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pebblysand · 3 years

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[writing rant - on the monetisation of fanfiction]

a couple of months ago, when i updated my long fic, one of the people on the comments wrote to me the nicest possible review (one of the ones that you keep in your feel-good 'saved' emails - you know the ones), which, amongst other things also said: 'If I could pay you for this...believe me, I would.'

in the moment, i kind of smiled and laughed, and thanked the person for their kind words before moving on with my life. yet, since then, i have to admit that this sentence has kind of been living rent-free in my head. i think it is also because since diving back into fandom a few months ago, i've noticed something that kind of shocked me at first: more and more fanfiction writers seem to be monetising (or attempting to monetise) their craft.

now, back when i started writing fanfic, we wrote fanfic on ffnet and livejournal. it was accepted that thou shalt never (ever) charge money for your writing or else the author and their mean, angry lawyers will come after you for damages and you will die a slow and painful death. we wrote disclaimers at the start of all of our posts and thanked the gods every day when we did not get sued.

i have seen this change gradually over the years. first, in the mid 2010s, the disclaimers went. then, i noticed that people were getting 'tipped' for fanart, sometimes even charging commission. from what i understand (though, don't quote me on this, i'm not an ip lawyer and this post is not intended as legal advice), this is because the way the concept of fair use is framed under us law makes it easier to monetise fanart than it does fanfiction. maybe this is why visual artists came first on this trend. later still (and more recently) i've noticed fanfic writers, doing the same thing.

to be fully honest, the first thought i had when i saw this trend, considering the fear of god (and his lawyers) that was instilled in me in the past, was: how on earth is this even possible? (i'll come back to that in a bit). the second, though, was: fuck, i wish i had the guts to do that, lol.

because, yeah, i will admit, the idea of getting paid for writing what i love to write does appeal, to a certain extent. i won't lie. dear fanfiction writers who've tried to do that recently: i one hundred per cent get it.

looking back at the last fifteen years, i would say that for me, writing fanfiction has been (in terms of time commitment and energy consumed) the equivalent of having an on-and-off part time job. a job that i have held for one or two years at a time, then quit for a while, before coming back to it when i needed (wanted) it again. i obviously can't realistically give you a number re:the actual total of hours i have spent at this since i started out, but i can give you an idea. recently, i started clocking my hours out of interest and calculated that a chapter of my current long fic takes roughly between one hundred to two hundred hours to produce (and they're around 10,000 words). at that rate, i'm probably working 20 hours a week-ish? sometimes more, sometimes less? something as small as a three-sentence fic (like this for instance), takes roughly two/three hours. i'll be honest, i have cancelled plans to write fic. when i'm working on a long project, i do tend to organise my life to give myself the time to write, so i opt for socialising after work during the week rather than on weekends, as i've found this is when i write best. i won't lie: it is - for me (i know some people write quicker, bless them) - a huge time suck.

so, yeah, i understand, in the capitalist society we live in, wanting to make that time count. our world has unfortunately, repeatedly taught us that time is money and getting more does seem like a nice bonus (as long as you have an audience for your art that's willing to pay, obviously). after all, year after year, i've seen a lot of my friends try and monetise their passions as side hustles, with varying success. at first, glance, i look at the time i spend on writing fanfiction and think: man, i wish i could get a bit back from that too. i couldn't even draw a stick figure to save my life but i assume that the time commitment and energy put into that kind of work is roughly similar for visual fanartists as well. i thus very much understand the sentiment, both with fanart and fanfiction.

additionally, though i appreciate this is a bit tangential, the fact that fanfiction is free, i would argue, hinders its potential to be as representative as it could be. it's a bit sad because on the one hand, the fact that it is free makes it completely accessible to the masses but on the other, it makes fanfiction quite exclusive to rich, privileged people who can afford to spend the time and energy putting content out for free. if i spend this much time writing fanfiction, just because i like it and it makes me happy, it's because my full time job pays me enough to cover my bills. if it didn't, i probably would have to forgo writing and get a proper side gig. if you look at my periods of inactivity on ao3, those also kind of coincide with the times in my life when i had to have more things going on to put food on the table.

so, now, assuming that monetisation is a thing that, as a fic writer, one might want to look at, the next question is: how do you go about monetising it? obviously, the law hasn't changed since the days where we were all terrified of getting sued (although enforcement has been quite lax over the years) so it's more about finding workarounds around the law as it is, rather than actively seeking payment for fanart.

