Setting Up a Business Bank Account for Your Music Income

Why you need to keep music money separate, what you need to open an account, and the best free options for independent artists.

The Mixing Problem

Most independent artists start their music career the same way: any money that comes in goes into their personal checking account, mixed together with rent, groceries, and everything else. It feels fine at first. Then tax season arrives.

When music income and personal spending are in the same account, you cannot easily see what you earned, what you spent on music, or what you owe in taxes. Every transaction needs to be sorted and categorized from memory, often months after the fact. It's slow, error-prone, and expensive — either in your own time or in accounting fees.

A separate business bank account solves all of this immediately.

Why It Matters

Tax clarity. Your business account becomes your source of truth. Every dollar that comes in is music income. Every dollar that goes out is a business expense. No sorting required.

Professionalism. When you're working with other artists, managers, or licensees, receiving payments in a business account (rather than a personal Venmo or Cash App) signals that you run a real operation.

Legal protection. If you've formed an LLC, a separate business account is essentially required to maintain the legal separation between you and your business. Using personal accounts for business transactions can undermine your LLC protection.

TuneShift payouts. Your TuneShift campaign contributions and fan subscription payments route directly to your connected bank account. Setting up a dedicated music account means those funds land somewhere clean and accounted for.

What You Need to Open One

The requirements depend on your business structure:

If you're a sole proprietor (no LLC):

Your Social Security Number or a free EIN from IRS.gov
A DBA (Doing Business As) filing if you want the account under your artist name rather than your legal name — usually $10–30 at your county clerk's office

If you have an LLC:

Your EIN (you got this when you formed the LLC)
Your LLC formation documents (Articles of Organization)

Best Free Options for Independent Artists

These three banks are popular with independent creators because they're genuinely free — no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements:

Mercury (mercury.com)

Built for startups and independent businesses. Clean interface, no fees, integrates well with Stripe and payment platforms. Best overall for most artists.

Relay (relayfi.com)

Excellent for envelope-style budgeting — you can create sub-accounts within Relay to separate your tax savings from your operating money. Strong choice if you want the separate tax account built in.

Novo (novo.co)

Simple, fast to open, no minimum balance. Good if you want something straightforward with minimal setup.

All three are FDIC insured, free to open, and have no monthly fees.

Getting Your Stripe Account Updated

Once you've opened your business account, update your bank account information in Stripe Express through your TuneShift dashboard. Future payouts will route to your new business account instead of your personal one.

The Bottom Line

A separate business bank account is one of the simplest moves you can make to run your music career like a business. It takes about 15 minutes to open online, costs nothing, and saves hours of confusion at tax time. Do it before the money starts coming in, not after.

Key Takeaways

A separate business account eliminates the sorting problem at tax time
Mercury, Relay, and Novo are all free with no monthly fees — ideal for independent artists
If you have an LLC, a separate business account is required to maintain legal protection
You need an EIN (free from IRS.gov) and your LLC docs if you've formed one
Update your Stripe account to route TuneShift payouts to your new business account

Glossary

DBA: Doing Business As — a filing that lets you operate under a business name without forming an LLC
EIN: Employer Identification Number — a free federal tax ID for your business, obtained from IRS.gov
FDIC Insured: Deposits protected by the federal government up to $250,000 per account
Sub-account: A separate bucket within the same bank account used to mentally and practically separate funds for different purposes