The leaders of the music industry stay on top of their game by recognizing trends and identifying new talent that is going to shake up the entertainment world and often, entirely change the direction of musical genres.
Imagine being Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis that day in 1954 when a young Elvis Presley walked through his door, hearing that voice for the first time. Or perhaps, consider what it was like to be the Decca Records executive who determined in 1962 that the Beatles didn’t have what it takes and sent the greatest band in the history of rock and roll packing.
Well, you might not be able to make those types of industry-altering decisions but if your knowledge of music is keen and you’ve got an ear for identifying what will be the next big thing, it can prove to be rewarding in another manner.
Betting on the music industry is an option that is available to fans with a lyrical sense. And if you get on board with the trends ahead of the general public, this pursuit can prove to be a lucrative endeavor.
Getting Started
If you are intent on making wagers on the music industry, first of all, you’re going to need to find a place to place those bets. Fortunately, there are no end to such opportunities in the ever-burgeoning world of online sports books.
While that name might infer that they handle wagering on sporting events – and in point of fact, that is the case – many of the leading sports books also branch out into other areas of public interest. Oddsmakers at these sites will establish odds on major events outside of the sporting arena. These include politics, entertainment and music.
The next step is to find an online sports book that fits your needs. Naturally, you’ll want to sign up with one that offers wagering on music industry and music-related events, so that’s the first question in need of answering.
Every online sports book is going to offer new players different incentives to encourage them to join their site. Virtually all of them dangle lucrative sign up bonuses in front of new customers.
The thing is, all of these bonus offers come with terms and conditions attached. And one of the biggest crutches you’ll find in the fine print are what’s known as rollover requirements. This terminology refers to the number of times a bettor must play through their bonus funds before being permitted to withdraw the cash from their account. This can vary from as little as one time to sometimes as much as 20 times. Naturally, the more often you have to wager that money, the less likely it is that you’ll keep winning.
Think of rollover requirements as the Spotify of online sports betting. You come up with the winner but they’re trying to keep as much of your royalties as they can.
Grammy Awards
Billie Eilish was the big winner at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
The biggest night in the music industry is when they hand out the annual Grammy Awards. Your chances of winning a Grammy might be slim but your chances of winning on the Grammys is readily available.
At the 2020 Grammys, Billie Eilish cleaned up. She was heavily favored to win in most every category in which the 17-year-old singing sensation was nominated, so making a straight bet on Eilish wasn’t going to provide that much of a return on investment.
The smart money was playing Eilish prop wagers. Prop, or proposition wagers, ask bettors to determine the outcome of a specific action in the midst of a larger event.
Betting Eilish to win Song of the Year and Record of the Year each paid out at odds of +175. That’s not a bad profit but nothing that’s going to pay off any bills. On the other hand, if you played a prop that Eilish was going to sweep the Best Song, Record, Album and New Artist – which she did – that was offered at odds of +600. What those odds mean is that if you bet $100 on this wager, you would’ve garnered a $600 profit.
Things to remember when wagering on the Grammys – commercial success is valued far above critical acclaim, and rappers just don’t win the major awards unless they’re named Drake.
Oscars
While not technically a music industry awards show, the Academy Awards do offer categories for Best Original Song and Best Original Score.
Last year, the favorites swept these categories. Joker’s Hildur Gudnadottir (-350) won the Oscar for Best Original Score, while Elton John and Bernie Taupin (-600) were awarded the Best Original Song Oscar for “I’m Gonna, Love Me Again” from Rocketman.
Super Bowl
Again, not a music industry event but one with a music-related prop wager. Every year, the Super Bowl picks a celebrity to perform the Star Spangled Banner. Wagers are offered on how long it will take the singer to complete the song. A total is established and you place a bet on whether they will go over or under that time.
Since this isn’t the first rodeo for most of these performers, YouTube proves a handy resource for determining the average time it takes said singer to get through the national anthem.
