Step-by-Step Guide to Monetizing Your Music Online
Selling your music online is a great way for artists to grow their fanbase and earn some income. But where do you even begin?
This post will walk you through how to sell your music on Shopify using the Single app, making it easy to set up an online store and start monetizing your catalog. Whether you want to sell albums, EPs, singles or beats, this step-by-step guide has you covered.
Step 1: Get Started with Shopify and Single
First up, create your Shopify store to showcase your artist brand and music in a polished, professional way. Shopify makes it simple to build a custom website backed with powerful ecommerce features.
Once your store is good to go, head to the Shopify App Store and install Single. This handy app allows you to directly sell your music through your Shopify store without needing a distributor.
Step 2: Create Your Digital Release in Single
In the "Digital Releases" section, enter all the key details about your releases, including cover art, title, artist name, release date, price, genre etc. You can upload high-quality lossless audio formats like WAV, AIFF, and FLAC and limit the geographic availability of tracks if you want.
Step 3: Upload and Configure Your Audio Files
Now it's time to upload your actual audio files. Double check the info for each track as you upload it - make sure the title, ISRC, artist name and price all look good. You can also set release schedules, mark explicit tracks, make songs album-only, and add lyrics, credits and more.
Step 4: Publish Your Release
Once your releases are all uploaded and polished, it's go time - publish them to your Shopify store. You have a couple options here:
- Create a Standalone Release - This will publish your release as its own product for customers to purchase along with the option to preview 30 seconds of it before buying. Attach to Merch or
- Bundles - You can also attach your music files to existing products like t-shirts or bundles.
Either way, your tunes will now be live for sales on your Shopify store!
Step 5: Feature Your Music In Your Store
Regardless of the publishing method you choose, make sure to actually highlight your music product in your store. You can do this by:
- Creating a dedicated music homepage in your navigation
- Featuring it prominently on your product pages
- Using banners, collections, announcements to boost visibility
The goal here it to make it easy for fans to find and buy your new tunes!
Step 6: Promote Your Release
Now for the fun part - getting the word out about your new music! One awesome thing about Shopify is you can also surface your products across other platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Spotify to connect with fans wherever they are. Let your mailing list know about a new release, offer special promotions, give sneak peeks on livestreams - get creative with your marketing tactics to drive sales.
Step 7: Track Your Sales and Reporting
As your sales start rolling in, Single will take care of order fulfillment and automatic chart reporting. You'll be able to see which songs and releases are performing best, where your customers are located, and how your catalog is trending over time right in your Single dashboard.
