Mike Burton is a rapper who earns more than $82,000 per year by writing and selling songs on Fiverr, a popular freelancer site. According to CNBC Made It, he has earned more than $500,000 in commissions since 2015.
Burton has always been interested in writing. He graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in communication. He worked a variety of jobs while in school and wrote on the side. When he realized that customized raps could be offered on Fiverr, he decided to commercialize his writing skills by focusing on writing rap songs in 2015.
He felt demotivated by his first offer, which was about writing verses about how it is okay to listen to Eminem. “Make a song about how it’s okay to listen to Eminem,” a client asked. “That sounds like a term paper,” he said. “Not a rap.” He eventually deleted his account.
He then chose to pursue other interests, such as working in a call center. He returned after a year to try exchanging rap lines for a fee once more. According to CNBC Made It, he offered to write 30-second rap lines for $5, and demand for his services quickly increased. Seeing the opportunities, Burton decided to leave his job at the call center and pursue a freelance career.
He now writes songs in as little as 30 minutes for companies, businesses, podcasts, and YouTube channels, as well as personalized love songs and birthday songs.
One of his key writing strategies is to give himself breaks between songwriting. He doesn’t listen to the radio while driving. “I heard someone say music is not the sounds, it’s the silence in between the sounds,” he said. “It comes from letting things cook, cook inside you. So you can only see what’s cooking when you’re silent.”
He went on to say that making music for himself inspires him to write some of his best lyrics for others. When he runs out of creative ideas, he turns to sports. When that happens, he says, “I start running out of ideas for people.”
Burton, who is originally from Houston, Texas, performs under the stage name Keybeaux. He has been releasing music on platforms such as Spotify.
