NaijaGospelBeats Naija Gospel Music Hub
The situation around the coronavirus pandemic is changing by the hour, let alone by the day. First SXSW was canceled, and many other festivals and conferences followed suit. Then thousands of live events and tours were postponed through March.
As of March 15, the CDC is recommending that all live events with more than 50 people be canceled or postponed for the next eight weeks. This will have a huge impact on the smaller venues, clubs, and bars that are vitally important for performing artists and bands to earn an income.
Use your email list and social media to ask for help
Some music fans have the impression that all musicians are rock stars living out lavish lives. As you know, this is simply not the case for the overwhelming majority of artists who rely on regular gigs just to make ends meet.
So don’t assume fans know that you need support. There’s no shame in letting them know that this is a potential crisis for you and your financial well-being. Leverage the online tools you have to communicate that you need their support now more than ever.
Send a dedicated email blast with specific actions your fans can take to help you. (For Bandzoogle members reading this, don’t forget that your account comes with a built-in mailing list.) You should also take to social media to share the same information, and ask your fans to share your posts and help you spread the word.
Here are some of the best ways for fans to support musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Buy your music
If you have music for sale, whether it’s digital downloads or CDs, let your fans know where they can purchase it. Even if they prefer to stream music, they might still buy your music to support you.
You should also let them know that while streams and playlists are great, streaming revenue is measured in fractions of pennies and it takes a lot of time to accumulate to anything meaningful. Directly purchasing your music means much more money in your pocket — when you need it most.
Where should fans buy your music to maximize revenue?
Bandzoogle: If you have your website on Bandzoogle, you can sell your music with zero commission on music sales. The money goes from the fan’s account directly into the artist’s account, minus only the processing fees from PayPal or Stripe.
CD Baby: CD Baby’s retail store takes 9% of digital sales and $4 from CD sales (for fulfillment). Note: You can sell through CD Baby until the end of March, after which they’re retiring their retail store
Bandcamp: It’s free to set up an account, but they keep *15% of sales. (*this Friday, March 20th they will waive their revenue share)
iTunes, Amazon, Google: These popular online retailers take a much higher percentage of music sales (iTunes take 30%), but may be the most comfortable option for your fans if they’re already used to buying from those stores.
Learn more: The complete guide to selling your music online
2. Use pay-what-you-want
When selling music on either Bandzoogle or Bandcamp, you can take advantage of “pay-what-you-want” pricing. So instead of selling individual tracks for $1 or albums for $10, you can set a minimum price and let fans know that they can pay as much as they want for your music.
This can be a great way to let fans support you even more while purchasing your music. When you set the price, that’s as much as you can get. But when you give fans the option to add more, there’s a good chance that you’ll make much more revenue, especially if your fans know that you need their support.
3. Buy your merch
Have any band merch in stock? Let your fans know that buying a T-shirt, poster, hat, or guitar pick would also really help out. You can sell merch directly through your website with Bandzoogle, and you can also sell merch through Bandcamp.
Note: You may want to give your fans a heads up to expect shipping delays due to the pandemic, but that you’ll get everything mailed out as soon as things are more under control.
4. Pre-order your album
If you were planning to release new music sometime this year, now might be a good time to launch the pre-order. Even if you don’t have all of the tracks mapped out, you can create some artwork for the album and set up a pre-order campaign through your Bandzoogle website or Bandcamp. Just be sure to be honest about the timeline for the new music to be released, and explain why you’re launching the pre-order early.
5. Contribute to your crowdfunding campaign
If you want to take the pre-order strategy even further, consider planning out and launching an extended crowdfunding campaign. This way you can offer not only your music for pre-sale, but other deluxe packages and rewards for your fans.
You can now use Bandzoogle to run a crowdfunding campaign for your music, and all revenues are commission-free. Generic crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are also solid options, but you’ll need to factor in the percentage they take out from the money you raise (5% + processing fees).
6. Subscribe to your online fan club
An online fan club — where people pay a monthly fee in exchange for exclusive rewards and access to your music — is a great way to let fans support you on an ongoing basis. You can set up fan subscriptions directly through your website on Bandzoogle, and all the revenues are commission-free.
Here are some resources to help you get your fan club set up:
How to sell fan subscriptions on your music website
71 ways to reward your music fan subscribers
If you’re already using a service like Patreon, this is a great time to remind fans about the rewards you’re offering and encourage them to become a patron.
7. Make a donation through your website
We would normally steer musicians toward setting up a pre-order or crowdfunding campaign to give fans more options and context for giving, but under these circumstances, adding a donation button on your homepage definitely can’t hurt.
Include a message about any canceled shows, and that you likely won’t be able to play gigs for the next few months. Be sure to emphasize that any amount helps if they’re able to donate.
Sell music, merch, and tickets, take direct donations, pledges for crowdfunding, and create monthly fan subscriptions from your website, all commission-free. Try Bandzoogle free for 30 days to build a website for your music.
8. Live stream concerts
Between tours getting canceled and local venues closing until further notice, many musicians are turning to live streaming shows from their homes and rehearsal spaces. It could be as simple as using Facebook Live or Instagram Live, then asking fans to make donations through your website, Venmo, or PayPal.
YouTube Live allows you to broadcast for free, but their terms of service seem to indicate that selling or monetizing live streams outside of YouTube is prohibited. (If anyone can provide more clarity about this, please leave a comment below.)
StageIt is a great choice if you’re looking to sell tickets and accept tips during your performance. (They also recently announced that they’re upping artist payouts to 80%.)
Consider looking into Twitch as well if you’re interested in streaming shows, rehearsals, songwriting sessions, Q&As, and more. Those live streams can be monetized through tips/donations, subscriptions, and even sponsorships.
If you plan on doing a lot of live streaming in the upcoming months, it might be worth investing in a paid platform that can give you more options, like selling tickets and putting the videos behind a paywall:
Zoom (free for 40 minutes up to 100 participants + paid options)
Crowdcast ($30/month)
Vimeo ($75/month)
Dacast (monthly or per-event pricing available)
BoxCast ($119/month)
Further live streaming resources
YouTube Live
The complete Facebook Live toolkit for musicians
Instagram Live for musicians
How musicians can use Twitch to build an audience
Twitch for musicians
Tips/donations: Venmo, PayPal.me
