We had a rehearsal space in the basement where we all traded off nights to rehearse (priority based on whose show was coming up the quickest of course).
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Gabe and I lived together for 3 years in a musicians house of 6 dudes in Minneapolis. Pre-order his new album Calling Off The Dogs: That doesn’t happen for everyone, so often, it’ll be up to you to handle what needs to be handled. Be willing to work hard and grow your project some people get lucky and find talented, hard working advocates who want to assist them. Don’t be afraid to step out and represent yourself. Produce your own records, write your own songs, have a clear cut vision of who you are and what you want to become.
MUSICIANS WHO HAVE DONE TIME HOW TO
Your best bet early in your career is to learn how to be self sufficient. Tell as much (or as little) of your story as you’d like or just give some wise words to live by. Here’s your sounding board! Tell people how someone can make a living in music. What else do you do (non-musically) that brings in income?
![musicians who have done time musicians who have done time](https://www.timeoutbahrain.com/public/images/2020/10/21/Bahrain-International-Music-Festival.jpg)
I built my career by interacting with my fans online my online followers turned into a real show-going, honest to goodness worldwide following. I use the internet to interact directly with my fans that’s obviously a big difference between what you could do before social networking. How have you used the internet/new music industry to help with your music career? Register all the songs with BMI, make sure Sound Exchange knows you’re there, check that the music is available for sale and streaming on all the sites that people use…all of that. I make it a point to do everything that’s readily available. What other avenues do you pursue musically that bring in income? Anything and everything. I also have a band called The District with my best friends from college, but that, I do for fun. I did have a record deal with Universal Republic they released two singles for me in 2009 and I got out of my deal in early 2010. I do not currently have a record deal or a pub deal. “I do not currently have a record deal or a pub deal.”ĭo you have a record deal or publishing deal? Have you ever? Finally, I get some songwriting royalties for my work with other artists. There is some of my sheet music on so they pay quarterly. I also sell t-shirts, CDs, vinyl, sweatshirts, handwritten lyrics, posters, bracelets, and other things on my website (and at shows). What are the top 5 income sources you make from music:īMI royalties pop in there some quarters, depending on what kind of licenses I’ve had come up. How long has music been your primary source of income?Ībout how much did you make from music last year (or your best year the past 5 years) $20,000-35,000, $35,000-50,000, $50,000-75,000, $100,000+? You’ll learn something new from every one of these incredible musicians.) (Some of their “words of wisdom” are long, but I left them that way because I felt they are the most important parts of this piece. If you take one thing from this, it should be that it IS possible to make a living as a musician: you just have to get crafty, be smart, and above all, work your ass off! It’s not all a straight line trajectory from A to B. They adapted and figured out how they could use their talents to make a living. All of these musicians figured out what worked (and what didn’t). These guys (and gals) are making it work! The biggest takeaway is that there is no one way to succeed.
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I specifically did not ask those currently on a label to showcase how DIYers can do it. I asked a few friends (and a some Twitter acquaintances) who make good (sure, subjective) livings as musicians and how they do it. We hear so much doom and gloom today from people screaming that the music industry is dying and there’s no money in music.