Turn Your Side Project Music Into Real Money
Music isn't your primary income — you have a day job, another business, or other creative pursuits that occupy most of your time. But over the years, you've accumulated a catalog of ambient, lo-fi, or electronic music that you created as a passion project, side hustle, or creative outlet. Maybe you went through an intense production phase and released several albums, or you consistently dropped tracks over a few years before life pulled you in other directions. These tracks still generate some streaming revenue — maybe a few hundred or a few thousand dollars per year — but you rarely think about them, and you've stopped actively promoting or releasing new music. Your catalog is a dormant asset: it has value, but it's not being maximized, and managing it feels like a chore for something that's no longer a priority.
Challenges you might face
- ●Music catalog feels like an afterthought — generating some income but not enough to warrant active management
- ●Don't have time or motivation to optimize metadata, pitch to playlists, or pursue sync opportunities
- ●Unsure whether a catalog earning $500-$5,000/year is even worth selling
- ●Administrative tasks (tax reporting, distributor management, PRO registrations) are annoying for what feels like pocket change
- ●No knowledge of the catalog sale market and whether small catalogs have buyers
- ●Worried that the effort of selling would exceed the payout for a small catalog
- ●Don't want to spend significant time on a transaction for a side project
How SPACE can help
- ●A free initial review; an initial offer typically follows 5-7 business days after the relevant catalog information is received
- ●SPACE buys directly, so there is no auction listing or buyer search
- ●Closing timing depends on the agreement, documentation, and rights transfer steps
- ●Fewer documentation questions when registrations and metadata are already clean
- ●Share your distributor statements, and SPACE reviews the revenue history
- ●Small catalogs or side projects under different artist names reviewed together or separately
- ●No listing fee or commission, whatever the catalog size
Benefits
Transform a neglected side project into a meaningful lump sum payment
Eliminate the annual tax headache of reporting small music royalty income
Stop paying annual distributor fees for music you're no longer actively promoting
Put the proceeds toward your primary career, hobbies, or savings
Hand ongoing management of the music to the new owner
Clean up your professional life by consolidating or closing dormant music accounts
Even a small catalog sale can be meaningful as unexpected income
Example scenario
Illustrative example, not a SPACE transaction: someone who made ambient electronic music as a side project has 45 tracks across three albums and several singles. The catalog earns $2,800 a year through a distributor and a PRO and has not been actively managed for three years. The creator still pays an annual distributor fee and reports the income on taxes. A review would check that the creator owns the masters and compositions, how steady the income has been, and whether metadata and PRO registrations are complete. There is no obligation to accept an offer, and any offer depends on individual review.
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