Whilst we’ve written extensively about how hard it is to make a living as a musician in this day and age, one of the things that gets us most excited about music in 2015 is the way methods to make money out of music are rapidly evolving.
Just think, it was just a few years ago that there was no such thing as crowdfunding. There was no Bandcamp, either, no Patreon, and YouTube monetisation was in its infancy, a far reach from the YouTube of today which helps artists build international armies of fans.
One of the latest innovations comes in the form of Huzza, a new service that allows fans to send a tip to any SoundCloud or YouTube artist in seconds. Unlike Patreon, Huzza works by allowing you to choose how much you give an artist and when.
“Our mission at Huzza is to empower the new generation of independent musicians who are making world class music from their laptops,” their website reads. “We want to enable the world to support music at the tap of a button.”
“We want to bring fans and artists closer by moving to direct fan-artist discovery, payments and engagement.” Essentially, Huzza is a way for fans to connect directly with artists and support them whenever they like, not just when they release something new.
“You can tip any band, artist, or individual in the world, whether they’re registered on Huzza or not.”You can tip any band, artist, or individual in the world, whether they’re registered on Huzza or not. The service won’t charge your credit card until the artist you’ve tipped has joined Huzza and users are able to track the progress of their tips and withdraw them at any time.
Once tipped, it’s Huzza’s job to get the artist signed up and transfer the tip to them. “We will try everything in our power to get your tip to your recipient, and we are confident we will be able to do so,” Huzza’s founders write.
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So how does it work? Well, you send your tip to an artist of your choice and Huzza waits until the end of the month and then bill you for all the tips you’ve sent that month. This way, credit card fees are reduced and more of your money reaches the artist.
You can retract any tips that Huzza hasn’t yet billed you for and you will only be billed for a tip sent to an artist who’s on Huzza. If the artist isn’t signed on, Huzza will wait until they join and then bill your credit card.
“We take a 15 percent commission on each tip sent, including credit card fees. This means that in some cases Huzza makes a loss on a tip, but typically we’ll make around 5 percent,” the founders write.
