working in music other than a touring musician

[music321]

does anyone here work in the music industry in a capacity other than a touring musician?

Is this line of work even worth considering, or are there extreme barriers to entry, such as outrageous competition, etc.?

 

I guess the types of jobs i'm talking about would be:

1. church organist/cantor

2. school music teacher

3. private instructor (how much do you make per year?)

4. studio musician

 

and other similar positions

[daddymack]

there are other options, like working for a manufacturer of musical instruments, gear, etc., working in the music publishing or licensing arena, etc.

A lot has to do with where you are...location, location, location.

It also sometimes means you may be wearing multiple hats: studio work, instruction and side gigs.

We have several forumites who make their living this way...they will be along eventually...

[Stephen Quinn]

There's teaching and playing events in your local area. But there is often danger of competition from other local musicians. Branching out can reduce the tension of direction from players specifically within your location.

[danosongs]

If you have the patience for it - teaching private lessons is the easiest most lucrative thing to get into. Also - teaching part-time at a school or some sort. I can make $45 an hour around my area.

 

Being a studio musician is ok but even in New York or LA it would be sporadic as is working for churches.

 

I think the key is to have at least three things you specialize in.

 

For instance a guy I know in New York who is full-time non touring - teaches, does gigs and plays in the pits on broadway.

 

In fact every private jazz guitar teacher I had in college also performed locally (tri-state area). But local/regional gigs are usually cover/standard oriented - be it jazz or rock.

[KindredDuo]

I teach private cello lessons in the Buffalo, NY suburbs. I started in 1987 and it's grown since. My wife and I play as a Celtic duo called Kindred and perform in pubs, do concerts, house parties, funerals, weddings, you name it, within a 3 hour radius of home. We've been playing a regular church gig for about 2 years now, and enjoy that. I also play in String Quartets for weddings, and various local orchestra concerts. Last week I started a 1 month run in a pit band for a local professional theater doing "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". I also teach a couple cello courses at the State University about a hour from here (SUNY Fredonia).

 

Last weekend I had 7 different gigs in 3 cities and drove 550 miles total, but slept at home every night.

 

My "carreer" has developed over 20 years. If I was the go-getter type, it might have grown faster, but it mostly just happened. Not one of these jobs could sustain us on it's own, but together they can. There is a built in safety net with not depending on one source of income. Each branch fluctuates, but overall, it's relatively steady. If I were better with money, we'd be WAY better off.

 

The most important thing to do is show up on time and prepared, with a good attitude and willingness to go the extra mile.

[Lee Knight]

I branched into audio at 30 after a stint of 14 years as a performing and recording musician. Audio, the glamorous and unglamorous kind. Guess which one pays the mortgage?

 

But I have a mortgage. I love my life and would not trade it.

 

The key is doing what you're doing. Researching the holes. Not assuming the dream, but still having one as well. I have a recording studio in my home and work on my songwriting projects that are just now starting to look like they might pay off. But that studio also records voice prompts for telephone audio, my specialty. And what will be putting my kid through college...

 

...unless this latest song connects...

[KindredDuo]

I might add that this "career" happened as I was trying to pursue the career I THOUGHT I wanted (full-time orchestral musician). The work at home kept growing to a point where it didn't make sense to try for playing jobs that paid less.

 

Like Lee, I love the life and can't imagine doing the Orchestra thing full-time.

[Dingoist]

I'm a hi-techie now, but I used to work as an advertising creative. Bring my guitar to work to scope out themes/concepts for ad music and then hire out to local musicians and studios to get the work done. Having music background as a player helped on all sides of this, I knew the go to people to get quality work done, and I could do the initial work myself. I had even convinced the company to build a small studio adjacent to their video studio for me (but of course, I left to manage an IT department for way more money though it was a decent gig).

 

Don't rule out the non-standard roles. I got reliable people work to make my music for ads, and I wrote and sketched out advertising music myself, as well knew the players to get it produced. Did I ever perform For these ads myself? No, but I got a relatively decent pay check getting others to do it for me, which they earned some of their living from.

[whytheguitar]

Like others said, definitely have in mind more than one way to make money. This actually makes a music career much safer in some ways than any regular job. If you play it right, it’s possible to have a good life in this field. I’ve been doing music for a living since 2006 (after losing my corporate job in finance) and I'm glad of the life I have now, mostly doing teaching, writing music for films, collaborating on recording/releasing albums with some contacts of mine etc.

 

It’s a lot of work but is rewarding. I actually make about as much now as I did working in finance. Also, there was a discussion on this similar topic awhile back and someone mentioned Tom Hess’s site about music career advice. He has some good articles on this topic.

[tim_7string]

 

I think the key is to have at least three things you specialize in. For instance a guy I know in New York who is full-time non touring - teaches, does gigs and plays in the pits on broadway.

