As I rack my brain to find different ways to make money online, especially now that I have challenged (pressured) myself to make a million dollars from this blog in 365 days or less, I realize I need some side hustles that can generate money in a big way.
Youtube has made many a millionaire from videos going viral (psy’s gangnam style video comes to mind). Popular youtubers are making serious money from youtube. And the thing is, it can be a passive income for years to come as people continue to view your videos.
When I was in my teens, I wrote a song and paid some mail order record publishing company to record it. Oh I had big dreams then…poet, songwriter, singer, fiction writer, the list goes on. Of course it never amounted to anything because it was before youtube and you needed to get it played on the radio to even get it heard. And it really wasn’t any high quality recording either, sung by an obscure singer.
If I recall, their gimmick was that they were offering free evaluation of your songs or poems which if selected they would set to music, to lure you in. Of course it shouldn’t have been a surprise that they really liked my song and offered to record it but there was a catch, they needed a recording fee to offset their production costs. One thing for sure, they knew how to boost your ego saying your song had such potential to be a hit to earn royalties from. Since I was naive then (and starry-eyed), went for it.
Basically, they just slapped it together as really was about them making money upfront without having to do any investing of their own. Besides sending me the finished recording, they didn’t do anything after that. Never heard from them again. I think they were supposed to send it to radio stations and do a little promotion. If they did it didn’t amount to anything…as I didn’t earn any royalties from it. My song was on an LP that contained a bunch of songs from other songwriters, like myself, sung by either one of the two singers plus a single that contained 4 songs. While the front of the LP had a picture of scenery, the back was totally overlooked as it is was a blank white page which I think was supposed to be a pic of the two artists. Maybe they were too busy singing the next song on their busy production line, than to do a photo shoot. That pretty well was the clue how serious they were taking the producing of their albums to make them a success, as were moving on to the next songwriter (sucker). The tune wasn’t bad and probably some effort was made so it fit with the lyrics, it’s workable and can be improved with right instruments, arrangement and singer (maybe me?).
As I did a google search about the singer (who sang my song) and the record company, I learned that they made hundreds of records like these referred to as song poems, where they set music to song lyrics for a fee. They obviously weren’t in the business to turn your song into a hit as were making money from the songwriters (dreamers) who fell for their scheme.
Believe it or not, there is a secondary market for some of these records. I suppose I could sell the one album and two 45’s (that I got from them) but that wouldn’t even break the piggy bank. The other thing is I couldn’t even find my specific album or 45 around, so I gather those who lost theirs would gladly pay to get a copy of it (or to get rid of it).
Now a bright light bulb came in my head, that I should update this song and make a youtube video. Of course I can’t play any instruments, other than a simple nursery rhyme on the piano, and even though I took some singing lessons a long time ago, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a singer either. So how do I go about getting this tune put together in a video? That is the burning question.
The song I wrote was created from the angst of teenage years where everything gets over-dramatized and blown out of proportion. But now that I look at the song from the past, I realized it fits in even more now in the present with how things are around and many could relate to it (not just teenagers) in different circumstances. It could possibly be a theme song for all things going wrong in your life! All I have to do is come up with a recording of it to make the video.
I will update this post if I am able to do something with it. And if I am, I will post the video here.
At least I can claim I have a song recorded, whether it was a hit or not. How many can say that? I did achieve to be a songwriter, even if it cost me money to do so. With youtube, anyone can use their creativeness to become a star and don’t need to be accepted by the so-called industry, just the regular people like you and I.
I would like to do something with the song I wrote that has been sitting on a shelf all these years. It’s time to brush off the dust and get it out there. I don’t need a billion views but just enough to make some money from it (or at least my money back).
If you are curious to see what I can come up with and would like to support me in getting the song recorded for a youtube video, please donate by paypal/etransfer to sos @achievergirl.com
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