from what i've seen: two main solutions seem to exist.

first, there's the tipping/buy-me-coffee technique. as i understand it, this involves either setting up a page on one of the dedicated websites or just putting up your paypal account link on your tumblr posts. with these links, people can then send you however much money they want (however much money they can afford/think you deserve?) on a one-off basis. they're not actually paying for fanfic because there is no actual exchange of services, it's basically like them giving money to charity, except that charity is a fanfic writer/ fan artist whose work they enjoy.

there are two main issues i see with this: one, legally, i'm not sure how much ground this actually holds. assuming you're quite prolific/successful, if every time you're producing new content, you receive dozens of tips, although you're not actively charging for your fanart, making the argument that your content isn't what these people are actively paying for seems hard. imo, the fact that this method sort of holds is that realistically, you're going to make very little out of this. even if you're really good, you might make what? a couple hundred dollars. now, sure, that's a lot of money for a lot of people but in the grand scheme of things, no one sues anyone for such a low amount. as long as you're not making 'proper' money from it, it is highly unlikely that anyone would come after you.

this being said, the second issue, from my perspective, is that this is not in any way, shape or form, a reliable income. it also does not represent, at all, the cost of the time and investment actually put into said fanfiction (or fanart, i assume). for example: if you're going to tip someone who's worked on something for, say, fifty hours, ten dollars, that's very good of you, but that isn't going to be 'worth' their time. it is only worth their time if tipping is done at as scale, which imo is quite unlikely considering you're putting your content out for free anyway. there are kind souls who will tip you, but not that many, meaning that ultimately, you're not working for free anymore, but you're still working at a huge loss.

additionally, because this income is not even reliable on a monthly/weekly basis, it isn't something that anyone can actually rely on, even if only to fund their coffee habit. it's nice to have, don't get me wrong, but from my perspective, is the legal risk outlined above worth the trouble for the $20/30 tips i'd get every once in a while - not really. such low amounts also don't help diminish the class issue that i talked about earlier. again, if you're going to spend fifty hours on something, you might as well work a minimum wage job - even that will pay you more and will be dependable.

second, there's patreon (and patreon-like sites). here, the income is monthly, people pledge on a subscription basis, which does solve the last point above. it might not be much, but at least it's regular.

the main issue i see with patreon is that it is contingent on the author providing more services on top of what they already provide. in most cases, the author will keep putting their usual content out for free + provide their patreons (depending on tiers) with more content, specifically for them. this, to me, makes this scheme even less appealing than the previous one because a) if i can't provide fanfic to potential patreons (again, you can't sell fanfic), i'm not sure what on earth i could give them (original content? that's not really the same market) and b) that's even more work on my plate. honestly, considering the amount of time i already spend writing fanfic, i have neither the energy nor the willpower to provide extra content for an amount that, regardless, will probably pay me less than a part-time job would. again, you'd have to scale this (i.e. have enough patreons) to make it all worth your while, and even in very big fandoms, even for someone waaaaay more successful than me, i doubt it would be likely.

lastly, as a side note, both of these "methods" are solely accepted if they occur on tumblr/writer's own website, rather than on the writer's ao3 page/fic. there was a post going around explaining why that is (nutshell: it endangers ao3's status as a non-profit archive) but as with all things, i seem to have lost it. [if you do have the link to that post/know what i'm talking about, hit me up and i'll rectify this]. this, regardless, supposes driving traffic from wherever you post your fics towards tumblr/your own website which, again, decreases your chances of scaling this.

so, in the end, where does that leave us?

i think, at this point, we've kind of reached a crossroad. ultimately, i see two ways to look at this:

option one: if you believe that fanfiction writers should be paid for their art, you also probably agree that the methods outlined above, while they do offer some sort of solution, are less than ideal. the ideal solution (for this option) would obviously be to allow fanfiction authors to be properly paid for the publication of their work through 'normal' publishing/self-publishing deals, without the need for a licence from the author (bar - perhaps - the payment of royalties). that would create a proper 'market' for fanfiction, treating it as any other form of writing/art form. it would mean a complete overhaul of the laws currently in place, but why not? ultimately, in a democracy, laws are meant to be changeable.

