It really all depends on how one defines "rich." I used the word "clueless" in tandem with rich, but that qualifier wasn't enough to communicate the kind of rich people I was talking about. The "rich" kids that you describe where "it's just money to them" do not go to music school. To a truly rich family (minimum assets of $5 million), even if a music student becomes a successful musician, their profession is part of the servant class, and would be taking themselves several steps down the social ladder.
I'm talking about the clueless rich, the ones who think they are rich when they are not. According to Gallup, the public's definition of "rich" was an annual income of $120,000. Furthermore, 51% of 18 to 29-year-olds surveyed believed that they would be rich someday. So I'm really talking about kids from the segments of the middle class who think they are rich or believe they will be rich someday. In other words, clueless rich kids. And these are the ones that end up (many through onerous student loans) keeping the music schools running. You can't dissuade these kids. Despite all of the data that is out there (which all point to the same thing, only about 5-10% of music majors will actually have the music career that they envisioned for themselves), almost every one of the kids in music schools think they will be one of the 5-10% that will make it and that it is everyone else that will not. That is, of course, impossible. Not everyone can or will succeed in the insanely competitive music profession. Yet, the clueless kids whose parents have just enough resources, will go for it.
Back to the original post. There is a threshold of financial comfort, and it is different for every person. A young musician needs to first recognize that the threshold exists and then figure out where it is for them. In other words, they really need to plan how much money they can truly spend on an education and how much debt they can truly incur. And finally, once they get out of music school, they need to figure out how much money they really need to live on to be a musician. I'm amazed at how few music students have actually given this any thought. I suppose they all think they they are the anointed ones--the same clueless kids who think they are "rich."
