The Big Question: How To Make a Living In Music?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 гру 2016
- This is a response to a question from one of my viewers. This doesn't have an easy answer without talking about how money is made from Publishing, Record Sales, Sound Exchange, BMI or ASCAP, Publishing, Live Performance, Crowdfunding, UA-cam, Teaching, Film Scoring and Licensing. I tried to address all or most of these things with actual numbers and how it all works.
Links To Follow:
If you are interested in purchasing The Beato Book click here: rickbeato.com/products/the-be...
Skype Lessons: Write me at rickbeato1@gmail.com
If you would like to support my video creation, you can hit the SUPPORT button on the sidebar of my main page
UA-cam - / rickbeato
Artist Facebook - / rickbeatoproduction
Personal Facebook - / rick.beato.1
Instagram - / rickbeato1
Follow On Twitter - @rickbeato
www.nuryl.com
www.rickbeato.com
Great video, Rick, but you left out playing music live in bars as an income source. I don't like to brag, but I made well over a hundred dollars gigging last year. Honest.
Richard Adamson $100 for the entire year? honest thats like nothing buddy and not liveable
dude now imagine if this guy is being ironic
That's awesome dude - do you plan to invest it in stocks and retire soon?
No, I'm spending it all on beer, women, and music lessons. Okay, I'm just kidding about the music lessons.
Studio work is good money.Messing up is prohibited and if you do,your in trouble.Keep being on the money and you get more work.You need to read formal notation and chord charts and how to improvise in many styles.Its demanding but lucrative.
How does a jazz musician make a million dollars? He starts with two million dollars.
The flip side to having another career other than music is you get to play what you really enjoy.
Sam Anthony: That's a pretty funny line---it could also double as a Trump joke.
thats about right
That's great..
This is so true. Which should be the main motivating goal.
I first heard it as a luthier....
Lol
“ they can’t steal your live performance”
In comes Covid
just thought the same thing
That's uh... not even related to what he meant by that.
Well yeah over all no, live performance at the end of the day is the magic that makes the artists money and no one can really take that from you. Except a global airborne pandemic. Lol
So many musicians struggled hard not being able to perform or even play with other people but later on in the year streaming live performance became even bigger than it was before and now I feel it is an industry standard.
You gotta have live content online now
No but they can try to steal the money from it.... Be wise as serpent
cringe comment
"Don't quit your day job."
That's the name of my publishing company: "Don't quit your day job Publishing".
Right! My day job buys all my guitars and amplifiers!
“We’ve taken care of everything from the words you read to the songs you sing, the pictures that give pleasure to your eye” - Rush 2112
Temples of syrinx is a great song
I feel like this video leaned over towards the question "once you make any money from music, where is it coming from?".
I think a good way to answer the question "how to make a living in music" would be - in order to make a living doing music, you need to do MULTIPLE things at the same time. Relying solely on succeeding with your own form of art is close to impossible (still is possible, but very difficult and might take years until it becomes dependable).
Here are some ideas of music related streams of income to think about:
- Sound Engineering (studio or live)
- Teaching (privately or in an institute, a music teaching business/website)
- Producing
- UA-cam (content creation, ad revenue, 'Patreon' support etc.)
- Session work (irl or online)
- Musical Performance (with your own music or someone else's) + it's secondary ways of income (merchandise, digital and physical record selling and streaming, etc.)
- Film Scoring (or any other type of "intended composing")
- Running or renting out a rehearsal space
- (for people who own a lot of instruments) Instrument Renting
- Instrument building
- Instrument set up and maintenance
Those are a few ideas to have in mind.
Even if you want to be more niche and become an expert in one field (say a performing musician), try to diversify yourself and have several jobs running at the same time, ie take part in several projects at the same time.
Honestly, if you can sustain even just a few of those avenues at the same time you are going to make at least a decent amount of money as a musician, plus, having these parallel sources of income means you're less susceptible to the uncertainties of living a life based solely around music.
