Giving up the 'day job' for music: Who's tried it? Good or bad experiences welcome!

[Gust0o]

No comment to make on the move from being a salaried employee to a self-employed musician - I haven't done so, myself, so it would feel a little disingenous to be lecturing you on it!

However, I do have some experience of running my own business.[list]
[*]Keep a tight rein on your financial affairs - know where your money is, and what funds you can call upon in emergency/investment, etc; and always, [i]always[/i], keep one eye on the tax man
[*]Ensure you have credible plans to generate income - and consider diversification, where you see risk; as others have said, you want to ensure you're making a living, but without having all your eggs in one basket. Be honest about your worth and how long it will take to make any money on a given piece of work
[/list]
Finally, some sage advice/commentary from my father-in-law: "I used to wake up each morning, and think to myself [i]'I haven't made any money yet'[/i] - and that thought would set me off for the day". I think that's probably a great mindset to have

Best of luck, chief!

[derrenleepoole]

I personally don't make money from music as a career, but my friend who is a drummer does. All I can tell you is he works bloody hard at it everyday, with the main stay of his income coming from teaching. He then joins and plays with as many bands and musicians as he can, continually networking and looking opportunities. It's not really a 9-5 job for him, which I guess can be as stressful as it is rewarding. He is though a thoroughly nice and honest guy, and I think that helps in building up a good reputation that follows him around.

Best of luck

[lowdown]

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1343040137' post='1744033']
However, I do have some experience of running my own business.[list]
[*]Keep a tight rein on your financial affairs - know where your money is, and what funds you can call upon in emergency/investment, etc; and always, [i]always[/i], keep one eye on the tax man
[*]Ensure you have credible plans to generate income - and consider diversification, where you see risk; as others have said, you want to ensure you're making a living, but without having all your eggs in one basket. Be honest about your worth and how long it will take to make any money on a given piece of work
[/list]
Best of luck, chief!
[/quote]

Good advice.
That's where the Accordion player went wrong.


Garry

[fatback]

Lots of sensible advice above. I'd add a couple of things: First off, most people who make a living from music do it mostly from teaching not playing. Will you like teaching? Will you be any good at it? Is it what you imagined you'd be doing?

You'll also be self-employed, and self-employed in what's likely to be a long recession at that. Even in normal times self-employment is a tough way to live compared to the relative cushiness of employment. Lots of self-employed people just now are heading the opposite direction and trying to find a regular job.

Of the many, many musicians I've known who tried to make a living out of music, apart from full-time employed teachers, almost all are poor and suffer the stresses that go with that. If you have dependants, think twice, then think again.

If you were young and free, I'd still say be careful. Most full time players of functions, cruises etc sicken of it eventually and need to get out. Not easy to find a new career at that stage.

Sorry this is so gloomy. I plead the times that are in it.

[Gust0o]

No, not gloomy - all good things to think about.

My only other comment came on the back of previous "know your worth" - in that it's easier to work things out if you know how much you want to be earning. You'll know your current bills/mortgage now, and your existing income and what it leaves you to play with; probably a very good starting point to say [i]right, I want to earn X[/i] - and then work out how from there.

[lucatus]

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1343042614' post='1744083']
Most full time players of functions, cruises etc sicken of it eventually and need to get out. Not easy to find a new career at that stage.
[/quote]

I spent 6 years making a living from a covers band. Money wasn't great... Actually it was rubbish, but I was very happy about being "pro" and at the time I didn't have any attachments/partner/etc.. However, it was hard to see other musicians, people who had been at it for donkeys years, many of them divorced, and/or abusing drugs/booze etc... That's one of the reasons i quitted.

[mike257]

Wow - tons of really great posts full of good advice and experiences, thanks guys! I've been dropping in reading them but in the midst of doing loads of jobs in the house so only just had time to reply!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1342964496' post='1743190']
You'll also need to be very organised and clued up about your tax affairs, and running your own business to maximise your income and minimise your outgoings.
[/quote]

Great stuff again Nigel, thanks - this is something I'm really trying to dig in to. An ex-bandmate of mine is a qualified accountant and now runs his own business managing bands and promoting/booking tours, had some good advice from him in the past and hoping to grab some more!

