When one attorney missed the creative spark of making music, he found a way to blend passion with profit—turning his home recordings into a steady stream of passive income.
Challenge
Evan Oxford had spent years working his way through law school and building a career as a lawyer. His job was stable, his schedule full, and his student loan balance… intimidating.
But beneath the crisp suits and case files, he was still a musician at heart. Before law school, music had been a big part of his life—he had a hard drive full of half-finished songs and dreams of one day releasing an album. Yet with work, bills, and responsibilities piling up, that dream had quietly faded into the background.
One day, Evan realized he missed making music—not as a career goal, but as a part of who he was. The problem was, he couldn’t justify spending hours recording if it didn’t also help pay off his loans. That’s when he started looking for a way to make music that also made sense financially.
Action
After researching online, Evan discovered stock music licensing — a world where companies, creators, and advertisers buy short, mood-based tracks for their videos, podcasts, and commercials.
It was a lightbulb moment. Instead of chasing fame, he could create small, useful pieces of music that would quietly earn him income over time.
Evan set up accounts on AudioJungle and Pond5, two major music licensing platforms. Then he got to work, experimenting with short instrumental tracks designed to evoke a feeling—joy, tension, calm, or inspiration.
At first, sales were slow. But as he refined his approach, he discovered what actually worked:
- Keep tracks short. About 30 seconds was ideal. Buyers wanted quick, versatile pieces that could fit easily into an ad or video.
- Establish a clear mood. Whether upbeat or dramatic, the emotion needed to be obvious from the first few seconds.
- Tell a story. Even in under a minute, each track needed a beginning, middle, and end.
- End with impact. A clean, memorable finish made the track more appealing for commercial use.
Once he began applying these principles, things changed. His music started selling regularly.
Evan used simple equipment: a $100 audio interface, some guitar gear he already owned, and production software called Reason. Working about 20 hours a month, he recorded and uploaded new tracks while the older ones continued to earn him royalties.
Result
Today, Evan makes around $400 a month from his music—and most of it is passive income. Some of his tracks have even been used in NPR broadcasts and Verizon commercials, giving him a thrill every time he hears them out in the world.
The best part? He doesn’t have to worry about marketing. The licensing platforms handle all of that, allowing him to focus solely on creating. It’s become his version of creative therapy—a break from the world of contracts and courtrooms.
And while it’s not a full-time income, it’s a meaningful one. The money helps chip away at student loans, and the process rekindled a part of his identity he thought he’d lost.
Lesson
Evan’s story is a reminder that creative dreams don’t always have to be “all or nothing.” You don’t need to quit your job or chase fame to do something you love—and even make money doing it.
By turning his music into a side hustle that fits into his real life, he found a way to combine stability with self-expression.
Sometimes fulfillment isn’t about starting over—it’s about picking up where you left off and finding a smarter way forward.
Inspired by a true story originally featured on Side Hustle School by Chris Guillebeau. This rewritten version is independently produced and fully original.