As part of Humber College’s Artist In Residence week, I’ve been asked to participate in a panel called “How To Survive/Thrive In The Music Biz.” I’m very honoured to have been asked, especially since I didn’t actually graduate per se.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make the panel (which is on Thursday March 11th), as I’m going to be in New York for a few days.

I guess it’s been nearly a decade (!) since I was a student in the formal sense, and hopefully I’ve learned a thing or two about the music business since then.  Having said that, what I do as a musician might be completely different from what you want to do.  I’ll explain what I do and how I survive (which I’m assuming means how I make money), but remember that I’m imagining saying this to a specific group – music students at Humber College.

In the past, I’ve always had at least one musician, someone a few rungs up the ladder, who generously shared their experiences and advice with me.  That someone would introduce me to the right people, lend me giant stacks of CDs to discover, help steer me in the right direction, and eventually kick me in the butt to send me off on my own.  There have been at least 5 of these people in my life, and I’m very grateful for them.  So I feel like it’s part of the job; if you’ve succeeded at something – even a tiny bit above the rest – you have to give some of that back.

I’m assuming that the panel situation would be all Q&A, so if you have any specific questions about what I do, feel free to email me here.

am I surviving?

You might want to know what my definition of “surviving in the music business” is.  Well, to me it means basically not having a “real” job. In other words, making all of my income from playing music. So by that definition, yes, I am surviving in the music business.  I don’t make a lot of money (and if you want to be a musician to make money…you’re crazy!), but I do make enough.  Here’s how it worked out for me in 2009…

Yes…It’s another pie chart.

But surviving is different than thriving.  I could survive, by my own definition, and still be playing horrible, soul-sucking gigs.  I’d still be surviving in the music business, right?  So I broke down the question of how to survive/thrive in the music business into 2 parts.

survive

How do you survive as a musician?

• Play/work a lot (pay your dues) – There will be a period when you do a bunch of $20 gigs, and you have to take them because that’s all there is!  This period won’t suddenly end, either.  It’s a gradual progression. As you improve as a musician, and gain experience (also known as paying your dues), your income will improve as well.  In the beginning, just work as much as you can.

• Make others sound good - Always strive to make the people you’re playing with sound even better.  When someone is taking a solo, support them in a way that brings out their best qualities.  Get to know what makes them shine as a player, and then help to bring that out. If you’re playing with singers, always remember that they are the most important person on the stage.  If you can’t hear the lyrics, you need to adjust.

• Make friends – Not friends in the social networking sense, but real friends. Music is all about relationships.  So is the music business. What makes a great relationship?  I’d say caring is #1.  You really do have to care about the people you play with.  Once you realize that you’re paying your bills as a musician, stop and take a look at all the gigs you play.  Who are you playing with?  Most likely… your friends! Your friends keep you working and hopefully you keep them working, too.

• Be versatile – Now, if you have a vision of being the next Bruce Springsteen, then being versatile isn’t the advice you need to hear.  There’s something to be said for having laser focus on a single vision, and your DNA will determine if that’s your path.  Versatility is how I make my living as a musician.  I play with at least 10 different bands/artists.  Sometimes I play acoustic rhythm guitar…or bass…behind Sylvia Tyson, and the next night I play drums for Julie Fader.  I might play lap steel on a rootsy recording session one afternoon, and then play eighth notey keyboard parts behind John Southworth later that night. Versatility has kept me afloat.

• Don’t have a backup plan – I’m not saying you should quit your job and attempt to support yourself completely through music.  Instead, you can ween off the part-time job income as you grow the income you make as a musician.  That way, you’re always looking forward to the day when you are completely self-employed as a musician, never believing that it won’t happen.  Don’t have a plan B.

thrive

You could do everything listed above, technically surviving in the music business, but you’re not necessarily thriving.  Thriving is something else.  Here’s what I think it is…

• Know and work your strengths – I just finished reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography, Open (thanks Chris!),  in which he admits that he hates tennis, and always has.  He really hated it, with a passion.  It’s not really surprising when you hear his story. Agassi’s dad decided to make his son a tennis player and pushed him into it, essentially from birth.  Yet, he became the best tennis player in the world.  Yes,  you can be really good – even the best in the world – at something you hate. Don’t confuse what you’re good at with what you love.  To know what your real strengths are, you have to be able to separate those two things.

• Get better…all the time – If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.  Sad but true. You can survive in the music business and just stagnate after a while.  I’ve seen it.  The only way to avoid that stagnation is to keep getting better and surrounding yourself with musicians who are of that same mind.

I hope this doesn’t come off as too preachy.  I’m just imagining what I would say to my younger self.  I might also say that if you want to be a full-time musician, be prepared to spend 80% of your time scheduling stuff.

resources

First of all, if you’re going to tour in the states, and if you want to do any CBC stuff, you need to become a member of the musician’s union.

Royalties

• Socan - Are you writing tunes?  Register them. This is how you make money when you’re tunes get played on the radio/TV.

• SoundExchange -For online royalties.

Sell Your Music Online

• CD Baby – When you have an album to sell, put it up on CD Baby.  They handle online distribution as well (including itunes).

• I also love Bandcamp.

Grants

Check out the music grants available through:

• Canada Council for the Arts
• Ontario Arts Council
• Toronto Arts Council

Taxes

• I wrote this piece about doing your tax stuff.  It’s a good idea to stay on top of it.

If you want to ask me anything else about surviving in the music business, or if you have some advice for me, email me here or leave a comment below.

Thanks!

Christine