Hope that helps anyone.
Thanks ,Ben H.G for your great ideas.I will make use some of them
Don’t forget making sample packs, sound design, that kinda thing. It’s a very viable option *once you have a decent following*.
In any case, you’re absolutely right- DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO. Just like with investments. Which I highly recommend as well. You score a sweet gig and you net, say, 3kUSD. I know most music peeps in my world would want to go get a new tube pre or daw upgrade but me, I’d throw it into a vanguard and let the money do some work of its own.
Thank you man.
You just opened a box of a few surprises for me. Thanks a lot bro.
This is much more realistic reply than the ones that say that “capitalism” sucks for music, Or that “capitalism sucks for art” in general. Go to my reply to some of those posts for more details.
My father, god bless his soul. Told me when I was young and with a “dream” just get a simple career and if something happens to your music you’ll be lucky! But with your normal job you won’t be rich but you’ll be comfortable. Thank you dad, rest easy. He knew way ahead of time that I wasn’t going to make it, ha ha!
The problem with musicians is that most of them see themselves as entrepreneurs who are one day gonna make it big. It’s this attitude that has kept musicians in poverty. When they all wake up to reality and realize that they are more like day laborers who are never gonna be huge, then they’ll see the need to form unions who will boycott establishments that refuse to pay their workers a living wage. Musicians are the most nickeled and dimed group of professionals out there. The “I just do it for the love of it” attitude is bullshit. Musicians perform a very important function and should be compensated. Form unions because you deserve more.
It's hard. The fact that there is not much money to make many talented people will work in there usual jobs and will never have the time and energy to focus on their music as much as it needs.
Current situation. It's so depressing and stifling but my bills need to be paid, sigh.
My roommate and I have almost entirely replaced streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Whatever, at night with your videos. You have a palpably contagious passion and it serves as a perfect reminder that life wouldn't be so bad if we all just loved, learned from, and lived for each other. Thank you for taking the time to share with us what you have learned my brother from a cosmic mother.
Cheers from Raleigh, NC, USA!
Thank you!!!
I’m happy someone recognized the Tele-Communications Act. In the past, there was a limit as to how many radio stations a company can own. The thinking was that it was bad for democracy, and it was bad for business. Having one company owning everything stifles business and creativity.
A great example of how beneficial it was for artists in the old days is the movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Loretta Lynne and her husband went from radio station to radio station throughout the South trying to get her demo played on air. Most wouldn’t play it, but some did, and when the song became a hit on those stations that aired it, those that didn’t play it originally began to do so. She was able to pull this off because, by law, all those stations were separately owned. Nowadays, with only six companies owning every station, this can’t be done.
And those 6 are probably all run or owned by the same top executives.
Is your studio radioactive? That Geiger counter is going mental
LOL! I know!!! It was driving me NUTS! (At one point, I had to pause it just to see if it was something in my office or on the video!) I have a feeling it's either an AC unit or an oscillating fan... Either way...yikes! 😉😁
Ha! I thought it was something in my room. I kept looking around for what it was...🤪
The Imagine Dragons just finished up a session...turrible.
“Mine is in the shop”
I got into the "music business" when my band, Amedeus, was signed to Epic records. Everything Rick says about record deals and publishing "theft" is true. Too young and ignorant to read the contract and spent years as a touring band paying back the front money for the record production. Success in this business is different for everyone. I became a successful studio musician for several decades until digital processing and drum machines took over. When something like that happens, you have to change your game, which I did. It meant walking away from the music business and into multimedia production. Everyone has some other talent besides their music skills that they can leverage for a new career. I know a couple of drummers who went to law school and now have practices just for music related business. A lot of my colleagues write or produce. Many are great visual artists and work with musicians to create promo and web sites. If you don't have a side skill, my advice is to develop one or several. You need a variety of tools in your survival kit. And, things will change for sure and you want to be ready when they do.