this being said, though, while my personal knee jerk reaction would be to shout 'hurray!' at this solution, i do not actually think i want this. or, maybe, only part of me does. the part of me who has been writing fanfiction for free for fifteen years is like 'hey, yay, maybe i could get paid!'. but then, there is another part of me that would like, maybe, one day, to write more original fiction (i already do a bit, but not much). that part of me is feels frankly a bit icky about giving up her ip rights.

would i be comfortable with people writing fanfiction of my original work? hell yes. that would be the dream. imagine having your own ao3 fandom, omg. however, would i be comfortable with people profiting from writing fanfiction of my work? honestly, i'm not sure. to me, the answer to that is: it depends (how much time investment was put in? how original the concept is? etc.) which, in fact, kind of brings us back to the current concept of licensing. and yes, maybe the current frame imposed by copyright law has also shaped the way i view the concept of property, and maybe i should be more of a communist, free-for-all kind of person, but unfortunately, i'm not that revolutionary.

also, and slightly tangentially, i find it interesting how profiting from fanficition/fanart is seen as more acceptable i certain fandoms rather than in others. taking the hp fandom for instance, even prior to jkr expressing her views on transgender rights, i often read things like: 'ah, she's so rich anyway, she doesn't need the money.' now, that argument has not only gained traction but is also reinforced by: 'ah, she's the devil and i don't want to fund her. it'd rather give my money to fanfic authors/buy things on etsy.'

while i completely understand the sentiment and do not, in any way, shape or form, support jkr's views, i do find that argument quite problematic. if you set the precedent that because someone is too rich, or because they've expressed views you disagree with, you don't believe that they should be entitled to their own intellectual property rights, i do wonder: where does this stop? this being justified for jkr could lead to all sorts of small artists seeing other people stealing/profiting from their original work without authorisation. 'i don't pay you 'cause i disagree with you,' would then act as a justification, with i find highly unfair. the fact of the matter is: jkr created hp. knowing that, the choice of buying hp products, regardless of her opinions is completely and entirely yours, but buying the same stuff unlicensed, from people who are infringing on her copyrights seems, to me, very problematic as this could potentially be scaled to all artists. either we overhaul the entire copyright system or we don't, but making special cases is dangerous, in my humble opinion.

option two: we choose to preserve copyright law as it is, for the reasons outlined above. this means that most people will not get paid for the content they put out and that the few that do will operate on a very tight, legal rope, and work for tips that are a 'nice bonus' but not a proper pay. this sort of perpetuates the idea that fanfiction is 'less than' other art forms, because in our capitalist society, things that don't generate money (things often made by women, may i add) are not seen as being as valuable as things that do.

for me, personally, while getting paid to write fanfiction sounds lovely (and makes my bank account purr) in theory, i think i side to preserve the current system. as an artist, i think that intellectual property protects us and our concepts from being ripped off by others, including by big companies who might find it handy to steal a design, a quote, anything, without proper remuneration. this is even more important for smaller artists who wouldn't necessarily have the means to defend their craft otherwise.

this being said, i do appreciate that it depends on why you're writing fanfiction. i think that topic probably deserves a whole different post in its own right but ultimately, most people write fanfic because it's fun. we know it's for fun, and not for profit. and if that's the case, then we're okay to receive compliments, reblogs and sometimes, for some people a little bit of an awkward tip for our work. for me, fanfic has been a space to make friends, to get feedback, to learn and to experiment without the pressure of money being involved. that's why i don't particularly mind doing it for free, and wouldn't even bother setting up a patreon or tip-me jar. i love being able to do it just for the enjoyment of myself and my five followers (lol), without worrying about scaling it, or making it profitable. not every part of our lives, not every passion has to be profitable. as we say in ireland, you do it 'for the craic' and nothing else.

this, though, as i already said, also depends on your means and level of privilege. to me, writing for free is fantastic and a bloody relief - it means being able to do exactly what i want. original fiction writing is full of rules, and editors, and publishers. in fanfic, i can write whatever i feel like, and i'm willing to forgo a salary in exchange of that freedom. again, i have a full time job that covers my bills. this does mean, though, that i don't have as much time to dedicate to writing as i would like to.

and also, the thing is: i'm a small author. i happily write in my own little niche. bar that one comment, it is highly unlikely that anyone would actually want to pay me (or even tip me) for my content. but when you look at very successful people, like the author of all the young dudes, i could see how they'd want to get paid for their art, and why they'd feel differently.

bottom line for me is: the flaws of the current systems of remuneration combined with my strong belief in copyright law as a means to protect small, original creators, means that i don't really think it would be right for me to get paid for fanfic, even if i was the kind of person who had the market for it. whilst it would be nice, this very long rant has, hopefully, explained why.

