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What It's About
A stock music marketplace helps a lawyer bring in extra money each month.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
After a bit more discussion Evan admitted that he did have some specific tips for wannabe stock musicians:
First, keep it short. People buying stock music are looking to establish a mood quickly, they don’t want an extensive montage. Secondly clearly establish a mood. Whether it’s joy, anger, fear, surprise or something else, you want the listener to feel something since they’re considering buying your song to establish a mood. Even though the first tip is to keep it short, you still need to tell a story. There should be a clear beginning, middle, and end of the song. Which leads to Evan’s fourth tip: have a strong ending. The last note should be interesting and leave a strong lasting impression.
Fun Fact
When Evan first started researching stock music, he had a hard time finding useful information. Once he was up and running, when he would talk to other musicians about his stock music success, they mostly all expressed shock and surprise that he was making money.
He’d spend a long time explaining how it all works to them, and even then some thought it sounded too good to be true. So he created another side hustle to help musicians break into stock music without wasting as much time as he did figuring everything out.
Notes from Chris
Episode 175
In 2014 Evan Oxhorn found himself three years out of law school, working as a successful lawyer but with a ton of student loan debt and almost no creative life. A longtime musician, he had a hard drive full of half-finished songs and his dreams of having his music heard (by someone other than his friends and family) were slipping past him. During law school, he had put aside all serious attempts at making music a part of his life, but now that he had a steady job, he wanted to add some creativity back to his life. He missed playing the guitar but knew that his lifestyle wouldn’t allow the time commitment of playing in a band. And since he doesn’t sing, he couldn’t do solo gigs. With his options narrowing, he started researching how to get his own music out there, with a minimal time commitment. With his student debt looming in the background, he knew he needed something, no matter how small, that was a net positive. Which is how he got started with music licensing marketplaces. Online music marketplaces deal with all the logistics, allowing musicians to produce songs and license their music directly to clients. After weeks of research, Evan was confident this was the route for him, and it turns out that he was right! For his efforts, he’s making about $400 a month and number is steadily growing. He laid it out for me like this, “Honestly, if you're skilled at recording and mixing, you can get by with a computer, $400 worth of software, a $100 audio interface, and some decent headphones ($100-$400).” While the extra $400 a month makes a difference financially, for Evan this hustle is mostly about the satisfaction he gets from being able to say he’s a musician. This hustle has allowed him to get better equipment and kept him motivated to keep playing. His songs have been broadcast on NPR and used by Verizon on TV. On top of that, his side hustle has spawned another side hustle!MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Mix With the Masters & Recording Revolution: A couple of the resources that Evan used to hone his craft
- Stock Music Musician : Read more about Evan and his journey to passive income on his website
- AudioJungle & Pond 5: Two of the stock music platforms that Evan used to get his music out there and into the world
- Propellerhead | Reason, KRK Rokit 5 speakers, & Focusrite Safire: The audio software and equipment that Evan used to get his stock music side hustle off the ground
- How to Become a Production Music Writer: Interested in launching your own stock music side hustle? Get started here!
- NYC Jazz Musician Builds $40,000/Year Blog: A musician finds financial freedom by growing a blog and starting an e-course teaching other people how to play jazz
- Guitar Teacher Sells Lessons on Craigslist and Makes $80/Hour: How a very busy, new father created a part-time hustle teaching guitar lessons for $80 an hour and has been able to turn it into a full-time income
