Financial Series Intro
Musician: Someone who puts $5,000 worth of gear into a car and drives 100 miles to make $50.
We’ve all seen this corny T-shirt and, unfortunately, we can all relate to at least the first two parts. Fifty bucks is, for some of us, like winning the lottery.
Today’s original music industry is a jungle, full of endless wrong turns, dead ends, snakes in the grass, and countless mouths that all need to eat. We, its fearless navigators, often get so caught up in trying to traverse the terrain that we overlook one of our most basic survival instincts: sustainability.
Everyone reading this surely has a different motive for making art, but one thing seems constant across the board, no matter who you are or why you play: making a buck for your art feels pretty good. Making enough money to cover your expenses and make that 100-mile journey economically fruitful? Even better.
But how?
How is one supposed to break even on a show that brings in $12 that gets split amongst the promoter, the bar, the sound tech, five other acts, and all of your bandmates?
The short answer is: you can’t.
The slightly longer answer is: you can’t from that alone.
The long answer is too long of a discussion for just one short blog post (which is good job security for me, an unpaid volunteer). But it includes many of the things you’ve certainly already thought of – merch sales, door guarantees, half-of-a-cent-per-play Spotify streams – as well as some others that may not have yet crossed your mind.
However, many artists, especially at the beginning of their careers, focus too heavily upon only one side of the equation. As fervently as we strive to turn a quick buck, we often fail to give adequate consideration to our own spending and ways to control costs. This severely hinders our ability to produce art that is not only culturally valuable, but economically valuable.
A great deal of this comes from a lack of information. Paying $3.50 per CD may seem reasonable, but a shop down the road may do it for $2.
Hopefully, our work at WNYMusic.com will help ameliorate this issue for many of the day-to-day business expenses you may encounter. Increasing the interconnectivity of our local markets will fuel competition and transparency, the two greatest contributors to reduced prices. For too long, bands and artists have paid an inaccessibility premium – in other words, they’ve paid too much because they simply weren’t aware of a cheaper alternative.
What You’ll Learn From This Series
Any problem can be and should be analyzed in at least three different lights: the logistical, the strategical, and the philosophical: Why am I doing this, how do I want to do it, and how am I going to actually make it happen? Each poses its own challenges, with none being markedly easier than the others to answer.
In this post and in those to follow, I am going to address a question central to our professional artistic ambition – “How do I make my music financially sustainable?” – by analyzing it through all three of these lenses.
But before doing so, here’s a little about me.
I’m a full-time tax accountant – Ben Juchniewicz, CPA! – who focuses solely on the business needs of small businesses. My job is to think of any way possible to help our clients make smart business decisions and save money. Music is by no means my career, and I don’t know if it ever will be. There is much more to making a successful career than just financial acumen, which harkens back to the oldest and most inalienable truth of the music industry (or any industry, for that matter): if you want to make it your living, you have to really live it.
There are no reliable get-rich-quick schemes in music. Financial success is, in almost all cases, directly related to the amount of time devoted to the art. Some people get lucky, but most of us have to treat this like a full-time job if we are to make a comfortable living wage from the songs we sing.
That being said, I proudly consider myself to be a sustainable musician. As 2019 came to a close, I ran the numbers: $572 in profit! By no means enough to live off of, but enough to continue playing shows, making friends, creating art, and enjoying one of the things I love to do more than anything else.
Whether you’re like me – passionate about music but not quite to the point of going all-in – or your ambitions far exceed mine, be sure to keep an eye out for future posts in this series, where I’ll discuss ways to align your financial success with your musical goals. Whether it be about tax deductions for band expenses, raising money, developing a strategic plan, or one of many other topics, I’ll be posting regular tips to help you in the same way I help my clients: by showing you how to save some dough and make it to the next show.
Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a touring pro, playing eight times a week or eight times a year, grizzled vet or just getting started, you can always learn more. I’m here to provide insight into a long-overlooked but crucial piece of the puzzle, one that will hopefully help you get one step closer to the picture you’ve envisioned.
Fifty dollars per show may not be a lot, but with a little work and a bit of knowledge, you’re well on your way to $60!
