The 15 Best Ways To Get Paid To Listen To Music
Listening to music is something that most of us love doing. But, what if you could earn passive income while listening to your favorite tunes?
There are actually plenty of ways you can get paid to listen to music if you want the right apps and programs to use. And today, I'm covering some of these apps and hustles to help you make more money.
I've personally used and tested out plenty of these apps and ideas, so I know they're legit. And some of the other ideas certainly have the potential to pay you for listening to your favorite tunes.
Looking for more money-making ideas? Checkout:
- Branded Surveys: Share your opinion to earn PayPal cash and gift cards!
- Ipsos iSay: Another global survey platform with a low $5 cash out minimum.
How To Get Paid To Listen To Music
If you want to listen to music and get paid, it's actually pretty simple to start out. Most of these side hustle ideas only require a smartphone, computer, and stable internet connection.
1. Current
Out of all the ways to get paid to listen to music, Current is definitely one of the most popular. This free app is avaiable on iOS and Mode Earn for Android devices, and it pays you to listen to music, answer surveys, and for completing a variety of other online tasks.
Essentially, you listen to custom radio stations on Current and earn points for each song you fully listen to within that station.
There are over 100,000 different stations to choose from, so it's pretty easy to find genres you actually like. Current claims that you can earn up to $600 per year for listening to music through its app. This equals about $11.50 per week in earnings.
You can cash out your Current points for a variety of rewards, including free gift cards, electronics, charitable donations, and free PayPal cash.
However, this $600 is just an estimate, and the reality is that you probably won't make this much money with the Current app. On a Reddit thread about Current, user HyperIzumi says: “I’ve redeemed one $4 Amazon gift card and two $25 Amazon gift cards.”
This was over the span of about three months, which isn’t bad considering this is passive income and basically free money. Overall, Current is one of the best passive income apps you can try.
2. Start A YouTube Album Review Channel
Starting a music review YouTube channel probably has the highest earning potential out of all the ideas on this list.
I mean, most apps that let you listen to music for money pay you a few pennies for rating songs or listening to different radio stations. In contrast, making money with YouTube is much more lucrative when you consider earnings from Adsense, affiliate income, and potential sponsorships.
There are a lot of channels out there that review newly released music albums and go over what they like and don’t like about it.
Take a look at theneedledrop for example. His stats include:
- 2.5M Subscribers
- 5.5M Views (for most viewed video)
- 12 Years of Music Reviews
I wouldn't be surprised if The Needle Drop is making $10,000+ a month or even more just from this channe.
However, know that making money on YouTube takes a lot of time and practice. For starters, you need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time to even turn on Adsense ads.
But if you have a passion for music and want to review albums on Youtube for viewers, it can be an amazing way to make money on autopilot.
Just be careful of copyright claims and getting your videos demonetized. YouTube has very specific rules about using copyrighted music, so many album review channels just share their thoughts and live reactions but wear headphones and don't play the music out loud.
3. Playlist Push
Do you own a playlist on Spotify, Youtube Music, or Apple Music that has a lot of followers? If you do, then you’re really going to enjoy what Playlist Push has to offer.
Playlist Push is an online platform that connects independent artists and playlist curators in order to help new artists get discovered.
As a playlist curator, you earn money by reviewing songs from independent artists and potentially adding their songs to one of your popular playlists.
A friend of mine owns a Spotify playlist with 6,000 followers, and she uses platforms like Playlist Push to help her earn some decent side income.
If your playlist gets large enough, you could even get reached out to directly by artists for you to review songs and consider them for a shoutout. Playlist Push claims that you can earn up to $15 per song review, but this depends on the size of your playlists and a few other factors.
However, this is one of the best ways to get paid for listening to music if you already have a following. And you also earn more as your playlists grow in popularity.
4. Start A Music Review Blog
Like starting a YouTube channel, starting a music-based blog is one way to make money listening to music that has an incredibly high earning ceiling.
