How to Make Money
from Live Music Want to earn a living as a musician? There is a way…

They say if you do a job you love, you never work a day in your life. But what if the job you love is playing music? “They” have clearly never had to pay rent while they were trying to write and produce their first EP. Whether it’s money, a music career or a record deal you’re chasing, opportunities for musicians that are regular, and importantly, paid, can seem pretty few and far between.

But making money in the music business is actually simple. If you have talent, there’s no reason why you need to resort to a soul-sucking office cubicle or barista training. You can earn a living from music.

Private Events

Performing at private events is a serious opportunity for artists. The performance skills that will help you make it as an original artist in the future, can help you make ends meet now. There are people out there who will appreciate your talent, and are prepared to pay good money for it. Sure it means performing other people’s music at corporate events, weddings and private parties. But it’s a great way to get by until the day you get to play your own songs exclusively. And it could be much more.

Lucrative

Once a way for bands to make the odd bit of cash to buy their next amp, private events are now a source of lucrative careers. Alive Network is the UK’s most successful live music agency and has made £75 million for its artists since 1999, and £10 million in the last year.

“Private events can give musicians a head start in the industry and create profitable and sustainable music careers”, says Managing Director and former professional musician, Dave Bevan. “We work with some of the UK’s highest-level session musicians and original songwriters who perform private gigs at the weekend and use their week to play original gigs and create music. All thanks to regular and well-paid work performing live.”

“Bands on our development programme play around 80-100 events each year and take home £1000+ net on average per gig.”

Popular

Unsurprisingly, these impressive numbers have been enough to encourage artists. Once something of a taboo, so-called ‘function work’ is an income stream that is fast becoming popular in the industry, especially among young and original musicians, keen to earn their living solely from music.

The British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) is one such organisation. Europe’s leading and largest contemporary music educator, it counts James Bay, Izzy Bizu and George Ezra among its recent graduates. As part of their commercial performance programme, they work with industry partners like Alive Network to help students and graduates gig and earn while they learn, overwhelmingly through private events.

Says Commercial Performance Manager Toby Lawrence: “Every single thing we do at BIMM is focused on helping artist’s achieve their goals and create successful, long-term music careers.

“Our work with Alive doesn’t simply provide valid work opportunities for our students and graduates (BIMM artists have already earned over £1m through the partnership). It hones talent in performance and skills in business that will help them in their future careers, whether that’s as a songwriter, session musician or original artist. ”

Getting Started

So by now, you’re sold on the idea. How do you get started? While talent is key, it seems you can’t make sustainable money from private work on musical prowess alone. As the largest provider of live music for private events in the country, Alive Network has a clear profile when it comes to the most successful bands and artists. Those considering private event work are advised to steer clear of cover band clichés.

“For those who think of these bands as cheesy, worn out rockers, they’re completely out of step with the modern live music industry,” says Dave. “The audience for your private event work may well be the same demographic that a label might target for your original music. Most clients are young and musically discerning. They want stylish and relevant artists with a repertoire and image that’s current and on point.”

Entrepreneurs

Artists also need to be entrepreneurs. “You might be a great musician, but great business sense needs to come a close second, especially if you are going it alone without the support of an entertainment agency,” admits Dave. “You need to know your audience, what they want, what to offer and how to promote yourself to them. You need to know how to create a website and make sure your potential customers can find you easily via a Google search. You need great video and audio, the right image and to record the right songs... The more you get that right, the more money you earn.”

To give an advantage to artists starting out in private events, Alive Network started a development programme in 2008 for the most talented bands and musicians. As part of £7k worth of up-front investment per artist, the programme now also offers free video and audio recorded at The Silk Mill, Alive’s privately-owned recording studio and one of the best outside London.

Studios

Featuring a Neve desk owned by Walt Disney and Chris Rea, as well as boutique and state of the art equipment to the tune of £500k, The Silk Mill is not just a pretty face. Intended to support grassroots music, as well as produce world-beating promo for Alive members, newly-signed artists from labels including Virgin EMI and Warner Bros are already using the studio to create next year’s sound.

And The Silk Mill’s doors are open for original artists wanting to give private events work a go.

“Our talent scouts look for the next generation of ‘anti-function’ artists – cool musicians and amazing live performers.” adds Dave. “Lots of these guys are in original bands and might not have considered the opportunities that commercial work can present. Having the studio means that we can help them earn, as well as support their original music with free or heavily subsidised studio time.”

Looks like there really is a way to pay the rent and get that EP produced too.

Want to earn money performing at private events? Find out how you can Join Alive Network here.

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