Making minimum wage as a musician
E_Daily
812 Posts
Friend of mine pointed this out 
This is far from being news. Anyone who's spent some time trying to find out how an artist can make a living (or get flown around to dj gigs with paid hotel rooms) knows its about doing shows, getting endorsement deals, appearing on tv and other venues to say the least.discuss
This is far from being news. Anyone who's spent some time trying to find out how an artist can make a living (or get flown around to dj gigs with paid hotel rooms) knows its about doing shows, getting endorsement deals, appearing on tv and other venues to say the least.discuss
Comments
the discussion in the comments is worth checking.
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Also it depends how you define these different platforms.
Are they to broaden the fanbase and gain more exposure
i.e. something that is now free and was expensive.
Or is it the way you generate income which is now easier, faster and can reach more people at low costs but gives less profit.
The present & future = making quality, non-traditional physical products in small runs and then letting the digital side just be what it is - a fairly steady stream that augments your bottom line.
Eventually all physical products will be raer pressings acting as form of novelty product not available through the big companies.
Which in return will mean, there will be a wave of young people trying to figure out this entire vinyl and cd collecting thing all over again.
Now, for example if you take one of the most common rows on that list in terms of what you'd be selling--digital full albums--and add the label & artist cuts together ($7.23) it would come out that the artist would only have to sell 161 albums to make the wage, instead of the 1,229 that this is claiming.
161 albums a month can still be a lot to an independent small musician, but still, it's a drastically different number than 1,229. We're talking only 1,612 individual downloads vs the 12,399 that this chart claims. that's a hell of lot more manageable.
what i don't get though is why the include a label cut on some examples and not on others...? am i missing something here???
Itunes seems to be the only online portal to take a label cut into consideration.
and hell yeah those comments are on some real laid back sipping tea grown man shit.
I actually imagine two dudes in the mack sweaters typing while balancing their reading glasses on their noses
At the end of the day though, I do a job I pretty much hate and get paid reasonably well for it. If you're going to pursue a career out of the love of the subject then you're in la la land if you go into it for the fortune.
Unless you're an IT geek.
Yeah this makes no sense.
It does seem extreme but a friend told me about a duo we both know who had a million plays during a month - and received very little for it. Spotify is in its startup phase though. It'll be interesting to see if it catches on in other countries the way it has in Sweden, where now basically everybody listens to music through Spotify almost exclusively (except for nerd/niche market people like yours truly).
Yup, that's what it's come to (trying to find the Nite Jewel LP related).
Yeah Spotify is pretty popular round this neck of the woods but I don't know anyone who pays for it - most people just use it in offices etc and suffer the repetitive adverts that come with the free version.
Pretty much, although I know some android/iphone users who pay for it.
I met a med student who actually had programmed a script to turn down the volume on the adverts without stopping the advert (since Spotify stops if you just turn down the volume of your computer).
That's when I truly realised people are willing to do anything except paying for music in '10.
It seems a little misleading in that aren't the payments when on a label net payments; i.e. they have already advertised, etc. whereas CDBaby etc. is just gross income after CD sales? I.E. That would be a true figure if the artist somehow managed to never travel, never advertise, never do anything but sit in his bedroom and make music - period(?)
Also, what artist depends solely on music sales for their income? Isn't the bulk of artists' incomes from merchandise and ticket sales?
This thread is eerily hitting too close to home. Long story short. I hate IT people and I work in IT. Nepotism dominates the good paying IT jobs. No value in my computer skills now that most graduates are leaving school with Computer degrees. They got the papers, I don't regardless of who can get the job done.
I'm trying to become a musician in a time where musicians don't make money. I realize I gotta be broke, and hustle. I'm broke and hustling and it's frustrating because I could easily make more money with a Mcdonalds job.
All I want to do is record music and tour, and the city I currently live in has no options to get me there. So, I gotta beg somebody in LA for help. Meanwhile everybody else in LA is there for the same reason.
The whole situation sucks, but I'm understanding it much better now.
- spidey
If anyone here can help with investments or legal advice. I'd really appreciate it.
- diego
Also, if you are going to look at the different record contract models (i.e. 50-50 deals, recoups etc) or try to hold this graphic to any seveer test you're going nowhere. It's basicly an illustrated approach to a negative opinion.
The discussion in the link paddlissimo posted is def. worth reading if you want to get deeper into it
Take a look at the link I just quoted from earlier in the thread.
If you're smart and use these sites for what each one is good at you may be able to do just what you want.
Of course this means, dreams of big cars, houses and a designer wardrobe does not come with the package. That being said, if you learn how to get your own business plan working, find multiple streams of income that don't take over all your precious time and get as many friends and gigs in the world as you can, you should be on track.
Needless to say that hustle, talent and a realistic stance towards the business are mandatory. Self Motivation combined with good organization will support this.
Looking at a recent post here I think if you look at what Neal & Gabriel from Daptone have achieved through working their asses off, we all have hope. Keep in mind they have Sharon Jones and some incredible pepole around them though.
A team with a dedication like that is a driving force if maintained
Stay frugal, humble, flexible, don't take yourself seriously and wake up everyday ready to work + talent = ok times
there is a music middle class that does just fine.
Got interested reading some of your poasts in an other thread which is escaping me right now
I got caught off guard when we were recently labeled the "most successful independent hip hop duo of all time" but hell, i'll wear that.
Thanks Thes, I'll try to keep that in mind.
- spidey
Super real speak. And you take this thread, cross-pollinate it with the Sharon Jones thread and the Scott Storch thread... Yeah Thes, you the man my dude. And take it from me, it's possible to be "successful" in this business as long as you keep perspective as to what "success" is.
this.
Didn't you have a differnt name on here last time I checked?
I'm so out of the loop here ...
I think we msgd briefly on the mpc forum a while ago.
You deserve that title and yall def put alot of work into it.
Inspiring!
"Brian Peppers?"