When you would do a show, let’s say the band asks for 20,000$ per gig, What percentage or how much would each band member make out of the 20,000$? Also, What percentage does the foh engineer usually get?
I often hear that about contracts, but I always wondered(I read about it so couldnt ask like now) If you did read it, and wanted a change. Wouldnt the label just decline? Wouldnt you have signed it then anyway? Wouldnt most young people?
I find this content very interesting, I never realized how tough it was to make a living in the music industry. People say they love an artist but the real question should be, are you supporting them?
I love how actually playing live comes way down your list and you only mention stadium gigs. When I lived in the North East of the U.K. I was employed playing in clubs every week. You can approach earning a living playing live just like any job but you need an agent for that. This means gathering promotional material, transport and equipment. I also got work making jingles to order. All of your advice applies to original material which is about as difficult as getting a book published.
I know guys who have made tens of dollars as professional musicians.
@Hooked On Chronics I completely forgot about that video. Haha
so what you are really saying is there is no money in music and it's just an expensive hobby for 99.9% of musicians
Yes
Yes, which is why capitalism really sucks for art
@MJ Mail There's more than just communism and capitalism, yo. Having to sell your art tends to prevent a lot of great art from every really happening.
@MJ Mail when you have increasing stratification, wealth inequality and ever increasing costs it cuts off many.
I can't imagine many of the artists from the past who came from working class backgrounds being able to afford to start, let alone play live, tour and get recognized. Heck, many of the live venues that supported these people died off themselves. I remember going to CBGB's and the knitting factory in Manhattan & those are long dead, never to return.
Nowadays you and your friends can maybe cobble together enough to make music at home and maybe luck out enough to be noticed while fighting everyone in the world for attention online.. and run into the problems Rick outlines here.
It's great that people /can/ make slick music without record companies but if I had a dollar for every musician I know that hasnt been able to do what they wanted or quit, I'd be rich tbh
Sounds about right.
Thanks Rick for your honest presentation on making a living in the music business. My son is one of those people that went to school to become a recording engineer. He interned in Dallas, TX at a large studio and then got a job in a small studio in Eastern Texas but couldn't make enough money to support himself. Since then he has turned his efforts to computer technician jobs which pay the bills but he has stayed in the music business on a part time basis. He has all the attributes you mention in your video, He plays several instruments, writes his own music, records and produces it in his own studio and has set up his own publishing company. He is upgrading his home studio to be a very good choice for local and regional talent to record. He still wants to do this full time and I think he is moving in the right direction at least according to your information. Thank you again for your time to address this topic.
YOUR WHOLE CHANNEL IS HEAVEN TO ME
your awesome! thank you for everything you do for all of us
domo origato, Mr Beato...
35:30ish: "If you become a UA-cam star and get a million subscribers, you're making a lot of money." Welcome to the machine, my friend!
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to lay it all out!
Thank you for all your great content Rick. I love it!
Here we are in 2023, six years later, and the answers to the big question haven't gotten any easier. A lot has continued to change in Music. The Music Modernization Act passage in 2018 creating the introduction of the MLC changed the royalty collection and payment landscape. Rick, it would be great if you would do an update to this very informative video. As a songwriter and producer of over 120 instrumental songs over the last 40+ years, I have made a good living and lived through the whole progression from vinyl, cassette tapes, CDs, downloads, streaming, ... But, if I had to start all over today, it is doubtful that I could make a living. We musicians have almost no physical product to sell these days. Even CD players are becoming extinct. Please consider an update video. Love your videos and would love to meet you in person someday.
How do you end up with a $1000,000 in the music business? Start with $5000,000 and gig for a couple of years. :)
I remember back in the day, mid-70s, when buying a piece of vinyl was a moment of great anticipation. You would put that album on, sit back, look at the artwork, read the liner notes/lyrics and play that album until it had worn out. Music shows like Top of The Pops in the UK were 'institutions' - a conversation topic next day at school: '... did you see so and so? Did you see that band, this band...?' You just didn't dare miss it. Music, as a normal, cultural 'phenomenon' was held in high esteem and aspired to. It was 'special'.
