tony DelicataNovember 16, 2020
Hey I’m Tom, I’m a mastering engineer here at Audio Unity Group. I mostly look after Vinyl production and audio side of things. I hold a bachelor’s degree with honours from Kingston University in London. I love audio and helping others create outstanding-sounding records.