The great part about blogging is that you have so many different ways to make money, including:
- Dislpay ads with companies like Monumetric and Mediavine
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Selling your own digital or physical products
- Offering online coaching
I also know this method works since WebMonkey makes 20k a month or more these days between ads and affiliate income. In fact, this blog can make $500 a day in just Mediavine revenue, with most of this being passive income at this point.
And there's no reason this strategy can't work for a music review blog or website that talks about all things music. I mean, you could write album reviews, cover concerts, or even write reviews about products like speakers and headphones.
Plus, music review blogs also go really well with social media platforms, so you can probably grow your social media following on other platforms while you grow your blog.
Extra Reading – YouTube vs Blogging – What's Best For Making Money?
5. Slice The Pie
Slice The Pie is one of the most popular ways to get paid to listen to music and share your opinion online.
The site has over 2 million reviewers with thousands of new reviewers signing up everyday to help record labels and artists improve their craft.
This all sounds great in theory, but the earning potential for this is quite low like a lot of other ways to get paid to listen to music.
The average song on Slice The Pie lasts 90 seconds and requires writing a short review about the song and if you liked it or not. After all that work, you only earn around $0.02 to $0.10 per song review!
Because of this low earning potential, Slice The Pie is really just a fun side hustle you can do in your spare time and not a huge earner. Realistically, you can probably make a couple of extra bucks per month in your spare time if you listen to enough songs.
You can cash out for PayPal money once you earn at least $10, so it also takes some time to get your rewards. Consider Slice The Pie as an extra tab to keep open on your computer in case you’re not getting many songs from other platforms.
6. Earnably
Earnably is a popular get-paid-to website that lets you make money by completing micro tasks like:
- Taking paid surveys
- Completing shopping offers
- Watching ads
- Listening to music
Like many other reward websites, this is an excellent site to go on while you’re watching TV or doing some other low-focus task. The minimum payout threshold is $1, which is pretty comparible to other gpt websites like Swagbucks and Branded Surveys.
You can redeem your earnings for various free gift cards or PayPal money, so there's also plenty of reward options to choose from.
However, it's worth noting that surveys are the main way to make money with Earnably. So, if you just want to make money listening to music, you might only earn $1 or $2 per month on Earnably.
But, if you want to earn money online with surveys, paid offers, and by listening to music, Earnably is worth checking out.
7. Media Rewards
Like Curent, another way you can get paid for listening to music and other forms of media is to use Media Rewards.
This Android and iOS app runs in the background of your phone and collects data on the radio, TV, commercials, and music you hear every day. In exchange, it pays you with points that you use to enter monthly sweepstakes.
Monthly sweepstakes range from $50 to $1,000, and there are dozens of winners each month. You also get paid with PayPal money, so it's nice you're potentially earning real money.
Media Rewards also sends occasional surveys if you qualify. Answering these usually pays $5 to $10 in free gift cards to companies like Amazon, Target, and Macy's.
You won't get rich with this app. But for an easy way to get paid to listen to music and other forms of media, it's worth testing out.
8. Work At Concert Venues
In college, some of my friends made money by working at event venues for local musicians. So, if you're willing to work security or at the check-in counter, this is another fun way to make money listening to music.
Some of my friends also did this for sports games. And while you can't fully focus on the game or concert you're at since you're working, it's still a fun side hustle idea.
You can find these sorts of jobs with various online job board websites. Platforms like Wonolo and Instawork also have event staffing positions on them.
9. HitPredictor
HitPredictor is another way you can get paid to listen to music, and it's also a fun game where you can try to predict which songs are going to become hits.
iHeart Media owns HitPredictor, and you get to listen to newer songs and rate if you think the song is going to be a hit or not.
You earn 3 points for every single song you listen to and rate. This is worth a few pennies, so it's not a very lucrative platform. This is a pretty common theme with websites that pay you for listening to music, so just know you can't get rich with most of these platforms.
Some HitPredictor users report earning about $5 per week while others reported earning nothing for 3 months and then miraculously getting 1 song to review. In short, HitPredictor is basically a beermoney app you can use in your spare time to earn some quick rewards.
