Do you actually earn any money from making music?

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Poll Results

Option	Votes
Negative cashflow	21
A little extra spending money	5
Just about break even	4
Supplementary income	1
Enough to support myself	1
Craploads	1

― Hurting 2, Monday, 26 March 2007 19:02 (eighteen years ago)

I fear I might throw off the curve a bit here.

― John Justen, Monday, 26 March 2007 19:21 (eighteen years ago)

Probably between "break even" and "a little spending money" but whatever money we make from shows goes right back into the "band fund" so I don't actually get to spend it on anything.

― n/a, Monday, 26 March 2007 20:41 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, one of my bands does the band fund thing. The other one is someone else's project so I get to keep the money, but it's basically just enough for gas, tolls and some food and drink show night.

― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 01:45 (eighteen years ago)

Not nearly enough to cover just the sticks I go through. Perhaps I should start playing in bands people want to see.

― S-, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 04:45 (eighteen years ago)

It's changed from band to band.

I don't keep a running balance, because I fear it would depress me. Also, what do you factor in? Paying for the night's drinks and the taxi ride home? Or paying for the years and years you've spent rehearsing, buying equipment, etc.

― Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 10:13 (eighteen years ago)

At best we cover the night's transport costs and one rehearsal, so day-to-day running (so to speak) is fairly inexpensive, although negative. Not as negative as equipment and (potential) recording costs. Also we got clobbered with a £100 fine for loading up on a red route (I wouldn't mind, but it's not even blocking traffic or a bus lane or anything) the other week, so from now on we're going to waste another 30mins of rehearsal time because we can't even get loaded up ontime.

If we ever sell all our singles they'll have paid for themselves, at least.

― Bocken Social Scene, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 11:48 (eighteen years ago)

Was that outside the waterats? It's just by my work and I see that happen to people week in week out.

― Ed, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 12:01 (eighteen years ago)

Was that outside the waterats? It's just by my work and I see that happen to people week in week out.

It's just next to my work too. spooky!
Nah, it's our guitarist's flat/informal equipment store on Archway Road, so it's somewhere we always have to park and load (2 keyboards, laptop, rackmounted mixers and stuff, stands etc. Not a quick pick-up). Pain in the arse, but at least I'll have time to have tea after work now.

I think I missed a lesson in ILX2 - how do I see the poll results, or do I have to wait until it's finished?

― Bocken Social Scene, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 13:03 (eighteen years ago)

You have to wait until it's finished.

We probably pass like ships in the night on a daily basis.

― Ed, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 13:11 (eighteen years ago)

Only one of my bands makes me any money, probably 3-5k per year. The rest is pro bono.

― Jordan, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 15:46 (eighteen years ago)

The rest is pro bono.

The filthy tax-dodging 'charity'-loving self-publicist. Now he wants OUR money too. Well, Bono, if that is your real name, you're not getting any of mine.

― Bocken Social Scene, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 15:51 (eighteen years ago)

If you total the amount of money I have spent on singing endeavors compared to what I've made, I come out well ahead, but the overall total is way smaller than my salary from my day job.

― HI DERE, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 18:27 (eighteen years ago)

It's Bono's dark secret that he farms money from a kind of jazz band "pyramid scheme" to which Jordan has fallen victim.

― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 21:29 (eighteen years ago)

I subsist entirely on revenue from selling cover songs on iTunes to foreigners.

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 22:07 (eighteen years ago)

Earn money?

I won a t-shirt once.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 3 April 2007 11:21 (eighteen years ago)

I made $5.14 last night playing to about 12 hipsters in a deserted bar. Not that I didn't enjoy myself but on the other hand I recently made $80 busking for an hour outside the local farmers market to about 300 jolly shoppers who danced and sang along as well as throwing money. Time to review my career options I think.

― everything, Wednesday, 4 April 2007 18:04 (eighteen years ago)

we make about $100 a show. but considering we only play once every three months, spend $125 a month on a practice space, and spent $5k recording our album, the answer is, NO

― akm, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:00 (eighteen years ago)

We broke even on our record, even with the fancy digipak. It took like two years though.

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:20 (eighteen years ago)

Ooh, results. And what a surprising set. I have got a gig that will pay us £150 coming up though, which is great except we'll spend at least half that on petrol.

― Bocken Social Scene, Thursday, 12 April 2007 09:50 (eighteen years ago)

(psst John, we should do a cross-country musical project called Seleski)

― HI DERE, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 12:55 (eighteen years ago)

YES.

― John Justen, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 16:42 (eighteen years ago)

So who's the mystery man/woman who actually makes a living from music (I'm assuming the person who said "craploads" is being facetious)

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 05:22 (eighteen years ago)

HI DERE.

― John Justen, Thursday, 26 April 2007 18:02 (eighteen years ago)

Oh yeah, I should have figured since you said that you "might throw off the curve"

― Hurting 2, Sunday, 29 April 2007 05:53 (eighteen years ago)

We just asked for a guarantee for playing a show for the first time. I feel kind of weird about it, but we are trying to save up money to record and it's at a bar we've packed a few times.

― n/a, Monday, 30 April 2007 15:54 (eighteen years ago)

TOMORROW I AM GOING TO MAKE $$$$ FOR SINGING IN A CHORUS, WOOT

― HI DERE, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 00:34 (eighteen years ago)

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