Best Music Affiliate Programs
If you are an accomplished musician or you play a specific instrument and you also want to start blogging about it and even create your own courses, you’re in a great niche.
The music niche is quite difficult for most people as many don’t understand how instruments work, not to mention that many don’t have the skills or expertise to explain them to other people. But there are heaps of music affiliate programs through which you can monetize your site or blog — and we’ll tackle the best ones below.
We’ll try to include the most important information on each, such as the commission value and the cookie duration (although not all such programs are clear about the second).
Best music-related affiliate programs
Guitar Center
This is perhaps the largest music retail chain currently present in North America and they have over 200 physical stores where people can pick up their products — which they can, of course, also order online.
The best thing about this affiliate program is that the shop is truly huge, and it contains several dozen thousands of products, which means that the sky’s the limit when it comes to what you can recommend to your audience.
Another reason to consider becoming a Guitar Center affiliate is that they run their program through Commission Junction, a network that helps you quickly and easily visualize your performance, clicks, and every other stat you might be interested in.
Finally, the commission stands at a fixed 6% per sale and the cookie lasts for fourteen days, which isn’t bad at all.
Musician’s Friend
Like Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend is a website that’s packed with music-related products, and their music affiliate program is quite decent, too. While the cookie does last for two whole weeks, the commission, in this case, is lower — just 4% of every sale.
Also, we couldn’t find any specific information as to whether or not the program can be joined and used through a network like Impact Radius, ShareASale or anything else.
MasterClass
Becoming a MasterClass music affiliate is pretty easy and we’d also like to add that the education niche has much better commissions compared to that which standard retailers (of physical products) can offer you.
There are other courses that people can get on the site if they have various interests, not just music-related ones, but the names they feature are pretty amazing — from Alicia Keys to Timbaland and even Carlos Santana.
The cookie lasts for thirty days, but the commission rate is 25% on each sale and an annual membership costs $180. Also, another reason to consider becoming a MasterClass affiliate is that the program can be joined through ShareASale.
Sweetwater
As one of the oldest companies in the music retail industry, Sweetwater is the place to go to if you want to buy anything ranging from recording equipment or software to keyboards or guitars. The site is extremely well-known and popular with music aficionados and players.
Their affiliate program is very different compared to what you might be used to in that they pay for clicks. So, you’ll get just 7 cents per click. In other words, it all depends on how many people you can convince to check out the Sweetwater website.
Playground Sessions
Similarly to MasterClass, this site sells music courses by some of the best-known artists out there. The company also sells a variety of other products such as keyword bundles and sheet music, so the commission rates vary depending on the exact product category.
For memberships, you can get 15% of the value, but for product bundles, you’ll get just 5%. Also, if you refer a lot of customers to the site, your commission can increase to 22%. The cookie duration is also worth writing home about since it lasts for 90 days.
Singorama
This website helps people become better singers, and the company sells a variety of products from recording software to audio lesions that can assist musicians in taking their skills to a whole new level.
The program costs almost $300 but it’s very often on sale for less than $100. Even so, the affiliate program that we are now describing should be considered if you are in the music niche as the commissions vary between 40% and 70% depending on the type of media purchased by the customers.
For all digital instant downloads, you’ll get 70% of the value of the products. The cookie also lasts for 60 days, which is another reason to mull over becoming a Singorama affiliate.
Apple
Did you know that Apple actually has an affiliate program? There are different commissions depending on the categories of products your blog readers might buy, but for Apple Music, for example, you get a one-time 100% commission for the membership that someone pays for.
The cookie of the Apple music affiliate program lasts for 30 days on everything from TV, books, movies, and podcasts, but all of the transactions through the iTune store have a cookie window of just twenty-four hours. Also, for TV and movies, the commission is going to be just 7% of each sale.
The approval process can be a bit of a nuisance since it takes about a week until you can become an affiliate. Also, to avoid any type of financial issues, the company pays you for the sales you’ve generated 90 days after they’ve happened — so you have to wait for three months before being paid for the first time.
Pianoforall
As you might have noticed from the other education affiliate programs that we have showcased in this article, they have pretty good commissions. Well, the Pianoforall affiliate program is no exception to this rule as its commission rate is 60% and the cookie lasts for three whole months.
While the program can’t be joined through any affiliate network — not at the moment we are writing this post, anyway — they have pretty good affiliate support and guide all marketers throughout the process, so you’ll encounter no difficulties in this sense.
Sam Ash
This online store sells anything from DJ equipment to actual musical instruments and the commission rate varies among those different categories. You’ll have to read the fine print yourself to find out more, but the maximum value it can reach is 10% of each sale.
Moreover, the cookie lasts for thirty days, which isn’t all that bad considering that the cookie duration of other programs is just 24 hours. For tax reasons, if you live in Connecticut, North Carolina, Arkansas, or Rhode Island, you are not going to be able to join the program.
Music Business Institute
This platform assists artists and up-and-coming musicians to break into the industry a little easier. When it comes to their affiliate program, the commission rate is a more than decent 50% one while the cookie lasts for 45 days.
Rocket Piano
As its name suggests, this website specializes in selling piano lessons and there are two ways in which people can buy them. They can get a hardcover copy of a book for beginners or they can download the lessons online.
The reason we mentioned all this is that the commission value depends on what the customer orders — on downloads, you’ll be able to make up to 75% of the order value but on the hard copies, you’ll make 25% in commissions. Even so, that’s quite decent.
Also, the cookie duration is three whole months, which is another reason to consider becoming an affiliate.
Maestro Classics
While we couldn’t find any information about the cookie duration of this affiliate program, we would like to note that the commission value isn’t bad at all — 20%.