Fast forward to now.... Frankly, no one gives a s**t. Kids have the attention span of a Labrador puppy. So many things vie for their attention - games, internet, smartphones etc - music isn't the huge point of focus it once was. The internet has made so much music available that its value has plummeted financially and culturally. Diamonds only have value because the mining of them is carefully controlled and restricted. Too many diamonds and the value falls. This is what happened to music: its total accessability has been its undoing. Some will make money but they will be a miniscule percentage. Years back if someone had 200 vinyl albums they were a serious, hardcore collector. These days, my ex girlfriend had over 100,000 mp3s on her hard drive - that's around 8000 albums - hardly any of it she listened to. Every month Spotify would send her hundreds of tracks to listen to - mostly rubbish - that she paid next to nothing for.
That's where the business is now. You stand a better chance of making a living with music by standing on a street corner banging out a few well-known songs with an acoustic guitar. In fact, some very good musicians do very well playing in the streets around Europe. Thing is, they ALL at some point thought they would make a million from the 'music biz'.
The absolute truth unfortunately.
Well said, Mister Frazer, it's like a nightmare, already. I sadly agree with you.
At least in Europe those street musicians can get healthcare and live a life of dignity. That’s not the case in the good old USA.
Never seen musician becoming musician to make big money. It is usually part of personality.
And yet there is a bright side.
Everyone wants to get rich. When it's unlikely to do so, the people that choose to play music for a living do it because they love it. I have a friend in his 30's that has been riding couches since he was 17. He wouldn't trade it for the world. He plays metal and it's all he's ever cared about. Nothing will deter the guy, and his passion shows in his music. I personally think it's great to live in this day in age. I just discovered Tyler Childers and he's talented enough to make lots of money and do what he loves.
Thank you Mr Beato for taking the time to make such an informative video!
Thank you for your generosity. Wonderful teaching
Thanks for all of this advice, Rick. Being in this industry is such an utterly daunting task. It often feels like I need the skills of five different professionals just to have a chance at ever making any money. Currently studying sound engineering and trying to improve on my instruments and with my compositions but damn...it's so intimidating. Thanks for making it just a little easier :)
Just wanted to say, I really appreciate how you have advanced music theory stuff that continually challenges me but also these much more personal discussion type videos. I find both incredibly inspiring and am looking forward to looking over your catalog of new and old videos.
thank you for that candid honest perspective.
So glad I found and subscribed to your channel. Not a wasted second. Thanks a million!
Great job RIck.
Can't wait to see the heights your son reaches musically in the future.
Tis no coincidence that so many gifted people had parents who were gifted teachers, from Mozart to Tiger woods.
Good luck to you.
I have a non-music related full time job, but I always love the feeling of playing music live (although only few times a year, mostly at friends' events). At some occasions I get paid, but not that much... Lately I have been thinking about going into playing music full time, but I know its not easy... Guess I'll just start by doing regular session at bars/cafe at night while working in the office during the day. It's always been constant battle inside of me, between being realistic and following the dream...
Just sharing though...
Oh, i remember Guthrie Govan once said:
"Music owes nothing to you"
Firstname Lastname Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t make the scene. He’s got a day time job, he’s doing all right
HAY ! are you having FUN!!! Music owes you that much , you, ll be fine
Way cool - thank you Rick! I appreciate you taking the time to share your insights
We love you Rick... Thank you.
Would love to see an updated version of this.
I just took music business 101 from Berklee online and it took me three months to learn all this. Thank you for your time doing this for all of us.
Thank you so much! You are an inspiration.
Thank you for sharing your information and experience.
As always, Mr. Beato's knowledge on any music topic may be among the most valuable sources around. From film score analysis to complex music theory, I hope some royalties are being earned here because all of these videos are in my repeat queue.