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1342965146' post='1743196']
.....IMO quitting requires serious unpleasantness going down in the day job coupled with guaranteed rewards in what you look at next. Both conditions are necessary; stay out of what you used to be good at for long enough and no matter how good you were, you'll find it very hard to take it up again.
[/quote]

Phil - it's not something I've considered lightly. I used to get a lot of satisfaction from my day job, but with this latest redeployment it's almost like a demotion - I've been moved to a job with little responsibility or accountability, and little chance to gain any job satisfaction or progression, and I was moved almost on a whim to balance somebody else's budget sheet. Completely de-motivated and angry about it after helming a project that has won awards and saved my employer tens of thousands over the last two years.

I've tried to pick up as many transferable skills as possible so I'm not tied to a narrow selection if I do have to go job hunting again!

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1342965642' post='1743202']
You have a van? Isn't that how Bill Wyman got the Rolling Stones gig?
[/quote]

It's amazing how many best mates I suddenly got when I bought a van!

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1342967838' post='1743228']
Can you read? Reading opens up a lot more possibilities for paid work.
[/quote]

Not a great reader at the moment Jake, it's something I'm aware is a gap in my skills that needs to improve. I've got a pretty solid grasp of theory and I know what I'm playing when I play it - I've just not put a huge amount of time into interpreting it from a score, mainly because it's never been necessary for the gigs I've had. I realise that becoming more proficient is a doorway to more work and it's definitely something that's in the plan.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1342980547' post='1743397']
- If you decide to keep your job, or find a better one, can you live with the thought of never having tried living off music?
[/quote]

This is the bit that keeps me up at night - I don't want to live with the "what if" of never having tried it hanging over me.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1342988962' post='1743582']
I'd say for anyone wanting to go down this route, do not place all your eggs in one basket. Use your talents and skills to form multiple streams of income so when one dries up (which it most definitely will) you have something else to fall back on whilst you fill that gap.
[/quote]

I'm hoping that I'm covering that off by mixing playing gigs with tour management, engineering, band transport etc - I know there's not really anyone else locally providing what I do with the splitter van, especially with the extra things I can offer on top of just turning up with the bus, so freeing my time to take more work on in that area is hopefully a good thing.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1343000342' post='1743763']
The kids are your biggest responsibility.
[/quote]

Definitely, and I'll only be writing my resignation letter when there's enough in the diary (and the savings) that I'm not panicking about where the next few months rent is coming from!

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1343042614' post='1744083']
First off, most people who make a living from music do it mostly from teaching not playing. Will you like teaching? Will you be any good at it? Is it what you imagined you'd be doing?
[/quote]

Done a bit of it before, and also a qualified trainer and provide training courses in my workplace - obviously slightly different but a lot of the experience is transferable. I'd be more than happy to do it, although there's some areas I'll be brushing up on myself too!

All the advice so far has been great, lots to think about, and also reassuring to hear from the guys who are making a living from this. I'm not harbouring dreams of super stardom, and never have, but I love music in all its forms, it's always consumed so much of my life, and nothing would make me happier than to make a living from what I love doing most.

I think bagging some more regular function work and doing some serious business plan-writing are next on the list, and Nigel's suggestion of cutting back to part time hours as an intermediate step has got me keeping my eye out for opportunities.

Edited July 23, 2012 by mike257

[Toddy]

Hi Mike,,

First,, all the best with this, if you choose to do it,, I am not one for replying much on here,, but pretty surprised how negative some of the comments have been,, yes you have to be careful etc,, however,, I've been in exactly your situation doing jobs that drive me insane but reasonably paid and just ended up being a wage slave!

You have a lot going for you,, if you have a good van and ive seen your faceboook for it, and you can FOH engineer to a good standard your going to be a popular guy,, contacts are the thing but I could have done with you three times last week!,, will send you a pm for your number..especially if your a tech type a lot of engineers are buying these digital desks which enable a recorded performance from every gig,, this type of stuff is great for bands, rig up an ambient mike in the room,,along with the desk mix,and you can achieve a really nice live recording , all value added etc,,
It can be very seasonal of course but a lot of PA hire companies started this way! and availability is key,, my last employer could not be expected to give me every friday off,, but was turning down a lot of gigs,, now were available were looking at 15 gigs in August alone.

