can i live from music?

[Ingratil]

Thanks to all of you replies, its good to have some help from guys who have done this before. I will keep playing and hopefully i will keep enjoying it as much as i have enjoyed it until today, i will take all of your comments in mind for any of my future decisions.

P.S> I LUV Ramen noodles and Fast food, so that is actually an upside for me HAHA.

 

[mr george]

ask yourself,

how many people are on the planet,
then ask yourself how many of them are bassplayers,
then ask yourself how many of those bass players do you know personally,
then ask yourself how many of those bass players get paid,
then ask yourself how many of them can survive on that pay?

this excersise is easy doesn't take very long but what you will find is that 999,999 times out of 1,000,000 the answer to the last question will more than likely be NONE.

i'm 47 and the answer is still none!

listen to your parents

 

[Ingratil]

You can not go wrong with educating yourself on the instrument. At 15, I would get private lessons, and cover things other that how to play the latest song from your most favorite group. To get paying gigs, you will need to be versed in multiple styles -as mentioned above - as well as in reading music and chord charts. If you decide to go the college route, you will then have the foundation you will need to do your auditions for college. A good teacher will know about this preparation process.

At your age, get involved with as many groups as you can at school: jazz band, pit orchestra, even some marching bands have bass players in their Front Ensembles. Do something other than just rock bands. You always hear jokes about bass players that "have no time"...this comes from playing alone, or just one style of music too much. You can't replicate the skills you will learn by playing with other people in different situations anywhere else

The other thing about lessons/college/playing in many different ens. etc is that you will make connections that will elevate you to the next level. You will get gigs with other non-bassist musicians who can be referels to other gigs/buisness opporotunities.

It is up to you to to decide how serious you want to be, and also to define "success". I make a living doing music, but I am not "rich" in the mainstream American way. Most people would say I was poor, but I live in a safe neighborhood, I eat, I have friends, and I get to play every day of my life through teaching and gigs. I redefined "success" and happiness to what I do, not what I have...

Hello, thanks for your response. I am trying to do exactly what you describe here, I take Bass and Guitar lessons 2 times a week (each), and i am currently in 2 bands. And although they dont play my favorite style of music I think i will stay with them atleast for a while just so i can learn as much as i can from other styles of music.

Please check my youtube channel and if you have tips to improve my playing i would really appreciate them, thanks.

 

[fhm555]

Plenty of folks do live from music, but there's a real good reason so many musicians are skinny, and it ain't dope.

My nephew is a couple years older than you and he's changed his mind twice about what he wants to do since he was 15. He's been drumming in marching and jazz band for the last couple years plus playing with his dad and I (and others), whenever we can get together for a good 5 years now. He's a good drummer and says he's going to keep playing when he goes off to college, but he wants to be a biologist so drumming might go on the back burner for a while.

 

[Calebmundy]

Well my perfect situation would be playing at small events, like weddings, reunions etc...

Is that achievable, with a somewhat decent revenue?

Yeah this is definitely possible, and all over the country. I'm in a band right now where the full time members are probably making $12,000 a year on Saturdays playing those kinds of gigs, plus teaching and other local stuff, they so pretty well.

 

[Mike M.]

I know two guys who are "full time musicians." One guy is about 50, plays 3 out of four weekends a month in local bars with his band, hosts (and gets paid for) a local Tuesday night "talent night" at a club and does a solo gig on Thursday nights. He also has a recording studio in his basement and does about a session a week. No benefits, no insurance.....good thing his wife works and has benefits, otherwise they'd have nothing. They also have two kids and while they're not living high on the hog by any means they're doing alright.

The other guy is about 37, teaches on Thursday nights and plays weekends in a band that does weddings and parties. No bar gigs. I talked to him just the other day and he said he'll be real lucky if he makes $35,000 this year. He's single, said money is very, very tight....but he's happy doing what he does.

Both these guys are happy doing what they do. I guess that's all that matters.

 

[Ric5]

Sometimes a career in music is a fast track to poverty.

Only a very few make the big bucks, and some of them die young.

No pension, no 401k, no health benefits, no paid vacation, no minimum wage.

