Do most musicians have day jobs?

Aspiring actors are waiters in training and aspiring musicians learn to short order cook.

Musicians tend to have better jobs now that I think about it.

Kevin Shields remixes for cash I think

Eugene Chadbourne, I dunno - in the early nineties he toured a whole whole lot, which pays bills (and there are no bills accumulating if you just spend all your time on tour)

Does writing for the AMG count as a "Day Job"? If so, then yes.

Sonny Sharrock to thread (he was a chauffuer/cab driver, no?)

I still work in counseling, though it's more avocation than vocation now. And I write music reviews for various New Times affiliates. The only reason I don't work full-time at my counseling job is that the music thing calls me out of town so regularly now that it's not fair to the kids to be an unreliable full-timer; I feel like the only valid reason to quit the day job completely is if "artist" committments are truly taking up all of one's time. (This is some Marxist/socialist virus I caught when I was younger, prob'ly.)

I lol'd.

Most musicians I know work day jobs, but the best ones get to work their music as a day job - I know one band where one member owns and runs a music venue / record store and another runs the music studio they and a large number of local bands record at.

About what Limp Bizkit deserves.

"My name is Fred, can I take your order?"

I think general rule of thumb is: if you are on a major label, they pay you a salary, you don't need a dayjob. If you are not on a major lable, chances are you need a dayjob of some kind.

xpost

He fucking did not! This is utter bullshit.

I do wonder about this sometimes. A lot of those Chicago post-rock guys seem to be involved in 5 different bands, produce other people's records, etc. so I assume they're able to live off it, but I don't know how well. But in any case we're talking about people having to have jobs while they're active. Once you're no longer an active musician, you probably have to work unless you're a mega-star.

Radio 4 dudes own a cool record store a few blocks from my house.

Animal Collective just started living off it.

I was at said store yesterday and found NOTHING that I wanted. Jus' sayin.

http://stereogum.com/archives/cat_quit_your_day_job.html

I remember reading an interview with Yo La Tengo about five or six years ago in which they said they'd only recently been able to make a living off music full-time.

Kurt Wagner (Lambchop) used to go on about how he continued (even after his band "broke") to work as a carpenter, which gave him greater freedom as a musician since he didn't need to sing for cash...

David Berman quoted here: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/31330-interview-silver-jews

Pitchfork: Financially, how do you afford not to?

Berman: Last year, I made about $16,000 from the four records that are in print. Drag City takes care of its own. Everybody who makes records for Drag City is getting the most money possible. The Silver Jews have never bought an ad. Ever. Well, once in Alternative Press in 1994, for The Arizona Record, but it was in the back and...

The last year I made a record, 2001, I made $45,000 from Drag City. This upcoming year I hope it will go up to that level again. In addition, I read at colleges multiple times a year at $1,000 a shot. Various writing projects bring in money. Actual Air brings in $1,000 a year nowadays. I get a dollar a copy, and they've sold a goodly number. And Rob Bingham gave me a $10,000 advance to finish it.

BMI checks are a couple thousand a year. Another couple thousand from foreign licensees. I made a movie with the artist Jeremy Blake last year. There are a couple movies with [Silver Jews'] songs in them that keep playing on Scandinavian cable at 3 a.m., apparently for the last four years.

I've never gotten a grant. Well, that's not true. I had a fellowship to go to graduate school. I never had to pay for tuition while I was there and teaching paid your other living expenses. My father paid for my undergraduate tuition. There's this famous story in my family of when my father took me out to eat when I was 18. I had been too lazy to apply to college so he'd had his secretary apply for me late. To the University of Texas and the University of Virginia (because I romanticized Virginia as a kid).

Well, I got into both (Texas was automatic). The tuition difference was large. UT back then was $350 a semester. Virginia was, what $12,000 a year? My dad likes to make games of things. He told me he wanted me to go to UT so I'd be closer to home and said that if I went to UVA he'd pay my tuition but that would be it until death. And four years of health insurance, I guess. Instead, if I chose Texas he'd pay for that plus give me the difference between the two schools' tuitions to live on. I am frankly amazed I chose Virginia. I don't remember my reasoning.

I worked in the morgue at the UVA hospital all through college to pay my rent. In the 15 years since I've graduated he's loaned me $5,000 two times when I was in trouble. The first one in my 20s, which he kindly absolved, and a second one last year trying to get back on my feet. I still owe him that one and I hope this album will enable me to pay him back because he holds it over my head every single time we get into an argument.

I guess I should add that he did pay for my rehab, which I let him, figuring at the time it was his fucking idea, and what did I care? Also, when I got out, this organization called Music Cares at [The National Academy of the Recording Arts and Sciences] helped me pay bills. It's a charity, and hopefully I'll be able to send some money back their way once America starts paying me a living wage. It probably goes without saying that I've got a credit card rotisserie system that would dazzle the ancients.

it sounds like he's making in the range of $50k a year at least so that sounds like a living wage to me, if he's single and not supporting a family and not living in NYC or SF. but what do I know?

I know very few musicians who don't have day jobs of some sort, but I also know a few who've been able to quit and do music full time. However, they work on music all the fucking time and don't live high on any hogs

silver jews only care about money

i know lots of musicians who make their living off of music, but not just from being in a band. they teach lessons, do studio/commercial work, corporate gigs, etc.

$50k is a living wage in nyc

He lives in Nashville, where it should go pretty far. When I interviewed Berman he give similar figures in terms of how much he makes, but he also said that "The Minus Times" gave him $5,000 for an essay, so I wasn't sure what to believe.

I'm not sure where you get the $50,000/year number - he doesn't release a record every year.

OTOH that was before his touring days, and I'm sure there's extra income in that.

OTOOH, it's not like it's a dependable wage - he can't exactly expect to make that steady income through retirement age.

Most of the acts discussed here have sort of an international audience. It may not be enormous, but I would believe even the most famous UK or US "underground" acts have enough of a worldwide cult following that they can easily make a living from their music. They may not become multi-billionaires like Paul McCartney or Michael Jackson, but they earn enough not to need day jobs.

is selling weed considered a day job?

but they earn enough not to need day jobs.

but not enough to have health insurance.

Daniel Johnston is currently working as a NYC tourist helicopter pilot