Weekly Studio Update - Making Money as a Musician - 09/12/19

Over the weekend I attended my wife's work Christmas party and had a great conversation with one of her colleagues - a designer who also has a history as a musician. As we traded 'war' stories about various gigs we'd played, the trials and tribulations of loading in gear before soundcheck and loading it back out 7 hours later once the show had been played, and the dream of walking on to a stage to play without any setup required, we reflected on what music had given back to us in the worst possible metric - money.

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It's a cruel truth that it's incredibly difficult to earn a living as a performing original musician. There are plenty of reasons why, for example:

• It can cost a lot to equip yourself with professional quality instruments
• It can cost a lot to hire rehearsal spaces
• It can cost a lot to do professional recording
• You often don't get paid very well for your time
• People often expect that music comes for free

For instance, a solo performance of original songs at a bar might net you between $100 to $300 for a 30 minute to 90 minute set. On paper, that looks like a decent hourly rate, but that doesn't factor in all the unpaid time time (practising, promoting, driving, lugging, soundcheck) which is hours more work. To make matters worse, many venues enforce a policy on original bands that stipulates that they can't play anywhere else in the same city for a couple of weeks either side of that gig. I could go on and on about this issue, so if you want a rant, just prod me in your next lesson.
There is good news.​
It is absolutely possible to earn a living playing music if that's what you would like to do. And the way to do it is simple - work hard and be versatile. I have a few friends in Brisbane who play two or three shows a week - one show might be a solo set doing covers on an afternoon at a bar, one show might be a blues jam for a few hours at a different bar that night, the next day might be a show with a different covers band, while also playing the occasional show promoting their own original songs with their own band. It usually means lots of late nights and lots of weekend work, but if you love it, you love it.
That versatility is key. To be able to comfortably slot in to multiple genres and situations and feel comfortable makes you far more employable as a musician than someone who can only do one thing.
If your dream is to earn a living making music or performing music, I'll be happy to have an honest chat with you about the career opportunities that there are, and how best to prepare for those, whether as a performer, educator, recording technician, repairer, retailer or promoter. I'm not going to give you false promises, just the cold hard facts.
If you want it, you'll have to work hard for it.
And for those of you who simply love playing music as a hobby - congratulations, it's a wonderful hobby to have, and I'm very happy to have you learning from me.

Things I've been watching/listening to this week:

1. Harry Styles - Adore You (Official Video) - I watched a lot of new music videos over the weekend, and this was the standout. Okay song, great video!
2. VULFPECK /// Back Pocket (Live at Madison Square Garden) - I'm very excited for the full concert of this show to be released on YouTube tomorrow!
3. What key is Sweet Home Alabama in? - a deep dive in to a song that has two tonal centres.
4. Carly Rae Jepsen: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - I love CRJ's albums, so I was curious to see how the songs would be when stripped down.
5. Episode 10 of Hook Club went live last Friday night, with special guest Jen Boyce from Ball Park Music joining us to chat about the Blondie classic "Heart of Glass"