26 year old makes 33k from a 2 minute side hustle that costs next to nothing

If you’ve ever listened to a YouTube video titled “lo-fi tunes to study or relax to,” you’ve probably engaged with Michael Turner’s music.

Turner, 26, is a full-time musician who makes pop music under that name Belvitinum. A year and a half ago, he started spending some of his weekends producing music in what he calls the passive listening space — and quickly found producing “lo-fi” music to be a “really easy” side hustle.

It’s profitable too. Under the name Bonsai Beats — a band consisting mostly of Turner and guitarist Mike Bono — he earned an additional $33,139 over the past year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Lo-fi stands for “low fidelity,” which basically means it lacks the high production value you find in most professional music. It is meant to be listened to in the background while cooking, working, studying or even sleeping.

This means that Turner’s goal is simple: quantity over quality. When he and Bono collaborate on lo-fi tracks, they set a timer — just two minutes to write, produce and title each song. Together, they’ve grossed nearly $60,000 over the past year from 85 songs, which took approximately three hours to create.

The lowering of expectations that comes with producing lo-fi music is “a kind of therapy,” Turner says, and the extra money doesn’t hurt. Here’s how he built and runs his lo-fi music business.

At the age of 18, Turner published YouTube video Himself singing and playing an original song, which received more than a million views. “That was my first exposure to what the spread of the Internet could do, and I was hooked ever since,” he says.

Lo-fi tracks may not always get as many streams as Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, but they still manage to become popular: Luffy’s daughtera popular YouTube streamer, has 13.6 million subscribers and its videos regularly rack up millions of views.

Bonsai Beats has approximately 12,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, according to its profile page. Of the 53 tracks on the platform, only three are longer than two minutes. One of them, called “Lovely Lofi,” has more than 300,000 streams.

Producing these songs is “a lot simpler than people realize,” Turner says, and the only real cost is time. He and Bono make the tracks with guitar, keyboard and… Logic Proa popular music mixing software that currently costs $199.99.

Turner adds that you can easily use GarageBand, a program that comes free with Apple products.

Next, you’ll probably need a distributor. Turner says hIt uses TuneCore, an online service that puts your tracks on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and TikTok. He says his prices range from a limited free version to a $49.99 annual subscription service, and Turner pays for a mid-tier option of $29.99.

Paying a subscription fee means TuneCore won’t keep any of your sales revenue, which is in contrast to traditional distribution agencies that can claim up to 85%, Turner says.

“The barrier to entry is so low that any professional or casual musician can start this as a side hustle right away,” he says. “The beauty of streaming is that the minimum cost is really low…just put it on Spotify, and if it’s the right show, it immediately starts making money.”

the Relatively low payouts of Spotify and other music streaming platforms is a popular topic of conversation among musicians. But for Turner, the democratization of music — or the idea that anyone can make money using streaming platforms — is big.

His other musician friends also have lo-fi side activities. Someone posted a track of sleep and relaxation music, and it had nearly 20 million streams, generating nearly $100,000, while people listened to it repeatedly while sleeping, Turner says. He adds that another friend, a writer and producer without a steady income, recently sold the rights to his passive listening catalog for $1.68 million.

“Institutional finance has become interested in live streaming, and anyone who has it [song] “Recurring flows can get a buyout offer from a traditional investor,” Turner says, adding: “It’s a dangerous space.”

In August, Turner launched his own record label called Records of the rebellion. He says his goal is to help democratize the music industry, by applying his production skills and virality research to help emerging artists. His label will retain 25% of the royalties for each artist, instead of the industry standard 50-60%.

“This is a really exciting time in music,” Turner says. “I am optimistic.”

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