Secondly it looks like you can do a bit of managing,, boy does the industry lack basic communication skills!,and you can play,, from my experience in the UK, I personally have never been called to dep with a band that needed me to read, i would love it to happen!! however, in reality, you just get given a list of tracks and get on with it, so potentially you have work here too,,, but if you have a committed band,, that can fill a floor at functions etc, and all behave themselves you should do well,, again, the trick is how available you are,,,a really good agent (not only big in the county of xxx etc) I mean a national one,, will after a showcase , fill your diary for you,,yes times are hard and occasionally have to step in the odd WMC,,but good paid work is out there for bands which want to entertain,,its a real shame good original bands have to travel a much harder route to work regulary, however,, it is what it is.

Best of luck with it!

If you want a list of good agents, pa hire companies, bands, that need trans
port etc,, just send us a pm...


Regards

John

www.heartofglassuk.com

[Bass-Thing]

In another post about staying healthy, Gub commented 'Well said , I took a 10 grand drop,in wages 4 years ago because it was too much stress and have never been happier than I am now '. This is in the context of being less stressed at work and having more time to play bass.

The whole point of me going to music college in October at the grand old age of 50 is so I can stop doing my current job which is very stressful and concentrate on music full time. I know it's going to be difficult and I know many fantastic professional musicians (including a couple of Rock Gods) who don't make much money and have trouble supporting their families. Thing is I know if I don't do it I will regret it for the rest of my life and so I am going to do it while I am still physically able to.

It's worth noting however that my wife and I own two reasonably successful businesses that give us a reasonable income and will continue to do so without me being involved in the daily running of things. Not everybody is going to have this cushion. Having said that the pro musicians I know are also the happiest people I know because they are living the dream and doing something they love!

[Skol303]

I tried making a living as a club DJ (not strictly a 'musician') in the mid-late 90s and failed miserably at it. I then worked in the music press for 4-5 years until I realised there was no real money to be made from it; since then I've done something completely different and kept up music as a hobby... so I guess I dipped my toe in the industry and decided it wasn't a career for me.

I'm still in touch with plenty of professional musicians, and nearly all of the people I know continually struggle to make ends meet - even the 'successful' ones (signed with TV appearances, etc). Living with financial risk and uncertainty is the biggest downside of going full-time - at least that's what friends tell me. That and the strain it can put on relationships due to antisocial hours and time spent away from home (that's what their partners tell me!).

This isn't to say you shouldn't go for it. Just that it's not a decision to take lightly - because if it goes badly, it could spoil your enjoyment of music for a long time to come. I've seen it happen.

Also - and no offence meant by this - but make damn sure this creative impulse isn't the symptom of a mid-life crisis!! Seriously. Take a long introspective look before you do anything too hasty.

PS: yeah, my glass is cautiously half-empty...

Edited July 24, 2012 by Skol303

[Mog]

A lot of excellent posts in the thread. Its tough at the moment so I would recommend trying to be a full time musician AND keeping the day job. Keep a ledger of your income from both. After a year check back and see if you are earning enough to take up performance/tuition full time.

The biggest earners for me are (in order):
Wedding Ceremonies.
Functions (Weddings, corporate).
Tuition.
Session work.

The ability to play a few instruments and run a desk will help a lot.

IME the following are essential:
A solid reputation.
Excellent gear.
Reliable transport.
Dependable bandmates.
The ability make sense of crumpled and faded reciepts.
Insurance (both health and gear).
A sense of humour.
A partner who is willing to bail you out if you need it.

[Graham56]

[size=3]I won't add to the advice about making a living from music as I know next to nothing about that. [/size]

[size=3]You've also had plenty of good advice about being self-employed. [/size]

[size=3]Two things though - I note that you say that you are a: "[b]qualified trainer and provide training courses in my workplace"[/b][/size]

[size=3]Have you considered taking those skills into freelance life? It's what I did.[/size]

[size=3]I started offering training courses in my workplace skills and have now built it up into a reasonable living that pays the bills. One that I enjoy much more than any previous job I've had. It took about three years though to build up to a decent amount of work.[/size]

[size=3]The point is that most trainers are freelance, either working through agencies or direct to clients. [/size][size=3]The advantage is that you can build that side of the business up as much as you need, leaving the rest of the time for building up your music income.[/size]

[size=3]And the other thing is: [b]"she understands where I'm coming from and is very supportive"[/b][/size]

[size=3]This.[/size]

[size=3]This.[/size]

[size=3]This.[/size]

[size=3]Cheers[/size]

[size=3]Graham[/size]