Hey, thanks for joining for another week of New Venture Weekly.
This week we’re going to explore how to make money in the music industry without actually releasing any music.
Let’s jump in!
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🗂 Overview:
Sample & preset packs are one of the best ways music producers can monetize their work without actually releasing any music.
It’s a very segmented market with lots of competitors and a low barrier to entry but with the right branding and content, you can differentiate yourself and build a loyal fanbase who buy every pack you release.
⭐️ Examples:
Splice is the most popular sample/preset pack marketplace. They’re worth over $500m and have some of the biggest artists around releasing packs. Their 2.5m users pay a monthly subscription and receive credits they can use to download individual samples.
Loopmasters are one of the most well-known sample pack providers. They have a Splice competitor called Loopcloud. They also sell Plugins via Plugin Boutique.
Cymatics has sold over $15m of sample packs as of 2023.
Sounds Like You sells an assortment of glitchy, left-of-field samples and has made over £50k in revenue over the past 12 months as a side-project. You can buy this business here - meaning you don’t have to start from zero.
Serum - this is the most popular digital synth available. The creator (Steve Duda) said about 7 years ago he’d made $10m from it so by now it’s probably well over $20m.
👎 Problems:
Overcome Creative Block: Provides fresh sounds to spark new ideas.
Save Time: Ready-made, professional sounds let producers focus on making music.
Maintain Consistency: Ensures a cohesive sound across projects.
Simplify Sound Design: Gives less experienced producers access to pro-quality sounds.
Genre-Specific Needs: Offers sounds tailored to specific genres.
Inspire Exploration: Helps producers experiment with new styles easily.
📈 Stats:
The global music production software market, which includes sample packs, is expected to grow from $442 million in 2021 to $632.9 million by 2028. (source)
🧐 Opportunities:
1. Genre-Specific Sample & Preset Packs
Choose a genre (or multiple genres): Focus on creating samples that are unique and difficult for others to replicate.
Ensure quality: Make sure your samples stand out with distinct sounds, innovative processing, or fresh interpretations of classic styles.
Validate your samples: Upload them for free on Reddit or other music production communities, and ask for honest feedback.
Assess the feedback: If the feedback is positive and validates the quality, proceed with the next steps.
Create a store: Set up a Shopify store to sell your sample packs.
Expand and refine: Continuously add more packs and refine your offerings based on ongoing feedback and emerging trends.
If you can’t produce music you can hire producers or collaborate with others.
2. Plugins (Software) for Music Producers
This one is a bit more difficult and will require you to work with software developers (unless you know how to code).
Conduct market research: Identify opportunities to enhance an existing plugin or streamline a common production workflow.
Gather insights: Speak directly with other producers to uncover what features or improvements they’re looking for in tools or workflows.
Design UI/UX: Create a detailed UI/UX breakdown for the plugin. Consult with developers to refine these concepts; platforms like Upwork can connect you with the right talent. Outversion is also a good recommendation.
Build an MVP: Develop a minimum viable product (MVP) and recruit beta testers to gather feedback and suggestions.
Iterate and launch: Use the feedback from beta testers to refine and complete the full version of your plugin, then release it to the market.
3. Release on Splice & Loopcloud
Successful sample packs on platforms like Splice can generate substantial revenue, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 annually depending on their popularity and frequency of releases.
Platforms like Splice have popularized subscription models, with Splice reporting over 2.5 million users. This has led to a shift towards recurring revenue models in the sample pack industry.
This works especially well if you’ve built your own audience on other channels. That way you can funnel them to Splice where they can download your samples.
🚀How to Grow:
Video Content: Build an Audience on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok by creating videos like Zen World, Rob Late, Reid Stefan & Beautiful Beats.
SEO Content: Create high-ranking SEO content that helps solve music producers’ questions and positions you as an authority in the space.
Paid Social Ads: Run paid social ads showcasing your samples in action by turning them into a track. Test a variety of different ad styles and sample demos.
Collaborations: Collaborate with other music producers and share your audiences for mutual growth.
Email Marketing: Offer free sample packs in return for an email address. Nurture the leads by giving music production tips, lessons, and more free samples before upselling them to paid sample packs.
Reddit: Reply to people on Reddit every time they ask for sample pack recommendations. Don’t overtly promote your sample packs as people don’t like this. But add value and make suggestions. You can use software like Syften for this.
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Want to turn your idea into a business? Check out this business idea checklist.
Want to differentiate from your competitors? Check out this Differentiation Strategy Guide
Want to run ads for your business? Use these proven psychological ad positioning strategies.
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