Can You Really Get Paid in Listening To Music? (Music Xray Review)

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How often do you find yourself listening to music? Imagine turning those hours into honest cash while driving, relaxing, or doing chores. Nowadays, anything is possible, and getting paid while listening to music is one of those things. Well, think again cause that kind of thinking may be too optimistic.

Music Xray’s Fan Match feature, which allows you to earn money by listening to music, has been suspended indefinitely. Even during its questionably legitimate operation, Music Xray only paid $0.10 (10 cents) per song, which is hardly worth anyone’s time.

You may be disappointed to learn this news, but there’s no reason to fret (pun intended for guitar lovers), as there are alternatives to Music Xray. First, we’ll take a comprehensive overview of the past and current state of Music Xray before identifying the best possible alternatives where you can make money having fun with music!

What Is Music Xray?

Music X-Ray is an online freelancing website for all music industry categories. In other words, it connects musicians, producers, industry professionals, and listeners, all conveniently located in the same virtual space. Or that is the promise it attempts to make to susceptible consumers.

Nevertheless, the Fan Match feature – allowing you to earn money for listening to music – has been suspended:

This video provides an overview of how Music Xray aims to connect agents to musicians. However, a closer look at the body language, explanations, and overall video production may raise some eyebrows. While we are not attempting to ridicule the professionality of Music Xray’s management, the video does not reveal any empirical evidence of the website’s success.

Mere anecdotal accounts of a project do not say much – especially where business is concerned. On this page, Music Xray cites numerous surveys conducted in May 2015 regarding user satisfaction with the website.

Boasting figures such as “92% of industry professionals are happy or very happy with the service provided by Music Xray” may be inflated. It begs whether the survey is legit, whether the answers were fabricated, and whether the respondents were directly persuaded to give these answers.

How Does Music Xray Work?

Music Xray used to promise listeners 10 cents every time they completed listening to and reviewing an entire track listed on the list of available songs. After accumulating a $20 credit on the website, you can cash out to PayPal. Yet, numerous reports showed that before reaching the $20 margin, listeners failed to receive more songs to review and could not cash out.

However, that is only covering the Fan Match feature. The other features of Music Xray allow music producers and professionals to connect with artists and collaborate on projects. Either side can use this function via the opportunities tab.

Industry professionals will post opportunities from record labels, movie production companies, and the like to acquire new talent to add to their arsenal or to outsource songs and scores for upcoming productions. Though, you should note that there may be a catch that could certainly catch the more naïve and susceptible off-guard.

How To Join?

Joining Music Xray is the easy part! You only need a unique username, email address (we recommend using a spam email address if you have one available), and password. After registering, you must identify yourself as a listener, an artist, or an industry professional. Note that you cannot change your selection once it has been finalized.

The interesting thing about Music Xray’s signing-up process is no credential check. It would be expected that professionals claiming to be from a certain production company need to provide some proof of legitimacy. Still, the process is surprisingly (or dangerously) easy. Some questions should immediately be raised here.

How Much Can You Earn Using Music Xray?

Much to earn? Probably not. Since every song you review would only pay $0.10, assuming each song is around 2 minutes and 30 seconds, it would add up to $2.40 per hour. This payout amounts to much less than the current minimum wage in first-world countries and most of the world. If you’re desperate for money, you might have a better chance of working at McDonald’s.

The opportunities posted by music producers or industry professionals seem more attractive if you can create tracks listed by these individuals. Some offer payouts upwards of $25,000 once-off, including royalties. Whether or not these offers are trustworthy is an entirely different question.

Furthermore, most of these opportunities require you to pay a submission fee directly to the poster of the opportunity. These submission fees can be free or cost between $2 and $25. The issue is you don’t have any guarantee that they will use your track or if the opportunity is even legit in the first place.

Certainly, some of the opportunities posted may come from legitimate, established businesses. Yet, someone may pose as one of these entities to make a quick buck off desperate or susceptible musicians. It is always best to research the source of the opportunity and confirm whether or not they seem real or it is merely a scam.

