Music

The global music consumption is at an all-time high. The Web and inexpensive music production tools have exploded the availability of free and paid music. There are endless genres for all. This multi-billion-dollar industry encompasses music sales, distribution, production, events, merchandise, and more. A music (or music-related) blog can monetize when adding music affiliate programs. This lets the blogger tap into the $47.5 billion global music industry market. The Web and P2P file sharing disrupted the music industry. Yet, more than ever are people buying music online, streaming their favorite tunes, getting into production, and attending music festivals and events. The average American listens to music at least 4 hours each day. Average consumers will spend $22 on physical and digital music. This may not seem too thrilling as an affiliate. But, there are many opportunities when cross promoting the highest paying music offers.

The Music Niche: What You Need to Know

Sites like Ultimate Guitar, Discogs, Azlyrics, Billboard, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone are all great examples of successful music websites. Blogs like Your EDM, Metal Injection, Rap-Up, and Dancing Astronaut command millions of combined social media followers. YouTube channels including WorldStarHipHop, Wave Music, POPS Kids, and Netd Musik receive millions of views each video. Spotify is just one example of a music service with over 140 million users. This is, of course, on the entertainment side of the industry. Other segments of the music niche could have you exploring:
  • Learning instruments – Piano and guitar are two, huge categories
  • Music production – Using programs like Ableton, GarageBand, FL Studio, and more
  • Hardware – Guitar pedals, speakers, lighting, visuals, and the like
  • Promotion – Online and offline, flyer design, and event promo
  • Events – For all genres from rock and hip-hop to electronic and country
  • Gadgets – Bluetooth speakers, headphones, MP3 players
Music blogging is highly rewarding for those passionate about music and its production. After all, who wouldn’t love to get paid to review and talk about music? Adding music affiliate programs makes this possible. A music affiliate could realistically touch base on all things music with their blog. Reviews could turn to music production with enough interest. Production could point users to promotion. General consumers could seek memorabilia and more. The average spend for music is low due in part to streaming services. But, guess what? A lot of streaming music services have programs. The average is blown out the window depending on your audience selection, too. Promoting music affiliate programs to DJs, for example, could see major sales since these individuals will buy dozens of songs regularly. If you have an affinity for music, want to share your tunes, or help people learn an instrument then you’ll love music blogging. Fact.

The Music Industry: By the Numbers

The 2000’s had the music industry in shambles because they were slow to adapt. People turned to P2P networks to find their favorite tunes for free. The free gimmick was the drawing point but so was the ability to pick and choose a-la-carte. Today, the music industry has got its head on straight and now offers most albums through streaming services, includes download codes with physical sales, and lets consumers buy individual tracks. Here’s how the music industry is looking these days:
  • $7.65 billion in revenue as of 2016 (up by 11.4% over the previous year)
  • Streaming revenue is up 68% ($3.93 billion) as of 2016
  • Paid music subscriptions have doubled (to 22.6 million) since 2015
  • Vinyl has resurged in popularity having sold 416m USD by 2016
  • More than 26k concerts and events were promoted by Live Nation
  • People will spend nearly 879 minutes, each week, listening to online radio
All the major players are still around and rocking. YouTube, in particular, has helped the music industry grow by leaps and bounds. It’s very common to see hot tracks reaching 1billion+ views within weeks. The music production segment has grown, too. Soundcloud and MixCloud are two wildly popular platforms to share music tracks and mixes. New artists are regularly discovered through these channels. And, many musicians have taken to online streaming, blogging, and paid courses to teach others the art and craft of instruments.

What’s Driving the Music Industry and Niche

Music is an art meaning certain genres, bands, and instruments aren’t adored by everyone. We’ve moved beyond the era of music labels telling us “what’s hot” or restricting artists because they “don’t fit” the market. We have unlimited access to the Web and we’re certainly using it to find incredibly obscure and neat music – further refining our taste and connecting and supporting the artists directly. Here’s what we’re looking for when we’re online:
  • Internet radio
  • Music streaming
  • Top music
  • Hindi music
  • R&B music
  • Digital radio station
  • Share music
The analytics has a clear bias for those looking for music online. What does this tell us when promoting music affiliate programs? Aim for the streams. That’s not all, though… … we’re also looking for terms like ‘learn music’, ‘piano lessons’, ‘how to read music’, ‘learn to play the guitar’, and more. There is just as much interest and competition in music production as our wants and needs for listening to tunes. Music artists have always been stars but there were levels of gatekeeping by labels. Today, anyone can become a well-renown music artist or performer thanks to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Soundcloud. This chance to “make it big” has got quite a lot of us interested in production, songwriting, promotion, and all other facets of the music industry. These are the individuals you’ll likely want to target when promoting the highest paying music offers.

How to Make Money with Music Offers and Promotions

There are several directions to go when building a music blog or monetizing one you already own. It’s dependent on other factors like if you’re regularly doing reviews, can play an instrument, or know the industry inside and out. What direction could you go with a music blog?
  • Album and track reviews and analysis
  • Music production (including tutorials, reviews, and tips)
  • Promotions (music marketing, networking, and more)
  • Teaching (instrument specific, theory, or generalize)
  • Gossip, news, and events
… this will change by your affinity to a genre, set of artists/bands/groups, events, and more. There are opportunities for the metalheads. Hip-hop blogs are big time, too. You’ve got electronic music making big waves. There’s opportunity in the niche music genres like Vaporwave or Shoegaze. What kind of music affiliate programs could you promote?
  • Sheet music
  • Online video courses
  • In-person tutoring
  • Instruments and accessories
  • Streaming services or music portals
  • Concert tickets and events
  • DJ equipment and effects
  • Decade-specific apparel (e.g. the 80’s)
  • Aesthetics and collectibles
  • Vinyl and turntables
  • General consumer music goods
  • Home entertainment systems
A good music blogger will likely touch on a bit of each specific to their genre. They could explore news and events while sharing reviews for new and old albums. They could try to land interviews or share concert footage. Maybe they’ll explore the music production and promotion side, too.

