Music Producer Salaries | How Much Do They Make?

As with any line of work, you can’t expect to make a lot of money right off the bat in the music production business. Becoming a successful music producer who can make a living from music production requires good interpersonal skills, a trained ear, decent knowledge of music theory, and, most importantly, passion and dedication to your craft.

That said, if you dedicate yourself to your work and put in the time, effort, and patience, you can expect anything from around $35,000 to six figures or more a year. Even as a beginner, after your first few gigs, you can expect a decent income that can cover your living expenses. 

What’s key here is knowing the main sources of income for a music producer and how much they make from each of those various sources. In this article, I'll delve into how much a music producer makes at each level of proficiency, the various sources of income and jobs you can do as a music producer, and how much you can make from each source.

Freelance Gigs: Marketplaces, Ads, Sample Packs and Sound Libraries

One of the most important steps in becoming a fully-fledged music producer is building a solid resume. This is no easy task, and most producers have to work a day job to fund their early days as producers. Nevertheless, there are many ways to get your name out there and make some money doing it.

You can do freelance mixing, mastering, and production work on marketplaces like Fiverr, SoundBetter, and AirGigs. Fiverr isn’t a music-only marketplace; however, there are plenty of musicians and artists looking for producers on the website. 

Since Fiverr is a well-known and very popular website, you can expect plenty of exposure and potential customers. The only downside is that Fiverr takes a 20% commission from you. 

SoundBetter is an easy-to-use platform for anyone in the music industry. It offers all kinds of freelance music work, from songwriting gigs to mixing and producing. Plus, they only charge a 5% commission.

Another music-specific platform is AirGigs, which operates similarly to SoundBetter. On AirGigs, you can find all kinds of artists and musicians looking for freelance work; the only difference is that they charge a 15% commission. 

If your resume isn't strong enough, you can always do some pro bono work to beef it up and get your name out there. Make sure to utilize social media and go to open mics and similar places where you can find other artists. This will help you build a good relationship with other artists in your local area and get your name out there. If you’re looking for producers in Ottawa, then this article can help you!

After accumulating some following and exposure, you can make a profit by selling sample packs, MIDI loops, sound loops and pretty much any sound on sound libraries like Splice and Output by Arcade. If you need any tips on how to create loops, you can check out this article on creating loops on Logic.

From websites like Fiverr, SoundBetter, and AirGigs, you can expect an income of $5 to $400 per song as a beginner. It may be a rough couple of months or years initially. Still, as you become more experienced and build a better resume, you can expect anywhere from $400 to $3,000 a song as a professional producer. 

Selling sample packs and other items on sound libraries can earn you income, but it depends heavily on your following and fame. A considerable percentage of the people buying your packs and loops are your fans and followers, who purchase them due to your credit and quality of work. If you have a decent following, you can expect up to a few thousand dollars a month, but as a beginner, you may not make any real income for a long while.

Teaching Music Production

If you've built a strong resume and mastered your craft, you can delve into teaching music production. You can make money through teaching production in two main ways: one-on-one teaching and paid online courses.

There are plenty of websites online where you can teach mixing, mastering, and production in one-on-one classes, such as Fiverr and AirGigs. Depending on your ability and what you'll be teaching, you can charge anything from $15/hr to $85/hr. 

Another source of income based on teaching is selling online courses. This requires a few weeks to a month to design and create the courses; however, when you're done, you can make a decent amount of passive income, which is a great source of long-term income. Depending on the material and duration of your courses, you can price your courses at anywhere from $100 to $300. Check out my online courses to get an idea!

Producing Music for Artists

Whether from marketplaces like SoundBetter or from your own efforts in finding clients, this is the ideal source of revenue for any producer as it's the highest-paying and most reliable. 

The primary source of income for a music producer when producing for an artist is the upfront or hourly fee. The fee is typically a flat rate paid half upfront and half when the project is delivered. 

How much you can charge depends on your experience level, amount of work, how soon the artist expects you to finish the project, whether you’ll offer revisions, and how much you’ll charge per revision (if at all).

As mentioned earlier, you’ll want to do some pro bono work to expand your portfolio and attract more clients. As a beginner, you can charge $100 to $400 per song; however, if you’ve got a decent portfolio, you can charge anywhere between $500 to $3,000-$4,000 per song. 

For revisions, you can approach the issue in two ways; one approach I recommend is offering two free revisions and either 10-20% of the original fee or your full hourly rate for any extra revisions. 

The second approach is to charge slightly more for the original fee and instead offer no revision fees; this may not be as profitable as the first approach; however, this makes you a more attractive option for clients and builds a better relationship between you and the client, increasing the likelihood of them recommending you to other artists.

Other sources of revenue when working with an artist, in addition to the upfront or hourly fee, are streaming royalties and publishing/songwriting royalties.

If you're an experienced producer with a proven record, you can ask the artist for a percentage of the streaming revenue, which can be anywhere between 5% and 50%. Many indie artists explode on the internet and get tens of millions of streams these days, so it's always a good idea to agree on this when making a deal.  

I’ve written a handy guide on which streaming platforms pays the most in terms of streaming royalties that can help give you an idea of how much you can earn through streaming royalties, whether as an artist or a producer working with an artist.

Publishing and songwriting loyalties are paid when a song you've worked on is played on TV, at a public establishment, or performed live. However, unless you're working for a very popular artist, it's not very common for you to make any real money from this source.

Music Producer Yearly Income

With everything we’ve discussed in mind, let’s get into how much a music producer earns annually. 

Entry-level music producers with less than a year of experience can expect to earn around $40,000 a year (tips, bonus, overtime pay included). Early career music producers with one to four years of experience can expect around 8% more at an average of $50,000. 

A mid-career music producer with five to nine years of experience can expect around $65,000 a year, while highly experienced producers with ten to twenty years of experience can expect around $75,000 annually. 

Lastly, at the top, music producers with twenty years or more of experience can expect around $81,000 a year.

A vital aspect to consider is that these are median incomes, and the income for a music producer generally ranges from $30k to $150k a year. For the best music producers in the industry, that number goes up to around $215k—$265k of annual income.