Players who wish to get creative with their Sims in The Sims 4 will be happy to hear that there are countless ways to do so. The game itself is chock-full of unique and engaging activities for Sims to pursue, and some of them can open doors for Sims to earn money in unique ways.
Learning to play an instrument in The Sims 4 is one of the best things a Sim can do. Not only will they be able to make a living by playing music through the Entertainer career, but they will also be able to play music as a pastime and, in some cases, profit from what they play. Sims can even write their very own songs if they are proficient enough, but unlocking the ability can take time.
How To Learn An Instrument In The Sims 4
In the base game of The Sims 4, players can command their Sims to learn how to sing and how to play piano, violin, and guitar. To do this, they must purchase a musical instrument from the Activities and Skills menu in Build Mode and place it somewhere on their lot, preferably in a place their Sim tends to visit often.
Once the instrument has been placed down, clicking on it will give the player's Sim the option to practice; the more a Sim plays their instrument, the faster their skill will increase, which will allow them to level up and acquire new musical abilities.
How To Write A Song In The Sims 4
At Level 1 in the guitar, violin, piano, or singing skills, players will only have access to a select few commands while interacting with a musical instrument. Those hoping to unlock the means of composing music will need to dedicate a great deal of time to leveling up their musical skills. At Level 8, they will unlock the "Write Song" command.
To write a song, players must click on the instrument they have reached Level 8 with and select the "Write Song" command. They will then be given the option to write a variety of different songs, each of which sounds completely unique.
Writing a song in The Sims 4 takes a pretty long time, so players should ensure their Sim's needs are met before attempting to do so; otherwise, the Sim may stop writing the song before it is completed.
If this happens, players can resume writing the song by selecting the Sheet Music icon in their Sim's inventory and choosing to "Resume" the song they were working on or selecting "Scrap" to delete it entirely. When the Sim finishes writing the song, a prompt will appear, asking players to name it.
If a Sim's needs aren't tended to regularly, they will receive negative Moodlets and will sometimes refuse to write songs even when commanded to. To prevent this from happening, players should ensure that their Sim is in a good mood before they attempt to write a song.
How To Make Money From Writing Songs In The Sims 4
To profit off a Sim's original compositions, the Sim must reach Level 9 in their instrument's skill. Once this has been done, interacting with a mailbox will give players the option to license the songs their Sim has written by selecting the "License Song" option.
If a Sim has written songs on multiple instruments, a list of said instruments will appear on the screen. If the song players wish to license was written on a guitar, they will need to select the "Guitar" option to reveal the songs that were composed on it. Selecting a song will result in it getting licensed, and the Sim will earn royalties from it for one week, which can be a pretty good way to make money.
The Sims 4 is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.