molan Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 [quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1406033958' post='2507674'] I'm in the wrong game hahah! They seem to be earning more than a doctor/lawyer! [/quote] £50K a year each is less than most lawyers I know but the lawyers do put in more hours than the musicians Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 [quote name='molan' timestamp='1406034171' post='2507677'] £50K a year each is less than most lawyers I know but the lawyers do put in more hours than the musicians [/quote] Depends on the region, which again makes the differences with the fees paid for gigs. Northern gigs pay (usually) less than southern gigs (not sure where the lines stops) but thats probably obvious. Much much much cheaper cost of living up here. I think most people would be suprised at the usual salary for a solicitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) [quote name='molan' timestamp='1406024929' post='2507542'] I don't really understand what you're saying here - the people you've quoted have stated facts about how much they know some pro musicians can earn so they aren't 'opinions'? [/quote] I don't get it either... Most pro's I know ( and I agree there is quite a variance in the defintion of 'pro'...) are desperate to be offered £150 per head function gigs and you only have to put dep adverts out and you'll get guys willing to travel over 100 miles EACH WAY... as I have just recently done exactly that..and I picked mostly local guys as I couldn't pay petrol exes on top. And these are on the prime working night of a saturday...!!! Also... if I want a two man horn section, I have to pay £350 for the pair..which is mates rates.. on a saturday and I can get the same guys for £160 per pair on a friday. Other days may well be cheaper. And I know one of those guys was 10 weddings down in the first qtr of this year so he will never make that up in terms of wages. The dates have gone and whilst he is doing well enough now in the summer... he still has debts incurred from the early part of the year. He belongs to a spankingly good wedding/corporate band but they just had a terrible start to the year. By the same token... we headlined a festival last year and one of the acts was a 1 hit wonder from the 70's...very professional in what they did, rolled out the hits and songs from the era and you could see that they would fit very well on the cabaret/holiday camp circuit. I suspect they got paid more than we did... but we wont go into that ... and they all had pretty brand new people carrier/SUV/4x4 cars. They were doing more than quite well....I'd have said. But, generally, it is not easy out there at the moment... And then.... you can talk about what quality of pro you actually mean and get for what money...!! I can get a few top names in their day for £50...if THEY fancy it... and you might have to pander to one or two 'diva-ish' traits, but not in a nasty way. One guy doesn't carry or set up his own kit for example... and the other wants a type of retainer so they don't pay rehearsal costs, or wants petrol money. This is ok, IF you really want them... and their playing suggests you really should.. and you rob one gig to pay them on another. It can work out easily enough if you want it to and nobody gets paid more than anyone else over a course of time... So, just like Crez who invests in his band with trade fayres, that money needs accounting, and you can do this by simply running a decent kitty and a decent ledger. But, of course, the kitty has to be fed somehow... and the big gigs sub the little gigs Edited July 22, 2014 by JTUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 As with all things, it sounds like there is a range of results - and I'll admit, I was myself treating Molan's comments as an outlier. Not as a fallacy (though, I'll admit, I'd love to see the tax returns), but perhaps as the exception which proved the rule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Musicians pay tax? .... I thought they just 'avoided it' (note I didn't say evade). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) [quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1406042052' post='2507784'] As with all things, it sounds like there is a range of results - and I'll admit, I was myself treating Molan's comments as an outlier. Not as a fallacy (though, I'll admit, I'd love to see the tax returns), but perhaps as the exception which proved the rule [/quote] My story of the solo act buying his house outright in 2 years came about as we were talking about so few 'muso's' earning enough. It always depends what you need to earn.. If you live with Mum and Dad then ( with a bit of dole money ) and a couple of gigs and some busking and you'll likely have some decent spare cash... If you have a mortgage and no partner, you'll need £20k or so... If you come out of a decent job, run a nice car, go on holidays, keep up all the old luxuries like Sky and a loan or two and some CC's..all of which you may have been able to afford when working 9-5.. then you'll need £30k or so.. and once you put a figure on what you need to cover... you then back fill the gigs to hitting those figures... but the money isn't always there..you might loose a gig ... and you have to GET the work in the first place. By contrast, IMO..a salary is easy. Edited July 22, 2014 by JTUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1406044597' post='2507819'] By contrast, IMO..a salary is easy. [/quote] Absolutely. About 30 years ago I did nothing but play music for a living. A couple of bands, loads of session work, dep work, radio ad 'jingles', teaching and touring with other acts. The money was good when you were earning it, I bought my first house from the proceeds of it. However, when I averaged it out across the weeks where I wasn't getting paid, I came to the realisation that I'd get paid more working in a 'regular' occupation. Daft as it may sound, the final straw was waking up in yet another bland hotel room and realising that I had absolutely no idea which town I was in. I finished the tour and then quit music as a profession. I'm back in it again now but only to escape having to justify being alive to the Jobcentre and having my house repossessed before I find 'proper work' again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Maybe I didn't quiet mean opinions I was posting from work. My point was earning a 'living' has a wide range dependant on a lot of other things outside how much you actually earn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dand666 Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Hate to bring up old threads, but for my own ego I thought I would. We've just been offered a 4 month cruise on Princess, leaving LA and down the east coast to Mexico starting in Jan! Over the moon. So to anyone trying, you can do it! I never ever thought I'd be able to play music for a living but it is possible. Keep working hard and it'll come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Talking of cruises, I know a couple who spend a great deal of their time these days on cruises. They used to be lawyers but decided to 'downshift' in their 40s, sell up and buy a big house & land in Wales to start a gardening business, which was always a big hobby for them (fair enough). After gaining a bit of a name for themselves (Gold medals at Chelsea flower show etc) they got themselves plugged into the 'cruising circuit' giving on board horticulture lectures and 'port talks' (a quick briefing about what to do during a day ashore when the boat docks somewhere). They reckon they 'work' only a few hours each week and the rest of the time is theirs. No pay but all-inclusive everything else, including business class flights to and from the points they join and leave the ship. Last time I saw them they were just back from a one month South American cruise and about to head off for a short fjord cruise before heading back to the Caribbean for a month. They say they could probably spend all their time on cruise ships if they wanted to, but feel they need a change of view after about a month! My point is that there are all sorts of ways of doing what you love but the real trick is to become truly independent and free to do whatever you choose. My friends have made enough money in 20 years to comfortably last them for the rest of their lives, they have their own house, have raised a family and they have no debts. They are completely free of everything and, within reason, can do whatever they choose, whenever they choose. If they had followed their gardening interest as soon as they left school, they'd still be doing a job they love but they would be pretty much dependent on working at that same job, day in, day out, whether they wanted to or not, for the rest of their lives, with no real hope of a comfortable retirement, never mind one starting in their early 40s. And let's face it, most of our musical heroes do much the same sort of thing once they hit the big time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 [quote name='dand666' timestamp='1407784827' post='2524041'] Hate to bring up old threads, but for my own ego I thought I would. We've just been offered a 4 month cruise on Princess, leaving LA and down the east coast to Mexico starting in Jan! Over the moon. So to anyone trying, you can do it! I never ever thought I'd be able to play music for a living but it is possible. Keep working hard and it'll come. [/quote] Congrats! I know a guy who does FOH sound for Princess - he's from Northern Ireland so if you hear the accent you'll know he's the guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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