You’re an independent artist and your dream is to have a fan base.
You created good music then uploaded it to streaming platforms. After promoting your music you check how much money you’ve made.
It’s almost nothing!

You know this isn’t right and that’s why you’re reading this.
You deserve better and I want to show you why you don’t need streaming services.
We’ll talk about 5 advantages to selling directly and not using streaming platforms
You Can Make More Money
Making more money is the first and most important reason to not use streaming services.
Streaming services make money for the platform.
Not the artist.
Are some artist living off streams?
Yes.
Is it a very small percentage of artists?
Yes.
The odds aren’t in your favor and you never want that.

By selling directly you increase your chances of being a full time artist. Becoming a full time artist from streams takes years or could never happen at all.
By selling directly you are in control of how much money you make from music.
You are not dependent on a platform or algorithm.
Let’s look at some numbers so you understand how much money you can make. If you sold a single at $1 to 500 fans you would make $500.Â
You would need approximately 100,000-200,000 streams to make that much.

You will need a lot more fans to make money from streams. The streaming system is not designed for small loyal fan bases.
Streaming makes you chase large fan numbers that few ever achieve.Â
Selling directly allows you to build a loyal small fan base that makes you money.
Living off your music is possible with 500-1,000 fans. You only need to not depend on streams. Do your own thing and do what makes you the most money. Not what’s best for Spotify or Apple.

Why would listeners listen to your song file instead of using streaming?
Music listeners will listen to a song on anything if they like it enough.
That’s why Your music has to be good to sell directly.
Every phone is capable of playing music files without a streaming app.
When someone buys your song they can listen to it on their phone. This is an advantage because they will be focus on your music.
Not listening to a playlist full of random songs.

You Choose The Value Of Your Music
Selling directly allows you to choose what your music is worth. You don’t have to accept less than $.01 if you don’t want to.
You can charge whatever your fan base is willing to pay.
If you’re wondering if this is true check out the story of Nipsey Hustle.Â
He sold 100,000 copies for $100.
That’s proof that you, the artist, decides what your music is worth. Music is one of the few businesses where the business owner isn’t aware of pricing.
Most independent artists accept what they’re told their music is worth.
You don’t have to accept anything you don’t feel is fair.
Think about how much you invest into your music and sell it to make a profit.
Thinking this way is the only way to live off your music.
You’re Not Dependent On Someone Else
Selling directly gives you true independence.
You are not waiting on a playlist, platform, or label.

Streaming makes you dependent. The payouts are so low to force you to seek outside help.
That outside help usually comes in the form of a label.
After you have invested thousands to build a presence and not make much from streams.
Labels and publishers come in as a savior. They offer you a large advance in exchange for your art.
This is 99% of the time not for you to make money in the long run.
You can avoid this by selling directly.
Selling directly will give you a profitable business that you own.

You won’t need outside help unless the terms are in your favor.
Learn to sell directly and have direct communication with your fan base.
You Stand Out From Other Artist
There are millions of independent artists all doing the same thing.
They create music, upload to a distributor, and get less than $.01 a stream.
If you follow everyone else you will blend in.
By selling your music directly and not on streaming platforms you become unique.

There are a lot of businesses that charge more because they use this strategy. An example would be luxury brands.
A $20 women’s purse sold at Walmart is everywhere. Any woman at any Walmart can buy one.
A Birkin bag sold by Hermes is not everywhere. You can only get it from one place.
They only make a few of each style and not every woman can have a bag.
Birkin are rare and because of that they can charge over $30,000 for a bag.

Which do you want potential fans to view your music as?
A luxury item that only a few can have. Or something as common as the air you breathe.
I hope for your music business sake you choose the first option.
You Can live Off Your Music Faster
By selling directly you profit off your music faster than streams.
Time is the one thing you can’t get more of.
Getting to the point of making enough money to quit your job should happen quickly.
By selling directly you don’t have to get millions of views of your tik tok. You need enough to get fans onto your email list.

Once on your email list you can build a relationship with them.
Over time they will become fans that buy your music.
You won’t need millions of streams a month to start supporting yourself.
Considering that 80% of artists have only 50 monthly listeners the odds aren’t good.
Selling directly will make everything possible.
Your journey to living off your music will seem like a fight you can win.
Conclusion
These are only some of the advantages to selling directly.
Once you start making sales you will discover a lot more.
Don’t continue down a path that won’t lead you to your goal. If selling directly sounds like it will help your music start now.
Taking action is the only way to make your dreams come true.

Keep making music and never give up on what you love.
You will live off your music one day.