How to Make Money with a SoundCloud Account

For Musicians and Creators on Maternity Leave

In today’s world, musicians and other creative entrepreneurs have numerous platforms to showcase their skills, talents, and the impressive degrees to which they work hard at their craft.

Independently expressing your creativity and entrepreneurship has been made possible due to the presence of platforms like SoundCloud.

It is no overstatement to say that the features and offerings of a platform as efficient as SoundCloud would have been impossible two decades ago.

It would have been a bit shocking if, twenty years ago, one was told that there is a platform that allows users to independently stream, upload, advertise, and exchange music and podcasts.

And now no secrets that you can get real SoundCloud likes, views, and development on the platform.

Today’s digital world enables some services such as Socials Up for you to get extra reposts, plays, likes, or comments to get a higher platform ranking without wasting time and effort.  

The point of being an “independent platform” is that artists and creators can make money on the platform without the aid of any labels or industry gatekeepers.

This is what SoundCloud is all about. Either through a free or subscription-based plan, the floor is yours. However, the how is the challenge with making money on SoundCloud, as with many other things.

How can an independent artist make money from their music content in the face of all the financial challenges of being an artist?

This post will detail how musicians can practically achieve this and raise significant income from SoundCloud.

Specifically, we will address how artists on maternity leave can maximize their well-deserved vacation and earn money through creativity.

Time off can increase creativity, prevent burnout, and produce better work output.

However, when on maternity leave, as a musician or creative, all these advantages could become even better – in the form of financial gains on SoundCloud.

Maternity Leave and Its Numerous Benefits

Sure, many demanding things will undoubtedly take up your time while on maternity leave.

Obviously, you are on maternity leave to care for your baby, and this can be a 24-hour round-the-clock responsibility.

However, the experiences of many women have shown that during their maternity leave, the absence of office responsibilities is a heavy burden off their shoulders, which makes every other task easier and relatively comfortable.

Therefore, professionals on maternity leave are known to manage their time better.

This period could work wonders for creatives (musicians and other artists) for your productivity and creative output.

Whenever your baby happens to be asleep or resting, you have more time to write, edit, sample, and meticulously produce new songs or write the script for your next podcast episode.

You have just two categories of tasks; care for your baby, and create your art.

You also have time to meet other individuals, get a fresh perspective on audiences, and have enough day-to-day human interaction outside work to inspire you to create and flesh out new material.

Also, everyone is aware of how inspiring the shower can be. But have you ever attempted concepting in the middle of the night in a rocking rocker in a little child’s bedroom?

Those wakings by 3 a.m. might be a fantastic opportunity for reflection.

There is nothing except your thoughts passing through your mind in the silent darkness.

The calm and peace of mind you experience also assist you in creating.

There is no worry or anxiety about the next thing to be submitted to your boss, team member, or client. There is only your baby and your art, two of which you love. 

Maximizing Your Maternity Leave on SoundCloud

The nature of music and other artistic endeavors is that they require the input or participation of many people for them to be successful.

Whether you are a rapper, Pop-singer, podcaster, or even a Spoken Word artist, you need listeners, followers, and subscribers to your content. Of course, it would help if you had the crowd.

And while SoundCloud makes this very possible, content creators still need to make an effort to ensure that their songs and podcasts reach their target audiences.

So, as a creator who intends to make some money on SoundCloud while on maternity leave, here are a few practical ways by which you can successfully go about it:

First, let’s start with the basics; you must have a pro account on SoundCloud, have reached the age of 18, be an independent creator who owns all rights to your music (including 100 percent of publication, master, and distribution), and be creating unique material to be eligible for content monetization with SoundCloud.

Additionally, you must also have 500 acceptable streams in the previous month and have no copyright violations at the time of enrolment.

Enable Monetization

Once you have confirmed that you are approved and have agreed to the terms of the SoundCloud Premium agreement, you can begin SoundCloud monetization for a single track or a collection of tracks.

• Select the proper track from your track (s) list.
• Use the track’s monetization tab, then turn it on.
• For every territory you want to be monetized, you should choose a username. Then, on the Metadata tab, you also can enter your description’s specifics.

Upgrading to Pro Limited

You’ll need to invest some of your cash upfronts if you want to earn money on SoundCloud.

Unfortunately, there is no free method to access their monetization; a Pro account subscription requires a monthly fee to be paid to the platform. 

Offering your music for sale on SoundCloud has a catch, similar to many other audio streaming services: it will keep a portion of the money from your sales.

Artists and musicians who use SoundCloud Premier to monetize obtain a net revenue of 55%.

As a result, you will receive a 55 percent profit share for any music you upload or hold the rights to, with music service keeping the remaining 45 percent.

Offering your music for sale on service has a catch, similar to many other audio streaming services: SoundCloud will keep a portion of the money from your sales.

Artists and musicians who use SoundCloud Premier to monetize obtain a net revenue of 55%.

As a result, you will receive a 55 percent profit share for any music you upload or hold the rights to, with SoundCloud keeping the remaining 45 percent.

The money made on SoundCloud also has an impact on your earnings.

Your pay will be based on SoundCloud’s revenue from subscriptions and advertising, as these are the sources that support the SoundCloud Premier program.

Sadly, so will yours if SoundCloud’s income declines due to poor performance.

Other Available Methods

While the primary method for making money off of your recordings on this music service is to sign up for SoundCloud Premier, other available options can be just as effective.

You can create an online store and link your store to your SoundCloud account if you want to sell your content directly to customers on SoundCloud and avoid the middleman (and additional revenue charges).

So, you can keep 100% of your money if you direct your followers to an external website to purchase your songs.

SoundCloud integration will increase the possible revenue from your tracks. There are three ways to link your SoundCloud profile to your store.

• Include a link to your store’s website in the track description. Put a link to the item on your online store inside the “Description” box that appears when you publish new music to SoundCloud.
• Add a link to your biography. Another excellent area to include a link to your online store is through your bio. Go to your SoundCloud “Profile Settings” and select “Edit” to include a link to your bio. In the bio box, paste the URL for your online store. Don’t forget to click “Save Changes” at the end.
• Make a buy link for your tracks. On SoundCloud, a proper field that displays beneath your tracks is known as the “buy-link.” First, choose the “Metadata” heading that appears whenever you upload a file to SoundCloud to obtain one. The phrase that displays on the buy button can then be customized, and you have the option of adding a buy link to your recordings.

Importantly, you must also have a Pro Unlimited profile or SoundCloud Pro to add purchase links to your music.

By the way, Sellfy is one terrific e-commerce platform you can use to create an online store if you don’t already have one.

Many musicians utilize this website to link their online shop to their SoundCloud profile and increase the revenue from their songs.

After monetizing your SoundCloud tracks and connecting your SoundCloud profile to your online store, another way to increase your profitability is to connect TuneCore to your SoundCloud.

Over ten years ago, TuneCore and SoundCloud formed a collaboration to distribute and publish digital music.

Working with distributors greatly assists independent musicians in getting their music on all the primary streaming services, which is crucial.

SoundCloud Ads

As an artist, you can also develop a reliable streamer community on SoundCloud with ads, which can help you progress your career.

In addition, since the rate of music streaming translates into money for artists, reposts may also help you get more fans on social networking sites, where having a sizable following can help you land favorable deals.  

Once you get on the platform, select the preferred advertising opportunity, which will give you more ways to engage with a highly influential audience and get more plays, likes, follows, or other interactions you need for your songs. 

Conclusion

Having a “normal” day job, whether corporate or otherwise, does not impede being creative, simply because creativity is innate and a part of every artist.

This is why having some free time on your hands is enough to get your creative juices flowing and earn a significant income.

SoundCloud and its enabling platforms (as we’ve introduced above) are good tools and vehicles to make this happen.

Whatever method you choose, ensure you stay consistent, follow the rules, and most importantly, allow yourself the freedom to be yourself as you create.