We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anna Belle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anna below.

Anna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I started earning money from music when I was 16. I signed up as a work-for-hire vocalist on Fiverr, singing clients’ entire songs for about $15. I had a microphone worth $40 and no other programs besides Audacity, but I got lucky that enough people believed in me and my petite voice to have a steady stream of orders. After several years of getting more work and raising my rates, I was able to save a fair amount for college and use my resume of 900+ vocal and production orders to take on more serious work. I started livestreaming on top of my work-for-hire projects during college and eventually signed on with a couple of custom song companies. Now, I earn my main income through singing and writing for those companies plus performing in various settings.

As you can see, making a living from creative work wasn’t feasible on day one. While my friends were making great money from hourly jobs while they were still students, I had to play the long game and hope my work would improve as I went. Looking back, I would be so embarrassed to show my early projects– from a creative and technical standpoint, I couldn’t get far with quality like that today. However, I somehow found a clientele whose needs my music filled. It only took a few people believing in me to get the train of work going. An unfortunate aspect of making art to earn money is that you have to view it as a business, so the care and personality you put into your songs and vocal performance have to shift to fit the requirements of the person ordering from you.

One of my biggest steps I took to get to this point was going to college. That might sound vague and detached in a way, but I learned 90% of what I know and do now from professors and friends I met during that time. It completely changed my thinking and processes for all steps of my work. I explored more options, found more opportunities, and was introduced to how the industry worked as a whole. For instance, my friend I met on campus introduced me to livestreaming, which gave me performance opportunities and was how I paid for all my expenses. Another example would be my songwriting teachers giving me advice on artist image and writing commercially. I also had my first stage performance as Anna Belle on my college campus.

If I could do it again, I would get better gear from the start– but at 16, you kind of just work with what you have. I would also try to perform more and perform earlier. Nevertheless, I am so grateful and amazed by where I ended up.

Anna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

A rundown about how I got started: I delved into music when I was about 10 years old. I liked to sing and dance and wanted to make my own songs, so I had my dad plug my keyboard into the computer so I could record my ideas. I got involved with choir and later theatre at school, which I was getting great opportunities with, so I started to take singing as a performer seriously.

That led me to singing, writing, and producing on Fiverr at 16, then livestreaming and creating content several years later. When the pandemic began, I made a living teaching voice and piano as well. I now write for Songlorious and Songfinch, sing for a Christmas caroling company, and take gigs as a model and background extra. For reference, I’m almost 24 now! Time flies.

If I’m a work-for-hire musician and gig performer, then why am I ‘Anna Belle’? When you take away the “for a living” aspect, I’m an artist. I’m a synthpop producer and vocalist. When I’m not trying to monetize my work, I’m a super-retro new wave songstress who produces all my tunes, edits my own videos, and wears insane amounts of makeup at my shows. When I’m me, I’m Anna Belle.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being able to take control of my time. When I was working as a restaurant hostess and then as a museum monitor, I had to give a set amount of my time up regardless of what I actually accomplished. If I wanted to make $56, I had to give up 8 hours of my day. No matter how hard I worked, the clock was the authority. That’s the way most jobs work, of course– you are paid according to when you are present; how much energy or emotional labor you expend is irrelevant. That leads to burnout so quickly. I think it’s a factor as to why so many people are unfulfilled and tortured by a 9 to 5, and I wish our system accommodated for more flexibility, creative or not.

I consider myself so privileged for this reason. Even if my living isn’t consistent– it varies WIDELY which makes it difficult– I get to do what I love every day. The stress and time spent working hours on a $20 song were worth where it brought me. I’m lucky.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media story is common nowadays. I had one TikTok video that happened to blow up and the followers started rolling in. I can’t say I took full advantage of this following– I was unprepared. That’s the piece of advice I would give those trying to build a social media presence. Pretend the algorithm is going to work in your favor on every video, every post. It almost certainly will one day if you are consistent and genuine. People will be curious about you. Have a place for them to go and be ready to continue serving that audience, whatever it might end up being.

Contact Info:

• Website: beacons.ai/abellemusic
• Instagram: instagram.com/abellemusic
• Facebook: facebook.com/abellemusic1
• Twitter: twitter.com/ABelleMusic
• Youtube: youtube.com/AnnaBelleIsRecording
• Other: Tiktok: tiktok.com/@abellemusic

Image Credits
KC Moreno