How do musicians make money?

[old_music_prnt]

Studio musicians used to make a decent living, there was one group of them, the Wrecking crew in LA, that were legendary. Likewise, the session musicians who did movie work made a pretty decent living. They still exist, but between synthesizers and offshoring soundtrack work to places like Eastern Europe, it isn’t the same as it used to be, in LA there is a small group of musicians who do film work , and it is like a guild, when someone retires a student of theirs takes over. There have been a lot of working musicians who make a living out of gig work, filling in at theaters or with orchestras, weddings, other kind of events plus teaching.

It is why schools teach entrepeneurship and talk about ways to make a living . In Chamber music the goal for many groups is to became the group in residence at a school, where they teach (and get benefits) to use as a base for touring. I am sure there is a lot of other ways out there to make a living as a musician. And obviously, there is still if you get lucky enough to hook on with a decent full time orchestra, that route, where you have salary and benefits, and then you also can teach, do gig work of various sorts, etc. The problem is the number of full time orchestras has declined, and the competition is much, much stronger than it ever was.

[jazzpianodad]

It is good to be clear-eyed about how difficult a music career is, particularly the challenges of trying to get off the ground at the outset. (One of many reasons it’s so important to graduate with as little debt as possible if you want to try to make a career in music.) But there’s nothing else that could fill my son with the kind of joy he feels when he is playing music with great musicians for appreciative audiences. Or even when he is playing music with great musicians on a background gig - nicer to have an appreciative and attentive audience, but he loves the music regardless.

If that describes you/your child, then my recommendation is to go for it. If it doesn’t, then it may be better to pursue a different career - music can still be part of your life but without the pressure of trying to make a living from it. Of course, as others have often pointed out on this board, you can pursue a non-music career after getting a music degree, so there’s time to make that decision down the road.

[bridgenail]

For any new parents reading this remember: your kid is getting a college degree.

That was good enough for me, as a parent. Since I had a liberal arts degree…and somehow made it in life…I figured my kid would make it somehow with a music degree. I wasn’t so concerned if she would make it in music/performance or not (I guess I thought that there was a good chance for not…and then she’d have to go get an entry level job somewhere). I just wanted her to get a college degree…the area of study never concerned me too much (it seemed to concern some nosy frenemies a great deal however…that was annoying!).

Being a performer cast pretty regularly in her community along with teaching affords her a decent lifestyle (a home with her boyfriend, a car, some vacations) so it’s all good. She’s not bringing home the big bucks but none of her colleagues are either. I think that she feels fairly comfortable. She does get a fair amount of rejection sometimes. So that’s hard. It seems to run hot and cold. But she’s learned to deal with that and still find enough work.

I will say that she LOVES being part of a creative community. It brings her so much JOY. She has a great network to collaborate with, socialize with and is called often for work. And she teaches in the community too. So she absolutely loves it (except during a sting of rejections…lol). Music performance has been very rewarding for her…so far. And if that ever changes…she can go interview for some type of work. She’ll figure it out.

[jazzpianodad]

There’s something about the excitement (albeit with angst) of the music school admissions process that brings me back here to check in on the next generation this time of year. I also like to provide reassurance that it is still possible to make a career in music even if it is a difficult path. One thing I would suggest to anyone heading into a music program is to look for some courses on the business of music. Many schools now offer them, and if they don’t, they should. This thread hopefully has some utility in describing various ways musicians make money, but schools should be offering comprehensive guidance. And students should be thinking about the question while they’re still in school.

[old_music_prnt]

A lot of schools now offer such things, on entrepeneurship, building a career, networking, etc and yes they are worthwhile IMO. My son’s group had artists management that stressed the business side, about social media and other ways to build your career.

Some schools, like Rice, are oriented around orchestra performance and if you are interested in going into orchestra, some of the teachers there (I am talking violin here), as part of the atudy have you work on preparing exercepts, doing mock auditions, and actually going on auditions with real orchestras.

There are a variety of ways. The route of getting into a top level orchestra and making that a career is there, but it is difficult, even more so than past years when it wasn’t easy. Even gig work, that a lot of people put together a career, is a lot more difficult, because there is a lot of competition and things like pit orchestras in theaters and the like have diminished. Some people create new kinds of opportunities, new kinds of performance groups, others do teaching or work in arts administration.

It isn’t easy, it takes a lot of things, hard work, dedication, a thick skin, an active personality , it takes having support when trying to establish themselves (which can be emotional and/or financial, music can be a long apprenticeship, for the most part you don’t come out of conservatory and be successful musician right away, careers if you are talking performance ensemble work, solo, orchestra generally takes a long time to build, to where they are self sustaining. Yeah, you hear stories of young kids coming out of a conservatory who win a job with let’s say the Philadelphia orchestra,but it is rare.

In other words, overnight successes are rare (heck, that is true in all forms of music, ‘overnight success’ in rock or pop music is pretty rare too.

It certainly isn’t for someone looking for a guaranteed anything. Luck also plays a role, you hit the right circumstances, at a key time when the musician is surging a musician retires from an orchestra and they get a job, they run across a chamber group where a member is leaving and they get in, it happens.

[bridgenail]

I remember my D going to a “theater workshop” given by performers when she was in middle school (20 years ago). I remember the joke: what can feed a family of 4 better than an actor? A pizza!

I’m more surprised/concerned when people (still!) think that you get a performance degree…and then some type of job…with maybe a salary and benefits. We were told many, many times that it will be tough to make a living. And, it would mainly be gig work with a survival job.

