This is a business where art and commerce coexist, but are often at odds with each other. You will need do decide where you want your career to lead and what, if any, compromises you will need to make in order to survive, raise a family, and then accumulate enough of a nest egg to retire. Many musicians live for the moment because much of the reason we pursue music is to be in as many of those pleasurable, or rewarding moments as possible. Too often young musicians embark on a career very idealistically; planning only to involve themselves in the most purely creative activities, but find the music marketplace is a very different world. For the dedicated, small group jazz musician, the world holds out one or two jazz gigs a week, paying about $65-$100 each. What else will you do? You can teach 40 students for $25 per half hour lesson, for a weekly income of about $1,200. After we take Social Security and Self Employment Tax out of that we have just under $800 per week. Pay rent, car and health insurance, buy groceries and believe it or not, it’s just about doable, but doable for how long?
Each year I hear from musicians in their 30’s and 40’s who have lived the life described above for 10 or 20 years, and realize they are no farther along the career path than when they started. They want to return to school, earn a Masters degree, and win a college job. Good luck.
I received a call the other day from a small school in Minnesota where the music department was interviewing candidates for an instrumental position. A colleague had used me as a reference and I was interviewed over the phone heaping praise on this individual, who had recently completed a doctorate and was an outstanding performer and teacher. At the end of the interview, the representative from the school hinted that they were very likely to award the position to my colleague. Out of curiosity I asked where the school was located. “Oh, we’re about two and a half hours east of Fargo, and about the same distance from Duluth.” The interviewer said.
I believed at the time that I had just helped someone win a job in Hell, but what I did not see was that although this may not have been an ideal location for a career, it was a start. Many times I have seen students or colleagues turn down an opportunity because it wasn’t absolutely perfect.
Look ahead, visualize your career, and research your options. Do they add up to a livable scenario? I get students all the time that say they want to be “studio musicians.” This idea is a myth. As professional musician, some of my work is in recording studios, but very few players count this as the bulk of their income.
Creativity in The Marketplace
A good friend of mine won a fairly attractive teaching position in the Bay area of California many years, besting several other highly qualified candidates. The job he interviewed for was that of a music technology specialist, was highly technical in nature, and involved purchasing and seeing to the maintenance of all music technology equipment. This individual was very smart, extremely articulate, and supremely confident. When asked how he won this position for which he was clearly not the most qualified candidate. He replied, “Like anybody else gets a gig, I lied.”
The moral to this story is to stretch your limits, accept huge challenges, and then work like a fiend to grow into them. My friend is still at the school where he won the job, has a very successful program, and respected by his peers. The person he lied to was himself. He knew he wasn’t qualified, but he knew how fast he could grow.