ReportWire

Tag: revenue

  • California Republicans oppose mileage-based fee proposal

    INTERVIEW WITH MEHAN RIGHT NOW@KCRA.COM. AND THE KCRA 3 APP. REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS AT THE STATE CAPITOL WANT TO PUT THE BRAKES ON EFFORTS TO REPLACE CALIFORNIA’S GAS TAX WITH A MILEAGE BASED FEE SYSTEM. AB 1421 PROPOSES TO EXTEND THE ROAD USAGE CHARGE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE UNTIL JANUARY OF 2035. NOW, THE MAIN GOAL OF THAT COMMITTEE IS TO REPLACE THE CURRENT GAS TAX SYSTEM WITH A PER MILE USAGE FEE. YOU DRIVE MORE, YOU PAY MORE. THAT ROAD CHARGE WOULD THEN PAY FOR TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND REPAIRS. AS VEHICLES BECOME MORE FUEL EFFICIENT AND MORE EVS HIT THE ROAD, LESS GAS IS SOLD AND REVENUE DROPS. LAWMAKERS ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO PROTECT TRANSPORTATION FUNDING AS THEY SEE IT. WELL, TODAY, ASSEMBLY MEMBER FROM THE REPUBLICANS HEATH FLORA, RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING, QUOTE, WE ALREADY PAY THE HIGHEST GAS TAXES IN THE NATION. NOW, SACRAMENTO IS TALKING ABOUT ADDING A NEW TAX FOR EVERY MILE PEOPLE DRIVE. PILING ON ANOTHER TAX RIGHT NOW SHOWS JUS

    Republican lawmakers at the California State Capitol are opposing a study weighing whether to replace the state’s gas tax with a mileage-based fee system, as proposed in Assembly Bill 1421.The bill aims to extend the “Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee” until January 2035, with the goal of replacing the current gas tax system with a per-mile usage fee to fund transportation infrastructure and repairs. As vehicles become more fuel-efficient and more electric cars hit the road, less gas is sold, leading to a drop in revenue, prompting lawmakers to seek ways to protect transportation funding.”We already pay the highest gas taxes in the nation,” Assembly Republican Leader Heath Flora said in a statement. “Now Sacramento is talking about adding a new tax for every mile people drive. Piling on another tax right now shows just how out of touch politicians in Sacramento are with the reality working families face.” The study is due on Jan. 1, 2027. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    Republican lawmakers at the California State Capitol are opposing a study weighing whether to replace the state’s gas tax with a mileage-based fee system, as proposed in Assembly Bill 1421.

    The bill aims to extend the “Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee” until January 2035, with the goal of replacing the current gas tax system with a per-mile usage fee to fund transportation infrastructure and repairs.

    As vehicles become more fuel-efficient and more electric cars hit the road, less gas is sold, leading to a drop in revenue, prompting lawmakers to seek ways to protect transportation funding.

    “We already pay the highest gas taxes in the nation,” Assembly Republican Leader Heath Flora said in a statement. “Now Sacramento is talking about adding a new tax for every mile people drive. Piling on another tax right now shows just how out of touch politicians in Sacramento are with the reality working families face.”

    The study is due on Jan. 1, 2027.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel


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  • Billionaire tax proposal sparks soul-searching for Californians

    The fiery debate about a proposed ballot measure to tax California’s billionaires has sparked some soul-searching across the state.

    While the idea of a one-time tax on more than 200 people has a long way to go before getting onto the ballot and would need to be passed by voters in November, the tempest around it captures the zeitgeist of angst and anger at the core of California. Silicon Valley is minting new millionaires while millions of the state’s residents face the loss of healthcare coverage and struggle with inflation.

    Supporters of the proposed billionaire tax say it is one of the few ways the state can provide healthcare for its most vulnerable. Opponents warn it would squash the innovation that has made the state rich and prompt an exodus of wealthy entrepreneurs from the state.

    The controversial measure is already creating fractures among powerful Democrats who enjoy tremendous sway in California. Progressive icon Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) quickly endorsed the billionaire tax, while Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced it .

    The Golden State’s rich residents say they are tired of feeling targeted. Their success has not only created unimaginable wealth but also jobs and better lives for Californians, they say, yet they feel they are being punished.

    “California politics forces together some of the richest areas of America with some of the poorest, often separated by just a freeway,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego. “The impulse to force those with extreme wealth to share their riches is only natural, but often runs into the reality of our anti-tax traditions as well as modern concerns about stifling entrepreneurship or driving job creation out of the state.”

    The state budget in California is already largely dependent on income taxes paid by its highest earners. Because of that, revenues are prone to volatility, hinging on capital gains from investments, bonuses to executives and windfalls from new stock offerings, and are notoriously difficult for the state to predict.

    The tax proposal would cost the state’s richest residents about $100 billion if a majority of voters support it on the November ballot.

    Supporters say the revenue is needed to backfill the massive federal funding cuts to healthcare that President Trump signed this summer. The California Budget & Policy Center estimates that as many as 3.4 million Californians could lose Medi-Cal coverage, rural hospitals could shutter and other healthcare services would be slashed unless a new funding source is found.

    On social media, some wealthy Californians who oppose the wealth tax faced off against Democratic politicians and labor unions.

    An increasing number of companies and investors have decided it isn’t worth the hassle to be in the state and are taking their companies and their homes to other states with lower taxes and less regulation.

    “I promise you this will be the final straw,” Jessie Powell, co-founder of the Bay Area-based crypto exchange platform Kraken, wrote on X. “Billionaires will take with them all of their spending, hobbies, philanthropy and jobs.”

    Proponents of the proposed tax were granted permission to start gathering signatures Dec. 26 by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber.

    The proposal would impose a one-time tax of up to 5% on taxpayers and trusts with assets, such as businesses, art and intellectual property, valued at more than $1 billion. There are some exclusions, including property.

    They could pay the levy over five years. Ninety percent of the revenue would fund healthcare programs and the remaining 10% would be spent on food assistance and education programs.

    To qualify for the November ballot, proponents of the proposal, led by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, must gather the signatures of nearly 875,000 registered voters and submit them to county elections officials by June 24.

    The union, which represents more than 120,000 healthcare workers, patients and healthcare consumers, has committed to spending $14 million on the measure so far and plans to start collecting signatures soon, said Suzanne Jimenez, the labor group’s chief of staff.

    Without new funding, the state is facing “a collapse of our healthcare system here in California,” she said.

    Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) spoke out in support of the tax.

    “It’s a matter of values,” he said on X. “We believe billionaires can pay a modest wealth tax so working-class Californians have the Medicaid.”

    The Trump administration did not respond to requests for comment.

    The debate has become a lightning rod for national thought leaders looking to target California’s policies or the ultra-rich.

    On Tuesday, Sanders endorsed the billionaire tax proposal and said he plans to call for a nationwide version.

    “This is a model that should be emulated throughout the country, which is why I will soon be introducing a national wealth tax on billionaires,” Sanders said on X. “We can and should respect innovation, entrepreneurship and risk-taking, but we cannot respect the extraordinary level of greed, arrogance and irresponsibility that is currently being displayed by much of the billionaire class.”

    But there isn’t unanimous support for the proposal among Democrats.

    Notably, Newsom has consistently opposed state-based wealth taxes. He reiterated his opposition when asked about the proposed billionaires’ tax in early December.

    “You can’t isolate yourself from the 49 others,” Newsom said at the New York Times DealBook Summit. “We’re in a competitive environment. People have this simple luxury, particularly people of that status, they already have two or three homes outside the state. It’s a simple issue. You’ve got to be pragmatic about it.”

    Newsom has opposed state-based wealth taxes throughout his tenure.

    In 2022, he opposed a ballot measure that would have subsidized the electric vehicle market by raising taxes on Californians who earn more than $2 million annually. The measure failed at the ballot box, with strategists on both sides of the issue saying Newsom’s vocal opposition to the effort was a critical factor.

    The following year, he opposed legislation by a fellow Democrat to tax assets exceeding $50 million at 1% annually and taxpayers with a net worth greater than $1 billion at 1.5% annually. The bill was shelved before the legislature could vote on it.

    The latest effort is also being opposed by a political action committee called “Stop the Squeeze,” which was seeded by a $100,000 donation from venture capitalist and longtime Newsom ally Ron Conway. Conservative taxpayer rights groups such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. and state Republicans are expected to campaign against the proposal.

    The chances of the ballot measure passing in November are uncertain, given the potential for enormous spending on the campaign — unlike statewide and other candidate races, there is no limit on the amount of money donors can contribute to support or oppose a ballot measure.

    “The backers of this proposed initiative to tax California billionaires would have their work cut out for them,” said Kousser at UC San Diego. “Despite the state’s national reputation as ‘Scandinavia by the Sea,’ there remains a strong anti-tax impulse among voters who often reject tax increases and are loath to kill the state’s golden goose of tech entrepreneurship.”

    Additionally, as Newsom eyes a presidential bid in 2028, political experts question how the governor will position himself — opposing raising taxes but also not wanting to be viewed as responsible for large-scale healthcare cuts that would harm the most vulnerable Californians.

    “It wouldn’t be surprising if they qualify the initiative. There’s enough money and enough pent-up anger on the left to get this on the ballot,” said Dan Schnur, a political communications professor who teaches at USC, Pepperdine and UC Berkeley.

    “What happens once it qualifies is anybody’s guess,” he said.

    Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, called Newsom’s position “an Achilles heel” that could irk primary voters in places like the Midwest who are focused on economic inequality, inflation, affordability and the growing wealth gap.

    “I think it’s going to be really hard for him to take a position that we shouldn’t tax the billionaires,” said Gonzalez, whose labor umbrella group will consider whether to endorse the proposed tax next year.

    California billionaires who are residents of the state as of Jan. 1 would be impacted by the ballot measure if it passes . Prominent business leaders announced moves that appeared to be a strategy to avoid the levy at the end of 2025. On Dec. 31, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel announced that his firm had opened a new office in Miami, the same day venture capitalist David Sacks said he was opening an office in Austin.

    Wealth taxes are not unprecedented in the U.S. and versions exist in Switzerland and Spain, said Brian Galle, a taxation expert and law professor at UC Berkeley.

    In California, the tax offers an efficient and practical way to pay for healthcare services without disrupting the economy, he said.

    “A 1% annual tax on billionaires for five years would have essentially no meaningful impact on their economic behavior,” Galle said. “We’re funding a way of avoiding a real economic disaster with something that has very tiny impact.”

    Palo Alto-based venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya disagrees. Billionaires whose wealth is often locked in company stakes and not liquid could go bankrupt, Palihapitiya wrote on X.

    The tax, he posted, “will kill entrepreneurship in California.”

    Seema Mehta, Caroline Petrow-Cohen

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  • Report: WNBA, players association not close on CBA as deadline looms

    (Photo credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)

    With just over a week remaining until the Jan. 9 deadline for a new WNBA collective bargaining agreement, the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association are not close to a deal, ESPN reported on Wednesday.

    The report indicates that the league and players association are very far apart on a number of basic points including what the revenue-sharing system, which the league currently does not have, could look like, what could be considered revenue and the process of accounting for expenses.

    The league is reportedly claiming that the latest proposal from the WNBPA (30% of gross revenue for the players and a salary cap of around $10.5 million) would not be sustainable for the league to survive, costing the WNBA approximately $700 million over the length of the pact.

    The last reported proposal from the WNBA side offered 50-plus-percent of net revenue (revenue subtracting expenses), raising average salaries from $120,000 to $530,000 and max salaries from $249,244 to $1.3 million immediately and close to $2 million over the course of the deal.

    The WNBA’s proposed salary cap is $5 million with growth in line with revenue sharing over the deal.

    Just after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier’s team was eliminated from the playoffs in September, Collier, the WNBPA vice president, called a press conference and said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was providing the ‘worst leadership in the world.’

    ‘For too long I have tried to have these conversations in private,’ Collier added. ‘But it’s clear there’s no intention of accepting there’s a problem (with the league’s officiating, in particular). The league has made it clear, it isn’t about innovation. It isn’t about collaboration. It’s about control and power.’

    In mid-December, the WNBA’s players voted to give WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and the executive committee the authority to potentially initiate a strike.

    ‘The players have spoken,’ the WNBPA said in a statement. ‘Through a decisive vote with historic participation, our membership has authorized the WNBPA’s Executive Committee to call a strike when necessary. The players’ decision is an unavoidable response to the state of negotiations with the WNBA and its teams.’

    The WNBA is scheduled to introduce expansion teams in Portland and Toronto in 2026 to bring its number of teams to 15. A strike, if set into motion, could affect that timeline with the season scheduled to begin in May.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Profit First Doesn’t Mean Margin Last. Here’s How to Build a Margin-First Mindset

    Every business owner says they want to grow revenue, but what they really want is to grow profit. The two are not the same. Chasing top-line revenue without protecting your margins is like filling a leaky bucket. You can work harder, add more customers, and still watch your bank account stay the same. Real growth happens when you focus on profit, not just sales. 