Absolutely fantastic! Having been a public high school band director in Minnesota for an entire career (now retired) as well as always played in bands - community, night clubs, church, etc. i always wondered about these aspects of the music business. Thanks so much for explaining some very complicated information in such a comprehensible fashion!!!
Thanks Rick, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and expertise.
Thank you so much Rick! Very insightful! I love your vids and they had made me a better artist and musician
You come out with the most amazing and interesting information Rick, fascinating even for those of us with no connection with the music business (except as consumers, of course; most of us can relate to it in that sense).
Hey Rick, your videos are a treasure cove of inspiration and information. Thank your for the stories, insights, experience and teachings. I feel grateful beyond my ability to express it.
Thank you Rick , extremely valuable and generous. Will
Great overview of the music business changes and where we are now. Thank you for putting this together in a clear way.
The best chance for most of us to earn money in the music business is to simply own shares of Spotify, LOL!
Johnny Guitar are you by any chance Johnny Guitar who used to play on Guitar War? I'm talking 1999 or 2000...
Not really as Spotify as a company is losing money hand over fist.
How to make a living as a musician? Make a bunch of videos and start a youtube channel talking about how to make a living as a musician.
Bill Hannaford, Double LOL with tears in my eyes! I'm ready to split my gut. Och! There goes yesterdays gleanings. Give me a can of Lysol SOMEBODY!
A lot of people are doing that actually, And buy their schemes for thousands of dollars. People are so gullible sadly. Don't trust "musicians" unless they can back it up.
And get your music put in video games, movies, TV shows and commercials.
He mentioned this twice in the video.
@A Paid NASA Shill - hehe Tai Lopez. I could never believe people actually fell for that, but then he would show videos of being on a plane with hot girls etc. Of course those could all have been staged, but either way I could see he was selling the same old warmed over self help get rich quick lists that are a dime a dozen in the back of magazines.
His secret is that there are more gullible young people now than ever before. Kids are overly sheltered now, and many go to college which sucks even more of their common sense from their brains. I think there's a huge market with young people now if you have it in you to con them out of their McDonalds janitorial job paycheck.
Thanks Rick. Your knowledge of the industry is invaluable. I bought/downloaded your book and am slowly working through it.
thank you for taking your time to share some wisdom with us!
Fascinating.. I grew up in the 70's and 80's ...interesting how things have moved on ..or down
Great video that confirmed my fears about going into the music business. I went to college in Mississippi back in the early 2000's and switched my major from music to business administration, because I was afraid I really wouldn't be able to make a living in the music industry. I've been playing piano, guitar, bass & drums since my middle school years, write my own music & lyrics and understand mixing, but I was never excellent and any of those things. I am so glad I made that decision back then to get a normal job and have a family while using my talents as a hobby and at church. Thanks for the info.
2112 rush lyrics concept vinal.Overture
The field of music is so so so competetive, it require a lot of sacrifices
Thank you for sharing this knowledge Rick.
At one point, I ignored all the official music market and became a street musician. I don't earn vast quantities of money, but enough to make a solid living. And the most important - I live my passion and my work...
The majority of the video seems to be about how the record industry used to be and about how that process doesn't really work anymore. People coming to this video based on the title are going to be looking for how to make a living in music today. The old way of getting signed obviously isn't going to work anymore. To make a living in music an artist has to hustle more and become more of an entrepreneur. They have to become a "label" onto themselves. There are also still a lot of opportunities for musicians to make a living performing music. Studios still need musicians to play on recordings. Cruise ships still need live musicians. There are still opportunities out there to make a "living," but the standard "rich and famous" contracts are just not being given anymore.
great video Rick. Every starting musician needs to watch this video to the end... covers a lot of ground while hitting the essentials well.
Thank you Rick, this was extremely helpful. Lots to sort through, you explained it all very well.
MY FIRST TIME WATCHING YOU RICK AND I'VE LEARNED SO MUCH. THANKS BRO.