 

 

I do two of the three: teaching and gigs. Neither one is paying nearly enough to quit my day job anytime soon. If I were still single and living extremely frugally, maybe, but even then, I would really have to hustle for students and gigs.

 

Students cancel all the time, so I am now starting to implement a policy that the student is paying to reserve their time slot. If they can't make it, I still get paid, unless it's severe weather, the store is closed for a holiday or some other reason, or one of us is severely ill. Other than that, they can call in, but I'll still get paid. Hopefully, I won't lose most of my students doing it this way, but I'm tired of letting people 'get away' with calling in right before lessons, while I'm already there. I've already cancelled a few students that kept cancelling lessons on me.

 

There are sometimes openings at the music store I teach at, but they are either looking for someone with a music degree, someone extremely young (since they don't pay very much) or both. If they could match my wages at my day job, I'd leave it in a heartbeat.

[scarecrowbob]

 

I'm tired of letting people 'get away' with calling in right before lessons, while I'm already there. I've already cancelled a few students that kept cancelling lessons on me.

 

 

Yah, that sucks.

 

My wife is a full time private violin teacher and does really well at it. She has about 47 students, mostly children.

 

One thing that helped her on this front was to start charging by the semester and giving a discount if you pay for the entire semester at a chunk, though she'll still do monthly payments. People are lot more motivated to show up for lessons that they've paid for, and if they don't it's their call.

 

She still fires students that miss a lot. She's motivate by the teaching more than making $$, and she has enough students and a waiting list, so that's no problem as far as income.

 

Another thing that helps is that for the most part people aren't shopping for teachers based on price, so really you're not competing with the kid who'll do a $20 half-hour lesson.

 

Other than gigs (not a lot), teaching is her only income, but she earns about as much as she was earning as a public school orchestra director.

[tim_7string]

Yah, that sucks. My wife is a full time private violin teacher and does really well at it. She has about 47 students, mostly children. One thing that helped her on this front was to start charging by the semester and giving a discount if you pay for the entire semester at a chunk, though she'll still do monthly payments. People are lot more motivated to show up for lessons that they've paid for, and if they don't it's their call. She still fires students that miss a lot. She's motivate by the teaching more than making $$, and she has enough students and a waiting list, so that's no problem as far as income. Another thing that helps is that for the most part people aren't shopping for teachers based on price, so really you're not competing with the kid who'll do a $20 half-hour lesson. Other than gigs (not a lot), teaching is her only income, but she earns about as much as she was earning as a public school orchestra director.

 

Things worked out really well when I first started teaching there. I was paid directly by the student or parent of the student. I would charge by the month, in advance. If there were five mondays that month (for example), they would pay five lessons. If it was just four, then they'd pay four. I *rarely* had a problem with payment this way. If they missed and never notified me, I took it out of their pay. If they called, I left it up to my discretion whether or not if I would charge them. They would usually show up, because they already paid for the lessons. It was only after the store switched to putting me on the payroll and they bill the customers that there were problems. There are many times where the customer will dispute the lessons that were missed and say they needed to be credited and shouldn't be charged. Even though the agreement they sign states that I will be paid anyway, I think some still argue about it.

 

I would like to just teach out of my home and get paid directly again, but it seems like most students prefer to go to a music store. They probably think it's safer (lots of people around) and more professional. Some students come from towns in the surrounding area as far as 40 miles away. The store has been around for over 100 years, so it has a good name in the community.

 

It could just be that I'm not a very good teacher, which is why I can't maintain a solid base of students. I only have two very steady students right now (as in, almost never miss). Can't make a living like that!

[KindredDuo]

Hey Tim,

 

I charge by the month in advance like you did. The only difference is it's ALWAYS same regardless if there are 4 or 5 weeks (sometimes there are three). It works out evenly over the course of a year. I know a guy that does it by the semester, but I have too many times I have to cancel to make that work for me. I don't go through a store or any other school, so I deal with the parents directly. Most are great, some reschedule but always pay, and some just don't seem to get the concept.

 

I teach cello, by the way. I think guitar students might be a harder group to keep for long term. I imagine that once some kids learn 3 and a half chords and a pentatonic scale, they're off to the races (even though they need more than that).

[tim_7string]

It would be nice to maintain a group of students for the entire year. However, most of them take the summers off, due to other activities their parents schedule for them.

 

I think once I move into a larger home where I can have a room specifically for music instruction and band practice, I might just go the direct route. But since I just got myself a newer vehicle I'm making payments on, that might be a few years down the road.

 

Having a few students that stayed with me for 2-3 years has been nice. I wish there were more like that.

[Napoli Stiletto]

There are dozen of profession in the music business,

 

composer, in production, in musicals, recording engineer, tour management, marketing, publishing, sound editor, movie soundtrack mixer, in music administration, sync, musical theater, opera houses, copyist, roadie, live engineer, truck driver, in artist management, tour agencies, primary school teacher...