    A margin-first mindset means putting profitability at the center of every decision instead of treating it as an afterthought. When you make that shift, you create a company that can scale sustainably instead of spinning its wheels in endless activity. 

    1. Start with clarity, not hope. 

    Stop guessing your margins. Know them. You cannot improve what you do not measure, and “gut feeling” is not a metric. Break down profitability by product, service, and channel. Identify which parts of your business make money and which ones quietly drain it. 

    When you see your real numbers, decisions become simple. You know which services deserve more investment and which customers or products are eating away at your profit. Too many owners rely on assumptions, thinking something is profitable because it has always sold well. The data often tells a different story. Once you know your true margins, you can act with precision instead of instinct. 

    2. Redefine growth. 

    Growth does not mean more customers. It means more profit from the “right customers.” 

    If a client takes double the time for half the return, they don’t fit the growth category. Instead, they are dragging you down. Every customer has an opportunity cost. Some stretch your resources, stress your staff, and erode your margins. 

    Look at your customer base and identify which clients or types of projects bring the best margins and align with your long-term strategy. Focus there. When you target profitable growth instead of volume growth, you scale smarter and faster. 

    David Finkel

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  • Capitol Hill, White House focus on affordability with new policy initiatives

    From Capitol Hill to here at the White House, lawmakers are zeroing in on affordability. You could see it from the administration here in the last week, from videos to messages and new policy rollouts all designed and aimed at lowering costs for Americans. From 50 year mortgages to $2000 tariff checks, the White House is proposing bold solutions to *** stubborn issue. We’re working overtime on reducing costs. Among the changes, the White House. new trade frameworks with Latin American countries to lower the cost of groceries among other items. September’s inflation data shows coffee, bananas, and beef are among the items up significantly over the past year. We understand that people understand as they look at their pocketbooks that go to the grocery store, that there’s still work to do. It comes as the economy absorbs the damage from the 43 day government shutdown, which the White House says wiped out about $90 billion in economic growth and about 60,000 non-fe. Workers their jobs. Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, many lawmakers tell us affordability is also their priority moving forward. Our constituents are absolutely suffering under the crushing costs of health care cost increases, housing increases, childcare, groceries, gas, you name it. I’m going to be focusing my attention on housing affordability, and for Democrats, the fight that drove the shutdown isn’t over. They’re now racing to restore health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. *** lapse that could leave families paying hundreds more each month. We’re working towards bringing another bill to the floor that would actually solve the crisis of affordability in healthcare and bring down healthcare premiums for those 24 million Americans. Senate Republicans have promised *** vote to extend those healthcare subsidies in December, not guaranteeing what that vote outcome would be. However, House Republicans have not promised such *** vote at the White House. I’m Christopher Salas.

    The federal government has reopened after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, and the focus is now shifting to affordability, a pressing issue for millions of Americans. From Capitol Hill to the White House, lawmakers are concentrating on reducing costs.The White House is proposing bold solutions to address affordability, including 50-year mortgages and $2,000 tariff checks. Kevin Hassett, National Economic Council director, said, “We’re working overtime on reducing costs.”Among the changes, the White House announced new trade frameworks with Latin American countries to lower grocery costs. September’s inflation data shows significant price increases for coffee, bananas, and beef over the past year. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to eliminate tariffs on a broad swath of commodities, including beef, coffee and tropical fruits.Hassett acknowledged the ongoing challenges, saying, “We understand that people understand as they look at their pocketbooks and go to the grocery store that there’s still work to do.”The economy is absorbing the impact of the 43-day shutdown, which the White House said wiped out $90 billion in growth and cost about 60,000 non-federal workers their jobs. On Capitol Hill, many lawmakers emphasize affordability as their priority moving forward. Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Democrat from Maryland, said, “Our constituents are absolutely suffering under the crushing costs of healthcare and cost increases, housing increases, childcare, groceries, gas, you name it.” Rep. Mike Flood, a Republican from Nebraska, added, “I’m going to be focusing my attention on housing affordability.”For Democrats, the fight that led to the shutdown continues as they race to restore healthcare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, which could result in families paying hundreds more each month. Rep. Josh Harder, a Democrat from California, said, “We’re working towards bringing another bill to the floor that would actually solve the crisis of affordability in health care and bring down health care premiums for those 24 million Americans.”Senate Republicans have promised a vote to extend healthcare subsidies by December, but the House has not made such a promise. Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the Trump administration will require SNAP participants to reapply for benefits. A USDA spokesperson stated that the Secretary aims to address “fraud, waste and incessant abuse” in the SNAP program, noting that earlier fraud rates were only assumptions. The USDA plans to use existing recertification processes, review state data, and potentially introduce new regulations as part of this effort. However, the USDA has not specified when a broad reapplication would start, how it would work, or whether families could lose benefits during the process. Further details have been requested.See the latest news from the Washington News Bureau:

    WASHINGTON —

    The federal government has reopened after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, and the focus is now shifting to affordability, a pressing issue for millions of Americans. From Capitol Hill to the White House, lawmakers are concentrating on reducing costs.

    The White House is proposing bold solutions to address affordability, including 50-year mortgages and $2,000 tariff checks. Kevin Hassett, National Economic Council director, said, “We’re working overtime on reducing costs.”

    Among the changes, the White House announced new trade frameworks with Latin American countries to lower grocery costs. September’s inflation data shows significant price increases for coffee, bananas, and beef over the past year.

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to eliminate tariffs on a broad swath of commodities, including beef, coffee and tropical fruits.

    Hassett acknowledged the ongoing challenges, saying, “We understand that people understand as they look at their pocketbooks and go to the grocery store that there’s still work to do.”

    The economy is absorbing the impact of the 43-day shutdown, which the White House said wiped out $90 billion in growth and cost about 60,000 non-federal workers their jobs.

    On Capitol Hill, many lawmakers emphasize affordability as their priority moving forward. Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Democrat from Maryland, said, “Our constituents are absolutely suffering under the crushing costs of healthcare and cost increases, housing increases, childcare, groceries, gas, you name it.”

    Rep. Mike Flood, a Republican from Nebraska, added, “I’m going to be focusing my attention on housing affordability.”

    For Democrats, the fight that led to the shutdown continues as they race to restore healthcare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, which could result in families paying hundreds more each month.

    Rep. Josh Harder, a Democrat from California, said, “We’re working towards bringing another bill to the floor that would actually solve the crisis of affordability in health care and bring down health care premiums for those 24 million Americans.”

    Senate Republicans have promised a vote to extend healthcare subsidies by December, but the House has not made such a promise.

    Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the Trump administration will require SNAP participants to reapply for benefits. A USDA spokesperson stated that the Secretary aims to address “fraud, waste and incessant abuse” in the SNAP program, noting that earlier fraud rates were only assumptions. The USDA plans to use existing recertification processes, review state data, and potentially introduce new regulations as part of this effort. However, the USDA has not specified when a broad reapplication would start, how it would work, or whether families could lose benefits during the process. Further details have been requested.

    See the latest news from the Washington News Bureau:

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  • What to know about Trump’s $2,000 tariff dividend proposal

    Over the weekend, President Donald Trump promised Americans $2,000 each from the “trillions of dollars” in tariff revenue he said his administration has collected. 

    During his second term, Trump has imposed tariffs broadly on countries and on specific goods such as drugs, steel and cars.

    “People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!,” Trump said in a Nov. 9 Truth Social post. “We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

    How seriously should people take his pledge? Experts urged caution. 

    Tariffs are projected to generate well below “trillions” a year, making it harder to pay each person $2,000. And the administration already said it would use the tariff revenue to either pay for existing tax cuts or to reduce the federal debt.

    Trump’s post came days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about the legality of his tariff policy. The justices are weighing whether Trump has the power to unilaterally impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. If the justices rule against Trump, much of the expected future tariff revenue would not materialize.

    What Trump proposed, and who would qualify

    The administration has published no plans for the tariff dividends, and in a Nov. 9 ABC News interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he hadn’t spoken to Trump about giving Americans a dividend payment. 

    Details about a potential payment have been limited to Truth Social posts. 

    Trump said “everyone” excluding “high income people” would get the money, but didn’t explain who qualifies as “high income.” He also didn’t say whether children would receive the payment. 

    In a Nov. 10 Truth Social post, Trump said his administration would first pay $2,000 to “low and middle income USA Citizens,” and then use the remaining tariff revenues to “substantially pay down national debt.”

    Trump hasn’t said what form the payments might take. Bessent said the dividend “could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways. You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda. You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans. So, you know, those are substantial deductions.”

    Analysts said it’s a stretch to rebrand an already promised tax cut as a new dividend.

    Trump has previously discussed paying Americans with tariff revenue. 

    “We have so much money coming in, we’re thinking about a little rebate but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt,” he told reporters July 25. “We’re thinking about a rebate.”

    Days later, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation that would give $600 tariff rebate checks to each American adult and child. Hawley’s bill has not advanced.

    Tariff revenue collected versus cost of a “dividend” payment

    Trump made the imposition of tariffs one of his signature 2024 campaign promises. Since taking office in January, he has enacted tariffs on a scale not seen in the U.S. in almost a century; the current overall average tariff rate is 18%, the highest since 1934, according to Yale Budget Lab.

    Through the end of October, the federal government collected $309.2 billion in tariff revenue, compared with $165.4 billion through the same point in 2024, an increase of $143.8 billion.

    The center-right Tax Foundation projects that tariff revenue will continue to increase to more than $200 billion a year if the tariffs remain in place.

    Erica York, the Tax Foundation’s vice president of federal tax policy, estimated in a Nov. 9 X post that a $2,000 tariff dividend for each person earning under $100,000 would equal 150 million adult recipients. That would cost nearly $300 billion, York calculated, or more if children qualified. That’s more than the tariffs have raised so far, she said. 

    The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projected that Trump’s proposal could cost $600 billion, depending on how it is structured.

    The administration previously detailed other uses for tariff revenue

    The Trump administration already promised to use tariff revenue for other purposes, including reducing the country’s deficit and offsetting the cost of the GOP tax and spending bill Trump signed into law in July.

    As Trump announced new tariffs April 2, he said he would “use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt.”

    Bessent has made the same promise, falsely saying in July that tariffs were “going to pay off our deficit.”

    Bessent said in August that he and Trump were “laser focused on paying down the debt.”

    “I think we’re going to bring down the deficit-to-GDP,” Bessent said in an Aug. 19 CNBC interview. “We’ll start paying down debt and then at a point that can be used as an offset to the American people.”

    Tariffs’ current cost to Americans 

    Tariffs are already costing Americans money, analysts say. Independent estimates range from about $1,600 to $2,600 a year per household. Given the similarity of these amounts to Trump’s proposed dividend, York said it would be more efficient to remove the tariffs.

    Joseph Rosenberg, Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center senior fellow, said a $2,000 dividend in the form of a check would require congressional approval — and lawmakers have already declined to act on that idea once.

    When members of Congress approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, “They had the ability to include a tariff dividend, but they didn’t,” Rosenberg said.

