Can a musician earn?

[jayshen97]

I know this is irrelevant to ask something like this, but I wanted to know can a musician earn? Can a musician support a family? I don't know if I should continue my study on music because I felt that musician can't get well paid.. Or should I take it as hobby? Any suggestion..

[louispodesta]

I know this is irrelevant to ask something like this, but I wanted to know can a musician earn? Can a musician support a family? I don't know if I should continue my study on music because I felt that musician can't get well paid.. Or should I take it as hobby? Any suggestion..

1)  It all depends on whether or not you can perform on a regular basis.  If so, then, yes you can earn a living.

2)  If you want to teach the young, (most of whom will quit after 3-5 years, a good thing), then, at 30 to 45 U.S. dollars a lesson, you can feed yourself.  With couples wherein husband wife both teach, or even better yet, wherein the other spouse has a "real" job, then you can live quite well.

3)  My former Dean of the College of Fine Arts at UT Austin, Robert Freeman (former Dean at Eastman, & MIT) has spent his entire academic research profile documenting the fact that most degreed musicians ARE NOT employed in the field of music.  Please look up his research.

[iansinclair]

Louis' comments are all correct.  What I might add, however, is that how well you can live on what you might earn as a musician depends a lot on what kind of music you play and where you play it.  And just plain luck; happening to be in the right place at the right time.

Some musicians live very well on what they earn.  Some have regular, full time positions making music, and corresponding good salaries.  Some have good positions teaching -- although that can be somewhat frustrating if they don't also perform now and then -- and make good salaries.

Some not so much.

On the other hand, some have become -- through a combination of talent, plain hard work, and good fortune -- somewhere between wealthy and fabulously wealthy...  Not many of those, though.

[siveron]

You should probably look at it as a hobby, until you're making enough money to live VERY well.

[preludetr]

Well, I know Lang Lang is rolling in it, but he might be the only one...

But I wonder how much someone like Krystian Zimerman or Murray Perahia makes. I'm talking well-known, well-established concert artists who nonetheless are not playing at the Olympics.

[jimroof]

3)  My former Dean of the College of Fine Arts at UT Austin, Robert Freeman (former Dean at Eastman, & MIT) has spent his entire academic research profile documenting the fact that most degreed musicians ARE NOT employed in the field of music.  Please look up his research.

I have a degree in piano performance.  In my next to last year, the music critic of the Atlanta Journal newspaper was also a piano instructor at Georgia State.  He told me that I could go wherever I wanted to with piano and that it was only a matter of what I really WANTED to do. Ie., If I dedicated myself to it I could have been a touring concert performer.

3 years later... I was starting a business as an architectural photographer.  I still love music and would NOT trade my experience in piano for anything else.  However, the idea of having to support myself and others with one performance after another in such a volatile medium was not shaping up to be my cup of tea...

[louispodesta]

Well, I know Lang Lang is rolling in it, but he might be the only one...

But I wonder how much someone like Krystian Zimerman or Murray Perahia makes. I'm talking well-known, well-established concert artists who nonetheless are not playing at the Olympics.

1)  Yes, Lang Lang is rolling in it, but due to his injuries, this will not last.  That is why he has reduced his schedule and started his teaching program for the young, among other reasons.

2)  Krystian Zimerman and Murray Perahia both have very lucrative recording contracts.

3)  As of the internet news of today, Taylor Swift makes more for one concert than the previously mentioned pianists make in a year!  And, it has been that way (per my piano teacher's recollections) for a very long time.

4)  Martha Argerich (another lucrative recording artist) has recently announced (another lucrative recording artist) that she will no longer play solo recitals.

5)  Most tenured conservatory music faculty pianists, who occasionally perform, do quite well.  What has not been specified is that, (no joke) the average age of retirement (including Emeritus status) for these folks is shortly before death!   And, their usual life span is in their late 80's. 

Translated that means;  don't count on it.
 

[dcstudio]

It is good to take the advice of those who are not employed in music... but don't forget to research those who are as well.   If performing is not your cup of tea...then don't get a performance degree.  I, too, left music for a while but then through a strange set of circumstances I was thrust back into it.  I actually fell back on music.   I play jazz though, and pretty much every other genre as well... that makes me far more marketable. 

I have to wholeheartedly agree with everyone else here if you are planning on becoming a concert pianist. 

I love to perform... and I love to play--am I rich?  oh please not even close..   but I do what I love.  I sleep well at night, too.

[ruvidoetostinato]

It depends on "what you want to do, how well you do it, and what you're willing to do."

1) Gigging musicians can earn well, but you should start your networking during your education so that you're not left out in the wind after graduating.  The exception to this is simply performing at top tier during your education and getting the spots for masterclasses, festivals, etc.  This in itself, is networking.

2) Accompanying and Collaborating.  This is great in increasing other skills other than soloistic performance.  At the same time, you meet a lot of people that increase your network. (Start this during your education as well and begin as a student accompanist).  
Being a professional accompanist can be great career depending on how well you do it and how consistent you are.  The toughest part is getting the repertoire going... there's going to be a lot of music and sight-reading necessary.  But it is a field that continues to grow in itself.  Embedding yourself into a studio of a professor or two is a great way to build security in this.... hence start as a student accompanist and you can plant that seed while you're at your school.

3) Teaching.  This can provide the steadiest income for musicians(30/hour to 70/hour average).  Where I live (California) the rate varies so much depending on experience, degree, and overall skill in teaching.  Social media now plays a part in this as instagram and facebook spread your businesses quickly.  Take some pedagogy classes as it's a great way to jump start your teaching method.  Studios provide a good start and essential experience.  However, I would also suggest beginning your networking for private students while you're at school.
Teaching at a college is also a great way to get benefits while having a secure job.  Unfortunately it requires at least a Masters of Music.

In the end, the way I "survive" is teaching privately as well as in a studio(I hope to transition into private teaching only in the future), accompany at the college that I attended (I've gotten set into a string studio and am starting to get more referrals from another), and perform with my trio(It's always great to have a group ready to perform weddings and classical music when necessary, as well as continue to have your chamber skill improving), and have a recital occasionally.  It's not superstar, but I've thought of those as the 1% ways ago.  I say "survive" because I totaled my car and just managed my money badly, so now I have really high insurance and terrible monthly expenses.  Without those, I would be living quite comfortable.

*PS.
If you do choose to gig or teach, it doesn't mean that your performance ability has to go on hold. 
I feel this is what happens to a lot of private teachers.  They tend to let go of their love of performance.  I've met some teachers that gave up practicing and performing because they felt it was pointless if they don't make money from it or if it's not their main form of income.  The dream to be a concert pianist.  We all have the dream at some point it, but we can't all have it.

You can always incorporate recitals in your studio, having a solo recital where you can share music to your students, their parents, and potential students, while at the same time improving your ability in your instrument and your repertoire. 

Sorry, it's a bit long.  But I always have to do this when someone wonders whether or not they should stop altogether. 

The question is, do you love music enough to continue?

[dcstudio]

to survive you have to continuously reinvent yourself as a musician... Ruvid is right about networking....that's more important than practicing...seriously.

most students hold the belief that if they simply become the incredible pianist everything else will fall into place... that talent and success go hand in hand...    it's not the way it works.

[richard black]

I am a professional accompanist and opera repetiteur. I have no other significant source of income. In a big, musically active city like London, where I live, it is possible to make a good living at this. In fact the amount of work I can take on is largely limited by the number of hours in the day, with due consideration to eating and sleeping.