How To Make Money As An Upcoming Rapper

Artists of the stature of Drake, Future, Young Thug etc. are absolutely raking in the cash. But of course, these guys had to start somewhere and think of creative ways to get paid, and use conventional methods. Not many people are aware of how to make money as an upcoming rapper, and in all honesty, its a pretty tough task to accomplish. So lets talk about some ideas to make money and to set foundations for much bigger things.

Royalties And Adsense

I covered this topic in my previous article here, but lets break this down a little more. Once you have set up your YouTube account, click on the “channel” tab on the sidebar in your creator studio and enable your YouTube for monetisation. Follow the instructions provided and in no time you will be an official partner with YouTube. You will be able to track your daily earnings in Adsense. Many statistics such as amount of page views and clicks will presented in your personal Adsense account and you can monitor your growth. So where does the money come from you may ask? Quite simple. The money comes from the adverts that YouTube play before and during your videos. However, there is no set amount you will get paid for each view or click, it can vary depending on the amount that the advertiser has bid YouTube for these actions. Some adverts pay higher than others, but its worth noting that YouTube does award active channels, so the better your activity, the more likely that you will host higher paying adverts. You can find beats here which grant you the rights to monetise and make profit from.

Royalties are similar yet different. With royalties, you receive payments each quarter of the year, and works two quarters behind. For example, you will be paid your 1^st quarterly pay in the 3^rd quarter of the year. This is because the royalty collection societies have to collect data from worldwide and calculate the amounts each artist is entitled to receiving. You are entitled to receiving royalties if you work is publicly broadcasted. For example, if your music is played on public and legitimate radio stations, it will be logged and the royalty collection society will be informed, so you will be entitled to pay. The amount you get paid depends on a multiple factors, such as :

How big the radio station is

How many people were listening at the time

How long your work was played for

Territory where your work has been played

So as you can see, its quite a complex funnel. However if you are fortunate enough to break into mainstream national radio and get frequently played, you can expect VERY BIG pay-cheques. Check this link out to see how much the BBC radio stations in the UK pay approximately per play. Not bad, eh?

Merchandising and Sponsorship

Merchandising is where most major artists actually make their money, and they use their music as a promotional tool to promote their merchandise. A good example would be 50 cent’s success with his Effen Vodka brand. You can sell anything from clothing, alcoholic drinks, jewellery, mobile phones, anything that you can think of. The key is to create a product which your target audience will find appealing alongside your music. If you are a deep conscious rapper, you could sell clothing with your most intelligent personal quotes which people can relate to. One major thing to remember is that people invest in being able to express themselves. Stop and think about it, and create your own judgement of what I just said, and you will make your own understanding of human nature,and be able to cater to their needs, without them even knowing! Remember, your not only an upcoming rapper, your also a marketer and your running a personal business. This is how to make money as an upcoming rapper the proper way. Think bigger than just music.

As creative artists, it is in our best interest to collaborate with other creative individuals from other areas of business. By doing so, you can gain sponsorships and endorsements which can really benefit your progression as an upcoming rapper. Lets look at a very well known example, DJ Khaled promotes Diddy’s Ciroc brand, and gives Ciroc a much larger marketing reach and stronger branding. No doubt, Khaled is earning great money for this. On a smaller scale, an upcoming artist can work with other upcoming businesses and promote brands in return for endorsements. The options available are endless. The key is to be creative see potential opportunity has it arises.

(Idea) Running Your Own Events

In this section, we will talk about a potential idea which answers how to make money as an upcoming rapper. As an artist, your product can be used to promote just about anything and everything. As we know, everybody love a good excuse to get out for a night, have a drink with friends and to generally have a good time. This is an opportunity which you can capitalise on. By putting on your own event, you will be able to perform on your own show, bring in other artists and also DJ’s who are looking to break into the scene. This game is all about about networking, and by bringing people together, you never know who you may meet at your events. Back to making money, there are normally two options. You can charge an entry fee on the door, or have an agreement to take % on drink sales with the venue that’s hosting the show. By bringing other artists onto your show, you will also be reaching out to their fans, as they will more than likely bring a small crowd to the event to support them. Lets do some basic maths. If you could bring 10 rappers onto your show, each of them brought 10 fans with them and the entry fee was $5, that is $500 of income on the door. This is just an example of something you can do to make money with your music and other peoples.

Recap

Hopefully this article has opened up your mind to seeing past music sales, and as you probably noticed, I purposely left out music sales. As an upcoming artist, being just a rapper ISN’T enough to make the cut. You have to be an entrepreneur also. Having multiple income streams such as streaming, Adsense, merchandise sales, selling verses, live performances, you can make a living off your dreams and passion. The best thing is that you can start right away! Begin to make notes of potential brands and merchandise which you could promote using music and lyrical content. Also, reach out to upcoming companies and attempt strike a sponsorship deal with them. Just by taking these steps, more doors will open up for you. Use this guide here to look at how you can use Instagram to promote

Hopefully This article has shed light on how to make money as an upcoming rapper. Please share so that others can reap the benefit of this information.

Thank you, and be sure to act upon the information, this really does work!