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  • What to know about the Supreme Court arguments over Trump’s tariffs

    Three lower courts have ruled President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose worldwide tariffs to be illegal. Now the Supreme Court, with three justices Trump appointed and generally favorable to muscular presidential power, will have the final word.In roughly two dozen emergency appeals, the justices have largely gone along with Trump in temporarily allowing parts of his aggressive second-term agenda to take effect while lawsuits play out.But the case being argued Wednesday is the first in which the court will render a final decision on a Trump policy. The stakes are enormous, both politically and financially.The Republican president has made tariffs a central piece of his economic and foreign policy and has said it would be a “disaster” if the Supreme Court rules against him.Here are some things to know about the tariffs arguments at the Supreme Court:Tariffs are taxes on importsThey are paid by companies that import finished products or parts, and the added cost can be passed on to consumers.Through September, the government has reported collecting $195 billion in revenue generated from the tariffs.The Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs, but Trump has claimed extraordinary power to act without congressional approval by declaring national emergencies under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.In February, he invoked the law to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, saying that the illegal flow of immigrants and drugs across the U.S. border amounted to a national emergency and that the three countries needed to do more to stop it.In April, he imposed worldwide tariffs after declaring the United States’ longstanding trade deficits “a national emergency.”Libertarian-backed businesses and states challenged the tariffs in federal courtChallengers to Trump’s actions won rulings from a specialized trade court, a district judge in Washington and a business-focused appeals court, also in the nation’s capital.Those courts found that Trump could not justify tariffs under the emergency powers law, which doesn’t mention them. But they left the tariffs in place in the meantime.The appeals court relied on major questions, a legal doctrine devised by the Supreme Court that requires Congress to speak clearly on issues of “vast economic and political significance.”The major questions doctrine doomed several Biden policiesConservative majorities struck down three of then-President Joe Biden’s initiatives related to the coronavirus pandemic. The court ended the Democrat’s pause on evictions, blocked a vaccine mandate for large businesses and prevented student loan forgiveness that would have totaled $500 billion over 10 years.In comparison, the stakes in the tariff case are much higher. The taxes are estimated to generate $3 trillion over 10 years.The challengers in the tariffs case have cited writings by the three Trump appointees, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, in calling on the court to apply similar limitations on a signal Trump policy.Barrett described a babysitter taking children on roller coasters and spending a night in a hotel based on a parent’s encouragement to “make sure the kids have fun.”“In the normal course, permission to spend money on fun authorizes a babysitter to take children to the local ice cream parlor or movie theater, not on a multiday excursion to an out-of-town amusement park,” Barrett wrote in the student loans case. “If a parent were willing to greenlight a trip that big, we would expect much more clarity than a general instruction to ‘make sure the kids have fun.’”Kavanaugh, though, has suggested the court should not apply the same limiting standard to foreign policy and national security issues.A dissenting appellate judge also wrote that Congress purposely gave presidents more latitude to act through the emergency powers law.Some of the businesses that sued also are raising a separate legal argument in an appeal to conservative justices, saying that Congress could not constitutionally delegate its taxing power to the president.The nondelegation principle has not been used in 90 years, since the Supreme Court struck down some New Deal legislation.But Gorsuch authored a dissent in June that would have found the Federal Communications Commission’s universal service fee an unconstitutional delegation. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas joined the dissent.“What happens when Congress, weary of the hard business of legislating and facing strong incentives to pass the buck, cedes its lawmaking power, clearly and unmistakably, to an executive that craves it?” Gorsuch wrote.The justices could act more quickly than usual in issuing a decisionThe court only agreed to hear the case in September, scheduling arguments less than two months later. The quick turnaround, at least by Supreme Court standards, suggests that the court will try to act fast.High-profile cases can take half a year or more to resolve, often because the majority and dissenting opinions go through rounds of revision.But the court can act quickly when deadline pressure dictates. Most recently, the court ruled a week after hearing arguments in the TikTok case, unanimously upholding a law requiring the popular social media app to be banned unless it was sold by its Chinese parent company. Trump has intervened several times to keep the law from taking effect while negotiations continue with China.

    WASHINGTON —

    Three lower courts have ruled President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose worldwide tariffs to be illegal. Now the Supreme Court, with three justices Trump appointed and generally favorable to muscular presidential power, will have the final word.

    In roughly two dozen emergency appeals, the justices have largely gone along with Trump in temporarily allowing parts of his aggressive second-term agenda to take effect while lawsuits play out.

    But the case being argued Wednesday is the first in which the court will render a final decision on a Trump policy. The stakes are enormous, both politically and financially.

    The Republican president has made tariffs a central piece of his economic and foreign policy and has said it would be a “disaster” if the Supreme Court rules against him.

    Here are some things to know about the tariffs arguments at the Supreme Court:

    Tariffs are taxes on imports

    They are paid by companies that import finished products or parts, and the added cost can be passed on to consumers.

    Through September, the government has reported collecting $195 billion in revenue generated from the tariffs.

    The Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs, but Trump has claimed extraordinary power to act without congressional approval by declaring national emergencies under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

    In February, he invoked the law to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, saying that the illegal flow of immigrants and drugs across the U.S. border amounted to a national emergency and that the three countries needed to do more to stop it.

    In April, he imposed worldwide tariffs after declaring the United States’ longstanding trade deficits “a national emergency.”

    Libertarian-backed businesses and states challenged the tariffs in federal court

    Challengers to Trump’s actions won rulings from a specialized trade court, a district judge in Washington and a business-focused appeals court, also in the nation’s capital.

    Those courts found that Trump could not justify tariffs under the emergency powers law, which doesn’t mention them. But they left the tariffs in place in the meantime.

    The appeals court relied on major questions, a legal doctrine devised by the Supreme Court that requires Congress to speak clearly on issues of “vast economic and political significance.”

    The major questions doctrine doomed several Biden policies

    Conservative majorities struck down three of then-President Joe Biden’s initiatives related to the coronavirus pandemic. The court ended the Democrat’s pause on evictions, blocked a vaccine mandate for large businesses and prevented student loan forgiveness that would have totaled $500 billion over 10 years.

    In comparison, the stakes in the tariff case are much higher. The taxes are estimated to generate $3 trillion over 10 years.

    The challengers in the tariffs case have cited writings by the three Trump appointees, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, in calling on the court to apply similar limitations on a signal Trump policy.

    Barrett described a babysitter taking children on roller coasters and spending a night in a hotel based on a parent’s encouragement to “make sure the kids have fun.”

    “In the normal course, permission to spend money on fun authorizes a babysitter to take children to the local ice cream parlor or movie theater, not on a multiday excursion to an out-of-town amusement park,” Barrett wrote in the student loans case. “If a parent were willing to greenlight a trip that big, we would expect much more clarity than a general instruction to ‘make sure the kids have fun.’”

    Kavanaugh, though, has suggested the court should not apply the same limiting standard to foreign policy and national security issues.

    A dissenting appellate judge also wrote that Congress purposely gave presidents more latitude to act through the emergency powers law.

    Some of the businesses that sued also are raising a separate legal argument in an appeal to conservative justices, saying that Congress could not constitutionally delegate its taxing power to the president.

    The nondelegation principle has not been used in 90 years, since the Supreme Court struck down some New Deal legislation.

    But Gorsuch authored a dissent in June that would have found the Federal Communications Commission’s universal service fee an unconstitutional delegation. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas joined the dissent.

    “What happens when Congress, weary of the hard business of legislating and facing strong incentives to pass the buck, cedes its lawmaking power, clearly and unmistakably, to an executive that craves it?” Gorsuch wrote.

    The justices could act more quickly than usual in issuing a decision

    The court only agreed to hear the case in September, scheduling arguments less than two months later. The quick turnaround, at least by Supreme Court standards, suggests that the court will try to act fast.

    High-profile cases can take half a year or more to resolve, often because the majority and dissenting opinions go through rounds of revision.

    But the court can act quickly when deadline pressure dictates. Most recently, the court ruled a week after hearing arguments in the TikTok case, unanimously upholding a law requiring the popular social media app to be banned unless it was sold by its Chinese parent company. Trump has intervened several times to keep the law from taking effect while negotiations continue with China.

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  • Sphere Follows Yellow Brick Road to Record Profits – Casino.org

    Posted on: October 21, 2025, 03:59h. 

    Last updated on: October 21, 2025, 03:59h.

    According to Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR), its reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz” is generating blockbuster returns, with over $130 million in receipts from 1 million tickets sold as of October 17, just seven weeks after its August 28 premiere.

    The Wicked Witch of the West seems to envision a sphere in her future. (Image: Rich Fury/Sphere Entertainment)

    The company had previously announced on September 15 that it had sold 500,000 tickets, earning $65 million, suggesting a consistent monthly revenue pace of $2 million per day.

    Shares of SPHR surged for two days on the good news. On Tuesday, the company’s stock climbed 5.5% to $66.54, following a 7.5% gain on Monday.  Year-to-date, SPHR is up 56.5%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500’s 14.5% rally.

    They’re Off to See the Wizard

    While its estimated $100 million production cost was a gamble, “The Wizard of Oz” has more than paid off. (Analysts at Wolfe Research project that the production could cross the $500 million revenue threshold sometime next year.)

    In fact, if current demand can be sustained, it could very well single-handedly turn the company’s financial fortunes around.

    Though Sphere Entertainment has not disclosed its total debt load in recent filings, pre-opening reports from Bloomberg and Reuters cited approximately $1.8 billion in debt, largely tied to the venue’s $2.3 billion construction and tech infrastructure costs. Operating costs were estimated at $20 million per quarter in 2024, though recent profitability suggests that the venue’s financial trajectory is improving.

    And there is every reason to believe that that demand for this production can be sustained, since it is only playing on one screen on Earth and there are hundreds of millions of “Wizard of Oz” fans who haven’t seen it yet.

    The 75-minute experience — trimmed by 20 minutes from the 1939 original to allow up to eight daily screenings — was rebuilt using advanced AI and CG technology to fit Sphere’s 160,000-square-foot wraparound LED screen, the largest of its kind.

    The production also includes immersive enhancements including wind, lighting effects, custom scents and haptic seat feedback.

    “The Wizard of Oz” at the Las Vegas Sphere plays multiple times per day. The cheapest seats ($129-$137) are weekday morning and afternoon showings, while evening seats go for between $170-$182. Tickets are available at the Sphere website.

     

    Corey Levitan

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  • What Smart Marketers Are Doing Now to Maximize Q4 Revenue — And How You Can Too | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s August. Your inbox is full of OOO replies, Slack pings have slowed to a whisper and if you’re lucky, you’re halfway through a bottle of overpriced rosé on someone’s porch.

    But if you’re just now starting to think about your Q4 strategy? You’re not behind — you’re already in trouble.

    Q4 isn’t just another quarter. It’s the Super Bowl of marketing. And while most teams are sleepwalking through summer, this is your chance to take the lead. The ones who win Q4 are laying down the groundwork now. The ones who don’t? They’re scrambling come October, wondering why their revenue flatlined.

    Here’s how to avoid becoming a cautionary tale.

    Planning ahead isn’t a luxury — it’s survival

    When I started The Go! Agency, I thought being 30 days ahead meant I was being proactive. I had calendars, content and what I thought was control.

    In reality, I was just managing chaos with a pretty spreadsheet.

    Now? We’re finalizing Q4 deliverables in August and testing campaigns by early September. That way, when the holiday madness hits, we’re not creating — we’re executing.

    And this isn’t just an enterprise strategy. Whether you’re a DTC startup, a B2B SaaS company or a one-person marketing team, planning early gives you the one thing your competitors won’t have: momentum.

    Related: 3 Marketing Trends You Need to Capitalize on Now Before Your Competition Beats You to It

    What smart Q4 prep looks like in August

    If you’re in marketing, here’s what you should be doing right now:

    • Reviewing Q1–Q3 performance to cut what’s not working and double down on what is
    • Updating last year’s holiday campaigns while there’s still time to test new angles
    • Writing your email flows and SMS sequences so they’re ready by October
    • Locking in vendors, platforms and partnerships before placements fill up
    • Coordinating team bandwidth to avoid last-minute scrambles

    This isn’t overkill. This is what the winners do.

    Don’t just “check the budget” — work it like a lever

    Most teams treat budgets like static numbers. You get a number then go spend it. Smarter teams ask: Where did we get the best return last year and how quickly can we shift budget if something pops off?

    One of our clients, a global beverage brand, set a modest ROAS target for Meta campaigns last fall. When performance started to surge, we were able to reallocate budget mid-month. Result? A 135% ROAS over-delivery and more than $30,000 in incremental revenue — in November alone.

    If you don’t know where your flex is, you can’t take advantage of the spikes.

    Audit your channels before you sink more money into them

    Now’s the time to pressure-test what’s really working. Start with the basics:

    • Where’s your traffic coming from — and more importantly, where’s it converting?
    • Are your email flows actually performing or are they just coasting?
    • Are you reusing the same holiday sequences from 2022?

    Last year, we helped a premium pet brand revamp their email strategy in August. By the end of Q4, they had generated $47K in placed orders from email alone. And their best-performing email? It went out in February — and brought in another $7K.

    The lesson: strategy beats panic every time.

    You can’t launch big if half your team is out

    Your Q4 calendar is only as strong as your team’s availability.

    Every year, brands plan big November launches — only to realize their lead designer is in Italy until the 12th and the social media manager is at a conference. That’s how good ideas turn into half-baked campaigns.

    Plan around real availability. Who’s in-office when? Who can step in if needed? Have you onboarded freelance or contract support in case things scale?

    You don’t need a massive team. You need a present, prepared one.

    Learn from last year — then upgrade it

    If you haven’t analyzed last year’s Q4 data, you’re flying blind.

    What channels converted best? Which campaigns flopped? Which subject lines actually got opened?

    Find the patterns. Then improve them.

    Maybe your BFCM sale crushed it but your remarketing ads underperformed. This year, rebuild your mid-funnel strategy and refine segmentation before crunch time.

    Q4 is not the time for trial and error. That’s what August and September are for.

    Don’t coast into January — accelerate into it

    Here’s what no one talks about: January is a goldmine.

    If your business touches wellness, finance, productivity or anything “new year, new me” adjacent, start building those campaigns now.

    Your competition will be crawling out of the holiday fog. You’ll already be converting.

