Well that explains everything! How much do musicians earn?

[jaxson50]

Think you'll make big money playing music?

http://www.theroot.com/views/how-much-do-you-musicians-really-make?GT1=38002

[ChanMan]

Well, no, actually.

 

I'd say it's pretty apparent by now that I am certainly not going to make big money as a musician.

 

**eta**

However, nice breakdown of the money and explanation of who all does/gets what.

 

 

The record advance. The few bands I've known who got signed were killed by this. Makes you really appreciate folks who go through that process repeatedly trying to break big.

[jaxson50]

Well' date=' no, actually.

 

I'd say it's pretty apparent by now that I am certainly not going to make big money as a musician.

 

+1 and then some......

[Robin Nahum]

I feel especially sorry for those folks who have gone to music school and/or have serious talent and are trying to make a living from their music. I suspect that many such musicians make their living largely from lessons.

 

And once you know how hard it is to make a living as a musician, it certainly disposes you more kindly to those who "sell out".

 

RN

[Kimbabig]

It won't take much to go over my current salary... which is nothing

[pete c]

the most ive ever got paid was free beer and bbq

[Thundergod]

I used to make a nice income by playing, but at the time I lived at my folks home and all expenses were covered, these days I wouldn't count on live playing to pay the bills.

 

Robin Nahum got it right, most of us folks move to teaching sooner or later (I did, and I like it for various reasons).

[DanvillRob]

the most ive ever got paid was free beer and bbq

 

Back in the 60's I was signed with "Go-Teen Productions". They bought some of the gear we used, but not much. They did buy us a van to haul our stuff around.

 

I got a paycheck from them twice a month. It was like $150, (then start deducting stuff). I also worked in a music store. I made $1.75/hour, (then start deducting stuff). I also gave guitar lessons. At the most I had 5 students, and was making like $3.00 for 1/2 hour lesson, (no deductions). All in all, I was rollin' in dough back then. I owned the only car in my family.

 

Different times...but GOOD times!

[Artie Owl]

My guitar teacher told me if I play one paid gig I can write off all my lessons tax wise. Other than that no I don't have any expectations of music and finances. I just get goosebumbly when I play in a musical group and it all comes together, it's a good feeling.

[ChanMan]

My guitar teacher told me if I play one paid gig I can write off all my lessons tax wise. Other than that no I don't have any expectations of music and finances. I just get goosebumbly when I play in a musical group and it all comes together' date=' it's a good feeling. [/quote']

 

 

For me, this is the proper motivation... let the money take care of itself, and play for the rush

[Artie Owl]

For me' date=' this is the proper motivation... let the money take care of itself, and play for the rush [/quote']

Agreed +1

[crazyhair]

For me, every time I pick up my guitar is like having a payed vacation. I can escape and tune out the world while traveling the world! No amount of money brings me the happiness and change in my life since discovering the guitar. We are artist by choice not by monitory value! Are you going to quit playing because you are not getting paid! Not me!

[RS1976]

I've played music for weddings, corporate events. And the money is quite good. I live in a nice city that is considered a destination. Anyhow, there is money out there, I've gotten plenty of it. The bad news of it is... I'm playing music at weddings and corporate events....

[Silenced Fred]

My goal is to be able to have my expenses for playing the music covered (ie guitars, amps, travel, etc) If I make money, that'd be sweet, I just don't want to lose too much on it. Hopefully I can start some gigs soon, maybe some open mic nights and stuff just see how it goes

[ChanMan]

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever pocketed money from a show. We typically put everything we made back into the band.... lights, PA, rehearsal rooms, etc.

 

That would be kinda depressing if I hadn't had so much fun

[Big Bill]

The most I ever got out gigginh was enough money to cover the band's expenses and the purchase of gear like PA systems, monitors and lighting. We were not into to it for making a living, however we didn't have to sink as much of our own money into it. We pretty much broke even.

 

Then one of the guys developed a gambling problem and started pawning our gear to play Black Jack in Atlantic City. A pound of flesh doesn't get the gear back.

[Kimbabig]

My goal is to be able to have my expenses for playing the music covered (ie guitars' date=' amps, travel, etc) If I make money, that'd be sweet, I just don't want to lose too much on it. Hopefully I can start some gigs soon, maybe some open mic nights and stuff just see how it goes[/quote']

 

Im still a couple thousand bucks down.

[Notes_Norton]

I've been a pro musician all my life. I would have made a lot more money if I had pursued the electronics career that was open to me, but music is not what I do, it's what I am. All my electronics day gigs didn't satisfy my soul.

 

Am I rich? No. Am I happy? Yes.

 

I live in a modest house on a half acre in a great neighborhood, about 200 feet from the east coast of the mainland of Florida. I buy new mini-vans but drive them until they have a couple of hundred thousand miles on them or cost more in repairs than they are worth. I can't get laid off because I'm self-employed, but I always have to look for new gigs. On the other hand 90% of our gigs are due to repeat business. I have no health insurance, no paid vacations, no sick leave, no employer contributed retirement plan and none of the other benefits a corporate worker has. But I wouldn't trade my life for yours.

 

I wake up in the morning, and if it is a gig day, instead of saying "I have to go to work today" I say "I GET to go to work today" and I am excited about going to work. I absolutely love my job and it is one of the high points of my day.

 

I'm approaching senior-citizenship and if I had to do it all over again, I'd be a musician again.