The people who make the most money in the music business do not play or sing or write music.

 

[Ric5]

YouTube - ‪So You Want to Be Musician, Huh?‬‏

 

[jmattbassplaya]

So I'm 15 and have been playing bass for a little less then one year, but I have e big doubt, can I realistically make enough money from bass to live?
and is studying music in the university a good idea? Or should I just keep it as a hobby?

Thanks

In a word - no.

It's too hard of a field to break into and be successful in. Some people manage to do it, but they are the lucky ones. The unlucky ones hopefully got a degree in something like business, engineering, or a field related to the medical industry while pursuing music as a hobby.

 

[FretlessMainly]

Please check my youtube channel and if you have tips to improve my playing i would really appreciate them, thanks.

I'm 47 and have been playing bass (fretted, fretless and double bass) in and out of professional situations since 1980. I'm a scientist by day, but I've also made bass much more than a hobby (although I enjoy it most when it is just a hobby). Based on your youtube viddy, my observations/suggestions are these:

1. You've obviously got some skill, particularly in your right hand, which is good.

2. You've also got decent-sized hands, which can help you, but it can also leave you prone to injury; especially since your fingers are long, but your hands are a bit small in relation to finger length.

3. Stand up when you play. Generally, 99% of rock and roll gig situations involve standing and interacting with the band. It's fine to mess around on the couch and keep your fingers moving, but when really practicing (alone), rehearsing (done with others), or performing, you need to breathe properly and have yourself on top of the instrument, not buried behind it.

4. Lose the coat and any other encumberances when practicing. Also, get your arms up off of the bass and your left thigh. Standing will fix 90% of this. What I saw was someone with some talent and skill coiled into what looked like a comfortable position for relaxing, but one that was not conducive to letting you have freedom on your instrument.

5. I also noticed that while your fingers appear to be fairly long, you really reached with your fingering pinky while the rest of your hand was fairly tightly cramped around the index, middle, and ring fingers. You need to learn to lift your left elbow away from your body to reduce the length that you need to stretch the pinky finger. Try to space out your fingers a bit more so that your left hand is a bit more spread open rather than closed.

Just some thoughts - and I mean them in the most constructive way possible. Different things work for different people, so discuss these with your teacher.

 

[buggy1887]

I make a living from my bass-guitar... But now, I'm thinking of taking college classes, getting a degree, and leaving the bass, in the cabinet...
You can do it, but it's a hard job, and if you decide to do so, always leva a part of the money on the side, make some retirement plan, pay health care, and pension fonds.

I live in Bosnia, a country of 4 million people... and I mannage to do this
If you live in the US or some bigger country, I'm sure you can make it. Alse be prepared to always invest in your gear, because even a good musician can't play if he has a "sh*t" gear... Cheers

 

[Tampabass]

can you live and breathe "from music"? yes.
But will music pay college bills? Pay for mortgage or rent, electricity, cable, phone, clothing, home insurance, health insurance, auto insurance, food, gas? Afford all that plus all that for kids, too, as well as their schooling? Pay for instruments and equipment and upkeep? Maybe, maybe not.

Best advice, so far: If you DO choose music as a profession, go into it with eyes wide open.

Like FretlessMainly (I'm about same age), I play upright, fretted and fretless in a variety of musical situations, and I've been doing so since the '70s. But I've always had a day job, and usually it's been career-oriented. Bass playing is way more than a "hobby" to me but I certainly don't depend on it for my living. I don't really have regrets about how it's all turned out. I like seeing my family. Stability has been a good fit for me.

That said, more power to those who are talented and determined enough to make their livings as musicians. There are enormous personal/artistic/spiritual rewards to be gained by taking that career route.

But, no two ways about it: Going that way DOES mean a lot of sacrifices, particularly if you want a family.

 

[jbednarski]

Be a songwriter (and a bassist). Sting receives approx. $2,000. per day royalties from just the song "Every Breath You Take".