#fanfiction #writing #archive of our own #monetisation of fanfiction #fanfiction theory #this post is waaaay too long and the author regrets everything #pebblysand rants

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berijogurtblog · 2 years

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Okay! let’s talk about @kanyewest, his next album ‘DONDA 2’, and Stem Players. Kanye’s highly anticipated album ‘DONDA 2’ will not make its debut on any streaming platforms. Instead, it will be released and available for listening on his Stem Player device which is the introduction for Kanye in to the tech world. The cost of the Stem Player is $200 and a purchase automatically gives the user access to ‘DONDA 2’, which can be listened to using the device. It is rumoured this device made $1.6 million in sales within 12 hours of the announcement. This also led to Apple pulling out of a multi-million deal plus sponsorship to host the album solely on Apple Music giving the platform exclusive rights. The Stem Player gives the user the ability to listen to music and control individual elements/stems of a song. For example, you can play the vocals or instrumentation only, loop a section of the song, change tempo, volume and pitch, scratch, reverse, etc. It gives fans a new and unique way to listen to music and enjoy their favourite tracks. Fans (and those who are not fans), criticise Ye for using his music to sell his new tech and making his album unavailable to the masses. I personally think this is a great business idea by Kanye. Artists need to find new ways to monetise their music. When you consider how much labels and streaming services eat a huge pot of the pie and are paying pennies to artists, it makes sense for someone in Kanye’s position to go down this route. This reminds me of Nipsey Hussle (RIP) and how he made 1,000 copies of his ‘Crenshaw’ mixtape selling for $100 each. When this succeeded, he followed up with ‘Mailbox Money’, producing 100 copies selling for $1000 each. Ryan Leslie took all his music off streaming platforms and decided to text music to his core fanbase, which led to him making more money independently than signing a deal with a major label. It shows the importance of building a fanbase and customer loyalty that will buy into you. Why cater to the masses when you can cater to your fans who will purchase your music at any cost? At a purchase point of $200, buyers get a product that can be used for years with other artists music. 🍓 https://www.instagram.com/p/CaOHsNptxik/?utm_medium=tumblr

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ginaakers · 4 years

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NO SHOWS - NO MONEY?: How can you make money through music without live shows?

NOTE: the information below does not constitute legal advice. The following are some general suggestions on how matters could be handled for those in the music, creative and events industries who have been effected by the implications of the Corona Virus.

During times when artists have no shows it is recommended you look at any other ways you can make an income.

Firstly it may be worth considering other work. Trust me I whole heartidly understand creatives and musicians so I am cringing as I write this. BUT remember this would be a temporary measure, it would not be your career or instead of your career but just a short term means of getting by until live shows are more regular and going ahead again.

You can of course also look at other ways of making money from your music career. For savvy artists you will be doing this anyway so now is the time to develop this further, add new possibilities and maximise on existing ones.

For some this is an area previously overlooked so will provide an opportunity to maximise income ongoing into the future.

Suggestions on other ways to make money through music include:

*Joining the Music Artists And Industries - Unite (MAI-U) Group on Facebook for support, work opportunities, ideas to make an income.

https://www.facebook.com/MusicArtistsIndustriesUnite/

ARE YOU OWED MONEY?

*If you are owed money chase up on this immediately. No matter how old the invoice/money owed to you may be call it in, you need it.

*Check if you’re owed performance royalties from entities such as PRS for Music. If you are not already registered with PRS now is the time to change that so you aren’t missing out in future. That time you would have spent doing a live show this week, well use a fraction of it to go onto the PRS website and register. Even if you aren’t already registered if you are quick you may be able to claim royalties back to the start of this year.

https://www.prsformusic.com/join

DOWNLOADS ETC

*Ensuring your music is available to buy online on as many platforms as possible. Promote the fact your music is available to buy on line and use this time to get creative with your promotion. CD Baby, Spotify, Soundcloud, iTunes, Discogs, RDio.

