photo by Phil Campbell
Part 3 of this series is about all the different jobs you can do in music. I'm sure there are a few I've missed, but these were the ones that came to mind quickly. They are listed in no particular order. Also, if you haven't done so, please check out Part 1 and Part 2 of How To Quit the Job You Hate and Do Music Instead.
GIGS- Gigs are the most obvious music jobs, and they are probably what most of us first dreamed of doing. I know I used to have long, drawn-out fantasies about being the next Oscar Peterson. I remember discussing life and music on a gig once when I was about 25. At some point, the rest of the guys in the band who were older than me started to laugh and say, "He still believes." This wasn't said mean-spiritedly. For them, the dream of playing gigs for an international audience seemed utterly childish.
I've learned that what is childish is expecting someone to hand you a position, a record deal, or an international tour. Refer back to Part 1 when I argued that no one is coming to save us. Despite all of this, I still 'believe'. I just think we are in a new paradigm that looks incredibly different from the old days. The good news is that we have opportunities never previously afforded to musicians.
Gigs, whether they consist of regular local jobs, periodic institutional engagements, or even small tours, will most likely play a part in your musical life. For most of us, gigs can provide a small to medium sized portion of our livelihood.
When you are constructing your Part-time Everything strategy, there is one concept you must consider in regards to playing gigs. Are you a Gun for Hire, or are you more interested in developing your own Personal Branding? The distinction may seem insignificant, but it makes a difference over the long-haul.
If you are using the Gun for Hire approach, more of your practice time will be devoted to learning repertoire, technique, and general music-making skills. The goal is to be as marketable and hire-able as possible. You must be a musical chameleon, and by definition most of your work will be as a sideman.
If you are building a Personal Brand, then more time is spent composing, arranging, and presenting music to your target audience. At the risk of losing gig opportunities, a musician focusing on developing their Personal Brand will choose to stylize rather than conform to conventions. You may intentionally turn down work because it doesn't fit within your artistic vision. One approach is not necessarily better than the other, but it's important to make a distinction between the two. Not doing so may result in frustration and ultimately a limit to your success in playing gigs.
TEACHING- "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Ouch! That one stings. All through my higher education, my motto was 'hope to play, plan to teach'. I've been teaching privately since I was 17. So, I guess my plan worked. The problem is I never really dreamed of teaching. It was simply a means to afford going to school and playing music. And since it is music related, I figured it was better than flipping burgers.
Teaching over the years, I've had moments of great satisfaction as well as profound inner torment. The question, "Is this really what my life has become?" has entered my mind on more than one occasion. This usually happens when an 8-year-old flips out, steals my pencil, nearly breaks my finger slamming the piano lid down, and all-around ruins my day.
I've had time away from teaching, and when I return to it I always have the same reaction; it never seems that bad, and I actually enjoy helping people. The ideal scenario for me is probably a reduced teaching schedule and the ability to cherry-pick my students. Fortunately, Part-time Everything and the Stepping Stones method are all about options.
There are at least three main branches of music teaching. The first is at the college or university level, which usually requires at least a master's degree but increasingly a doctorate. If you are looking for full-time, tenure-track positions, then a doctorate is a must. Adjunct teaching is another option for those who either can't find or don't desire a full-time college job. The number of applicants for tenure-track positions are mind boggling often amounting to several hundred. And adjunct teachers usually get poor pay and benefits with insufficient hours to fill a work week. With the recession beginning in 2008, these realities have only gotten worse.
The second branch of teaching is the private studio. This too has at least two forms. You must decide if you wish to work independently handling your own billing and scheduling or work within a music studio that does some of this for you. I currently do both at two different locations. The main benefit to this kind of teaching is the freedom to do as much or little of it as you like. If you have the means and your studio doesn't mind, you can add or remove entire days of teaching from your schedule. A bachelor's in music or an equivalent level of experience is usually required.
The third branch of teaching is at the public or private school level. Instructors teach band, general music, choir, etc. A bachelor's degree in education is a prerequisite. As tough as this job can be, benefits including health insurance, a retirement plan, and 3 months off each year make it more attractive.
For those who have both an aptitude and a desire for it, teaching can be a great revenue stream, especially because you can juggle a part-time morning job with afternoon and evening lessons, or in the case of public school teaching, you can play gigs at night and on weekends. For more about teaching music, check out my article Why Teach Music? the Pros and Cons.
WRITING/JOURNALISM- If you're like me and wonder sometimes what your music degrees are good for, music journalism might be a viable answer. Music school doesn't always teach people how to play music very well, but they usually do teach people how to write and talk about music. This fact was fundamentally at odds with why I first entered a music program. Instead of getting bitter, turn your skills into a means of expression and a way to make money.
