Creative ways to make money from online music

 Business Insider has written a lot about the state of the music industry and the problems that have arisen in trying to turn a profit from the sale of music.

It is often said that some of the problems with the music industry can be linked to the fact that the recording artists have little or no control over what their music is used for, and that songwriters and artists are being ripped off in a big way by digital music services.

It's a problem that I don't have a solution for, but there are some more creative ways you could earn a little money from the sale of music online, and make more than enough to stop you getting a pay rise for doing nothing.

Below are just some of the methods that exist that people are using to make money from the sale of music.

This is an easy way to earn money from music, and it works every day of the week. You simply upload some of your own music to the site and they will pay you £1 for every track sold. The site is called Bedroom Producers. Go and check it out.

Work is by download

With an increasing number of people buying music for downloading, websites like Mp3Pact are becoming increasingly popular. Mp3Pact gives artists the opportunity to upload music for sale, in addition to making money through advertising and royalty payments.

MP3Auctions also lets people upload music to sell. You must upload at least 10 minutes of your music, and then submit it to be placed on the site. At the time of writing the site was taken down for maintenance, but we've put together a guide explaining how it all works.

Deezer - your voice for a song

If you're serious about selling your music online, and you also have a mobile phone then it's worth considering the big French music streaming service Deezer.

The best part is that the service is free, and you get to advertise your music using the service's apps, which have over 100 million users. You simply place a single ad in the app, and your music will be automatically played at that time for 30 seconds.

Work for a music service

If you're not a musician you might like to consider working for one of the many music services out there. For example, Kaaoszone is a Finnish music streaming service that allows you to buy and sell MP3s and download music without ads.

There are also a number of people working at the likes of Spotify, Apple and Google who want to offer you help.

Make an album for Spotify

Spotify has announced that it is launching a new service that will allow artists to launch albums through the service. Unlike Apple, Spotify pays artists per play.

The service will enable artists to go on tour and promote their music, as well as selling it through the service.

Make a playlist for Spotify

Spotify's announcement has created a bit of a stir. In theory it's a good idea, but it's hard to see how musicians can make good use of the service, especially as it's already got the competition.

Other services are already offering services like "guerrilla playlisting" that allow artists to create playlists for free without having to sell adverts.

Make Spotify play your songs

"Spotify Artist pages have been receiving increasing requests to get more of their music played, but Spotify is extremely strict in the way they manage this. Artists are forced to wait for Spotify's editorial team to play their music, and not be able to promote it on their own page, a completely closed loop of attention.

With Spotify's announcement of Spotify Artist Pages, artists have been asking if this is the first step towards removing that restriction, and allowing artists to promote their music themselves without waiting on Spotify.

It sounds like Spotify is only now getting around to listening. As a result of Spotify's announcement artists are more likely to find a way to make their music play, even if that means launching their own Spotify Artist Page. Artists have suggested that bands or producers can launch their own Facebook and Twitter Pages, or even launch websites dedicated to promoting their music.

This opens up all sorts of exciting opportunities for artists. To get an idea of the creative things that can be done, check out the "How To Play Spotify Tracks" post. It's not all that hard to play a song on Spotify, after all, it's just about choosing the right song.

Like Wikipedia, Spotify's announcement about Artist Pages has been met with enthusiasm and incredulity in equal measure. There's no doubt that if artists have more control over their music it will have a positive impact on their sales.

But what do you think? Will artists do more to promote their music if it gets played for free? Do you think there will be a backlash against Spotify if it becomes the new place to play free music? Let us know in the comments below...

Fancy taking part in Ask ToolBox?

The life and times of musicians in the 21st century are becoming more difficult. So much so that bands are turning to computer technology in order to promote their music and gain the attention of new fans.

In some cases, though, a band may even turn to a company like Codecademy, which offers one-hour tutorials teaching people how to code in certain key skills, and help them to learn and apply their new skills to the web.

Often the first step a musician will take to spread the word about their band is to create an online presence – where do you find out how?

Take a look at this fantastic infographic created by ArtsApproved and they'll take you through the essential components you need to launch your online presence, including choosing a domain name, learning how to promote yourself online and being able to set up a social media presence.