*Submit Your Music to a Record Club – services like Feedbands.com stream your music to their listeners, they plant 1 tree for every 100 streams, get enough streams and they start paying you. It’s not much but you’ve got nothing to lose.

*Give Away Your Music for Free – this may sound like an ineffective thing to do but for some artists it can really work, sites like NoiseTrade, offer full albums or samplers for free but give listeners/patrons the option to tip. Given the option to choose how much you tip rather than being told what to pay can have some usefully surprising results.

LIVE

*Host live listen/watch party’s such as those on Facebook and provide/promote a link whereby watchers can pay a donation for their favourite requests of your songs, you then prioritise playing/performing these. For interaction and to gain more viewers do Q&A’s from the comments inbetween songs. Here’s an example: https://www.facebook.com/134366399928348/posts/3117307551634203/?d=n

Also check out this document for advice:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/11wWL_7I4BG76t0V2kw1a4yIeWxUSfGwMQFYdUWAgSnA/mobilebasic

*Host live listen/watch party’s whereby you play the songs of other up and coming artists and provide constructive critique on the songs. Music producers are particularly keen users of these set ups. Hosts tend to get long waiting lists of songs sent to them that they are requested to play. Hosts provide/promote a link whereby those who have sent songs can pay a small donation for their song to be bumped up the queue and prioritised to be played before those that haven’t paid. So if you have paid, your song gets heard first before non payers songs.

*If you have the means you could host live online concerts on a pay per view basis via private link or join a group that organises online music events such as this one: https://facebook.com/events/s/covideo-19-live-stream-fest/848080308998804/?ti=icl

DISTRO & SYNCH

*Look at distribution and synch opportunities. You may want to look at offering your music for Direct Sync Licensing. You’ll need to make connections in the TV and film industries and work out deals to license some of your music to them. But right now you have the time to search for those connections and reach out and do this, don’t be afraid to ask others who have done it for their advice.

*Create Music for Video Games. This also involves reaching out to make connections in the video game producing industry. But there’s no time like the present.

* All Media sync licensing will extend your license to all forms of media, like commercials, TV shows, etc. Look at singing up for All Media Sync Licensing with a Library. CD Baby makes this possible through a partnership with Rumblefish.

*Produce Music for Commercials – easier said than done but maybe not as difficult as you think. Start by looking at smaller and local businesses nearby you who make online commercials and videos to promote their business. Rather than them uses the same old typical video/commercial backing music that everyone else’s uses give them the opportunity to have their own bespoke music for their commercials. Or let them listen through you existing songs and negotiate a license for them to use it.

*Get on Shazam. Ever heard a song somewhere on TV, on an advert, in a shop etc and wondered who it’s by? You’ve probably already heard of it but you can use Shazam to identify that song for you. But it relies on that song being in the Shazam database. Getting in the Shazam database is a must if you you are expecting your music to be used on a TV show or commercial. CD Baby can help you get into the Shazam database.

WEBSITES

*Set up an online shop or a link to a set up where people can buy music and merch online from you. If you have the skills to use Facebook then you’ll most likely have no problem building your own website (if you don’t have one already) that you can sell from or provide link where people can buy your music and merch from.

To build your own website you can use a fee service such as WordPress, Wix or check out something more involved like HostBaby. CD Baby and alike are is a great places as a marketplace, but remember not to rely on them for all of your promotion.

*Join Amazon, ITunes and CD Baby’s Affiliate Programs – If you are already selling your music through these channels you can then make some commission for your efforts. The affiliate links need to be placed from your own website. Join CD Baby’s affiliate program.

*Be an Affiliate for Music Companies/brands. Endorsement deals can be hard to obtain but you may be able to sign up to receive an affiliate commission. These kinds of set ups mean you receive a commission every time someone makes a purchase from the company/brand because of you. Sign up with https://www.gear4music.com/information/affiliates-program

Also try with Musician’s Friend

SELL ‘YOUR’ MUSIC

*Sell Video Recordings of Your Live Performances, this could be done via your website or social media channels.

*Offer Acoustic Versions of Your Music. It may be an option that you can record acoustic versions on your music. You can then offer your fans a different version of your songs and you can promote it just like you do with any new songs you make.

*Offer Your Single as a Ringtone. Your fans may love your songs so much they want them as as their ring tone. You can create your own ringtones and make them available on iTunes.

WRITE

*Write bespoke songs for people - they pay a fee, you write a song for them

*Write for a Music Publication. Contact all music publications and magazines with details of your music background and expertise. Include a sample of an article you have written (it doesn’t have to have been published) to show that you can write. Even if they don’t have any paid opportunities if they have enough readers and allow you to include a link to your website/socials, or mention your music that you’d like to promote you may be able to get a monetary return than way.

*Publish a Book. Write a book on a music related subject. Contact publishers to try to get it published or look at self publishing.

https://selfpublishing.com/self-publishing/

*Create a Blog to Promote Your Music. Blogs are super easy to set up. Try Wordpress, Tumblr, Wix to see which you prefer for setting up your blog. Don’t forget to include the links so readers are directed to where they can buy your music and merch.

*Start a Music Blog and Help Other Musicians. You can start a blog to include articles (rather like this one) to share your experiences and advice as an artist. As you build up the articles on your blog and attract more readers you can eventually package up your advice into guides which you can sell online.

*Monetise your blog. You can use the affiliate suggestions above to help monetise your blog.

*Become an Affiliate for Other Musicians and Artists Books/Guides

MARKET

Create a Premium or VIP Fan Club. With this you can sell premium monthly or annual subscriptions to be in your fan club. You’ll need to make your fan club worthy of the subscription and ensure there is a value to it for subscribers by providing plenty of freebies and behind the scenes access, unique opportunities, chances to hear songs first, see videos first etc.

*Send Out a Sponsored Post or Tweet. If you have a substantial number of followers on social media OR a smaller but highly engaged number of followers you can look at doing sponsored posts or Tweets. To do this you need a service such as Sponsored Tweets to make money on each sponsored tweet you send out. Check out SponsoredTweets.com to find out how much you could make from your tweets. Do a search to find similar services for Instagram etc.

*Create a Digital Guide for Marketing Yourself as a Musician. If you’ve been successful in the music industry in particularly with regards to promoting and marketing yourself and what to do then create a digital guide or ebook to help others who are in need of advice. This is especially useful for those just getting started in music or who are looking for new ideas and inspiration with their marketing and promotion.

PRODUCE

*Produce Music Recordings for Other Musicians

*Write and Produce Jingles. Ever heard a jingle on the radio or somewhere and thought I can do that! If you have a knack for fun catchy lyrics and melodies take a look into writing jingles. Sites like site Fiverr cab market your services or contact radio stations with examples of the services you can offer.

*Record Backing Tracks and Sell Them Online. Creating a business that sells backing tracks could be an option to you if you have professional quality audio equipment and access to a studio. If you can create a large enough catalogue of backing tracks this could turn into a business that’s making money for you even when you’re not making music.

*Offer Sounds for Sampling Licensing. Similar to music licensing but more focused on specific sounds. You will need to build you contacts and relationships with TV, Film and radio production companies but there’s no time like the present to start.

*Create Sound Files. If you play a range of different instruments you could create sound files or virtual instruments. Composers and music producers often need help when creating their music. Recording sound files (especially unique sounding ones or using unique or unusual instruments) and creating an online database where they can be purchased from could give you an additional income. Take a look at Impact Soundworks.

*Provide Music for Corporate. Video is now necessity in marketing and promotion, it is particularly key for online and social media platforms. Whether for marketing or for information sharing or educational purposes Corporate video creation is on the increase. In light of this there’s now a requirement for people who can create and edit music for these kinds of videos. You can break into this area by teaming up with a videographer to make a few initial videos for free as examples to start your portfolio.

CROWDFUND

*Crowdfund Your Next Album, Single or Video. If you need funds for your next music creation why not look to crowdfunding to raise that money?

Services like Patreon, allows people to become subscribers to your music often for just a small pledge for your next song or music video. Take a look to see how it works and how much artists are raising.

YOUTUBE

*Create a YouTube Channel and Share a Link to Buy Your Music

*Sign Up for MicroSync Licensing with YouTube. This form of licensing, makes it possible for you to get paid when someone uses your music as background on one of their videos posted to YouTube. CD Baby can make this possible for you.

*Create a YouTube Channel and Display Advertising. Basically earn funds by allowing adverts to be displayed on your YouTube channel.

RE-SELL INSTRUMENTS/EQUIPMENT

Re-sell Your Old Instruments Online. This is the ideal time to sell off instruments and equipment that you have replaced or that no longer work. Try Gumtree and eBay.