Making a blog or music website is one way to use your writing skills. I remember when I first started posting articles around the first of this year, I picked up extra gigs through Facebook just because I got on people's radar again. By writing about what's important to you, people may gather something of value for themselves, while learning more about you. This more personal connection may not attract audiences of millions, but you are more likely to find committed fans that will regularly support you. Check out the 1000 True Fans section of my article Music Sustainability: Predictions for the Next 20 Years.
There's also the more conventional type of music journalism. I've only dabbled in this, but I hope to do more of it in the future. If you write well, you may be able to earn either a flat-rate or a per-word fee through a major publication. The range in pay seems to vary wildly from nothing but an exposure and resume-building opportunity, 10 cents per word, up to $2 per word for big shot writers.
The number thrown out as an average seems to be 50 cents per word, although I've never reached that mark. I've known classmates who made two or three-hundred dollars by submitting solo transcriptions to magazines like Down Beat. Interviews are another idea. Many musicians will do an interview just for the exposure. All it costs you is a simple email request. Either they agree to it, or they don't.
Imagine that you could write a 2,000 word article once per month and get it published at 50 cents per word. As I write this, I'm already past the 2,500 word mark, so it's certainly doable. At the above mentioned size and rate, you're looking at an extra $1000 each month. That's 12k a year.
Sure, it's not enough by itself for you to quit your job, but it makes sense as part of your Part-time Everything strategy. Plus, you could start doing it before or after work, on weekends, and whenever else you feel like it. Unless you've obtained an assignment from a publication, you don't have a real deadline either. Even at figure half as optimistic, $500 a month goes a long way toward your freedom.
RECORDING- Recording is a three-pronged spear. You can be the one recording, the one being recorded, or both. As an alternative to the 'go to NY to make it' scheme, many music new music school graduates opt for the 'go to LA and get into the recording scene' option. I don't know anyone personally 'doing it' successfully. I've known some who have said that they 'did it.' But for whatever reason they quit.
The neat thing about recording these days is that you don't need nearly as much money to start your own recording studio as you did before digital computer-aided recordings. And you could probably start with a minimalist work station and accept clientele that your gear will accommodate. As you earn more from recording, you can reinvest your profit back into more microphones, studio instruments, etc and at the same time expand your ability to service more customers.
If you get all the weekend or evening sessions booked that you would want for a part-time recording gig, then go up on your prices. This pricing formula makes sense regardless of which field you're in. When demand exceeds supply, either expand to do more volume or go up on your fee. In my experience with studios, fees often range from $50-$200 an hour depending on location, equipment, expertise, etc.
If you run a studio out of your basement, for example, you might be able to lay down tracks for song writers or other clients who either don't have musicians lined up or who come to realize that their band doesn't play well enough to record. Being a multi-instrumentalist would be an asset, especially if you play guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard.
If your client needs someone to play an instrument on which you aren't proficient, then you can arrange to have a musician in the community to do it. This may benefit you in multiple ways. Depending on the situation, you could probably get away with charging a small fee for booking the musician on top of the musician's fee. Secondly, the musician you hire will most likely be appreciative and may call you for a gig. If nothing else, this contact is one more way to be on someone's radar.
BOOKING AGENT- Since I mentioned charging a fee for hiring a studio musician, let's consider making money as a booking agent. Personally, this is the kind of work to which I'm not attracted, and I think I'm not the only musician that feels this way. If you happen to be a people person, are a punctual returner of phone calls, and can manage paper work well, then booking may be a great fit.
Most musicians are terrible business persons. Even the most professional players often are absentees when it comes to marketing themselves. A small segment of the musician population seems to carry the bulk of both leading bands and finding gigs. Often these people become de facto booking agents, because they are saturated with more work than they can handle and therefore must subcontract the work.
If you take this dynamic and leverage it, you may find yourself making a small mint without having to actually play a note. The wedding music business alone provides awesome income earning opportunities. If you can organize multiple bands or at least work out agreements with existing bands, you may be able to draw up multiple contracts each and every week.
How much can you make? Well, like anything else, it really just depends. I've been on duo gigs where the booking agent made as much as each musician. And that was every week for over a year. Now that's cash-flow! The main downside is the legal liability you incur. If your guys don't make it to the gig on time, or somebody gets disorderly, you may be subject to litigation. Most people I've met in this part of the industry work within a LLC to protect themselves from having their personal assets taken.
