71 ways to reward your music fan subscribers

In the digital era where attention is scarce and often divided, fan subscriptions are a way for artists to authentically connect with their audience.

In addition to helping musicians make connections, fan subscriptions are also a great way for a musician to monetize their work, drawing interested fans in the process.

With fan subscriptions, it’s all about offering rewards in exchange for regular payments. So you’ll have to think of the content, perks, and rewards that you can deliver on an ongoing basis to keep your biggest fans interested.

You can set up fan subscriptions directly on your own music website, making it easy for you to offer music or pre-orders using your other built-in website features.

Early vs. exclusive

Something to consider for your subscriber rewards is whether you’re going to provide early or exclusive access to new content. This is especially important when it comes to your music and videos.

For example, if you’ve recorded a new song, you’ll have to decide if it’s going to be a release that is exclusive to your subscribers. If so, this means that the release won’t go up for sale on your website or be available on streaming services.

On the other hand, you could give your subscribers early access to new releases and videos for a certain amount of time, then officially release them publicly. This would give your subscribers a personal jump start on hearing your new content, before the public has access to it.

There’s no right or wrong approach to this. It’s really a matter of how prolific you are with creating content, and what your goals are with each song, album, or video.

Structuring your rewards and tiers

It might be tempting to offer lots of rewards to encourage fans to subscribe to your website. Keep in mind that you’ll have to manage the delivery of each reward every month.

If you’re just starting out you’ll want to keep things simple: start with a few rewards for your lowest tier that are easily scalable (like access to digital music), then add 1-2 bonus rewards for each higher tier.

Now you’ll need to decide which rewards to offer your subscribers. You could pick and choose from each list below, or you could focus on one type of perk for your subscribers (if you are a music teacher, for example).

Music

1. Exclusive unreleased songs
2. Early access to releases
3. Access to full catalog (streams)
4. Access to full catalog (downloads)
5. Access to full catalog (FLAC & WAV formats)
6. Albums/EPs on CD
7. Albums/EPs on vinyl
8. Albums/EPs on cassette
9. Demos
10. Stem files
11. Live recordings
12. Instrumental versions of songs
13. Handwritten lyrics
14. Pre-release purchases
15. Discounts (you can offer a larger discount for higher tiers)
16. Let fans give feedback on songs in progress
17. Let fans vote on songwriting direction
18. Let fans choose specific cover songs to record
19. Write custom songs for fans
20. Let fans vote on cover songs to record
21. Give fans producer credit on albums

Merch

22. Exclusive merch
23. Signed posters
24. Buttons, pins, stickers
25. Pre-orders
26. Discounts on merch/store items (can be larger a discount for higher tiers)
27. Branded USB drive of all music, photos, or videos
28. Postcards (signed/handwritten)
29. Other art (paintings, photos, illustrations)
30. Let fans vote on merch design/logo

Videos

31. Exclusive videos (behind the scenes, messages for fans, etc.)
32. Videos before they go public
33. Video downloads
34. Download of the audio from videos
35. Shout outs in videos
36. Thank yous in video descriptions
37. Personalized videos/covers
38. Let fans vote on songs for video releases
39. Happy birthday videos for fans

Live

40. Guest list at shows
41. Signed set lists from shows
42. Meet & greets
43. Green room access
44. VIP seating
45. Dinner before the show
46. Exclusive online shows
47. Let fans vote on setlists
48. Let fans request songs for concerts

For Music Teachers

49. Sheet music
50. Songbook (PDF)
51. Songbook (physical copy)
52. Song charts
53. Tabs
54. Video lessons
55. Live lessons
56. Archived lessons and videos
57. Song or lesson-specific Q&A’s
58. Song requests
59. Let fans vote on songs to learn/
60. Let fans choose the song to learn

Other

61. Exclusive blog with updates for subscribers only
62. Exclusive forum for fans
63. Personal video calls
64. Livestream/video hangouts, listening parties
65. Promote the fan’s business
66. Follow fans on social media
67. Thanks/shout-outs on social media
68. Feature fans on your website, on social media
69. Q&As
70. Private/subscriber-only social media group
71. Birthday shout-outs on your blog, on social media

As you can see, there’s no shortage of ways to reward your subscribers with exclusive perks they'll enjoy. It really comes down to what you can deliver and manage on an ongoing basis, and what your biggest fans will enjoy.

For more info on how to set up your subscription tiers with exciting fan rewards, check out:

How to sell fan subscriptions on your music website
Creating a subscriptions page