Turn Your Side Project Music Into Real Money
Music isn't your primary income — you have a day job, another business, or other creative pursuits that occupy most of your time. But over the years, you've accumulated a catalog of ambient, lo-fi, or electronic music that you created as a passion project, side hustle, or creative outlet. Maybe you went through an intense production phase and released several albums, or you consistently dropped tracks over a few years before life pulled you in other directions. These tracks still generate some streaming revenue — maybe a few hundred or a few thousand dollars per year — but you rarely think about them, and you've stopped actively promoting or releasing new music. Your catalog is a dormant asset: it has value, but it's not being maximized, and managing it feels like a chore for something that's no longer a priority.
Challenges you might face
- ●Music catalog feels like an afterthought — generating some income but not enough to warrant active management
- ●Don't have time or motivation to optimize metadata, pitch to playlists, or pursue sync opportunities
- ●Unsure whether a catalog earning $500-$5,000/year is even worth selling
- ●Administrative tasks (tax reporting, distributor management, PRO registrations) are annoying for what feels like pocket change
- ●No knowledge of the catalog sale market and whether small catalogs have buyers
- ●Worried that the effort of selling would exceed the payout for a small catalog
- ●Don't want to spend significant time on a transaction for a side project
How SPACE can help
- ●Quick, lightweight valuation process designed for smaller catalogs — no lengthy onboarding for simple sales
- ●Buyers on our platform actively seek small to mid-size ambient catalogs at accessible price points
- ●Streamlined sale process that can close in as little as 2-3 weeks for straightforward catalogs
- ●Minimal documentation requirements for clean, well-registered catalogs
- ●Low-friction listing: upload your distributor revenue data, and we handle the analysis
- ●Bulk listing for multiple small catalogs or side projects under different artist names
- ●No minimum catalog size — even small catalogs have value to the right buyer
Benefits
Transform a neglected side project into a meaningful lump sum payment
Eliminate the annual tax headache of reporting small music royalty income
Stop paying annual distributor fees for music you're no longer actively promoting
Put the proceeds toward your primary career, hobbies, or savings
Someone who cares about the music will actively manage and grow its audience
Clean up your professional life by consolidating or closing dormant music accounts
Even a small catalog sale ($2,000-$20,000) can be meaningful as unexpected income
Example scenario
A software engineer who had produced ambient electronic music as a side project during college accumulated 45 tracks across three albums and several singles. The catalog was generating $2,800/year through DistroKid and ASCAP but hadn't been actively managed in three years. The creator was still paying the annual distributor fee and reporting the income on taxes, but it felt like more trouble than it was worth. After a quick SpaceMusic.io valuation (completed in 48 hours for this straightforward catalog), the music was valued at 9x annual revenue ($25,200). A wellness content creator purchased the full catalog within 10 days of listing. The seller used the proceeds as a down payment contribution on a new car — a tangible return on a creative side project they'd nearly forgotten about.
FAQ
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