I hate to say this , but I have made more money playing in a cover band the last ten years than the best 10 years opening for national acts , playing originals and being a "hired gun" for big acts .......I told you , didn't I ?
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Trigger Warning: Making money as a musician...
- Thread starter Acoustic356
- Start date
Boy is that the truth. Just ask Paul McCartney who finally got the rights to his songs after Michael Jackson died. Or ask John Fogerty who finally got the rights back to the songs he wrote after pursuing them for 50-years.
I made the best and most money in my early 20's. In 1971 at age 21, I signed on with a touring nightclub group known as the "Young Century's". We typically played 2-week stands at each venue playing 4 sets (45 on 15-min. break) 5-nights a week for 50-weeks a year. I did that for 3 years. My pay rate originally started at $425 a week and ended at $650 a week. That's in 1971 - 1973 dollars. Equivalent now would be equivalent to $3140.75 per week starting out now, up to $4803.50 per week the last year I was with them
Expenses weren't too much. Always got a commercial rate on the motel, and of course ate out every day. Although we would sometimes drive 600-miles between venues, we only did that every two weeks. My break even point back then was about $200-$250 per week (equivalent to $1,478-$1,848 per week now). And you know, 1 to 2-week stands were the norm back then typically playing Tuesday through Saturday nights. Now it's 1-night a week and 2-nights a week once in a while. Had a great time making money, making music back then and set enough money aside to pay cash for the hospital and doctor for the birth of my daughter in 1973.
Now days, I've just been happy to earn enough money playing gigs to keep upgrading gear until got back up at the quality of gear I used when I was touring. OK...maybe I got a little carried away in the gear acquisition phase.
Expenses weren't too much. Always got a commercial rate on the motel, and of course ate out every day. Although we would sometimes drive 600-miles between venues, we only did that every two weeks. My break even point back then was about $200-$250 per week (equivalent to $1,478-$1,848 per week now). And you know, 1 to 2-week stands were the norm back then typically playing Tuesday through Saturday nights. Now it's 1-night a week and 2-nights a week once in a while. Had a great time making money, making music back then and set enough money aside to pay cash for the hospital and doctor for the birth of my daughter in 1973.
Now days, I've just been happy to earn enough money playing gigs to keep upgrading gear until got back up at the quality of gear I used when I was touring. OK...maybe I got a little carried away in the gear acquisition phase.
After over forty years designing gear that's used by musicians, I've finally saved up enough that I can afford to be a musician. Being able to take gigs you want, without having money as part of the equation, is a very good thing.
You forgot one, people who live off of the taxes other people pay.
The drummer is 1) a band members kid and 2) would rather be anywhere else at the moment in his life.
Never made a dime playing music, but it has cost me a lot of dimes.
The Wal 4-string I want seems pretty reasonable when you account for how most guys in my neighborhood have toys like motorcycles and fishing boats hanging out in the driveway!
If you think it through, we all do.
Some of the smartest people I’ve met are musicians.
And some of the dumbest people I’ve met are musicians.
Yeah, and some people pay literally no taxes at all and make more money than you or I will ever see or dream about. In the meantime, we all have roads to drive on and bridges to cross, until they fall down from disrepair.
I'm pretty sure that I spent way more on golf equipment and greens fees (when I used to play) than I have on all the basses, amps, cabs, and PA gear that I've bought since I tool up playing bass.
If you are in it for the money, you'll probably be very disappointed.
The Kenny G/Starbucks thing is real. Although I'm sure he would have done just fine without that investment. Dude has sold 75 million albums globally.
Bizarrely, my being a musician has been a big talking point in interviews for every tech job I've had... all of which paid significantly more than I've ever made with music. A lot of soft-skill crap involved in playing music, booking, practicing, etc. is weirdly similar to the type of stuff Agile teams are big proponents of. I have a number of musician friends in the tech space and always make a point to remind them to keep music stuff on their resume.
I didn’t start playing music to become rich and famous, and so far, it’s working out fine.
When I first studied with a Berklee guy the first thing he told me
was "if you want to be a musician get a job to support you're habit".
was "if you want to be a musician get a job to support you're habit".
Just remember what Ronnie Hawkins told a 17 year old Robbie Robertson when he asked him to join his band, “…now I can’t promise to pay you very much money, but you’ll have a lot of fun and you’ll get more p#>>y than Frank Sinatra.”
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