Most people know you can earn money from posting videos and images on the likes of YouTube and Instagram. But few are probably aware that there is a hidden army of “gig economy” entrepreneurs who are earning a bit of extra cash – or in some cases as much as £30,000 a year – by composing the music that soundtracks our lives in the digital age.
They specialise in creating music that can be licensed for use in everything from YouTube videos, computer games and movie trailers to TV adverts, corporate promotional videos and PowerPoint slideshows. It’s known in the trade as “stock music”, but is also known as library music, production music and royalty-free music.
Stock music can pop up everywhere – you might hear it playing when you are in a shop or waiting to be put through on the phone, or listening to your favourite podcast or meditation CD. It might be a short clip or a long piece, or take the form of a simple keyboard motif, an epic orchestral track or anything in between.
Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jun/10/make-music-income-stream-compose-stock-music