Hey Rick, great video, thank you! My personal experience as a professional musician here in Italy since 1980 is do various things in the music business to make a living, pay bills and buy my house with a studio: 1) club gigs in many different music styles; 2) play drums on tours with famous pop artist 3) play at convention, corporate party 4) tv promo on national tv broadcast for big stars (for example...i do this for 8 years with Andrea Bocelli); 5) writing article on a print drummer magazine; 6) do european tour with USA blues/r&b/funk/soul artist on tour; 7) do private drum lessons (and percussions) in my studio; 8) recording drums for national tv jingles in my studio and in other studios (example i play on Q8, Nikon, Buitoni, IBM, Citibank, Fiat and many others; 9) recording session of every kind of musical projects in my own studio; 10) rent my studio to producers; 11) record producer (recording all the musicians and singers, play drums and percussions, mix, mastering, artwork for cover-package); 12) writing and produce music for documentary, tv show, movie, radio jingles; 13) play drums and cymbals as endorser at music fair-exposition; 14) team building with drum circle and percussions; 15) rent my 2000 watt little PA for cabaret evening in restaurant and small club; 16) recording sessions drums and/or percussions in other studios. ...and i think in the years i have do a lot of other things! :-)
👍
More and more, it seems like the music therapy route is going to be the way for me to go!
I enjoy your videos. Your delivery and authentic love of what you're doing shows through big time. Great work, great presentations... thanks.
A BIG thank you to you M.Beato.
A lot of priceless info in here.
It was an easy sub for me.
Thanks again.
Rick should do a 2020/2021 version of this video
I think I will write a book on how money used to be made in the Music Business as it is all downhill now. Having played for 55 years it is very sad to notice the lack of opportunities for up and coming artistes
Omg I feel incredibly overwhelmed yet really informed by having watched this video!!
Wow I guess I’ll just keep playing for the love of it
Thanks Rick (Dangerous) for talking over this troublesome subject.
I always thought (25 years ago) that making a living off music making would ruin the romatic and magical nature of it, and make it a routine, stressed, compromising profession for me. I thought musicians should have a "real job" and do music when the "muse" hits them, usually, off work hours.
Today I have a family and steady job and I hate the fact I cannot drop everything and only play, compose, cover, mix, try all the diferent instruments until I get versed on them.
So - whomever reading this and delaying music to the afterlife (actually not go that far but when you are a family and not an individual with free time and will) - jsut don't - you will be sorry for lost time, lost ideas, lost music. It is something you got to try to know whether you will be good and make it your occupation, or keep doing gigs to your kids and friends and make a very good career in some business, so you can buy some instruments and gear and keep up the dream.
Cheers! Great channel :)
I like your advise. I wait till the last minute to do anything. Ill wait till the last minute to get old and get a "regular" job too.
Thx
Needed this! Thanks :) I am struggling to go full time
I have good Spotify and Apple paychecks as well as tv placements and I thought for 6 months let‘s go fulltime music, you don‘t have a family to feed, try it!
This is it
I am doing it now
Thanks
I just want to teach and inspire people, and gig on the side if possible. I hate my corporate job so much
Thanks for the comment. It's encouraging. I am in the same situation as you right now. I only want to do music because my soul needs it.
There is also the tried and true street performing. If you have chops you can easily pull in $100-$250 an hour with a guitar box laying on the ground. Even if you are terrible people will throw a couple of bucks down. Location is 🔑
So true: I was on the street near Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco circa 1993... saw this guy playing guitar, and making up funny lyrics about people as they went by on the sidewalk. He was good. I put a couple bucks in his guitar case. Later that evening... we were walking back to our hotel, and that same street musician was loading up and leaving in a limousine. True story. I was like, WTF? then thought, eh, he is pretty good.
Uk7769, I grew up in The Bay Area and was there around that time. I remember a guy that glued a plastic bush to his back and hid in the shrubs by the pier. He'd pop out and scare the hell out of folks and that was his full time job. In SF he was probably making $500 a day. There is so much damn money in that area nowadays that he might have made enough to retire on.