TEACH, EDUCATE & SELL SHEET MUSIC

*Teach Live Music Lessons Online. Charge through a PayPal link.

*Record Lessons and Sell Them Online. Scott’s Bass Lessons is basically exactly that. Charge for subscriptions to access your lessons and/or create a website where you can sell your best video lessons.

https://scottsbasslessons.com

*Create an Instructional Digital Guide. These cost very little other than your time to put together. Particularly if you don’t like the idea of teaching live or videoed music lessons creating an eBook on teaching how to play an instrument also provides learners with another type of source to learn from.

*Transcribe Music for Others. If you are particularly skilled in music or playing a range of instruments this could suit you as another chargeable service to offer.

*Create a Music Education or Appreciation App. If you are tech savvy as well as music savvy this is a great opportunity for additional income.

*Sell Sheet Music. If you are highly skilled at playing a rare or unusual musical instrument you could create specific sheet music and sell it from your website. You can also Earn Print Rights for Your Sheet Music, this is similar to how it works for your recordings, when a composition of your recording is reproduced, you can earn money.

NOTE: The above does not constitute any legal advice but are some suggestions for artists to consider.

Reference Articles:

https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/musician-tips/101-ways-to-make-money-as-a-musician/

https://selfpublishing.com/self-publishing/

https://scottsbasslessons.com

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usainitiatives-blog · 7 years

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WalM&Art. Bonobos is about to be snapped-up by Walmart for c.$300m. The brand, aimed at men who want to look good but with minimal effort, also offers a unique approach: go in-store, pick-out clothes; then they are delivered to your home. (More here.) It follows the purchases of Jet.com, ModCloth, the domain name / social media accounts of (now defunct) shoes.com, and the hiring of ex-Rent The Runway founder Jennifer Fleiss to head new project 'Code Eight'. They mean business. Next, Mike Ashley, the controversial owner of the UK's Sports Direct, has made a foray stateside buying Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob's Stores. Also, the relatively upscale condiment maker 'Sir Kensington' has been bought by Unilever for an undisclosed fee. This follows their rebuttal of Kraft Foods' merger proposal in February. No wonder retail M&A is at a 10-year high! Out On Its Own

Amazon picked-up the rights to stream 10 American Football games (replacing Twitter). This follows Facebook Live's deal with MLS and YouTube TV getting MLB action. 'Cord cutting' has been a trend in recent years, yet sports has arguably been one of the last bastions; this is an interesting time for the networks. (Good podcast here.)

You may remember this newsletter pointing-out the threat posed by Amazon within finance? 'Amazon Cash', allows people to go into a CVS store and give money to the cashier, which is then added to their Amazon account as a gift card. This is not banking per se, as money cannot be withdrawn, however it gives those without a bank account a way into Amazon's ecosystem. (Note also, Chinese retailer Alibaba's subsidiary 'Ant Financial' is set to buy US company MoneyGram.)

Next, the brand is attempting to create a true influencer-affiliate model; whilst it might not garner interest from 'high end' personalities, it has been embraced by WhatsUpMoms, because the products they recommend typically feature on the site. Win-win.

Scott Galloway's must-watch talk on how Amazon is taking-apart retail.

Lastly, meet Echo Look which can take full-length photos and give styling advice via algorithm!

Tech Talk YouTube TV is live - here's the skinny. Plus, YouTube has changed its partner program rules and will only allow those with 10k+ lifetime views to monetise their account - the move is designed to reward original content makers, rather than those who simply repost. Twitter locked horns with the government, which demanded to know the identity of a derogatory account allegedly run by someone in the Immigration department: the little bird claims the request violates the First Amendment right to free speech. Google is embracing fact-checking, kinda. It is adding tags to articles that will signpost authenticity. However the giant is passing the verification process onto third-parties, like PolitiFact. Soon icons will be added to search results to highlight platforms where a film or song can be streamed! Next, Autodraw's machine learning can guess what your mouse-guided scribbles were attempting to draw and make suggestions. Tumblr released 'Cabana', an app for 6 users to concurrently watch YouTube videos and live chat. AOL and Yahoo, once the heavyweights of tech, have been rebranded as 'Oath'. No one knows why. Instagram Direct now has 375m users and yet more Snapchat-esque features such as disappearing messages. Facebook Messenger is taking on Venmo with peer-to-peer group payments. Lastly, Facebook is planning an interface that lets people type with their brain. Small But Important

A new retail threat is looming - the border adjusted tax. In an effort to balance potential corporation tax cuts President Trump's proposed measure would see a 20% levy on imported goods. Target, Gap, and Best Buy are so concerned that they have spent a combined $3.2m on lobbyists during the first quarter this year (versus $800k in Q1 2016). In

Burger King's recent TV spot the narrator claimed that 15 seconds was not long enough to describe the Whopper, so instead asked: 'Google, what is the Whopper'; whereupon viewer's connected devices answered the question. It was not cleared by Google...

