Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$600

$5,400

Equipment & Supply Expenses

$63

$200

Software Expenses

$150

$2,769

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$0

$2,300

Total Startup Costs

$1,187

$25,236

CD Baby

cdbaby.com

8,975

Sound On Sound

soundonsound.com

30,166

MusicTech

musictech.net

50,375

Universal Production Music

universalproductionmusic.com

114,907

Production Music Library

firstcom.com

219,827

APM Music

apmmusic.com

227,642

The Producer's Plug

theproducersplug.com

387,703

Black Ghost Audio

blackghostaudio.com

429,541

Digital Media Academy

digitalmediaacademy.org

745,278

Warner Chappell Production Music

warnerchappellpm.com

839,287

The Music Producers Guild

mpg.org.uk

933,188

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a music producer. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

High margins

The gross margins for your music producer are typically around 80%, which is considerably high and allows you to grow your business and manage costs easily.

Churn

In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible.

Time commitment

With becoming a music producer, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

Difficult to build trust with your customer

With becoming a music producer, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business.

Impatient customers

You may offer an engaging user experience for your customer, but customers expect a lot and may be impatient if they aren't pleased with your product or service.

You might struggle financially (at first)!

If you bootstrap your business or choose not to pay yourself (or pay yourself less than you were making at your corporate job), this can be financially taxing. It's important to adjust your lifestyle and set a plan for yourself so you don't find yourself in a stressful situation.

Learning Curve

When you start your own business, you no longer have upper management to provide you with a playbook for your roles and responsibilities. You should know the ins and outs of every aspect of your business, as every decision will come down to you.