Truth. Solid video Rick. Your knowledge is a treasure.
Great video, Rick! Learned a lot about the ins and outs of the music biz. Keep up the good work!
I highly recommend reading "How To Make It in the New Music Business" from Ari Herstand, really good book on the matter, you don't need to be a superstar to make a living.
Just turned 50 and I still love music. My band had a record deal with BMG in the mid 90s, released a full length and toured the country twice. But it fizzled out because we never wanted to become pop stars, and I personally didn't get into music to make money. These days I could care less about how the industry changed because I was never a fan of the industry to begin with, not even in the so-called "better days". If making music is part of who you are, do it for fun and don't change who you are. Do something else to make money.
Darthchopper yes have a back up plan. Music is a great gift to share but learn a trade.
Love all your videos buddy, like your straight up, honest style...
Rick, Thanks for posting, this video is very helpful.
If offered a 360 deal one should counter with a 180 deal! (Do a 180 out the door.)
You are spot on. Looks like there is really no reason to get signed with a major label these days
Rick...thanks for this info man..I'm a producer, writer, musician and performer and I really needed this info to push my music and make a real living at it.
I hope you are still going strong at it!
Thank you brother for your time and knowledge. Rock on.
Well done Rick ....
Great video ....
And thanks so much for all that info...
Cheers
✌️
Stupid music business. I could have been a famous basketball player, or famous actor, but NO, I had to be a musician. Ughh
Eric Hanaway Do what most artistically frustrated musicians (like me) do; turn to engineering or producing! It's 70% as rewarding, but 100 times more profitable.
sweliam1 I'm actually a physics major hahah Seriously
Eric Hanaway Hahaha, well, there ya' go! What does a physics major do for a living anyways?
sweliam1 Well I am just at the beginning stages of this journey. I am almost done with the GE classes, and beginning the physics lower division. I am a bit older than other students but in a unique financial situation. If all goes according to plan, I will venture into the world of Astronomy or Astro-physics.
Eric Hanaway Cool! Good luck, hope all goes well. :)
I agree all what you said. I been in the industry as a Motion Graphics designer and Musician and its quite a lot of things to do before you can get the payment for living... This is why I am still not famous since I'm focusing more on the Motion graphics day job... what's also hard for me is that I live in country side... and most of the creative things happen in the big city.. that is another hard part of living as a creator and not only a musician :/
Thank you for sharing these helpful informations
I came across this video by chance and just wanted to say thank you for it!! I've played music (mostly just for fun) most of my life, but took about a 10 year hiatus from it while I was practicing law and starting a family. Now I am getting back into songwriting and performing, and thinking of pursuing it in a more focused, professional way, but I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and not sure where to start. This video was great and really helped provide a clear overview of the basics, so now I can work on setting some practical and realistic goals. I subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks again!
I studied music production, got my masters in Audio production. I've played bass for 17 years. I produce music which I put up on soundcloud and have accumulated a couple of thousand listens. D'you know how I make money from music? Covers band. For the majority of musicians, that's the best you'll do. Play pubs, weddings, birthdays etc. You have a great time and you can make a bit of cash to supplement your earnings from the regular job you have to have.
There's always that joke about how do you make a million off jazz music? Start with a billion. Reckon if I become some sort of crypto millionaire I could build a studio, employ myself and slowly run out of money until I have to get a job again.
Good God, that was a depressing comment.
well i got to learn music production myself because im an entreprenur
Oh please...put your ego in your back pocket and go do some real music. A friend of mine going back to the 1990's paid off his house doing nothing but "On Hold Music." yep, that was his niche...paid off his mortgage doing that.
Once a famous Italian music producer told me: "If you wanna do something in the music business you need money and (the right) friendships!"
Was he Giorgio Moroder by any chance?
That's true in almost every industry.
Gear vid! Thanks for keeping it real Rick. Much appreciated.