Which Countries Can Join Music Xray?

The Music Xray platform is available worldwide. However, some opportunities may only be available to users in certain countries. For example, some music submission opportunities may only be available to US or UK users. Users should check the specific requirements for each opportunity before submitting their music. US citizens will likely find the most opportunities.

Other People’s Reviews

Music Xray seems to have some serious problems with self-representation. The so-called music professionals on the website have little to no information on themselves available to the public, and one must wonder whether or not they are real people.

Failure to provide more information on a business built around trust (such as one between a record company and its artists) will scare away more wary users. Since Music Xray’s boastings may not be 100% trustworthy, we referred to external sites to confirm the validity of their assertions.

What Does Trustpilot Have To Say About Music Xray? 

Music Xray has an unusually high score of 4.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot.com. When we stumbled across Music Xray’s reviews on Trustpilot, its misrepresentation became evident. Most reviews are generated by bots since many use the same badly generated review with terrible grammar.

Moreover, some reviews still refer to the Fan Match feature, even though it is discontinued. One of our concerns was whether the executives displayed on the website and its introductory videos were real, but the reviews lead one to believe otherwise.

The bad reviews, however, are organic experiences and no signs of bots being involved in lowering Music Xray’s Trustpilot score. Some complaints include the site administrators’ lack of contact, the obscurity of the so-called “music professionals,” and that Music Xray fails to pay out.

Quora’s Take On Music Xray

There is surprisingly little activity on Quora regarding Music Xray – only one seemingly positive review from 2017. That doesn’t mean you should trust it, though! The review is not very insightful and merely briefly recalls how the site works, its potential earnings, and that it pays out to PayPal.

Considering how much effort was spent on sending bots to up Music Xray’s Trustpilot score, this account may also be a bot. Upon further inspection, though, it seems that this account is real. This review, however, is not – judging by the tone and word choice, likely, this user did not bother trying Music Xray before writing a review.

Does Reddit Provide Any Helpful Insights Into Music Xray?

In a 7-year-old thread on the popular subreddit r/beermoney, users discussed whether or not Music Xray pays out. Of the 6 comments, only one confirmed receiving their deserved amount, yet their access to available tracks was suddenly cut off while working towards a second payout.

This post relates to Music Xray’s other feature. The Reddit user has first-hand experience with getting scammed by the website and was kind enough to share it with the world. The user lost $27 trying to upload a song to a request from a producer. It seems that an imposter was posing as a real artist and using this identity to lure in susceptible prey.

Reddit is saturated with other posts relating to the illegitimacy of Music Xray. If you ever feel tempted to trust the offers on the Music Xray website, do yourself a favor and look at any of these bad experiences of previous users. They should do more than enough to deter you from giving it a shot.

Other Sites That Pay To Listen To Music

Still adamant about getting paid for listening to music? Well, you may be in luck because new businesses give this model a shot every day. Furthermore, you could work in the music industry, where this could be an everyday part of your life!

Nevertheless, some options are similar to Music Xray, which may prove more trustworthy with more reliable payouts. Yet, you may find that most of them still yield disappointing results. Here are our recommendations for sites that may offer money for listening to artists’ music.

1. Radioearn

Radioearn is a site that promotes radio stations by paying listeners for the period that they are tuned in. The idea is to promote unknown local and foreign stations by gaining an initial boost in listeners. These stations have no advertising – only music and ASMR.

First off, the website administration last posted new information to the site on 24 March 2021. Secondly, it has a measly score of 1.9 on Trustpilot.com. Reviewers mostly report that the website is a scam, payouts are never administered, and that the pay is measly, to begin with, in any case. It would be best not to bother using Radioearn.

Have a look at this screenshot. Notice how the word “scam” is mentioned on the official page you need to navigate to for earning money:

2. SliceThePie

SliceThePie used to be a music-reviewing website, but it is unfortunately discontinued. Trustpilot reviews are mixed, and users seem to have different experiences, which seems more promising than what we’ve seen with other platforms.

