Giving the Gift of Music for Christmas: Call Out to Musicians

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As we’re approaching Christmas (and other seasonal holidays which involve gift-giving), a lot of people are wondering how they can give friends and family members a gift of music this year. Live concerts are difficult to plan, but people still want to #buyirish, support Irish music and musicians and bring some vibrant new music into someone’s life.

So, Musicians of Ireland, we’re asking you if you have any options for Christmas gifts in your merchandise, patronage, or other platforms? We’d like to share these opportunities with our audiences all through this winter, so please let us know if you have any ideas!

We’ve gathered some ideas below, but we’d love to see any creative ideas you might have. Please email us on admin[at]improvisedmusic[dot]ie if you’d like to add some Christmas gifts to our listings!

Subscriptions

Do you have a subscription or patronage system like Patreon? Subscriptions are always popular Christmas gifts, why not offer a subscription to your music? Patreon often works with tiers of patronage at different prices. Artists on Patreon often offer exclusive accessto content or regular updates to patrons, and sometimes special perks like personalised Christmas cards or videos, dependent on the level of patronage.

Commissions

Do you write or record short individual songs or works for people? A personalised song could be an ideal gift. Platforms like Ko-fi make it quite easy to set up for commissions. It’s a good idea to be as specific as possible as to what you will provide for the fee, i.e. how personalised it can be, or what styles you will work in.

Albums

Do you have CDs, Vinyl, or digital downloads of your album available for sale on your website or Bandcamp? Could you create a package of say three albums that would be a nice gift for someone?

Merchandise

If you have good designs for album covers or band art, other merchandise like t-shirts or tote bags might be very attractive to audiences. While the initial outlay can be expensive, try investigating platforms like Teespring, which take a percentage of the cost, but print on demand so there is no upfront cost.

Streamed Concerts

Are you selling tickets for any upcoming live-streamed concerts? A concert ticket or a season package of a few concerts over a period of time would be a fantastic present. Platforms like eventbrite, Tito or many others will work for this, although they will involve fees.

CrowdFunders

Are you crowdfunding for a new album or project? A tiered system of supports can work as a potential gift - someone will receive something from you, anything from an acknowledgement on the album, to a signed copy, to a personal concert. It’s both something nice to have for Christmas and the knowledge that they’ve supported a new work. Platforms like GoFundMe or FundIt are set up for this kind of work, but check the platform fees.

Lessons

Are you offering online lessons? A package of a few introductory lessons to your instruments or style might be the perfect gift for a creatively-minded relative, let us know if you are offering any packages for Christmas. Paypal can be a useful way of letting people pay for services like this without needing a more extensive webshop.

See more about different platforms for monetization at our Resource article HERE.

We recently spoke to pianist Sam Leak about live streamed concerts and different payment models, have a look at his research and insights HERE.

Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash