We all know how it went down; virtual music events became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person events were not possible. These virtual events allowed musicians to keep in contact with their fans and perform live from the comfort and safety of their homes or studios. But that was only the beginning. Giant record labels like Warner Music Group, along with major players Encore, Live Nation and more, got a glimpse into the future of making big money through virtual events. The world was changed; now music would start to become “televised” just like sports events. It opened up a sphere of opportunities. 

The streaming of music events wasn’t limited to the big boys, however. Despite the strain on finances, independent musicians and bands scraped their money together to come up with a way to stream from their home studios. In spite of how much we prefer physically heading out to live events, virtual experiences are here to stay. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—for anyone.

The idea of a virtual music experience opens up ideas and projects we’ve never considered, and everyone has the ability to dip their feet in the electric pool. Here are some really good ways to make money with virtual events today, regardless of your “fame tier”…

Public Practice Room

Remember back in high school when friends showed up to watch local band practice in someone’s garage (or even a storage building after hours)? Now you can turn that into a real party and still get some work done. Stick someone on the computer to chat with fans and moderate everything while you pick up your instruments and hold a practice session. It might seem boring to you, but fans love being able to watch the creative process. This has the potential to put away some money for recording that next album.

Zoom Parties

Meet and Greets can be done remotely, and this is great when band members live in different parts of the country. It’s just a conference call; everyone’s able to get on and chit chat. In order to keep it from turning into chaos, just get a friend to host. This is where collaborations can be beneficial; you can recruit other musicians who have a little more popularity to boost your street cred by having them host. 

Live performances

I know a lot of bands who did this during the pandemic, and my sisters’ band was one of them. 

They always had someone on the chat line talking with fans while they did their “show”. Instead of simply setting up and playing music, they turned it into a homemade version of an old-school musical variety show. It was fun. 

Recorded performances

Not to worry if you’re afraid of your equipment breaking over the cyberwaves; you can always pre-record a top-notch performance and charge people to watch it later. This is great for those who have a lot of CPU heavy equipment and possible video interplay. Audio visual events are especially successful because it gives audiences something new to talk about and spread all over YouTube later. 

And that’s where we come to the best part of all this—it’s got advertising and promotion potential like crazy. Your fans will record from their computers and push your band all over the internet, and that’s a great bonus for you.