The heydays of vinyl and CDs are no longer here, and streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music pay a relative pittance. Even the artists most popular on platforms like Bandcamp receive only “negligible” earnings from their sales, according to a Financial Times report. Live gigs offer no guarantee of much cash either, with venues and ticket providers taking large percentages.
One answer to a Quora topic, “How do metal bands make money?”, says, “Most of us have regular 9 to 5 jobs like the rest of ya’ll.”
But some bands manage to make significant money from their music. Here are a few ways that bands make money today.
Wedding gigs
Playing wedding gigs is a great starting point for any band. Weddings are a reliable source of income, and while it might not be many artists’ dream, a gig’s a gig. It’s a chance for a band to play together and sharpen their craft.
Weddings are also opportunities to learn what makes a crowd dance, sing along, or lose interest. Perhaps not every wedding’s full of moshers, but any wedding’s going to have people who love music, and a band can learn which guitar riffs, drum fills or screamed chorus really gets people going.
Paying tribute
It can be difficult for a band to make money playing their originals. By covering much-loved bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden, musicians can take a cut of ission fees on sets that will always draw an audience. Have a look on ticket websites and you’ll see bands like Moretallica and Ion Maiden (hey, if dropping the ‘r’ is enough to avoid a lawsuit, the name’s good enough, right?).
Some other notable tribute acts include Boot Led Zeppelin, Ozzbest, and Slipknowt. If you like a good name, tribute bands are where to go.
Performing at Sporting Events
Some of the biggest artists in music open the biggest sporting events. America’s NFL Super Bowl has long been hyped for its halftime show, and in recent years Rihanna (2023) and Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar are among the list of recent performers at Super Bowls. While the Super Bowl’s inplay betting tends to centre around the athletes (for obvious reasons), there are also plenty of spectators who bet on the next year’s lineup for the halftime show, too.
No metal band has played the Super Bowl yet, but classic songs like Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ and AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ are often played on the speaker systems to get fans hyped up.
Interacting with fans
With revenues being squeezed by streaming and music fans accustomed to free music, bands must maximise any income by engaging with their listeners.
Some artists host live streams for Q&A sessions, offer Reddit and Twitter/X AMAs (“ask me anything”s), and even private Zoom chats. Fans are getting accustomed to real-time interactions with musicians who in the past would have remained much more private.
Gigs, merch, and sell out bonuses
Even if a band doesn’t quite have the level of fame of Metallica (the actual Metallica, not Moretallica), playing live can still bring in significant money.
Derek Brewer, who has managed bands like Veil of Maya and Crown the Empire, has written about the amount a modest-sized metal band is able to make.
The frontman of a metal band had recently quit and posted about his decision on social media, before Bewer showed that a month-long tour could make a sizable profit.
He calculated 30 dates would make $60,000 and merch would bring in another $22,500. Taking expenses into , the band would be left with $27,945, with five making $5,589 each.
In Brewers’ words, this was “pretty comparable to a decent” 9 to 5. Sell out bonuses and successful merch nights could bring in extra.
Of course, bigger bands make more from gigs. In 2022, Metallica’s “enhanced experience” ticket packages were going from $414 to $7272. That’s not 72 dollars and 72 cents – that’s seven thousand dollars. But those tickets were for “an exclusive viewing platform”, reported Forbes, and a pre-show lounge. If you build it, they will come!
Photo by Israel Caballero on Unsplash