    Related: Why Your Old Marketing Tactics Are Killing Your Growth in 2025

    Marketing isn’t optional — it’s the main engine

    Too many teams treat marketing like a side hustle — something to turn on when sales slow or revenue dips.

    But marketing isn’t an accessory. It’s the engine. It’s what gets you seen, heard, clicked and remembered.

    So while everyone else is “planning to plan,” do the smart thing.

    Plan now. Lock it in. Execute early. Optimize often. Win more.

    Because by the time your competitors realize Q4 has started, you’ll already be two laps ahead.

    It’s August. Your inbox is full of OOO replies, Slack pings have slowed to a whisper and if you’re lucky, you’re halfway through a bottle of overpriced rosé on someone’s porch.

    But if you’re just now starting to think about your Q4 strategy? You’re not behind — you’re already in trouble.

    Q4 isn’t just another quarter. It’s the Super Bowl of marketing. And while most teams are sleepwalking through summer, this is your chance to take the lead. The ones who win Q4 are laying down the groundwork now. The ones who don’t? They’re scrambling come October, wondering why their revenue flatlined.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

    Christopher Tompkins

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  • How a Smart Marketing Plan Turned One Brand’s Emails Into $47,000 in Revenue | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Planning isn’t sexy. It doesn’t trend. No one’s going viral for updating their content calendar or plotting campaign touchpoints.

    But here’s the hard truth most marketers won’t admit out loud: the teams that win are the ones who plan. Period.

    As CEO of The Go! Agency, I’ve worked with growth-stage startups, international brands and Fortune 500s. And the difference between consistent growth and quarterly chaos always comes down to this — the presence or absence of a plan that actually works.

    Yet every August, the same cycle begins. Q4 shows up like a freight train, and suddenly everyone’s scrambling:

    • Campaigns are rushed
    • Budgets are misaligned
    • Messages are muddled
    • Leadership is confused
    • Teams are exhausted

    And all of it could have been avoided with one thing: a strategic, forward-looking, execution-ready plan.

    Related: Why Your Old Marketing Tactics Are Killing Your Growth in 2025

    Why most marketing plans fail before they even start

    Let’s stop pretending a planning session is a slide deck with buzzwords or a half-hearted brainstorm led by someone who still thinks “go viral” is a tactic.

    Planning is not about checking a box. It’s about building a structure that connects real objectives to measurable actions across every channel. But most teams aren’t doing that.

    They’re treating planning as an afterthought — if they’re doing it at all. And when your plan is a vague Notion doc, a disjointed task list or worse, a whiteboard of “cool ideas,” don’t be surprised when your campaigns flop.

    The planning process has become a casualty of hustle culture. We’ve been trained to equate movement with progress. But in marketing, unplanned execution is just expensive guessing.

    The fall framework that delivers results

    At The Go! Agency, we’ve built and tested a framework that cuts through the noise. It’s what we used to help a premium pet nutrition brand drive over $47,000 in email campaign revenue and increase TikTok video views by nearly 500% in a single quarter.

    It’s also what helped an international beverage equipment company exceed ROAS goals by 135% — scaling from 9.4 to 14.78 in just four months.

    And no, it didn’t require 10 tools or a 92-slide deck.

    Here’s how it works:

    1. Set goals that actually mean something
    “We want more engagement” is not a goal, but “We want a 30% increase in demo bookings from LinkedIn in Q4” is.

    Start with your business objectives, not just marketing KPIs. Growth only happens when your marketing activities ladder up to tangible business outcomes.

    2. Audit your current channels
    You’re probably doing more than you think: emails, blogs, paid ads, social, events, PR. But how much of it is working — and how much is noise?

    Take stock. Know what’s performing and why. Then cut what’s not moving the needle.

    3. Lock in messaging that doesn’t suck
    Your message is your fuel. If it’s generic, recycled or vague, your audience is already tuned out.

    You don’t need “clever.” You need clear, compelling positioning that reflects your unique POV and actually speaks to real pain points.

    And no — ChatGPT can’t do this for you. AI is a multiplier, not a mind reader. Garbage in, garbage out.

    4. Match the message to the market
    Segment smarter. The same campaign can’t serve every audience. Tailor your messaging per segment and then match it to the right platform.

    LinkedIn for B2B thought leadership? Absolutely — it’s still the best platform for building trust and credibility with a professional audience. TikTok for brand storytelling? If your audience lives there, it’s a powerful way to connect through authentic, culture-driven content. Email for conversion? Still king — when it’s targeted, relevant and backed by a strong message.

    5. Build around a calendar
    Themes drive cohesion. A roadmap aligns execution. You need to know what’s happening when — and how your campaigns, content, sales pushes and partnerships sync up.

    Planning gives you rhythm. That rhythm gives your team momentum.

    Stop glorifying the grind

    Let’s kill the myth that planning is rigid. The right plan is a launchpad — not a cage.

    It’s what lets you pivot without panic when a new initiative lands in your lap. It’s what helps you say “no” to shiny distractions. And it’s what allows you to build campaigns that scale, not scramble.

    You don’t need more meetings. You need direction. You don’t need a productivity tool with 30 integrations. You need strategic clarity.

    The ROI no one talks about

    Think planning is overhead? Here’s what it really unlocks:

    • Smarter content with a clear purpose
    • Faster execution with less firefighting
    • Scalable campaign architecture
    • Higher ROI with fewer wasted hours
    • Cleaner data to prove your impact

    And let’s not ignore the internal wins: clearer expectations, tighter collaboration and less burnout.

    The brands that scale aren’t guessing. They’re mapping.

    Related: 3 Marketing Trends You Need to Capitalize on Now Before Your Competition Beats You to It

    Final word: be the marketer who’s ready

    You can’t be bulletproof without a blueprint. And planning is your blueprint.

    This fall, don’t wait to react. Build your roadmap now. Align your team. Ground your efforts in strategy, not spaghetti.

    Because the truth is, in a landscape filled with marketers who are busy, the ones who are intentional will always win.

    Planning isn’t sexy. It doesn’t trend. No one’s going viral for updating their content calendar or plotting campaign touchpoints.

    But here’s the hard truth most marketers won’t admit out loud: the teams that win are the ones who plan. Period.

    As CEO of The Go! Agency, I’ve worked with growth-stage startups, international brands and Fortune 500s. And the difference between consistent growth and quarterly chaos always comes down to this — the presence or absence of a plan that actually works.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

    Christopher Tompkins

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  • Email Isn’t Dead — But Your Strategy Might Be. Here’s How to Revive It | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Let’s address the elephant in the inbox.

    Email marketing isn’t dead. It’s not outdated. It hasn’t been replaced by TikTok, Threads or an army of AI bots. In fact, email is still one of the most reliable, highest-ROI marketing channels in your arsenal — if you actually use it right.

    But here’s the inconvenient truth: most businesses don’t. They treat email like a leftover tactic from 2009, not the strategic revenue engine it can be. So when their campaigns fail, the blame is often directed at the platform, the audience, the open rates — everything except the real culprit: a broken system.

    I’ve had enough client calls that start the same way to spot the pattern. “We’ve been sending emails for years,” they say. “Newsletters, sales promos, special offers. But it’s just not working anymore.”

    Spoiler: The problem isn’t email. It’s execution. Let’s break it down.

    Stop sending and hoping

    Before you send another message, ask yourself one question: What is the actual goal of this email? If your answer is “generate leads,” great. That’s a start. But leads don’t materialize just because you hit send. Email isn’t magic. It’s a relationship channel.

    You need a strategy. Are you building relevance? Segmenting based on interest? Optimizing timing? Tracking behavior across your site and CRM? If not, you’re not doing email marketing. You’re just sending digital flyers and hoping someone notices.

    Related: 12 Reasons Why Your Emails Aren’t Driving Business

    Your list isn’t a strategy

    Here’s the harsh reality: most email lists are digital junk drawers. Bloated, unsegmented and outdated.

    One client had 25,000 contacts in a single list labeled “Newsletter.” No segmentation. No tagging. Just one-size-fits-all messaging to cold leads, VIP clients and long-lost contacts alike. Their click-through rate? Less than 1%.

    Would you hand the same sales pitch to a returning customer, a cold prospect and a lapsed buyer? Then why are you emailing them like they’re all the same person?

    Your email platform has segmentation tools for a reason. Use them. Tag based on behavior, purchase history, content engagement and lifecycle stage. And if your list is outdated? Run a re-engagement campaign. Let people self-select. And yes — let them unsubscribe. Because a clean, active list will always outperform a bloated one.

    Your platform might be failing you

    If you’re still using the free version of Mailchimp from 2017, expecting results is like entering a Formula 1 race on a tricycle.

    Email platforms have evolved. If yours doesn’t offer automation, A/B testing, tagging, CRM integration or real-time analytics, it’s holding you back. For ecommerce, I recommend Klaviyo. It connects directly to Shopify, lets you recover abandoned carts, trigger smart automations and — this is key — track actual sales tied to email behavior.

    And yes, you’ll need to invest in a platform that can handle more than “send newsletter.” If you’re serious about revenue, stop being cheap about the tool that drives it.

    Stop worshiping the open rate

    Everyone obsesses over open rates like they’re gospel. But here’s the truth: a high open rate doesn’t mean anything if no one clicks, converts or remembers you. Don’t just design pretty emails. Design strategic ones.

    Ask better questions. What KPIs actually map to your business goals? For ecommerce, it might be revenue per email, cart recovery rate or product clicks. For B2B, it may be meetings booked or resources downloaded.

    Start there. Reverse-engineer your content. Then test relentlessly. Subject lines. Send times. CTA placement. Message framing. Real marketers test. Lazy marketers send and pray.

    Visibility, credibility, engagement — then sales

    Email doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It’s part of a journey. You don’t go from “nice to meet you” to “here’s our invoice” overnight. So layer your content.

    Visibility gets you seen.
    Credibility makes you trusted.
    Engagement builds the bridge.
    Sales walk across it.

    If every email is just a promotion, you’re not building a bridge — you’re shouting into the void. Offer value. Share insight. Deliver relevance. And when it’s time to sell, you won’t have to beg for attention. You’ll already have it.

    Related: 6 Reasons Your Marketing Emails Aren’t Converting — and How to Fix Them All

    Campaigns don’t build revenue — systems do

    Most marketers jump straight to tactics — “Let’s send something Tuesday at 10 a.m.” — with no infrastructure underneath.

    But if your email doesn’t plug into a system, it’s a short-term stunt, not a long-term strategy.

    Here’s what a real email system looks like:

    • Set up automated workflows for key stages like onboarding, re-engagement and post-purchase to nurture your audience over time.
    • Build segmented customer journeys that align with specific buyer behaviors so your emails are always relevant and timely.
    • Integrate your email platform with your CRM and ecommerce systems to enable real-time targeting based on user actions.
    • Define clear KPIs that are directly tied to business outcomes before you create or send any campaigns.

    This is the work most marketers skip. And it’s why their email marketing never scales. Strategy always beats volume.

    Want to win Q4? Fix this in Q3

    Here’s your reality check: once fall hits, you’re out of time. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Holiday chaos. End-of-year goals. Your calendar will be execution-heavy and strategy-starved.

    So fix it now.

    Audit your platform. Clean your list. Segment your contacts. Define your goals. Connect your data. Build the machine. Because when email works, it doesn’t just deliver opens. It delivers ROI. Recurring revenue. Customer loyalty. And a real reason to celebrate when the quarter ends.

    Let’s address the elephant in the inbox.

    Email marketing isn’t dead. It’s not outdated. It hasn’t been replaced by TikTok, Threads or an army of AI bots. In fact, email is still one of the most reliable, highest-ROI marketing channels in your arsenal — if you actually use it right.

    But here’s the inconvenient truth: most businesses don’t. They treat email like a leftover tactic from 2009, not the strategic revenue engine it can be. So when their campaigns fail, the blame is often directed at the platform, the audience, the open rates — everything except the real culprit: a broken system.

    The rest of this article is locked.

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    Christopher Tompkins

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  • We Built a 7-Figure Business Without a Single Investor — Here’s Why Saying No to VC Was Our Smartest Move | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    You’ve heard this story before: a couple of college kids launch a startup from their dorm room. Surrounded by engineers, finance majors and future founders, venture capital wasn’t just common — it was expected. So when my co-founder and I launched Prepory, our college admissions coaching company, we assumed we’d need funding to be taken seriously.

    We entered a pitch competition and came in second. No check. We reached out to investors. No bites. We had a choice: give up or keep building.

    We kept building.

    What started as a one-person operation helping students in our local community has grown into a seven-figure, global company with nearly 100 team members. We’ve supported over 14,000 students, partnered with school districts and institutions in multiple countries and built one of the most trusted brands in college admissions — all without a single outside investor.