You really are a genius, you answered a very important question. Thanks a lot
Rick; great video, very insightful and thorough. I'm currently a college student with Berklee's online campus majoring in music production and music business. In my classes, we've heard from a lot of speakers, label people, A&R reps, promoters, etc. who have stated much of what you have.
Many of the predictions that I've heard from some of these same people point to streaming becoming the new profitable avenue for making revenue as an artist, producer, engineer, etc. I'm well aware of the royalty rates you earn off of streaming, and how insubstantial it is for making a living, and how that rate must change in order for there to be more "room" in the music industry.
I'd love to hear your predictions: do you think that we're just on a downswing in the music business as consumer choice is switching from the pay-to-own mentality to the pay-to-subscribe mentality, and do you think that this downswing is temporary?
In other words, what do you foresee for the future of consumer-based music? Is that future going to be profitable for people working in many of the industry verticals, or should we all go get regular jobs like our parents told us? That last line was a joke.
Lots of truths here Rick ! I would add that, If your an artist, the most important revenue stream, at any level, is live performance. You have to be able to sell tickets to your performances. Most acts, established or emerging, generate most of their revenue from live performance. Your ability to do, especially early on, is an indication that people like what your doing and will likely buy your recordings, merch, and other income generating vehicles as well. While you can make money selling the music itself, I would suggest that, more than not, music sales revenue is a fringe benefit of successful touring. Radio, for example, functions as a marketing tool for live performance revenue. Moral of the story is, if you (or a club owner or promoter) is having trouble selling tickets to your shows, you need to step back and take a hard look at what your doing, both artistically and marketing wise. Its not just about being great (very subjective) but its about getting people to buy in to what your doing on stage. Every thing else follows.
This video was so enlightening. Thank you so much for the honesty of putting every detail in perspective. I think I've just had the answers that I needed.
Very informative, you brought back points that I have forgotten about over the years. Things like the library services from which TV and movie scores are usually derived, I have a friend who uses one of those databases, and actually got his tune used as a TV morning show theme for a few months.
CD Baby is great, no ongoing fee, very good customer service and they just take a percentage of the sales. They do CDs and all the main online download and streaming (bah!) distribution channels, although you can get UA-cam advertising money direct rather than through their partner with regard to that aspect.
Hey Rick, I have a video idea for you.. How about "How to meet other likeminded(committed) musicians/producers/ect. I feel it is harder to do these days with all the different genres..Just a thought. Best, -Z
Well for one I reached out to you some months or a year ago but you rarely if ever responded :) I'm a pianist and producer, 7+ solo albums recorded, allthough pretty small and unknown the music have garnered more than 30 million streams in the past years. I've composed about 30 genres/subgenres and love to learn new things. Currently working on 1 collaboration for a modern radio song aswell as my debut solo EDM track.
Are you talking to me or Zach? Rarely if ever responded? I either responded or I didn't. "Rarely" and "if ever" mean that I responded but not often?
Oh no, I ment Zach :) I just found your channel and enjoying it!!
I was wondering :) I usually respond to as many people as I can which is difficult with over 100 videos. I checked out our channel and it sounded cool! Rick
That means a lot Rick! Really glad I found a place to learn music again. It's been a few years since I actively studied music/sound theory. However I've been learning more and more how to mix on my own. Being composer, sound designer, mixer/masterer all the once is really quite hard. Takes so many years!
Brilliant episode, thank you.
Thank you for your overview. Now going to watch the 2018 version!
Thanks. Now, I'm depressed.
Reality sucks doesn't it.
Don't quit McDonalds.
Thanks, Rick... This information is soooo valuable, I appreciate the insight.
Rick Beato you are amazing. Such good tips.
Thanks Rick for the awesome video. You are such a genuine person! The world would be a better place if more people were like you. I originally saw your Apple rant videos and I didn't realize your true profession and experience. A real treat that you are willing to share. I really enjoyed your video where you played the greatest song intros. Talent comes through and puts most of other so-called UA-cam "talent" to shame.