 

[rtslinger]

It has been and can be done! It won't be easy but nothing in life is. If you want it go for it? Shoot for the stars but, always have a plan "B" some other skill to fall back on that you can make a decent living at. You have your whole life ahead of you to make this happen. Good luck

 

[Edgar664]

All you need is love.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

Hello, thanks for your response. I am trying to do exactly what you describe here, I take Bass and Guitar lessons 2 times a week (each), and i am currently in 2 bands. And although they dont play my favorite style of music I think i will stay with them atleast for a while just so i can learn as much as i can from other styles of music.

Please check my youtube channel and if you have tips to improve my playing i would really appreciate them, thanks.

will check out the u-tube thing in a minute, but one other thing I need to say after reading some of the other responses, and that is that you need to make sure YOU create your own definition of success, and not let others, or societies expectations drive it. My biggest mistake when I was younger was trying to live up to the "American Dream" expectations, even though it was never what i wanted. My "American Dream" did not include kids, a house with rooms I don't use, full of toys and otehr crap i don't use; an expensive car etc. Other people were telling me I was wasting my life...and I believed them...untill I figured out that what THEY wanted - and expected - was not what I wanted...and that is ok.

Success is NOT 2.5 kids, a house in the burbs, a college degree, a 5000" flat screen TV, and granite kitchen counter tops...

Success is what will keep you happy on a day to day basis. Success is doing stuff that will keep you from having negativity in your life...

you have time man. Since you are young and don't have the responsibilities of life on your shoulders yet, use the time to develop skills that you won't have the time to later. Lay the technical and physical groundwork now that will propell you to gigs later on when you won't have as much time to do it

 

[fingerbun]

Good to see you thinking about this and asking the right questions.

I'm one of those who did the fulltime thing in my 20's. I am much happier now with a day job and music as a hobby. Friends who stayed fulltime aren't working all that much more than I am, and I have the capacity to generate almost as much as them just from my music, before you consider the day job.

So, a couple of thoughts.

1. If you can do music at college, it may be worth it even if you are part time later in life. I play in an amateur orchestra where the best players have done serious study. The fact that they don't make money from their art doesn't make it wasted.

2. Study a classical musical discipline, even if it's not your thing, because that's where you'll find the most focus on getting great technique, which applies everywhere. Your thing now may not be your thing in 20 years.

3. Do something non-classical, so you don't become someone who can't play unless someone writes the notes out for you.

4. Consider setting aside a period to give music a try, with an exit plan by say age 25 if you find it's not what you want. This works because if you haven't made it big by 25, I reckon you are not going to.

5. The music business is a business. Make sure you are clear about art vs money because you will often have to choose. (One of the benefits of being part time is that you don't have to do stuff you hate, or make do with crap gear). Make sure you understand how money works...balance sheets, profit vs revenue, tax, etc.

6. Make sure you build a wide network of contacts and are friends with all of them. That is how you get the calls.

7. Remember that music is ageist. When I was in my twenties there was a lot of midweek work. I just turned 50 and people my age don't often go out to hear bands mid-week. Twenty year olds don't want to see a 50 yo nobody. Besides, your playing dates you...your roots will always be in the styles you cut your teeth on, and younger guys will always hear the difference when you are an old guy playing younger music. So there'll be less work around when you're older. Plan for it.

8. Consider other ways to make money from music, and the main one seems to be teaching.

9. Don't neglect retirement, which many have mentioned. I am at an age when it becomes real, and my friends in the industry are mostly seriously worried about that, and have realised it is too late to do anything.

 

[JimmyM]

Be a songwriter (and a bassist). Sting receives approx. $2,000. per day royalties from just the song "Every Breath You Take".

And for every Sting, there are a million bass players who don't. There are some who've made it and get big bucks, so it can be done, but the likelihood of doing it big like that is less than your odds of winning the lottery and getting hit by lightning on the same day.

 

[Ric5]

And for every Sting, there are a million bass players who don't. There are some who've made it and get big bucks, so it can be done, but the likelihood of doing it big like that is less than your odds of winning the lottery and getting hit by lightning on the same day.

+1 Well said.

 

[JxBass]

My son just got back last night from a six week gig in Europe. He gets to spend just three weeks with his wife then it's back on the road for twelve weeks in Atlanta. I asked him about his plans beyond that ... he has no idea where he will be or for how long.

Tough life ....