    Here’s why we said no to VC, and why bootstrapping was the smartest decision we never planned to make.

    The pressure to raise

    In elite academic circles, starting a business often goes hand in hand with chasing venture capital. I pictured the high-stakes pitch rooms, the dramatic investor meetings — scenes straight out of The Social Network. But after our early efforts fell flat, we stopped trying to win someone else’s approval and turned our focus inward.

    We obsessed over our product, our client experience and our outcomes — not “scale.”

    One month before our one-year mark, we hit $100,000 in revenue. It wasn’t a headline-grabbing number by Silicon Valley standards, but it proved something more important: we didn’t need permission to grow. We just needed to execute.

    Related: Most Startups Ignore This One Asset That Makes or Breaks Their Success

    What bootstrapping taught us

    In hindsight, bootstrapping didn’t just work — it shaped the business in ways VC money never could.

    Every dollar mattered, which meant we tested fast and paid close attention to what customers wanted. Client feedback shaped everything. We pivoted early on from a B2C model to B2B — realizing that one school contract could bring the same revenue as ten individual clients. That insight wasn’t born from a boardroom; it was born from necessity.

    Bootstrapping also made me a better leader. I didn’t start by managing dozens of people. I started with one, then five, then ten. That kind of slow, intentional growth gave me room to develop as a leader — learning how to listen, communicate clearly and lead with clarity and care. There was no pressure to scale overnight, so we could prioritize culture, values and quality.

    The hidden cost of raising too soon

    VC can be a powerful accelerator — but if you raise too early, it can also be a trap.

    Many founders take funding before they’ve found product-market fit. They shift their focus from solving customer problems to pleasing investors. Instead of building a strong foundation, they’re stuck managing burn rates and expectations. Teams get stretched. Quality suffers.

    We built slowly. That meant we stayed close to our mission and recruited talent who were energized by the opportunity to build something meaningful. Today, we outperform companies twice our size because we’ve built a team that shows up with purpose — and we’ve stayed aligned with what matters most: helping students reach their full potential.

    Related: How to Scale a Business Without Wasting Millions (Or Collapsing Under Your Own Growth)

    Should you bootstrap?

    Ask yourself this: What do you actually need the money for?

    If you’re building a product that truly requires upfront investment — hardware, tech or time-sensitive development — funding may make sense. But if you’re starting a service-based business, you might not need capital to get traction.

    Bootstrapping requires resilience, patience and a tolerance for delayed gratification. But it gives you full ownership of your company, your vision and your decisions. Today, we have the freedom to invest in growth on our own terms.

    People still ask if we’d raise money now. My answer? Not unless we have a strategic reason to. Not because I’m anti-VC, but because we no longer need it.

    Bootstrapping gave us something far more valuable than capital: it taught us how to build a resilient, values-driven, adaptable business. And if we ever decide to raise, we’ll do it from a position of strength — not survival.

    You’ve heard this story before: a couple of college kids launch a startup from their dorm room. Surrounded by engineers, finance majors and future founders, venture capital wasn’t just common — it was expected. So when my co-founder and I launched Prepory, our college admissions coaching company, we assumed we’d need funding to be taken seriously.

    We entered a pitch competition and came in second. No check. We reached out to investors. No bites. We had a choice: give up or keep building.

    We kept building.

    The rest of this article is locked.

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    Daniel Santos

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  • Bally’s Atlantic City Unprofitable Through First Half of 2025

    Posted on: August 23, 2025, 08:26h. 

    Last updated on: August 23, 2025, 08:26h.

    • Bally’s Atlantic City has not been profitable in 2025
    • Bally’s is the only casino in AC losing money this year
    • Q3, however, has been strong for the New Jersey casino town

    The future of Bally’s Atlantic City remains murky after the Boardwalk casino resort revealed it lost money running the place through the first six months of 2025.

    Bally's Atlantic City casino profits revenue
    The Atlantic City Boardwalk entrance to Bally’s. The casino resort wasn’t profitable during the first six months of 2025. (Image: Shutterstock)

    On Friday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) posted second-quarter and half-year net revenue and gross operating profits for the nine casinos in Atlantic City. While all were profitable during the April through June period, most casinos showed their profit margins shrinking year-over-year.

    Bally’s profit of just $2.3 million represented a 14.7% drop from Q2 2024, though the period was a substantial improvement on Q1.

    For the year, Bally’s remains in the red, with an operating loss of $896,000 for the six months. Bally’s gross operating profit, which the DGE says is a “widely accepted measure of profitability in the Atlantic City gaming industry,” has plummeted 439%.

    Gross operating profits are before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, affiliate charges, and other miscellaneous items. 

    Bally's Atlantic City casino profits revenue
    (Image: NJ DGE)

    Bally’s Struggles

    The New Jersey DGE reports additionally show that Bally’s is accommodating far fewer guests and getting far less money per room.

    In 2024, Bally’s 1,121 guestrooms were occupied 62% of the time on an average nightly rate of $154. Through six months of 2025, those same guestrooms were occupied just 55% of the time at an average rate of $142.

    Bally’s net revenue in 2025 through six months, inclusive of gaming, rooms, food and beverage, totaled $90.6 million. That’s down 7.7% from a year ago. By comparison, market leader Borgata reported net revenue of $385.1 million. Hard Rock was at $284.7 million, and Ocean was at $243.1 million.

    With additional competition soon coming by way of downstate New York, Bally’s needs a quick turnaround. It’s a bet few would likely want to make on the aged, tired property.

    Positive Elsewhere 

    While Q2 showed tightening profit lines for most of the casinos down the shore, the outliers being Borgata with a profit increase of 16% and Ocean Casino with a profit surge of 67.9%, the report represents the springtime period before Atlantic City experienced a summer comeback.

    Gaming revenue this summer has soared, with brick-and-mortar casinos reporting year-over-year gains in May, June, and July.

    Even before the summer surge, eight of the nine properties were profitable, with the eight managing to bridge the Bally’s gap to report a 1% industrywide profit gain on the prior year’s six months. The casinos have gotten creative in limiting overhead and increasing margins, as revenue during the first half was flat.

    All operators were profitable, despite continuing pressure from higher costs for the goods and services they purchase,” said James Plousis, chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

    Plousis said the $179.9 million Q2 profit was the second-best second quarter in four years.

    “Quarterly results from the spring season, coupled with July’s strong monthly figures released last week, reveal that Atlantic City has been competing well for regional gaming and leisure tourists. The casino hotels have raised the bar for positive visitor experiences, with more than $1.1 billion reinvested over the past four years to elevate the properties with first-class gaming, leisure, dining, and entertainment,” Plousis added.

    Devin O’Connor

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  • Why Relying on Social Media for Income Is a Losing Game for Creators | Entrepreneur

    Why Relying on Social Media for Income Is a Losing Game for Creators | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Social media platforms are constantly evolving to keep creators engaged, but the changes to their monetization systems aren’t always in the creators’ best interest. Recently, platforms like Meta (Instagram/Facebook) and X (formerly Twitter) made adjustments to their creator monetization platforms in an effort to keep us producing content that keeps users scrolling. But let’s be honest — these systems are designed to benefit the platform more than the creator.

    Not everyone is on these platforms to make money from their monetization programs, but if you are — and you’re relying on these platforms for revenue — you’re playing a losing game. Algorithms control the visibility of your content, and whether you’re earning from ad revenue or just trying to reach more people, it’s the platform that ultimately calls the shots.

    I’ve experienced this firsthand. Over the last year, I racked up 35.9 million impressions on X. You’d think with that kind of reach, the payout would be significant, right? Well, not quite. My total earnings? $115.24. That’s barely enough for a decent pair of sneakers.

    The truth is, if you’re relying solely on platforms like Meta or X to build your livelihood, you’re going to be disappointed. These platforms are great for visibility, but they aren’t designed to make creators rich. It’s time to stop chasing likes, shares and viral moments and start taking control of your content and revenue streams.

    Related: 3 Reasons Why Relying on Social-Media Marketing Is a Losing Strategy

    Platforms are for awareness, not revenue

    Let’s get this straight — social media platforms are excellent tools for building awareness. They can help you reach new audiences, grow your following and gain visibility. But when it comes to monetizing that reach, the situation changes. The problem isn’t with creators not making good content; it’s that the platforms themselves control how many people see your work and how much you earn from it.

    Creators need to understand that these platforms are ad platforms first, not creator-first. They profit from ads, not from paying creators. Recent changes on Meta and X reflect this, as both platforms have made tweaks to their monetization systems to keep creators engaged and pumping out content. However, these changes don’t really shift the balance in the creator’s favor.

    The reality of revenue share on social platforms

    Here’s how monetization on these platforms works:

    • Meta (Instagram/Facebook): They’ve introduced In-Stream Ads and Ads on Reels, allowing creators to earn from their content. But unless you have a huge following, those earnings will be minimal. They may give the illusion of helping creators, but the lion’s share of the revenue goes to Meta.

    • X (formerly Twitter): X recently made a switch to paying creators based on engagement from Premium users only. This means if your audience isn’t subscribed to X Premium, their engagement doesn’t count toward your earnings. In other words, the platform is asking you to push their premium service to make money.

    The common theme? These platforms dictate your reach and earnings. Even with millions of impressions, you might still see shockingly low payouts. That’s the reality of relying on algorithms and ad-based revenue.

    What content ownership really means

    When I say “take ownership of your content,” I’m talking about moving away from platforms you don’t control. You need to be in charge of where your content lives, how it’s monetized and who gets to access it.

    This is what true ownership looks like:

    • Your content resides on a platform you control.

    • You decide how it’s monetized.

    • You set the terms for who gets access and keep 100% of the revenue.

    Social media platforms are useful for visibility, but if they change their algorithms or policies, your reach and income can vanish overnight. Creators who rely solely on these platforms are always at risk of having their hard-earned audience controlled by someone else’s rules.

    I’ve seen creators with massive followings wake up one day to find their reach has been slashed because of an algorithm update. That’s the trap: You’re constantly at the mercy of decisions made by the platform, not by you.

    Related: Using Social Media Alone To Build Your Brand’s Online Community Means You Risk Losing It All. Here’s Why.

    Creators are sleeping on email

    The crazy part? Many creators are still sleeping on email. Even some of the biggest names in content creation are putting all their faith in social media platforms. But email is one of the most powerful tools for reaching your audience directly. Unlike social media, you own your email list. Algorithms can’t touch it.

    Take Morning Brew as an example. They built their media empire by delivering free content through email. They cut through the social media noise, and today, they’re monetizing that audience through ads and sponsorships — keeping the majority of the revenue for themselves.

    Email marketing gives you control and consistency. You don’t have to worry about reach being throttled because you own the relationship with your audience.

    Why every creator needs a paid newsletter or course

    If you’re serious about monetizing your audience, it’s time to move beyond relying solely on social platforms. Instead, focus on creating content you can own, like a paid newsletter or an online course.

    Here’s why these models work:

    1. Paid newsletters: A paid newsletter allows you to deliver exclusive, high-value content directly to your subscribers. This creates recurring revenue and puts you in control of what you’re delivering and how much you’re charging. Morning Brew is a prime example of how this model can be scaled. By giving away content for free, they built a massive audience, which they now monetize through ads and sponsorships.

    2. Online courses: Have a skill or expertise? Package it up and sell it as a course. Online courses are a scalable product that keeps generating revenue even after you’ve created it. You can build a course once and keep profiting from it indefinitely.

    How you can leverage social platforms for awareness

    Just because I’m saying don’t rely on social platforms for revenue doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them. Social platforms are still one of the best ways to build awareness and get attention at the top of the funnel. Here’s how you can leverage them to support your monetization strategy:

    1. Create awareness: Post engaging content that hooks people in. Your goal is to drive visibility, not immediate monetization.

    2. Drive traffic to owned channels: Once you’ve captured attention, move your audience to your email list, website or paid newsletter — platforms you control.

    3. Monetize on your terms: With your audience on a platform you own, you can monetize however you see fit, keeping all the revenue and growing your business sustainably.

    Related: Why Email Marketing Is Better for Your Business Than Social Media

    The creator economy is evolving, and the future belongs to those who take control of their content and revenue streams. Social media platforms like Meta and X are great for building awareness, but you shouldn’t depend on them for monetization.

    Instead, take control by moving your audience to a platform like email newsletters or online courses, where you own the content, the reach and the revenue. You’ll be free from the constant algorithm changes and in control of how much you earn.

    Ready to take control of your future? Start building your audience and stop relying on social platforms to determine your success. The future of your business depends on it.

    Carlos Gil

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  • The truth about music money in 2024 – ReverbNation Blog

    The truth about music money in 2024 – ReverbNation Blog

    Is it possible for you to earn a living as a musician today if you aren’t a household name?

    The short answer is yes, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean it’s a piece of cake.

