In the light of Covid, making a profit out of your personal art has proved to be very difficult. With the possibility of live in-person shows becoming almost non-existent, musicians have had to adapt to our new ways in order to make a living. The ways in which musicians are making a profit nowadays are by selling merchandise, monetizing online live performances, and teaching how to play instruments etc. Other challenges musicians may face during Covid is the inability to work with others whether it be band mates, executives, and other important people that make up their career. Sure, there are ways to still interact such as Zoom but, I have personally taken guitar lessons over the video communications program and it is nothing like doing the real thing in person. You experience cut outs, interruptions, and depending on your hardware, the sound and video quality can be dreadful. Spotify for Artists’ blog, “How Artists Are Making the Most of Merch During the Pandemic” does a great job at talking about how artists are doing taking the merchandise approach for their success. For example, websites such as Merchbar allows ~35,000 artists and offers over 1 million products to chose from that fans can buy to support their favorite artist. Although not everyone on the platform sells their merchandise for profit, but as to raise money for social causes that are happening in our current world. Another website, Bandzoogle is used by artists to sell their tickets for virtual performances providing a stream link and password once the ticket is purchased. Patreon is probably the most well-known website where artists can easily make money online through their fans. The membership platform makes it so that fans can donate to their favorite artists/creators and in return you give them an exclusive/personalized service whether it be a behind the scenes of your art work, shows, what you do during the day, new music etc. These websites along with many others provide virtual ways for artists to make a living of their craft. Without them, it would be very hard to survive as a creator during these hard times.
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