Interestingly, their rival pulled a similar stunt in this ad. Riffing on the theory that Coca-Cola tastes better at McDonalds, Mindy Kaling implores people to search for 'that place where Coke tastes so good'. The burger joint's name is not mentioned precisely because they knew that Google results would do that for them. Is this the new guerilla marketing, where companies hijack other brand's tech to promote their wares?

It was a bad month for PR: adidas sent runners a 'Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon' message; Bud Light's #UpForWhatever included the inexcusable line, 'The perfect beer for removing 'No' from your vocabulary for the night'; there was Pepsi's now infamous advert, which was pulled after 24 hours due to backlash; and sobering scenes on United Airlines. It was a surprise then to see Puma being taken to task for: 1. Using Kylie Jenner (rather than an athlete). 2. Her running style. Within the context neither seemed too bad.

adidas's senior VP of global brand strategy talked to GQ about over-taking Nike. Punchy. However, given the success of Vapormax, could this be the beginning of the beginning of a swing back?

Boohoo - the UK online retailer - saw full year US sales surge 140%.

In an attempt to reduce last mile delivery costs Walmart is discounting 10,000 items - but customers must pick-up in-store.

Nordstrom are selling $425 jeans covered in fake mud - 'rugged'.

Outside magazine's female-only May cover features 10 icons.

Under Armour's campaign takes aim at the old-fashioned notion that 'You're pretty' is the ultimate compliment for a women by repositioning it as a prefix, with terms like 'strong' and 'powerful' as a suffix.

The Zappos 'Adaptive' range / site experience - for those with special needs, who find getting dressed a challenge - is admirable.

J. Crew have parted company with their Executive Creative Director Jenna Lyons after 5 years. A downturn in sales - and quality - led to her demise. The vacant role will be not be filled. Rebekka Bay - once of Gap and Everlane - joins Uniqlo.

3D knitting could be a way for brick and mortar stores to compete, especially with Gen X, who will grow-up with eCommerce and be less amazed by it. Machinery will be able to measure the body and then knit inventory on the spot. adidas is all in... (Although so are Amazon.)

Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister will wholesale on Zalora (part of Rocket Internet), offering it access to 600m pan-Asian customers.

This piece looks at the emotive language that brands use towards consumers. It believes that expressions like 'we love our customers' are beginning to feel disingenuous. With the rise of voice search and bots brands must consider tone of voice across touch points.

Farfetch are talking about 'the offline cookie', whereby brands collect data about their customers in-store, as they do on websites. Snapchat is trying to offer similar targeting opportunities too.

Lingerie is the next sector primed for disruption, according to this article. Yet Bloomberg thinks all is rosy for Victoria's Secret reputation. Andie Swim is the 'Warby Parker' of swimwear, apparently.

British food chain 'Pret a Manger' is trailing a vegan NY pop-up to test consumer feedback - via #NotJustForVeggies.

BoF chatted with Anna Wintour (two parts).

98m users have watched 500m hours of Adam Sandler movies on Netflix.

Zeitgeist symbiosis? K-Beauty + Pokemon = Pokemon make-up.

Gap's CEO responded to a 5 year-old's complaints about the overly pink and flowery designs in the girls section: 'you are right ... I’ve talked with our designers and we’re going to work on even more fun stuff that I think you’ll like.' Nice.

Reddit gave the internet a blank canvas on April Fool's Day and let them draw. 72 hours later and over a million people had taken part. Interestingly, because individuals could only add one pixel every five minutes, groups - known as sub-Reddits - came together to coordinate activity, such as drawing flags and combatting hate speech.

And finally! Doritos have teamed-up with Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to create a limited run of chip packets that have a music player built-in featuring the full soundtrack. Tasty.

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