Also, this is a website entirely dedicated to classical music, but it’s also aimed at children, so it’s got plenty of activity books, narrated stories, and children’s CDs, in general.
There’s not too much to add about the affiliate program other than the fact that payments are processed through Paypal at the beginning of every month and from what we gathered, the affiliate approval process is quite smooth.
Virtual Sheet Music
As its name suggests, this particular site specializes in selling sheet music, but it does so online. It’s one of the most popular ones in the industry and gets visited by more than 20,000 every single day.
There are two significant reasons to join the Virtual Sheet Music affiliate program — the 30% commission value and the 30-year cookie duration. Yes, you read that right. It’s no mistake, the cookie lasts for 30 whole years.
So even if the value of the products that you can refer to might not be amazing since it can’t compare to that of actual instruments (some of the most popular sheet music downloads are priced at around $35), we really have no complaints about the cookie duration or the commissions.
JamPlay
This is perhaps one of the best music affiliate programs that we are showcasing in today’s article and that’s because the site gives their affiliates a standard $40 commission per each sale. Also, the cookie lasts for 120 days, which is absolutely amazing.
The downside is that the site looks like it’s something pulled straight from the 90s, but you should know that it sells to more than 500,000 and it’s got a 9.5 rating from TrustPilot Reviews (out of 10).
The reason both the commission value and the cookie duration are great is that the site specializes in guitar lessons, not physical products, so it’s in the education niche, not in retail. There are a variety of educators and many popular courses to choose from, and some of them regularly go on sale.
Reverb
As a quite unique website, Reverb was created back in 2013 by a community of musicians who wanted to purchase second-hand gear that was in good condition from other instrument players who had properly cared for the equipment.
Reverb offers its music affiliates a commission which ranges from 1% to 10% depending on the type of product you convince your readership to purchase. Also, the cookie lasts for seven days.
Since we mentioned that the commission varies, we’d also like to add that the digital products, meaning the audio reverbs (software effects, loops, and plugins) will get you a 10% commission while the actual physical reverbs will get you just 1% in commissions. You also get a $5 bonus for each first buyer you refer to the site.
Prime Loops
This site is a little different in that it doesn’t specialize in any sort of equipment or instruments or streaming service. It actually sells presets or audio samples that music producers can use while experimenting. Some of them might also be used by YouTube creators, for example.
While the cookie remains a mystery, unfortunately, since we couldn’t come across any information in this sense, we’d say that the commission rate is quite decent, since it stands at a flat 20% for all orders.
However, you do have to consider that some of these tunes cost just under $20 whereas others can be a little more expensive.
Singing Machine
Love karaoke? Apparently, many other people do, too. And this is one of the most commonly used websites by people who want to purchase karaoke equipment, whether speakers, microphones, and even decor.
While the commission rate is just 5%, which might seem a little low, especially compared to that of others (still better than Amazon, though), the cookie does last for thirty days — so at least there’s that.
Another thing that we’d like to add about this music affiliate marketing program is that the value of the products themselves isn’t too high, either, so you’ll have to decide whether becoming an affiliate actually makes sense for you or not.
Thalia
Probably the best thing about the Thalia affiliate program is that it comes with a cookie duration of 90 days. On top of everything, the commission value varies between 15% and 20%, which is amazing compared to that of other choices.
On the other hand, there’s a drawback and it’s that on the site, you can mostly find gifts for guitar players, which means anything from truss rod covers and guitar picks to guitar straps — so the value of these accessories is quite low.
They also have iPhone cases, jewelry, apparel, and wall hangers, as well as capos and fretpads, but in any case, the value of all of these products can’t even come close to that of actual instruments. But the cookie and the commissions make it a good choice nonetheless.
Audimute
If what you intend on recommending to your readership are soundproofing products so that they can build a studio at home, Audimute might be a great option. This family-owned business has been around for a couple of years.
The affiliate program is quite decent since the baseline commission stands at 5% and the cookie lasts for sixty days — far better than the cookie duration of other programs listed in our selection.
The average order from the site is around $150 to $200 and since they also have excellent customer service, we think it might be something worth considering.
Amazon Associates
Amazon is a pretty good place to go to if you want to recommend a variety of music-related products, whether actual instruments or just gifts for the musicians you have in your family.
But one thing’s true about this affiliate program — you are not going to make a fortune recommending these products. On musical instruments, you have a fixed 3% commission and if you’re lucky enough to get someone to buy a guitar that costs $1,000, you’ll make just $30 – and that can be a serious disadvantage for many affiliates.
Besides all this, the cookie lasts for just 24 hours, which means that if you don’t get someone to purchase something during that time, you’ll lose your commission — even if they keep that product in their shopping cart.
On the other hand, Amazon has a huge reputation and there are lots of people using it for their normal shopping, so it might be something to look into nonetheless.
Fiverr
Did you know that Fiverr also sells courses and there are many educators on the platform that can teach people how to play specific instruments? There’s a fair share of guitar teachers and vocal coaches, too.
We wrote a separate article about the Fiverr affiliate program and recommend that you read it separately, but Fiverr is a pretty decent option since it’s got a recurring affiliate commission that can vary from $15 to 30% for courses from Fiverr Learn.
Picking the right music affiliate program
Besides the commission and the cookie, which are obviously the two and most important factors when choosing between one program and the next, you also have to consider your expertise in the field and what you can actually recommend to your blog readers.
In the past, there were lots of affiliate websites using Amazon that recommended musical instruments and the likes, but if you yourself are not a musician or your content writers have no experience writing for this niche, you’re not going to have much success with it.
The music education niche is the best, in our opinion, as not only does it have the best commissions and cookie durations, but it’s also easier to suggest to your audience.
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Craig Campbell
I am a Glasgow based SEO expert who has been doing SEO for 22 years.
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