finny
your route to $ from music is producing.
i wouldn't go the shadowville route, or the youtube "type" beat route or even be thinking about artists. i'd view all collabs and stuff in the same category as YOUR music, that should be your hobby. i mean if the opportunity comes along to make money producing for an artist or group by all means take it. your focus should be on sync licensing though
you can consistently create sample free beats. you can create large numbers of them. and you can make them good enough to be used. every single commercial, tv show, movie etc needs music cues. this is the golden age of tv/movies. not only do you have the usual suspects of cable networks and tv networks, but there are multiple streaming companies all competing and making as much content as possible in hopes of standing out from the pack. netflix/hulu/amazon/youtubered/etc. all creating original content
all these companies and networks go to music libraries when they need music. what you need to do is get a ton of "cues" in these libraries.
the only leg work you need to do is getting your music in those libraries. you don't pitch your beats to every show you don't try and sell anything. you just focus on making beats and submitting them to libraries.
i'm not sure how to go about that though. if you google it you will find countless companies that are music libraries/sync licensing directories etc. i can't make beats that would be cleared so i never looked into it. but i can connect you with my boy dC who makes a living doing it.
he just started a youtube channel and is supposed to get more in depth on there. but in that vid you can see a mediocre beat of his has been placed hundreds of times and earned him almost 3 thousand. the more beats you get in these libraries the better your chances they are used.
the thing with sync licensing is, nothing needs to be a crazy production. it just needs to be catchy, and the song title needs to be relevant to a mood. if the editor of the tv show is creating a sad vibe, he's gonna be looking for sad backdrops.
but yea man i can connect you with this dude but i don't know if he tries taking a cut for giving up his connects, or if he charges for the lists of libraries he submits to. but we can figure it out if you are serious
i'd just focus on making beats, and you probably have a ton of shit already ready to be submitted, you just don't need the 6 minute long evolving tracks and shit.