 

Long ago I was in a band that was being courted by Motown. We warmed up for Motown acts and were Berry Gordy's first choice. However, our manager hired lawyers to negotiate, with instructions to make sure we weren't exploited in the process and would be left with some money in our hands. That never happened and one day Motown just quit talking to us and hired their second choice, the Sunliners who eventually became Rare Earth.

 

They wanted to pay us less than 2 cents per record, and would take the recording costs and promotion money out of our royalties before we ever saw one red cent.

 

I was 19 years old then. I'm still playing music. I've played in bars, supper clubs, cruise ships, 5 star hotels, yacht clubs, country clubs, animal clubs (Elk's Moose and other lodges), private parties in most US states and a few foreign countries all the way from home in Florida to the People's Republic of China. I've also appeared on MTV, ABC, CBS, NBC and the BBC.

 

There is only one thing that I like to do more than play music, and since this is a family-oriented forum, I can't tell you what that is ;-) And I get to play music with my best friend/lover/musical partner, we have a great time, people dance and applaud us every few minutes, and at the end of the night thank us for providing them with a good time and give us money. Life is grand. Even as a small-time musician who tasted but never quite made the big-time. http://www.s-cats.com

 

I started making my own sequences and styles for the auto-accompaniment program, Band-in-a-Box, put them up for sale, and now am known to musicians all over the world and have musicians in over 100 different countries buying my music snippets in the form of styles for Band-in-a-Box and Microsoft Songsmith. Again, that doesn't make me rich, because the money I make has to be shared with a new group of "silent partners", web host, shopping cart company, Visa/MC authorization company, Visa/MC merchant's account, business bank, telephone company, insurance company, and host of other minor players. But it's still OK because I'm still paying the mortgage. That's better than a lot of those unfortunate downsized casualties.

 

Being a musician is definitely not for everyone. But it is for me.

 

I've always prized experiences above possessions, and my life continues to be full of good experiences. My philosophy is this: Life is a journey, not a destination, so I choose to take the scenic route.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ?

[DanvillRob]

Being a musician is definitely not for everyone. But it is for me.

 

I've always prized experiences above possessions' date=' and my life continues to be full of good experiences. My philosophy is this: Life is a journey, not a destination, so I choose to take the scenic route.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ?[/quote']

 

Bob, GREAT story! Thanks for sharing. Congratz for living life on your own terms!

[Robin Nahum]

My guitar teacher told me if I play one paid gig I can write off all my lessons tax wise.

 

And the depreciation on your high end Les Pauls and vintage amps - plus of course you might need to pay tax on any capital gain you make on selling them.

 

Nice idea but if tax policy in Canada is anything like that in Australia, I suspect you'll find on closer examination that "one paid gig" is regarded by the taxation department as a hobby rather than an income for tax purposes. You should feel free not to declare the earnings in good conscience because the taxation department certainly isn't going to allow deductions on lessons and gear on the basis of it.

 

In Australia, before you can start claiming for instruments and lessons, you need to be able to show that you rely "substantially" on music for your income. Typical evidence is regular paying gigs or teaching, and that your domestic budgetting assumes that you will have income from your music.

 

RN

[milod]

There are so many variables here...

 

Teaching music in public schools - done in my region although I understand not everywhere in the US - is one way I've seen some folks combine a music career with gigging. With a summer "off" in a tourism area, there's some money to be made with a bit of effort.

 

I played quite a bit for money in the 60s and 70s. It was great fun, but I felt pretty good when it paid for equipment and expenses. At one or two points I think I was a phone call or two away from heading out to the road. I dunno. I think I'm lucky I didn't, given the way it would have gone.

 

Notes and some friends of mine are doing fairly well since they've learned how to see the music business as just that, a "small business" where there's selling and service involved.

 

Another route for good "classical" musicians is the symphony route, but that is pretty rough, too.

 

Part of the problem is figuring a music style that, as one pro friend of mine puts it, sells whiskey in a given area or circuit, then being businesslike. Guys like Notes and these "area entertainer" friends get a lot of repeat business because they are businessmen and professional entertainers, not guitar heroes.

 

m

[jaxson50]

It just doesn't seem fair that agents and record labels should make more off the artist than the artist does...I guess that's that way it always is. Although I doubt Lawyer's and agents would like it if we turned the tables on them. But maybe we should, it seems that cutting the pie into thirds would be better for everyone.

[EVOL!]

I didn't read everyone's comments or that article because it is all too depressing. Back in the 80s and early 90s the way a lot of you-won't-hear-us-on-the-radio bands (think Uncle Tupelo, Hüsker Dü, Butthole Surfers, etc) made money and were able to stay afloat was touring. Making records before the advent of home recording was *expensive* so not a lot of albums were made. Guided By Voices made it work with killer, 4trk cassette low-fi albums and did alright. My point? You were lucky to break even making albums, even on the cheap, but could eat and keep you head above water by touring heavy.

 

That has all changed, again and it breaks my heart.

 

Everyone should read this heads up editorial too - http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

[Daryl M]

I toured full time for several years and I made a decent living. Well, decent in that it was comparable to what I'd make at a 'day job'. I never felt like I was playing for the money, though. I just needed the money so I could keep playing.

 

I think sucess is whatever you define it as. Some define it based on how much money they make, or where their record charts, or what kind of car they can drive. For me, success is never waking up, hitting the alarm clock and dreading the day ahead. I loved the road, but I love what I do now, too.

 

The only career advice I've given my children is, "Find what you love to do, and find a way to make a living with it."

[EVOL!]

The only career advice I've given my children is' date=' "Find what you love to do, and find a way to make a living with it." [/quote']

 

 

Amen to that. Wish I had followed those words of wisdom.