The Moneymagpie team
February 6, 2024
Reading time: 6 minutes
Here at MoneyMagpie we like to share good news and the fact that there are ways you can make money listening to music is certainly good news.
Music is everywhere and part of our daily life. We listen while we work, play, drive, walk, exercise, clean, cook… These days we can access music wherever we are, create and share playlists instantly, discover new artists and book concerts whenever we want.
As the great Jimi Hendrix said, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something that needs to change in this world, then it can only happen through music.”
Nice, Jimmy. But did you know you can make a little extra money on the side just by listening to music? Yes really! There are apps and websites out there that allow you to do just that. Some require little effort on your part, others require a lot of effort but for greater reward.
Read on to find out how you can make money listening to music…
Slicethepie
When we say musical scout, we don’t mean a boy in shorts with his trusty Swiss army knife, tinkering by a campfire.
It’s just what Slicethepie calls a music critic. They pay you to share your opinion on new songs before they are released.
Luckily, you don’t need to know anything about music to write a good review! Explaining how it makes you feel and comparing it to other artists and songs is enough to be useful. If you’re still feeling a little discouraged, you can find some helpful tips via this link.
- To review a piece of music, you must listen to at least 90 seconds of the piece before you start writing. The more thorough and specific your opinion, the better. However, you will need at least 45 words in your review
- Then rate the piece from 1-10
- Then complete a checklist of how you would describe the song if it were a person. For example, is the music funky? Playful? Lustful?
And you’re done! Simply click “Submit” to proceed to your next review.
I get paid…
The hard part is getting the maximum amount of money out of your review.
Instead of a flat rate, Slicethepie pays you according to your star rating. This, in turn, depends on the quality of your reviews. Reviews are judged based on the following criteria:
- How close your rating for the track is to the average rating the track has received from other reviewers. For example, you will have low accuracy if you think a piece is worth a 9 when most of the other scouts only gave it a 3.
- If your feedback is detailed and meaningful and will really benefit the artist.
- How active you are as a scout is also an issue. The more reviews you make, the higher your rating. However, this is not the case if you don’t take the time to check the pieces properly.
Based on our tests, your rating goes up by one star for every 30 tracks you review. This means you listen to enough of the song and put effort into your reviews.
When you first sign up with Slicethepie, they will ask for your email address. This is important because you need to make sure it is the same as yours PayPal account, with which you are paid. (For some reason, despite being a British company, Slicethepie pays everyone in US dollars. But don’t worry: you can easily convert it with your PayPal account.)
Although it will take some time for it to start growing, once you reach $10 you can withdraw and access your cash. Just remember to keep an eye on that star rating.
To join Slicethepie, click here.
PLAYLIST PUSH
Spotify is pretty ubiquitous these days. According to Statista, over 30% of music streaming subscribers worldwide have a Spotify subscription. That’s a lot of listeners.
You can’t really make money listening to music directly through Spotify itself, but for those of you who have a large enough following on Spotify or TikTok, there are ways and means to make money as a music curator by submitting reviews through Playlist Push.
On Spotify you must meet these criteria:
At least 1000 followers per playlist as well as playlists focused on genre or a specific band or artist. playlists with “follow me” in the title. and at least 30 active monthly listeners per playlist.
If you meet these criteria Playlist Push i give you songs to rate and add to your playlist. If they like your review, you can earn up to $12 per piece, paid weekly via bank transfer.
On TikTok you must meet these criteria:
Become a TikTok Video Creator – Playlist Push it will give you songs to use in your videos. You must have at least 30,000 followers to qualify as a creator.
This way you can earn up to $10 per TikTok video you make. Earnings must reach a minimum of $20 before payouts are made.
We’re not going to lie, it’s not easy to make money this way, and it’s really for the dedicated music fans among you – there’s some serious effort involved in setting up and keeping your listeners – but once you do, there’s an opportunity to make a decent amount.
Click here to learn more.
HitPredictor
On this site, you can choose the genres of music you want to listen to instead of mixing anything and everything. Although this means that sometimes you won’t have much to review.
Whatever you write will go to the artists, producers and record labels. So your opinions will shape the future of music.
Earn 3 points for every piece of music you listen to. Once you reach 500 points, you can enter sweepstakes for $50-$100 iTunes gift cards or free DVDs and CDs at 1,250 points. There are also many contests to enter and other prizes to be won daily.
Hit it at this link.
Musical x-ray
In addition to choosing your preferred genres, you can also tell Music Xray your favorite artists so the site can use fancy software to pick music as similar as possible to what you love. This means that sometimes there will be many songs, other times – none. It depends on what the artists upload.
Music Xray helps connect potential success stories with record labels and producers, as well as build fan bases for when artists start to establish themselves in the music industry.
You will be paid a few cents to listen to 30 seconds of a song. You can withdraw the funds from a PayPal account similar to how Slicethepie manages them.
Get jams at this link here.
Earned
Earned is an established online rewards site that pays you to do things like complete surveys, check out podcasts, download apps, or play games, among other things. It will also pay you to listen to music (often via radio stations) or watch music videos.
It’s quick and easy (and free!) to sign up – you just need to fill out a quick demographic survey to get started.
Once you’re in, you can scroll and choose what you want to do to win. You’ll never make enough to live on, but it’s a nice little income with payments made in points and then converted to cash either through a Paypal account or a gift card like an Amazon voucher.
Let us know how you get on in the comments below!