Promoting a Music Blog and its Offers

Traffic and conversions are how you’ll make money with the highest paying music offers and promotions. The good news is that people love music. If you have an exclusive track, first result in Google for a review, or get mentioned by an artist then you’re in. There are a couple of cool ways to promote a music blog:
  1. Lists – Build and use an email list to share weekly updates about the latest news, releases, and reviews (all pointing to those specific content pieces on your site).
  2. Live stream – Put together a YouTube live stream of your favorite tunes set to a theme video; learn from channels like “lo-fi hip-hop anime chill beats to study to”.
  3. Playlists – Show your expertise about the music genre by creating highly tailored music playlists on services like Spotify; add them to your blog and YouTube channel.
  4. Merchandise – Get the brand out there by partnering with a designer to create neat apparel and swag for the blog’s brand.
  5. Social – Upload awesome event footage, merchandise, or behind-the-scenes images to Instagram; use your Facebook as a secondary platform to discuss all things music.
There are a lot of music blogs, so competition is stiff. Yet, it’s doable when you have love and passion for the industry and favorite genres. You’re likely listening to your favorite artists and tracks all day, every day, so why not pair up with music affiliate programs and make a few bucks while sharing your thoughts?

Getting Your Bank Account to Sing to the Sound of Music Affiliate Programs Commissions

Over a million songs are released annually which makes it difficult to sort through even for the most die-hard fan of a genre. The direction of the music industry is curation – it’s an expert (or team) keeping their fingers on the pulse of what’s shaking in music. Then, helping people find the best stuff. Your music blog could become the go-to source for all things your favorite genre. You could see the blog earning a couple hundred each month through album reviews and sponsorships alone. Expand into music production, promotion, and apparel and you’re on a fast track to high monetization in the music niche. Do this: Find great music affiliate programs in our directory, sign up, and add it to your site. See how well it’s received by the community. Then, build on your success by creating more content, offering great insights, and dishing out stellar resource recommendations.
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Prime Loops


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Prime Loops Affiliate Program: Overview Prime Loops provides sample packs, music samples, presets, DAW templates, MIDI, and more. The online portal has the largest product catalog of its industry. The site has become the go-to source for artists building their samples & loops, while being able to preview each pack,...

zZounds


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zZounds Affiliate Program: Overview zZounds is a leading online retailer providing musical instruments, equipment, and accessories. On the site, customers can browse and buy from a massive product catalog while enjoying payment plan offers, weekly deals, exclusive giveaways, and more. The site offers fast and free, 2-day shipping and a...

Guitar Center


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Guitar Center Affiliate Program: Overview Guitar Center is the world’s large physical and online retailer of new, used, and vintage musical instruments, equipment, and accessories. Their massive product catalog covers the full spectrum providing its customers' fantastic pricing and support. Customers can also find items at outlet pricing, follow lessons,...

American Musical Supply


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American Musical Supply Affiliate Program: Overview The American Musical Supply ecommerce store offers thousands of quality musical instruments, recording devices, computer audio equipment, and more. American Musical Supply uses fast, free shipping, free extended warranties, and its massive product catalog to tap into the multi-billion-dollar music industry. The American Musical...

ArkivMusic


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ArkivMusic Affiliate Program: Overview In an industry dominated by brands like iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, and others, there comes a brand focusing on the classical side of music… ArkivMusic. ArkivMusic is an online retailer and leading provider of classical music. The shop includes a product catalog featuring thousands of albums. It...

TicketFly


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TicketFly Affiliate Program: Overview TicketFly is an online platform to help event organizers increase sales for their events, concerts, and more. The fully-integrated ticketing, marketing, and analytics software include customer tools and a curation engine making it as simple-as-possible for fans to find and buy tickets. The TicketFly platform believes...

Sam Ash


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Sam Ash Affiliate Program: Overview Are you in the entertainment and music niche? Then you’ll want to head on over to Sam Ash and browse their massive selection of instruments, pro audio, and DJ gear! Sam Ash delivers a wonderful experience because those working the biz are musicians. The online...

Sheet Music Plus


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Sheet Music Plus Affiliate Program: Overview Sheet Music Plus is the world’s largest storefront for sheet music. The online store boasts 1 million+ product options across all instruments including choir & voice, piano, band & orchestra, and more. This includes music titles for beginners to professionals – if you’re in...

iTunes Affiliate Program


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iTunes Affiliate Program: Overview Apple’s iTunes needs no introduction. This platform is the central hub to millions of songs, endless movies, gift cards, apps, books, and more. iTunes continually evolves and delivers an excellent experience one would expect from a company like Apple. The iTunes affiliate program is one of...

TuneCore


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TuneCore Affiliate Program: Overview TuneCore is the largest distributor of digital music with one of the highest revenue-generating music catalogs in the world. Over the years, TuneCore artists sold hundreds of millions of tracks and generated an equally impressive gross music sales and revenue since 100% of sales revenue goes...