Digital Real Estate: Ultimate Guide to Music Monetization

Digital Real Estate - B2B

When we talk about digital real estate, we’re not talking about directly monetizing music. Instead, it’s about leveraging the value that music creates. Music opens the door to opportunities - opportunities that can be monetized by using your digital presence strategically.

Artists operating online have digital properties. These include their YouTube channel, where music is shared through videos. Each video offers multiple promotional touchpoints:

• End screens, which act as in-video calls to action, directing viewers to other videos, websites, or playlists.
• Cards, which slide out during the video with clickable prompts.
• The description box, where artists can post links to merch, tour dates, or other content.
• Pinned comments, placed at the top of the comment section for visibility.

On Spotify, artists can:

• Feature their latest releases at the top of their profile,
• Create playlists of music they enjoy (or want to promote)

On social media, artists have feeds, stories, reels, and community tabs - each one a potential space to feature music or promote others.

One of the most effective ways for an artist to promote their music is by piggybacking on another artist with a similar sound. That’s essentially how all major streaming platforms handle recommendations. They know

that fans of Artist A also listen to Artist B, so when someone plays Artist A, the algorithm suggests Artist B.

Advertising tools like Spotify Ad Studio and Marquee leverage this exact data. When you pay to advertise, they show your music to the fans of artists who sound like you. But here's the catch: Spotify doesn’t pay Artist A anything when you, Artist B, run ads targeting their audience.

So, if you’re Artist A, how do you extract that value?

You create your own monetization system. You say:

“If you want to tap into my audience, pay me. I’ll feature your video as the end screen of my YouTube video. I’ll add a card linking to it. I’ll include a link in the description or as a pinned comment. I’ll post about it on YouTube Shorts, in my Community tab, or even on Instagram.”

Each of these placements becomes ad space. Just like banner ads on a website, they hold value because of your audience.

This creates a new revenue stream for artists. But many hesitate to engage in this practice for a few reasons:

1. Negotiation fatigue – Artists don’t want to constantly haggle over rates or feel pressured to publicly list their prices.

2. Perceived authenticity – There’s an illusion that these kinds of shout-outs or co-signs are rooted in genuine admiration. If people find out these placements are paid, it can hurt the perceived value of the recommendation.

3. Reputation management – Artists are protective of their brand. Promoting music that doesn’t resonate with their audience - or worse, offends them - can lead to backlash.

This means the process isn’t as simple as accepting payment and posting a link. Artists often need to screen the music they’re being asked to promote. That adds another layer of friction and complexity to what could otherwise be a streamlined monetization method.

But despite the challenges, this form of digital real estate monetization represents a powerful, underused strategy. Artists can turn their platforms into promotional space - on their terms - and create value beyond streaming payouts.