    Since you’ll be more empowered to succeed if you understand the state of music revenue in 2024, this article contain 13 truths about earning money as a musician.

    Driving your own creative & business success at the same time isn’t easy.

    You have to wear at least two hats well: artist and entrepreneur.

    And in a field that evolves as rapidly as the music industry (which stands at the intersection of technology, culture, marketing, and more), you’ve got to stay on your toes.

    Plus, many recent events have impacted artist revenue, including:

    So if we begin with the premise that success takes talent, knowledge, hard work, and continued curiosity, here are 13 things you should know right now in order to grow your music earnings.

    13 hard truths about earning money in music

    The point of this list is to help you see through a lot of the common confusions, and avoid the pitfalls that prevent many artists from making progress.

    Some of these truths may sound obvious to you, and if so, great! They’re lessons you won’t have to learn the hard way. But believe me, even in 2024, they’re still things that many artists don’t know, or don’t want to accept.

    1. Just because you made music doesn’t automatically mean it will make you money.

    Music is not a scarcity! There are nearly infinite alternatives to your music.

    The same way that new food products don’t just magically arrive in stores and fly off the shelves by themselves (it takes branding, distribution, promotion, etc.), you will have to work to create demand for your music. If you expect your music to generate revenue, that work doesn’t stop at the end of the creation process.

    2. What’s good for the “industry” can be very different from what’s good for you.

    Sometimes the music industry and individual creators have different needs and desires. And it’s easy to learn the wrong lessons from industry headlines.

    “Indie music” as a sector may be healthier than ever, but you’re just one artist. You, ultimately, pay your own bills. Focus on what’s best for you and take headlines and quotes from CEOs with a grain of salt.

    That being said, I think the recent LUMINATE report did a great job conveying big industry-wide stats while also telling a more detailed and encouraging story about lesser-known artists.

    3: Making money from music is part mystery. It’s an artform, as well as a science.

    What becomes popular is not predictable. What worked yesterday doesn’t always work today. Some geniuses go unrecognized. Your least favorite original song might be your biggest hit.

    This uncertainty is part of what makes music so exciting. You never know when and where success might come from.

    Use this to fuel creativity, and don’t be afraid to try new things. And as they say in marketing circles, “test, test, test.”

    4: Make it easy for people to give you money.

    Seriously. Are you… selling stuff? If not, your first problem is making things — music, merch, concerts, experiences — that you can actually sell to fans.

    Then you need to consistently create offers. Compelling offers. Next, communicate those offers. By email. In your social bio. Everywhere else.

    Lastly, when you do make offers, you should give fans options. Not everyone wants a black t-shirt. Certain people won’t go to public shows, but they’ll pay for a livestream. Some fans will pay you more for a VIP pre-show hang.

    The point is: Many artists underperform on the revenue side because they just aren’t giving fans an opportunity to pay them.

    5: Any deal an artist signs will have serious financial implications.

    There is a time and place for record labels, managers, and booking agents. But all industry partnerships will have an impact on your earnings. Don’t wait until it’s too late to truly understand what those implications are.

    Know what you’re getting yourself into. Not just in the near-term. Ask yourself, “What could this arrangement mean for my music in 25 years?”

    The trade-offs could be well worth it. But ask the hard questions BEFORE you sign a deal.

    While there is much to be learned from popular artists, they can often give up-and-coming artists the wrong impression on certain aspects of the business, because they’re playing a different game at a different level.

    When someone famous talks about not earning any money from tens of millions of streams, keep in mind, you don’t know what’s happening behind-the-scenes and you don’t have THEIR label or publishing contracts to reference.

    How much does their label keep? What was the artist’s advance? How many co-writers were on the song? All that and more can complicate the revenue situation, when compared to an independent artist who owns 100% of their publishing and recording rights.

    Also, just because an artist is popular, it doesn’t necessarily mean they know how every aspect of the industry works.

    7: Your personal preferences around music consumption might lead you to missed opportunities.

    You might be getting in the way of more revenue, if you assume that all your possible fans behave just like you do. As an artist who also listens to music, you may have specific preferences. But you might not 100% match your audience in those preferences.

    For example, you might assume no one purchases CDs because you only listen to streaming, whereas CDs are still a huge source of revenue for artists. You might only share a Spotify link, when 40% of your audience is actually on Amazon Music. Maybe you want to press vinyl, but most of your fans are more inclined to pay you for a digital experience.

    The point is simple: Don’t assume everyone listens, engages, and spends money exactly like you do. Ask your audience. Take polls. Test the waters. And move in the direction that generates the most revenue.

    8: You (probably) won’t make a living from one song. Focus on building a catalog.

    Most of the independent artists I’ve seen succeed over the years made a solid living because they built a sizable catalog of songs. This, of course, gives them more chances to create hit songs, but also boosts the amount of tracks that can be licensed, streamed, played at concerts, etc.

    So every time they released new music, their fans could go back and listen to old stuff, thus with every new release came an extra wave of revenue from past material.

    9. Your biggest opportunity might not be from simply “releasing” songs, but monetizing the connection you have with fans.

    Don’t pin success (or revenue) entirely to the recorded music. We live in a social moment that thrives on engagement. Some of your best earning possibilities might arise from the fan experience AROUND your music, or from what they can do WITH your music.

    Subscriptions, access, livestreams, lessons, and meetups. To say nothing of fan-generated content.

    10. It’s the music “business,” so treat it like you would a job.

    This is a challenge for most of us artists: We spend too much time dreaming and not enough time doing. I’m guilty of it too. We want a “career,” but the work? Not so much.

    If you want your music to be a full-time job, time and effort must consistently be at the level you’d expect from a “regular” job.

    11. In order to maximize music revenue, you have to tell people exactly what to do.

    As artists we struggle to give fans clear directions. But people need to be told, shown, guided. That’s the power of a big, bright button with an obvious call-to-action on websites or emails.

    Some artists struggle to be clear and direct because we lack confidence in our music or offer. Others might feel like we look uncool or desparate if we ask fans to take an action. And for another set of artists, we just assume our fans know what to do next. But most of the time they don’t.

    Always make an attempt to clarify the action you want fans to take, why it benefits them, how it’s important to you, and provide simple instructions on how to do the thing!

    12. One viral video does not equal sustainable revenue.

    Trying to engineer one massive, viral video hit? I mean, okay, that’s fine. You’ll learn something from the attempt even if it doesn’t get the reach you dream of. But most successful musicians didn’t put all their eggs in one viral video basket. Even creators who have a massive video hit don’t always have an obvious way to transform that attention into true fans and customers, let alone a full-time living.

    Instead, most successful musicians who create a meaningful video presence did so because they established a sustainable process that was closely connected with their own musical identity, passions, and talents. It’s about momentum, and it’s about the right fans being there for the right reasons: Because they like what YOU do.

    Don’t chase memes and trends. Find a more compelling way to be YOU on camera. And then slowly build your social marketing efforts around that. The ongoing process will likely have a greater impact than trying to engineer one viral video. And that’s the way to build an “authentic” social brand that leads to real revenue.

    13. Just because it worked for Taylor Swift, doesn’t mean it will work for you.

    Looking to superstars for lessons in success can be a mixed bag.

    When Radiohead dropped In Rainbows for free nearly 20 years ago, every band wanted to copy the attempt. But they weren’t Radiohead. When Beyoncé released a secret album, everyone wanted to do secret albums. They weren’t Beyoncé.

    When Drake released a hard drive with… (well, maybe don’t try that one either).

    The point is: There are economies of scale at play with superstar artists. That means they don’t have to work as hard to incentivize fans to take action, because they’ve already put in the work to establish a close relationship with their audience.

    What works for them might not work for you. But the opposite can also be true. You can take certain chances they can’t, and even capitalize on efforts that aren’t scalable at all! The realm of independent music is full of innovation, by necessity. You don’t have the name, budget, or team that superstars do. There may by ways to use that to your advantage!

    Key takeaways

    Here are four things to keep in mind as you pursue your music career:

    • Prioritize activities that generate revenue – don’t just chase likes.
    • Look for untapped revenue opportunities that align with your individual career plan and talents.
    • Don’t blindly follow headlines or advice. Test assumptions, marketing tactics, and even creative approaches.
    • And lastly, if you need help spreading the word about your music, use music promo tools to give your message a boost!

    Want to learn more about your revenue-generating options as a musician today?

    Check out “75 ways to make money in music.”

    Chris Robley

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  • I Scaled My Company From $10 Million to Over $200 Million in 4 Years. Here Are 3 Things He Did to Lead The Company Through Market Disruptions. | Entrepreneur

    I Scaled My Company From $10 Million to Over $200 Million in 4 Years. Here Are 3 Things He Did to Lead The Company Through Market Disruptions. | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When I started Appfire in 2005, hardware was king and companies like Dell, IBM and HP were the leaders and innovators of all things tech. Businesses relied heavily on hardware to fuel their IT infrastructure, and the idea of the cloud seemed like a utopian dream. My partner and I built our business to support traditional hardware-centric models, and it was a system that served as well in those early years.

    By 2010, I found myself at a crossroads as the rise of cloud computing was slowly shifting focus toward virtualized environments and we were deep in development to deploy new collaboration software on a hardware-based platform. VMware burst onto the scene, making virtualized software all the rage. Hardware evaporated almost overnight.

    As a business leader, I had to make a difficult decision: should I steer my team and company in a direction that would essentially abandon all the work we’d put towards our hardware-based product to jump on the virtualization trend with the rest of the market and our competitors? Or should we stay the course, pressing on with our product that was built on a hardware platform? After careful deliberation, we decided against investing in virtualization right away as the timing wasn’t right for us.

    I’m reminded of this anecdote as the AI boom continues its momentum, with no signs of slowing down. Just take a look at Nvidia’s recent earnings or Atlassian’s introduction of Rovo, an AI assistant. Someday, when we look back at the history books, this period will be marked by the incredible rush and shift we’ve seen from companies of all sizes to integrate AI into their offerings. This extends beyond merely providing AI-powered solutions. Companies are rebranding, restructuring and reinventing themselves as AI-centric to attract investment, talent, and market share.

    As business leaders, we’re constantly faced with the challenge of whether we, too, should jump on the latest trend. Do we follow the pack and shift our entire strategy and product roadmap, or remain on our current path?

    Related: 10 Growth Strategies Every Business Owner Should Know

    Through my own journey of growing and scaling a leading software company from $10 million to over $200 million ARR in four years, I’ve identified three tips that can help leaders determine whether to embrace a trend or stay the course.

    1. Ensure the shift aligns with what customers want

    Don’t lose sight of customer wants and needs during times of change. Getting it right for your customers is more important than being right. Research has found that more than 90% of people believe companies should listen to customers to drive innovation. Even if as a business leader you vastly desire to incorporate AI into your end model, if it’s not important to your customers you will fail and you won’t make a profit.

    There are several ways you can get this feedback from your customer base. Deploying customer surveys, implementing a customer advisory board and meeting with customers in person are great ways to understand if what you are building makes sense for your customers. If your company has a strong channel program, talk to your partners regularly about what they are hearing from customers

    2. Determine if you have the right resources

    It can be tempting to jump on a trend, particularly when the market demands it and competitors are already on board. In 2010, one of the main reasons we decided not to quickly shift from our hardware platform strategy to virtualization was that we didn’t have people in place with the right skill set. Because of that, we knew we couldn’t succeed in virtualization in a way that would have an immediate impact on our customers.

    When a drastic market shift happens, instead of jumping on the bandwagon, put those efforts and resources into training your staff. Many are willing and looking to expand their skill set – in fact, one study shows nearly 75% of employees are willing to learn new skills. Then once you have the right people with the right skills who can help you make an impact, you can turn your focus to innovation. When employees get the right training to gain the skills they need, the business itself will see the benefits.

    Related: Your Company Won’t Grow Until You Follow These 4 Keys to Success

    3. Stay true to your core values

    Remember the core values you established when you launched your company and use them as guiding principles as you make decisions. Nearly all employees agree that a workplace culture grounded in core values plays a critical role in long-term success.

    If the latest trend aligns with your mission, vision and purpose, it could be a valuable addition to your strategy. However, if it doesn’t, pursuing it may not help your company long term. Staying true to your foundational principles ensures that your business remains focused, authentic, and purpose-driven amidst evolving market dynamics.

    When a new trend disrupts the market, navigating a path forward can be challenging. Consider the approach Atlassian took with Rovo. While others rushed to get an AI assistant to market last year, Atlassian was intentional and strategic. It mattered more to them to release a tool that aligned with their mission of making teams more effective than being the “first.”

    Remember that getting it right for the customer matters more than conforming. Oftentimes blindly following the crowd without critical thinking can lead to conformity and a loss of innovative thinking. Don’t lose sight of your mission, vision, and purpose. These values are likely what attracted employees and customers to your organization in the first place, and what will keep them long after a trend has faded out.