INSTRUMENT REPAIR/TECHNICIAN WORK- Another field to look into is working on instruments. So many musicians I know who don't regularly teach end up fixing band instruments or tuning pianos. Many start out teaching, taking their students' instruments home to make a quick, simple repair, and then after seeing the potential either obtain formal training, work as an under-study, or just continue to teach themselves until they make a go out of it.
I'm not as familiar with horn repairs, but piano tunings often run around $75-$100 for a quick periodic tuning. When pianos haven't been worked on in a long time or are severely out of tune, the bill can quickly go into the $300+ range.
One nice thing about technician work is that you can make your own schedule. If you're tuning pianos, you have to coordinate with home owners, but with other instruments you can simply take them home and work on them in your spare time. If you were really trying to maximize your earning potential, you could tune pianos in the morning, teach lessons all afternoon, and play gigs out at night.
INSTRUMENT SALES- A less intimidating skill to learn for some musicians would simply be selling instruments for a retail music shop. If you can make an instrument sound good, people will want to buy it. Sadly, they may think it's just the guitar instead of the guitarist making the difference, but you're still showing them the potential that an instrument represents. Additionally, if the music store also has a teaching studio, you may acquire a surprising number of students by demonstrating instruments. I've heard it so many times. The conversation usually goes like this:
"Can you show me such and such guitar."
"Sure. Do you like Zeppelin?"
"Whoa! Do you teach lessons?"
MUSIC TRANSCRIPTION- Transcription work is another side job that can prove lucrative. It requires the necessary computer and software as well as the ability to figure out music by ear. Often a client will have a song they've written, but they don't know enough about music theory or don't have music software capable of writing it down. Some want it cataloged just for posterity while many need it copy-written, so they can try to sell it to a publisher. Most want a quote for the entire job and aren't comfortable paying an hourly fee.
I've know musicians who contract for an entire album of transcribed music. For example, there may be an artist that composes or arranges his own music at the piano, but never writes it down. As another means to monetize the music, publishers often want to offer a piano book of the artist's transcribed recording.
You could also get into publishing transcriptions for educational purposes. The internet is filled with transcribed jazz solos. Like most things online, people are getting used to having these for free. I think the most viable way to sell them would be to offer free downloads all as separate pdf files, but then additionally offer to ship a bound, hard-copy for a premium. Many will pay for the convenience of having it printed.
One way to boot-strap a transcriptionist job would be to approach a semi-famous artist and offer to transcribe either an album or select performances. You and the artist could then go in 50/50, and post the transcription book as a digital download on their website. This would cost no money for either party, but it would require quite a bit of work on your part. The best thing about it is that it could become a form of passive income. Who knows how long a book of Van Halen transcriptions could be your cash cow?
COMPOSITION AND ARRANGING- This part of the industry is similar to being a studio musician. People talk about it, but few people actually do it. There are a few different ways to try to make songwriting profitable. The first is the conventional route. The old joke is that you drive to Nashville to make it big as a songwriter. Before you get downtown, pull over at the first exit and stop at a gas station. Go up to the counter and look at the guy behind the register. This guy writes better songs than you do.
With my limited exposure to the songwriting scene, it seems to be chocked full of gate-keepers, especially in places like Nashville. If you're only satisfying outcome is having your song become a #1 hit, then these channels may be your best bet. However, in light of Chris Guillibeau's advice to "go be awesome" in Part 1 of this series, there may be another way to do it.
YouTube seems to be the place for songwriters these days. Simply putting your music out there can create opportunities. And the good thing about it is you don't need anyone's permission. Don't expect to put half a dozen tunes on YouTube or even iTunes and expect to retire. But if you are truly dedicated to the craft of songwriting, do it everyday like a job and get it out there for people to hear and even buy.
Most of these schemes online require that you give away about 90-95% for free and charge for the remaining 5%. My personal plan to monetize this blog is to start recording albums to sell as digital downloads. The articles, the sheet music, and videos will all remain free. I truly believe this is a way forward for most artists out there.
I'm sure there are jobs I'm forgetting. One that came to mind is being a music producer, which would really streamline well with music recording. The problem is I have little experience working with producers. I've always done my own, or the person who contracted the session has done it. I'd love to hear from anyone out there with experience in music production.
These jobs are all difficult to turn into full-time careers, although we all know people who do it. The good news is that each job is relatively easy to start doing part-time. If you combine two or three together, you can legitimize quitting the job you hate. In Part 4, we'll discuss the Stepping Stones method, a way to strategically mitigate risk when quitting your job.