You can redeem your HitPredictor cash for a variety of electronic gift cards. All in all, HitPredictor is a good site if you like getting involved in up-and-coming artists and helping radio stations improve their playlists.
Update: Hit Predictor's website is currently down, so this website might not be operating as of November 20th, 2023.
10. Transcribe Lyrics For Sites
While this is a more niche idea, you can potentially start a new transcription side hustle and work for blogs and sites that publish song lyrics and album reviews.
Transcription jobs are a popular way to earn money online. And you can branch into other niches of transcription to maximize your earnings.
11. Cash4Minutes
Cash4Minutes has a very unique way of letting you earn money with radio broadcasts.
Essentially, Cash4Minutes pays you to use your unused call minutes with your phone and put it towards calling into a radio broadcast.
If you have unused monthly phone minutes, consider this site to run a radio broadcast on your phone while you’re doing other stuff. You earn $10 for every 83 hours of call time. That number might sound a bit crazy (and it kind of is), but this can be done over a long period of time.
Cash4Minutes definitely isn’t for everyone, but you could be making an extra $10-$20 per month if you manage your calls correctly.
12. Radio Earn
Radio Earn does exactly what it sounds like; it pays you for listening to the radio on your mobile device.
The platform is actually quite simple: you earn points for listening to music, and 1,000 points equals $1.
You can cash out your points for a wire transfer, free Amazon gift cards, and even free Bitcoin.
The main downside to Radio Earn is that it takes a while to earn 1,000 points, so don't expect to get rich overnight with this music app. Also note that some users on Reddit really don't like Radio Earn and state it takes forever to actually get your rewards after you cash out.
There have been a lot of complaints about the site being a scam, but there are also a lot of reviews stating that it works and that the earning potential is just low.
13. Become A DJ
This is a popular side gig a lot of people I know do, and you can make pretty decent money playing at clubs, bars, and private parties as a DJ.
In fact, clearing a few hundred bucks a night isn't uncommon, especially if you work some larger venues. According to Careers in Music, DJs earn about $50 to $100 per hour on average depending on where they live.
The downside to this idea is that you'll potentially need some expensive equipment. You also need experience so you're a good DJ. But if you get a few regular jobs, DJing can be a fun, lucrative way to listen to music while getting paid.
Extra Reading – How To Make $100 A Day Guaranteed.
14. Work At A Club
Speaking of DJs, you can also consider working as a bartender or at club if you want to be around music.
This is a similar idea to working at concert venues. And while you have to deal with patrons, bartending can be a pretty lucrative gig. It's also an excellent second job idea or weekend side hustle.
15. Start A Music Podcast
One last way to earn money by listening to music is to start a music podcast.
This idea is similar to starting a blog or YouTube channel. You can start your podcast about a certain genre or aspect of music and then talk about this passion of yours.
How Much Money Can You Make?
Most methods to listen to music for cash don't pay you very much. If you put in a few hours every week into these apps, you can probably earn about $5-10 per month. But again, this varies greatly depending on your effort.
Starting a Youtube channel or blog for reviewing music is going to be your best bet if you’re looking to make a lot of money.
Keep in mind that the earning potential for this can be high, but it takes a long time to actually gain traction and get to a comfortable spot.
The earning potential for the rest of the platforms are extremely low, but when you combine them, you can squeeze out some more cash.
If you need to make cash much faster, you're much better off using gig apps instead or freelancing online are better choices. In contrast, apps that pay you to listen to music are just a fun source of beermoney, not a serious income source.
Extra Reading – How To Make $2,000 Fast.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully these ways to get paid to listen to music provide a bit of inspiration for making a bit of money with a passion for music.
At the end of the day, none of these ideas are going to pay your rent or groceries for the month (unless your blog/Youtube channel eventually takes off).
If you have a genuine passion for music, you listen for hours anyway, and want to get something out of it, then definitely consider checking out a few of these sites.
There’s no harm in doing something you enjoy and earning some quick money for your efforts.
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