    Randall Ward

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  • 5 Financial Blind Spots That Could Be Preventing You From Making More Money | Entrepreneur

    5 Financial Blind Spots That Could Be Preventing You From Making More Money | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Money can often be the barrier between being stuck where you are or breaking through to the next level. This includes having or not having a budget, using it properly, hidden revenue or even misaligned goals — all of which influence your growth trajectory. These four common secrets have helped my company elevate our clients to the next level.

    1. Financial transparency for ROI

    The first blindspot we often notice with new clients is not having a clear reporting connection between your tools, like ads and a CRM like HubSpot, to see which channels drive the most significant return on investment (ROI). Do you know your best-performing channels? Or your best-performing piece of sales copy? What is the most opened document that leads to a closed deal?

    And we’re not just talking about marketing and sales; this applies to many connected platforms — for example, the closed-loop revenue or your ERP systems. When things are not connected, they are disjointed and siloed. You end up flying blind. Without connecting your marketing tools with your revenue tools, and with that being CRMs, finance platforms, or ERPs, to name a few, there is a disconnect, and the arms and legs end up moving in different directions.

    Here’s a simple example we see all the time: If you knew that one channel drove more deals by a 75% faster conversion rate, wouldn’t you invest more time and energy in that channel than one that only had a conversion rate of 10%? Many people don’t want to share the revenue numbers within the company, but all of that information informs the other departments; without sharing these revenue numbers, your money secret is keeping it in hidden silos.

    Related: I Hit $100 Million in Annual Revenue by Being More Transparent — Here Are the 3 Strategies That Helped Me Succeed

    2. Strategic investment for avoiding blind spots

    Another financial blindspot is not investing in marketing. We have had prospects come in with no budget and no internal marketing team, but we want to grow by 150% and spend a total of $1,000. I wish achieving growth like this was possible, but unfortunately, it’s not. The old adage that you get what you pay for, or it takes money to make money, speaks the truth. Your investment goals should match your growth goals. The amount of money invested should be measured not just by short-term, quick wins but also by looking at long-term investment to growth.

    You would never measure an HR department strictly on the number of hires. However, looking at the whole picture of longevity amongst many other important KPIs, You would not use an HR department for a few months. It is something that is constant and needs care and attention. Marketing is no different — if you strictly only measure marketing by the number of leads, you are missing out on the full picture. Marketing helps push leads through nurture campaigns, creates automation, leads scoring, builds new campaigns and tests, supports sales enablement activities and many other components. A buying cycle is rarely a straight line to click and buy unless we’re discussing Amazon.

    That said, everyone has budgets, margins and bumper lanes they need to stay in. I am by no means saying throw your budget to the wind, but your goal should match your budget. If you have modest growth goals, be realistic about the budget needed to get there. Set incremental micro goals but stay the course for long-term growth.

    Related: You Won’t Have a Strong Budget Until You Follow These 5 Tips

    3. Data-driven decisions to save money

    Another money secret that costs companies is spending without the data to back it. We had a company inquire about a new website, a full blow-up, new navigation, new content, new page layouts, migration onto a new CMS, a new theme and the works. They said they had a $75,000 budget for the whole project. In theory, it sounds great, right? Willing to invest? Check. Has a budget? Check. Know what they want the end result to be? Check. But when we asked them the next question, they looked at us like we were crazy, “Do you have data that backs the changes you are looking to make?” Are you running a tool like Hotjar to see real user data behind how these proposed changes will impact your existing inquiries and the only source the sales team was currently using for leads?

    The answer was no. When the heat map was overlaid, do you know what happened? Well, they were looking to build that new navigation out and replace the old one — nearly 90% of the traffic was going to two pages of their site directly from the navigation, both of which they had originally wanted to remove. In this case, it wasn’t just about having the money but also about making sure the decisions you make with the budget are informed by real data: user data, sales data, marketing data and more. The more informed you can be by closing the loop on your data, the better your end result will be.

    Related: Want to Be Better at Decision Making? Here are 5 Steps to Better Data-Driven Business Decisions

    4. Modern marketing channels to drive growth

    What is likely costing you the most is using old-school channels without the ability to measure. Companies have spent the last decade on traditional marketing channels and are switching to digital. The company’s historical growth has relied on things like trade shows, print, postcards and online magazines. We ask what the ROI you have seen by each channel is, and rarely can they share a specific revenue number and say it is for brand awareness. Some of the budgets can be over 50 to 100 thousand dollars spent on these traditional methods, but there is no ROI attached, yet they continue them.

    When the pandemic happened, we saw a massive influx in businesses shifting from once only boots on the ground to digital. The lockdown changed everything; there were no more trade shows, no more door knocking and no one picking up their mail or faxes daily. It made traditional selling channels challenging and obsolete and forced a new level of openness to try new ways to get the job done. In the example of running online magazine ads there are lots of ways to capture them, we can use UTM tracking, referral analysis or create a custom landing page for the offer and capture the leads directly. Without running them to a landing page or form, you rely only on the online publication for leads and analytics. We’ve had people show a list of just names, no emails to follow up with, or only show a random number of visitors to the page, not a single name. It’s important to know what they will provide for reporting and tracking when you publish or use traditional channels. The rule of thumb is to use connections and tools that leverage old-school methods into technology and not blindly spend on channels that cannot be measured.

    Stop wasting time, energy and revenue on these blind spots. They have easy solutions, so you can avoid them and focus on growing your business!

    Jennelle McGrath

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  • 75 ways for musicians to make money in 2024 – ReverbNation Blog

    75 ways for musicians to make money in 2024 – ReverbNation Blog

    Want to get paid for your musical talents? 

    As a musician, there are more ways to earn money than ever before. Dozens upon dozens of ways, in fact!

    While you should, of course, prioritize certain revenue streams as an artist who creates original music, there are times — perhaps when you’re first growing your career —when you just gotta pay the bills. 

    And in that case, putting your music skills to use sure beats a job outside of music, right? Especially if your musical side-hustle helps you stay sharp as an instrumentalist, arranger, producer, educator, or content-creator. 

    To help you get a sense of the wide range of options out there, I’ve put together a list of 75 ways you can make money from your music, grouped by category for easy scanning.

    Streaming & Digital Sales

    1. Streaming Revenue: Earn money from streaming activity when you get your tracks onto platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, or TIDAL.

    2. Digital Downloads: Sell MP3s, WAVs, or FLACs of your tracks on platforms like iTunes, Amazon, ReverbNation, Bandcamp, or your own website.

    3. Social Video Monetization: Get paid when people create social content using your music in videos on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and more. 

    4. Monetize Your YouTube Channel: Generate advertising revenue from viewer activity on your own YouTube videos, and use additional creator tools to monetize subscriber engagement.

    Music Recording Work

    5. Music Production: Put your producing skills to work for other artists. Get paid in points, upfront fees, co-writer splits, or whatever other arrangement makes sense for you and your collaborator. 

    6. Engineering: Are you good at recording, mixing, or mastering? Let other artists know! This can be a great source of revenue between your own recording projects or tours. 

    7. Session Player: Got talents as an instrumentalist or vocalist? Are you quick at learning and arranging tunes? Recording sessions can be a great way to get paid while not tying up too much of your time at once. You can attend sessions in person, or do remote session work from your own home studio.

    8. Studio Operator: Do you own a lot of recording gear that goes unused when you’re not making music? Maybe it’s time to consider renting out your studio to other engineers, producers, and artists. 

    9. Mobile Recording: Whether it’s destination recording (“My band rented an airbnb and we want to turn it into a studio”) or capturing live audio for other bands at their shows, sometimes having a portable studio can make all the difference in getting the job. 

    Music Publishing & Licensing

    10. Mechanical Royalties: Collect this form of publishing royalty when your original songs — including covers by other artists — get streamed, downloaded, or pressed on CD/vinyl.

    11. Performance Royalties: Earn this music publishing money when your original music is performed live in venues or publicly broadcast on radio and TV.

    12. Sync Licensing (Songwriter Side): If you write your own songs and retain the publishing rights, you can get paid an upfront fee — and in some cases, ongoing royalties — when your music is placed in film, TV, games, commercials, etc. 

    13. Sync Licensing (Label Side): Same goes for the “recording” side of the equation. If you own your own tracks, you are the label, and can get paid for sync placements.

    14. Compose for Music Libraries: Prolific composer or producer? You could write music for music collections that are specifically curated for sync licensing opportunities.  

    15. Sell Sheet Music: The original source of “music publishing” revenue! Depending on your genre, this can be a big seller. (New Age Piano, anyone?) But don’t just think of notation; you could also do chord-charts, tablature, lyric sheets, and more.  

    Live Music Performances

    16. Touring and Live Shows: Play live and get paid. This revenue could come in the form of ticket sales, door splits, bar percentages, or a guaranteed fee from the venue owner. 

    17. Residency Gig: Same form of payment options as above, but a residency is a regularly scheduled thing. It could be “7 nights in a row in July” or “Every other Thursday all year.”

    18. House Concerts: Play intimate concerts in private homes. These can be great fan-building experiences and help you sell a lot of merch, while reducing pressure for huge turnout. Plus you can save on travel expenses if the host puts you up for the night.  

    19. DJing: If you’re not touring, you can DJ events, parties, or venues in your hometown. On the road? Do a DJ set at a festival or venue between your tour dates. 

    20. Corporate Gigs: Want to get paid big bucks while entering The Twilight Zone? Play at a corporate function. It’s surreal. And lucrative.

    21. Weddings and Private Events: Perform at weddings, bar mitzvahs, anniversaries, family Christmas parties, birthdays, and other kinds of private events. These can often pay better than a standard venue gig.

    22. City or Municipal Events: The annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, the summer beer garden in the park, the Arts Walk. Check with your local chamber of commerce or city council for opportunities. 

    23. Festivals: It’s great to play music festivals, of course, but also research non-music gatherings that have live music as a component. Beer festivals. Balloon festivals. Food festivals. 

    24. Busking: Play in a public space with lots of foot traffic for tips. Subway stations. Town squares. Boardwalks and piers. Just check the local ordinances first. Get a permit, if required.

    25. Be in the House Band: Similar to a residency, where you stay put and different audiences come to you, seek out performance opportunities where you back-up other singers. Could be live-band karaoke, a big band or jazz group, etc.

    26. Play Cruise Ships: If you don’t mind small rooms and many months at sea, cruise ship gigs give you a chance to play a lot (sometimes multiple gigs per day), and provide downtime to focus on practice, recording, reading, etc. 

    27. Nursing Homes: While these aren’t glamorous gigs, they can be very meaningful for the audience and you as the performer. They can pay well, are usually shorter sets, and have the potential to become dependable repeat gigs. 

    28. Virtual Performances: Want to combine the exclusive and intimate feeling of a house concert with the convenience of livestreaming? Play a private, virtual performance on Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc.  

    Music Merch Sales

    29. Artist Merchandize: Sell merch at gigs, on your website, and on platforms like Instagram and Spotify. Items could range from t-shirts to mugs to books. 

    30. Physical Music Formats: Despite what you may have heard, fans still purchase CDs, vinyl records, and even cassettes. Offer them in all the same places you would your merch, as well as in record stores via physical distribution or consignment. 

    31. Limited-Edition Releases: Offer limited-edition or signed physical copies of your music to fans. For instance, you could sell tour-specific recordings that will never again be available to purchase.

    32. Digital merch: Not all products need to be physical. You can offer PDFs of your tour diary or poetry. A digital cookbook. An unlock of a secret video. 

    33. Digital “Box Set”: Same goes for music files. You may have a trove of unreleased recordings. Give fans paid access! Or bundle everything you’ve ever recorded into a digital package with bonus tracks. 

    34. NFTs: “Non-Fungible Tokens.” These are crypto assets on a blockchain that represent ownership or engagement in some piece of music, imagery, community, artwork, or financial arrangement. 

    Music Education

    35. Teach Music: Whether it’s private lessons or a teleconference tutorial, you can help other people get better at an instrument, music production, or songwriting. 

    36. Music Therapy: Put your skills to use in a therapeutic way that helps people improve their well-being.

    37. Online Courses: Create and sell a digital course. It could be about your instrument, or your music-biz and promo skills. Lots of upfront work, but with the potential for it to become more “passive” income once your marketing funnel is up and running. 

    38. Music Workshops: Host IRL or online community gatherings where learning and feedback happens in a group setting. 

    39. Guest Lectures: Speak at schools, colleges, or music seminars. These are often paid opportunities, but even if you’re an unpaid speaker at a music conference, you should have the chance to make a quick sales pitch at the end of your talk or sell books afterwards. 