One thing that seems problematic is that the company reportedly seemed to look for excuses so that they could suspend users’ accounts.

Different accounts cover that the customer service was poor, while others (which we cannot ascertain if it is fake/bots) report that customer service was responsive and helpful. Perhaps there is hope to find websites that help you make money online with music.

These days when visiting slicethepie.com, you may be greeted with the following welcoming page:

3. HitPredictor – Help Predict The Next Hit

HitPredicter is a website where you can have the opportunity to influence the future of the music industry by listening to and reviewing new and unreleased tracks. Though HitPredictor is not designed to pay out in cash, you may be able to earn cash-related rewards, such as gift cards (if you are a qualified participant).

For people who like to hear music before it hits the shelves (or streaming services), this may be the one for you. Three options can earn points: Rating music, answering polls, or referring friends to the website. Since we’d like to know about listening to music only, we’ll focus on that now.

Firstly, you need to register yourself as a member. After that, users can earn points for listening to and rating songs, which can be redeemed for prizes such as concert tickets and music merchandise. HitPredictor also offers cash payouts for high-quality reviews and referrals. While the site’s payout rates are lower than other music review sites, it’s user-friendly.

The reason we might urge you to avoid HitPredictor is the likelihood that you may ever receive rewards. You see, the only currency you earn is through the website points, which are exchanged for raffle tickets. When you win a raffle, you will only be awarded a gift card (such as a $20, $50, or $100 Amazon gift card).

Sadly, HitPredictor is no longer accepting any new participants. Therefore, the only semi-legitimate option out there is unavailable.

4. Other Websites That May Or May Not Payout

The following websites are enumerated for research purposes only. It is ill-advised to try any of these websites as they are likely a scam or a mere waste of time. What is interesting to note here is how many websites attempt to make money by selling the idea that users can get paid to listen to or influence music.

Here is a list of companies with a similar approach to Music Xray:

• RadioLoyalty
• Playlist Push
• Earnably
• RadioEarn
• UserTesting
• Current.fm
• Research.fm
• MusicFans

Other Opportunities To Make Money By Listening To Music

All hope is lost at this point. Most websites claiming legit opportunities for making money online seem like scams. Most of them are, but it’s no reason to feel down. Seize this opportunity (and clear the gap in the market) and make something of it yourself! Here are a couple of ideas that could help.

Become A Professional Music Curator

Sure, it may not be as easy as making a quick buck online, but who ever said anything good comes easy? Becoming a professional and established music curator can secure you opportunities for a long time into the future while providing a passive income – depending on your preferred platform.

For instance, you could curate your playlists on Spotify or any other streaming service and then advertise them to online forums such as Reddit, Discord, etc. (given that it is allowed within the community guidelines).

Alternatively, you could start making YouTube videos and talk about your favorite new picks and artists you like, or compile your playlist and add some nice visuals to back it. Many modern record companies started using this tactic to make a name for themselves and gain a quick boost in income. Examples would be someone like Anthony Fantano or Nice Guys Records.

Furthermore, you can start generating even more traffic when writing a blog. The handy thing about a blog is that it’s an easily accessible place where all your different projects and social handles can come together to make things more convenient for your audience. If you’re passionate about making money from music, give it a shot!

Another opportunity for someone who loves listening to music would be to become a radio presenter or curator. Often, especially in smaller stations (where you’re bound to start), the two jobs get compiled into one, but as you move up the career ladder, you may have to pick between the two. No matter, though, since you can listen to music either way.

Lastly, looking into jobs at an established record company like Sony may be worth it. Scoring a job like this may force you to listen to music permanently, so be ready to purchase some comfy headphones, or you’ll have a hard time.

Wrap Up

Things aren’t as easy as they seem when making money online. For some reason, it’s even worse when it comes to earning from music reviews. It is best to avoid Music Xray and any sites that promote a similar product. Stick to the established routes or pave your way to success with your favorite funky tunes.

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