I went to an MT parent’s event at IU (during my kid’s audition for both VP and MT) and they told all the parents how dismal the chances were to make a living…and how low the pay was if you got hired. I remember thinking…can I raise my hand and ask them to reject my kid…or would that be inappropriate? My goodness…what were we all thinking!

My D and I were told this…repeatedly…throughout the process. Maybe it’s different for classical instrumentalists. But I’m surprised that people even expect a “stable job” anymore (unless you are a unicorn…which there are a few of course). That is why I always focused on…it’s a college degree…and she can do an entry level job with that.

My D’s holiday show had an IG post on each performer…that listed their other jobs with contact info. I think that the theater does this to help promote their other work…so they can keep performing. The assumption is…you do other work as a performer. The listings included:

Voice teacher - my D
Realtor - my D and her boyfriend bought their house using a performer/realtor
Graphic designer
Booking agent for one of the primary music venues
Grant writer
Yoga teacher
And…that’s what I can remember

Also a woman from her UG studio who got a 2 year YAP opera assignment after college (which is not easy…and means you are doing very well…my D only got a 4 month YAP…and even that’s difficult!) has had an interesting path. She is now working in Development at an mid-sized opera company and was chosen to go to NYC for a workshop with other “up and coming” talent for opera development (I saw the IG postings just last week). She’s in her mid-30s…and definitely more vocally talented than my D…but she didn’t like the entrepreneurial aspect or the travel. I know that she has a BM and MM from IU (with no arts management background, I think). But she has been in the community and helping with smaller operas/vocalists in grant writing…so I think she has a pretty good “job with benefits” now. I would guess she is very happy with her progression in the arts. Maybe not something she thought about at 18 (I know my D didn’t think about teaching) but you do grow and change over time…and find your way in a creative field…which is pretty cool work!

I hope that this is helpful!!

[jazzpianodad]

First of all, congratulations on all the admissions results! It’s alway wonderful to see so many talented young musicians starting the next step of their musical journey. And for those who didn’t get their top choice, know that there is no one right school for you. There are so many different places where you can continue to develop musically and thrive, and you will find your path if you approach it with a good attitude.

Second, on the subject of how do musicians make money, I ran across an online interview my son did recently, and thought this Q&A might be of interest (it’s long so I’ll split it into two posts):

Q: Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

A: When I was a young musician in high school and college, I attended a number of masterclasses from older musicians who were very jaded about the music industry and the financial options available to them. At that point in time, there was a paradigm shift happening in the music industry. In the wake of streaming services like Spotify rising in popularity, royalties from recordings, which had been a big part of a musician’s living over the past 50 years, were now no longer a source of income. The musicians who were in their prime then were the first generation to not have this income source available. But they looked to their teachers and mentors who had told them that this would be a reliable money stream for them, and they felt a lot of resentment, which was then communicated to the younger generation that they were now teaching.

Because of this, I went into my music career not expecting much in terms of compensation. I figured I could always supplement my performing income with teaching and other music-related employment that wasn’t performing. But today, I find myself in a place where I can actually support myself 100% off my performing income. And not only that, I’m able to accept only the work that I find creatively fulfilling, and turn down offers that wouldn’t be rewarding musically. Because of this, when I teach workshops at colleges, I always try to communicate to the students: it is difficult and you really have to love what you do, but it is possible to earn a full-time living from your creative work, and in fact, many people are finding ways to do it.

It took a number of years to get to the point I’m at now. When I was first starting my musical journey, I took every gig that was offered, and I taught a full schedule of students every week. I also did work making sheet music for singers, transcribing charts for people and accompanying for classes. On the side, I made an effort to meet new musicians by playing sessions for fun and going out to concerts. I live in New York City, an epicenter for jazz where there are always new musicians moving in and out, and there are so many different subsets of the jazz scene to explore. So the opportunities were endless in terms of learning new music and being pushed creatively. Over the years, this has led to incredible collaborations with so many beautiful musicians.

[jazzpianodad]

Through this journey I’ve had a few insights about what can help foster a successful and financially viable music career. Below are a few key points:

1. Understand what you love doing the most – I spent a lot of time trying to learn music that I didn’t feel strongly about because I felt like I should know it or that it would help me get gigs. I think some of that was very useful and taught me a lot, but I also realized that there are plenty of opportunities to play the music that I really believed in, whether that was various world music genres, video game music, Broadway tunes and movie soundtracks interpreted through jazz, etc. When you play the music you love the most, you present the best version of yourself forward to the world. And at the end of the day, you have to be at a high level to have a successful music career, and it’s easier to get to that high level at something you really love.

2. Make yourself unique – there are thousands of incredible jazz pianists in New York. The ones I see who are the most successful have some kind of skill set that really sets them apart. Maybe they are an expert in stride piano and ragtime, or they have a strong gospel foundation that they bring to jazz, or they really understand Latin music on a deep level. Maybe they’ve invested time in learning how to program synths and keyboards, and have computer interface knowledge that allows them to fill a music director role. Maybe they are great arrangers and orchestrators who can help a singer realize a concept album. Personally, when I became serious about the accordion as a second instrument, the quality of my opportunities increased significantly.

3. Be professional and helpful in any situation – this one goes without saying, but also I’ve seen so many excellent musicians not get opportunities because bandleaders didn’t trust them to show up on time and know the music, or because they have a bad attitude.

4. Create your own opportunities – when I started booking my own tours and broadcasting that I was traveling with a band, all of a sudden many other bands started calling me to do touring work with their bands. People who are self-starting in this way will not only benefit from the opportunities they create for themselves, but also the perception that they are high-level working professionals.