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Creative Work: A Self Sufficiency Primer’s Guide

Posted: March 18, 2020
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Art by Rowan Spencer

In thinking about Ghostly’s community of musicians, visual artists, cultural planners and doers, we’re looking to help share some platforms and
sites to create more sustainability now and into the future.

We’ve asked our friends, contacts, and social networks for ideas on how to monetize their own work, but also support the work of artists they love.

This is not an advertisement or to be taken as a full endorsement of any method or platform, and shouldn’t be considered legal or financial advice.
These are just some of the myriad ways artists are finding support or success.

Releasing your own music

To put your own music on DSPs (digital service providers) there are a plethora of options offering access to the most popular ones (Apple Music,
Spotify, Amazon, etc): CDbaby, Distrokid, Stem, and Tunecore to name a few. More robust distribution companies like Symphonic and The Orchard
(who have published this guide on how to support music now) also offer label services and can provide recoupable marketing budgets as well.

Much of our community loves Bandcamp because of the high average payout to artists and labels per-sale, related to downloads — check their
guide for artists. Artists can find value in releasing exclusive, unreleased, or live material and asking fans to name their price. You can set up
subscriptions for your music too. Artists and labels are now using the platform for physical merch and can utilize existing products they may
already have. I.E. signing vinyl or making test pressings available for super fans.

We use Soundcloud to generate awareness for new releases and gather feedback from fans, and artists benefit from the social/viral aspect of the
platform.

And here is a quick guide for how artists and labels can leverage Google Analytics to identify and act upon existing demand for their work.

As a fan, if you want to promote artists you love on Bandcamp:

Merch Table from Hype Machine (disclosure: one of our teammates works at Hype Machine) is a way to convert Spotify playlists into Bandcamp
links for purchase.

Buy Music Club (from Avalon Emerson and friends) is a tool for sharing lists of your favorite releases on Bandcamp.

In addition to purchases, including a note as a fan can go a long way in lifting the spirits of anyone dealing with canceled tours, etc. Now is the
time to get that extra tee or record and leave some love in their inbox or on their page. Also, consider paying more than the asking price when
purchasing music if you can afford it.

Publishing your own music

The world of music publishing is a complicated one, but if you are a working musician, having a basic understanding of how this space works can
help you make good business decisions. There is a handy guide to publishing put together by our friends at Songtrust we recommend.

The first step is to get registered with a PRO (performing rights organization) in your home country (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC in the US), but that will
cover only your performance royalties (from radio, satellite, Pandora, live performances, and streaming). You'll want a solution for global
performance as well as streaming mechanical royalties and YouTube publishing royalties, which you can do by working directly with mechanical
organizations like Harry Fox, and with YouTube, or you can engage a third-party DIY publishing platform like Songtrust, Sentric, or Audiam to take
care of this for you.

Livestreaming

We’ve already seen livestreaming start to take off for shows and DJ sets. Pitchfork recently documented some examples and here is a living
document of virtual music events.

Using Facebook and Instagram live is popular as is Youtube who has an in-depth guide to Livestreaming. Restream allows you to stream live to
multiple social platforms at once. Also, Twitch just released a “getting started” guide for music.

Offering tutorials or classes is another option, and Skype is popular for these examples. Music-related learning is the most obvious choice —
tutorials, studio guides, production feedback/workshopping, to name a few — but other ideas include cooking classes, painting classes, tarot
readings, guided meditation. Any talent you have, from something casual and fun to the skill sets you’ve acquired from another career.

A good case study for venues or community centers is Nowadays teaming up with The Lot Radio for live streams from their venue. They’re free to
the public, but help to highlight their donation options.

More generally, Resident Advisor just launched a comprehensive "Save Our Scene" campaign.
Crowdfunding, Patronage, and direct financial support

Asking for financial support from your community shouldn’t be looked down upon, and fans understand the need for support, it helps to tie your
request to a certain event or goal if possible.

We’ve seen Venmo used often and you can build robust donation requests via platforms like Givebutter. One of our artists has used Paypal’s
Money Pool which allows anyone to get quick and direct donations and you can reply directly to those supporters.

There are a number of great organizations that offer to fund artists and freelancers. This list seems to be the most robust. Also, Musicares has a
funding program that offers financial aid and addiction recovery help for musicians.

There are platforms that offer advances against royalties, some that we have seen are Sound Royalties and The Music Fund.

For project-based crowdfunding, we’ve seen a number of artists using Patreon but can’t speak to its ease of use, many creatives swear by it.
Kickstarter will likely have some innovation to share soon. Project-based crowdfunding favors artists who are OK with self-promotion and
recurring reminders. Don’t feel bad if this is not for you.

SoundCloud just introduced a new button for artist profiles where fans can financially support their work.

Mental & Physical health

Beyond financial help, mental and physical stamina are important and these are some ideas to maintain both during uncertain times.

Read up

A lot of great pieces on artistic health have been written. Sites like The Creative Independent, AIGA, and 99u have many interviews and how-to’s
even articles related to working from home.

Stick to a schedule

While working from home, find a schedule for work and non-work that works for you and your team. Setting a precedent for accessibility (when
you are expected to be present or reply) is good to create boundaries.

Maintain Energy

Without one’s natural commute or workout routine, it is daunting to maintain good mental health. There are loads of routines on YouTube designed
for small rooms, limited time, and no equipment, like this 7-minute workout, this series for HIIT [high-intensity interval training], and channels for at-
home yoga like this, this, and this.

Ghostly/Spectral’s own Todd Osborn put some tips together for Why is this Interesting?

A number of meditation apps exist and some have waived their fees in recent days.

Phone/Facetime

Entirely personal decisions but picking up the phone or using video conferencing apps (Zoom, Skype) to connect with colleagues or friends is often
better than text messaging.

Also Backline is offering remote counseling for music industry professionals including group sessions.

Create, Hone, and Learn

Honing your craft, learning a new one, or even just playing around are all great ways to keep your creativity engaged. Resident Advisor made a
handy list.

Give Locally/Give Small

Beyond music think about those in need in your community and pledge your money, time, or abilities. For venues/record stores/etc that are closed,
you can offer to buy gift certificates or merch to use at a future point. Also, consider supporting your local food bank.

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