    40. Music Transcription: Are you good at figuring out complex harmonies, blistering bluegrass breaks, or famous saxophone solos? You could earn money transcribing that music note-for-note. It might be work-for-hire income, or you could publish those transcriptions in a book. Or on YouTube (with the possibility of earning ad revenue). 

    Crowdfunding & Fan Support

    41. Project-Based Crowdfunding: Use platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe to raise money from fans to support a specific recording, tour, marketing, or video project. 

    42. Membership Clubs: You can use a subscription-model platform like Patreon, or build your own online fan subscription through your website. In exchange for monthly payment, fans get exclusive or early access to content and other perks. 

    43. Fan Donations: Accept donations directly from fans through platforms like PayPal or Venmo. These links can be listed on your website, livestreams, or even pinned to the top of your Spotify profile. 

    44. Livestream Support: This is revenue fans give you for livestreaming. But unlike the Venmo or PayPal tips mentioned above, it can come in the form of a platform-specific currency or action: Stars, Bits, Subs, etc. 

    45. VIP Experiences: Offer your diehard fans the chance to pay for an exclusive experience. Backstage passes, meet-and-greets, watch the soundchecks, dinner before the show, photos and autographs. 

    Music Composition

    46. Songwriting for Other Artists: If you’re a prolific writer, you may have ideas to spare! Pitch your unreleased songs to other artists, publishers, or labels. Or collaborate with co-writers to make new songs. Repeatable success in this area takes a lot of dedication, but could lead to a publishing deal. 

    47. Write Jingles: Ya know, the catchy (and sometimes annoying) music that plays during commercials? There’s money to be made where art meets advertising. 

    48. Film Scoring: Compose music for films, TV shows, and documentaries. Like many areas of specialization, this field can require a lot of time and dedication. Consider accordingly how often and when you want to accept scoring work.

    49. Video Game Music: In theory, this isn’t that different from film scoring. Except that gaming has its own musical tropes, so the reference points may differ from cinematic orchestration and sound design. Many video games also feature songs that become part of the game’s soundtrack, which refers back to sync licensing. Lastly, there is a whole massive ecosystem of VGM covers on YouTube, where artists do their own creative arrangements of popular video game music. So if you play a unique instrument, this might give you a way to differentiate yourself: Halo on accordion, Final Fantasy on metal guitar, Zelda on harmonica, Mario Bros on banjo.  

    50. Sell Beats and Sample Packs: Are you a prolific producer in a genre that relies heavily on electronic music, such as hip-hop, pop, or EDM? You can help other artists get a huge musical assist by selling your beats, production-starts, and sample packs. 

    51. Write Custom Songs: Let your fans know you’ll compose and record personalized songs for special occasions like weddings or birthdays. Just be sure to charge enough for your actual time and effort!

    52. Sound Design and Audio Branding: Create “audio logos” and “sound identities” for businesses. Or use your production skills to make sound effects and audio environments for media, public spaces, or other commissioned projects.

    Retail & Venue Work

    53. Record Store: Gig at night and work at a record store during the day. You’ll stay on top of the latest music releases, as well brush up on the classics.

    54. Music Retail: Rather be near instruments? Work at a music store and develop your expertise in the latest gear, used instrument valuation, and more. 

    55. Making or Repairing Instruments: Good at fixing guitars? Carving violins? Soldering effects pedals or synths? You could start your own business or work out of an existing shop or store.

    56. Talent Buyer: Already in communication with a large network of talented musicians? Put those social and organization skills to use booking the acts at a local venue. 

    57. Venue Staff: Prefer more of the “on the ground” venue experience? You could be a bartender, bouncer, box office assistant, or venue manager. 

    58. Live Sound Engineer: Every good venue needs good live sound. You could be the key to making that happen. Bonus points if you’re not a grump!

    Other Music Professions

    59. Music Journalism: Write show previews, album reviews, feature interviews, and more. You may find an opportunity to do this as a side-gig for your local newspaper or arts weekly. 

    60. Musicology, Criticism, Editorial, and Curation: Put your deep knowledge and passion for a particular genre to use. Teach others about that history. Or make music recommendations and exciting connections for listeners. 

    61. Member of an Orchestra: Jazz, Classical, Ballet, or the pit-orchestra for Musical Theater. If you have great technical facility on your instrument and dependable sight-reading skills, you could make a living in a large ensemble.

    62. Religious Music: Whether it’s the organist in a cathedral, the guitarist in a praise-and-worship band, the cantor at a temple,… many faiths have music as part of their regular service. 

    63. Voice Talent: If you have a good singing voice, you might be able to translate those dramatic skills to provide voiceovers, audiobook readings, or character voices. 

    Brand Collaborations

    64. Brand Sponsorships: Partner up with some company who shares your values and aesthetic, and get paid when you rep their products, services, or mission. 

    65. Endorsements: Get discounted (or sometimes free) products and services such as instruments, music marketing tools, or music production software. In exchange, you agree to use that gear in public and provide testimonials.

    66. Affiliate Marketing: Promote a certain product on your website, do gear reviews, and link to the manufacturer or retailer, and earn a commission on any sales. 

    67. Be an Influencer: “Influencer Marketing?” Easier said than done, but… if you have a large social following, you may be able to monetize that attention by doing product placements or promo shoutouts. 

    Miscellaneous

    68. Books, eBooks, & Audiobooks: I suppose this could go under the “merch” section, but that’s more about the final product and sales. Becoming an author is an endeavor all its own, of course. But if you already display a knack for lyric-writing, you may have longer-form literary talent too. It could be fiction, non-fiction about musicology, essays about band drama and tour mishaps, or even written instrument instruction with accompanying illustrations.

    69. Music Blogging: I mentioned above that you could write reviews for an existing publication, but you could also host reviews on your own site in the hopes of monetizing your blog through ad placements and affiliate revenue. 

    70. Podcasting: Start a podcast about your music, adventures, or other interests. If you get sufficient engagement, you can monetize through ads, sponsorships, or listener support. 

    71. Competitions: These could be rap battles, songwriting challenges, bluegrass competitions. There may be an entry fee, but that also means there could be a big payout if you win. 

    72. Interactive Music Experiences: If you have mixed media or web-development skills, you could create an immersive real-world or digital experience. Emma McGann’s multi-player “Monsterverse” RPG in Discord is a great example. You can ask your fans to pay to participate, or you can use it as a chance to drive merch sales at the end of the experience.

    73. Consulting Services: Musicians need help, solid advice, and networking connections. Can you mentor someone in management, crowdfunding, digital advertising, or something else? Provide that strategy advice in exchange for a fee.

    74. Open-Source Collaboration: This is when you make some creative work available for others to use, without a clear idea of who will collaborate, or what exactly will result. Making stems downloadable for remixers is an obvious example. You can approve your favorite remixes and officially distribute those tracks, splitting any revenue the remix generates. But artists like Holly Herndon and Grimes took it one step further with AI models of their vocals. 

    75. __________: Yes, a blank space, because if there are 75 items in this list already, there’s bound to be many more ways to make money from your musical skills. And I wanted to leave room for you to imagine your own possibilities. Have fun!

    Conclusion

    Most musicians will never tackle every item in this list, and that’s completely fine. They shouldn’t. We all have our own specialties and interests. Best to focus on what’s rewarding, both in terms of personal growth and profit.

    But hopefully this long list gives you an overview of your options as you make a career of your music, and as you supplement your primary music income sources with additional revenue streams. 

    Chris Robley

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  • 10 revenue streams for your music – ReverbNation Blog

    10 revenue streams for your music – ReverbNation Blog

    Let’s talk straight: For your music to be a career, you need to earn money.  

    Some acts make their living on the road. Others stay in the studio recording music for TV shows. Of course, megastars like Taylor Swift seem to make a fortune in almost all the ways. 

    Building a professional life as an artist, band, or producer requires that you either maximize your profits in one or two areas, diversify your earnings across a wide range of revenue streams, or some combination of both approaches. 

    More ways to earn money from your music

    No matter what you see in news headlines, there are a lot of revenue opportunities for musicians today. In fact, there are more ways than ever to earn money, which affords modern creators the ability to pair their unique talents with particular forms of monetization.

    From music distribution and licensing deals, to crowdfunding and merch sales, you’ll want to understand your options when it comes to earning potential. 

    Because knowing what to try, where to focus, when to pivot, and how to collect your royalties can mean the difference between your music being a side-hustle and a thriving business. 

    Essential income for artists in 2024

    Though there are many dozens of ways to earn money from your musical talents, I’m making a distinction in this article between “artist revenue” and other music-related professions — such as music education, being a paid session player, a church pianist, a ballet accompanist, an orchestra member, running sound at a club, etc.

    If you’re an artist whose career is built upon original music, these are the ten forms of revenue you should prioritize:

    1. Digital Music Revenue

    This is money you earn for streaming and downloads when you release your music on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The revenue is paid to the label (or you, if you own your own recordings) for the usage of the track.

    Though downloads aren’t as popular as they once were, the per-unit price can still make MP3s or WAVs a lucrative format to sell via iTunes, Bandcamp, ReverbNation, or even your own website. 

    2. Physical Sales

    This is money you earn when you sell physical copies of your music on vinyl, CD, tape, or even sheet music.

    Though we’re decades into the digital music century, physical media will still appeal to many of your top fans. Yes, even CDs. 

    3. Merch Sales

    “Merch” is a quick way of saying “stuff for sale that reflects your artistic brand.” It could be t-shirts, sweatshirts, flasks, posters, hats, socks, books, anything!

    You can sell merch at gigs, on your webstore, or via integrations with platforms like Instagram and Spotify. 

    4. Live Performances

    This is income earned from your concerts, gigs, tours, and festivals. It could be in the form of ticket sales, door fees, bar percentages, or even grant money.

    Of course live events also give you a way to sell merch and physical albums!

    5. Licensing and Sync Deals

    This is money you earn when you license your music for use in movies, TV shows, commercials, and video games. 

    Sync licensing can be lucrative, but it’s an area of the music industry that requires a lot of dedication if you expect to score frequent placements.

    6. Publishing Royalties

    These are songwriter royalties earned from the publishing rights to your original music, including mechanical royalties (from sales and streams) and performance royalties (from public performances and radio play).

    Need help collecting your songwriter royalties?

    7. Crowdfunding, Memberships, and Fan Support

    This is money you generate through crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, fan support platforms like Patreon, or via your own membership club.

    The fan contributions can be project-based, or in support of your overall music career, but the point is to give your audience more direct and immediate access to your artistry in exchange for… money!

    (Don’t forget the virtual tip jar if you’re doing livestreams).

    8. YouTube Revenue

    This includes earnings beyond whatever streaming and publishing money you’re earning from activity on YouTube Music.

    It includes be a share of ad revenue generated when you music is used in other creators’ videos on YouTube, tracked and paid via the YouTube Content ID program. Or partner program revenue if your channel reaches certain benchmarks. 

    Other video platforms such as Twitch have similar monetization programs for successful creators and streamers.

    9. Sponsorships and Endorsements

    This is money (or other forms of support, such as free gear or discounts) given to you by brands that fit with your artistic identity and audience.

    If you have a dedicated following on social, you could also consider being an “influencer” and doing paid product placements. 

    10. Immersive experiences and new tech

    Plenty of artists have found revenue opportunities by stretching beyond traditional merch and VIP experiences.

    For instance, Emma McGann built an interactive Discord game. Artists like Holly Herndon and Grimes have made voice-simulators available so that other musicians can create new tracks using their voices. And many crypto-native artists have found success selling music NFTs.

    The idea here is: Think outside the usual bag of revenue tricks. 

    Conclusion

    How much you earn in any one of these categories depends, of course, on the size and dedication of your fanbase.

    Success in most of these areas also requires that you actively market your music and make sales offers. 

    But hopefully this article gives you a sense of possibility for your music to generate money.

    And remember, as you move forward in your career, ReverbNation is here to help with your music distribution, promotion, and publishing administration needs.

    Chris Robley

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  • City of Vancouver Trying to Get Creative to Solve $43 Million Dollar Shortfall – KXL

    City of Vancouver Trying to Get Creative to Solve $43 Million Dollar Shortfall – KXL

    VANCOUVER, Wash. — The City of Vancouver has identified a $43 million dollar biennial budget shortfall.  In response, the city has announced a community survey.  They plan on calling citizens throughout the summer to try and get as many opinions as possible about the best ways to deal with the shortfall.  The city is hoping people will answer their phones when they call and participate.

    Meanwhile, The City of Vancouver is also entertaining some new, potential revenue sources.  One is a commercial parking tax, another is a retail tax.  And a tax on media streaming is also being considered.  That tax has never really been levied and collected before by any major U.S. city.

    Vancouver city officials will continue to work with the realities of the budget shortfall in front of them to try and keep the number of cuts to city services to a minimum.

    More about:

    Brett Reckamp

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