And Why My Experimental Jazz Album Made $0
For years, my dream was to make money from my music. I spent months in my home studio, pouring my soul into a complex, experimental jazz album. I released it with high hopes… and it made exactly $0.37 in its first month.
It was a brutal lesson: Not all music makes money.
My art was a passion project, but it wasn’t a product. I was creating what I wanted to hear, not what a massive, hungry market needed to stream.
The turning point came when I stopped trying to be an ‘artist’ and started thinking like a ‘product manager’. I discovered the real goldmine wasn’t in niche genres, but in functional, evergreen music: lo-fi, ambient techno, and meditation soundscapes. This is the music people play for hours—while studying, working, or sleeping—generating consistent, long-tail streams.
Here’s the exact system I used to go from $0 to a consistent $1,500/month.
Step 1: The Pivot – Finding the "Functional" Goldmine
I stopped composing and started analyzing. I lived inside the "Chill Hits," "Deep Focus," and "Ambient Relaxation" playlists on Spotify and YouTube. I noticed three things:
1. Simplicity is Key: The tracks were often built on a simple, looping melody with a solid drum groove. No complex solos or dramatic changes.
2. Consistency is Everything: Listeners want a seamless, uninterrupted experience. The music serves a purpose, not the spotlight.
3. The Thumbnail and Title Matter As Much As The Music: On YouTube, a cozy, looping anime GIF (for lo-fi) or a minimalist, abstract visual (for ambient) is non-negotiable.
These genres were perfect for AI. The tools excel at creating atmospheric, repetitive, and mood-based soundscapes.
Step 2: My AI-Powered Production Line
I don’t just type "make a lo-fi beat" into an AI and hope for the best. I use AI as a super-powered collaborator to speed up my workflow.
My Toolkit:
Soundraw.io or AIVA: For generating initial melodic loops and chord progressions.
Splash Pro: For quickly building out drum patterns and song structure.
ChatGPT: This is my secret weapon for ‘metadata’. I prompt it: "Generate 20 catchy, SEO-friendly titles for a lo-fi study beat playlist. Include words like ‘chill,’ ‘focus,’ ‘study session,’ and ‘jazzy vibes’."
My Process:
1. Seed the AI: I start in Soundraw with a genre like "Chill Lo-fi" and generate a few dozen 8-bar loops.
2. The Human Touch: I pick the best 2-3 loops and import them into a traditional Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like Reaper (which has a free trial). This is where I add my value: I layer in live-sounding drums from Splash Pro, add field recordings (rain, cafe sounds), and ensure the mix is professional and clean.
3. Finalize & Export: I create a 2-3 minute version and a seamless, 1-hour "extended" version for YouTube.
Step 3: The Distribution & Monetization Engine
This is where most aspiring musicians stop. They put one song on Spotify and wait. You need a system.
1. YouTube is Your Foundation: I create a simple, looping video using a service like Canva or by purchasing a cheap, royalty-free anime loop from a site like Pixabay. I upload the 1-hour extended version. This is where the algorithms love consistent, long-form content.
2. Distribute Everywhere with a Distributor: I use a free distributor like ‘DistroKid’ to upload my 3-minute single to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and TikTok all at once. This is critical for capturing royalties from every possible source.
3. Playlist Pitching is the Game: For every release, I use DistroKid’s feature to submit to Spotify’s editorial playlists. I also seek out independent curators on Submithub for my genre. Getting on one good playlist can generate thousands of streams.
Step 4: The Numbers – How It Adds Up to $1,500
This isn’t one viral hit. It’s the power of a catalog.
YouTube (Ads): Two monetized channels bring in ~$200/month from ad revenue on long-form streams.
Spotify/Streaming Royalties: A catalog of 50+ tracks generates consistent streams. 200,000 monthly streams across all platforms equals roughly ~$800/month (this varies).
Sync Licensing (The Secret Weapon): I list my tracks on platforms like Soundstripe and Pond5. Video creators need background music! This brings in a surprisingly consistent ~$500/month from one-time purchases and licenses.
Total: $1,500/month.
The Mindset Shift That Changed Everything
I didn’t become a famous musician. I became a ‘music producer. There’s a huge difference.
The Artist creates for self-expression.
The Producer creates to solve a listener’s problem (boredom, lack of focus, anxiety).
By leveraging AI to handle the heavy lifting of inspiration and initial composition, I can focus on what truly matters: curating sound, ensuring quality, and strategically distributing a product that the market wants.
You don’t need to be a musical genius. You need to be a keen observer, a savvy editor, and a consistent executor. The tools are here. The audience is waiting. All you have to do is press play.