Art for Art’s Sake: Who The Hell Is This Art Guy, And What Has He Done With All Our Money?

Oh boy, Monday, Monday. Can we trust this day?

I like it. I think I was born on a Monday, but that’s beside the point. I like it way more now that I am FIRE.

Today, I want to talk about the near-ridiculousness of wanting to be a musical artist in order to make a living.

I gave up on the “dream” a long time ago, until Lee and I got this band back together.

And even then, we knew that we’d have to figure out a different way of making money versus the way our musical influences and heroes did it.

That is the old model, and it doesn’t exist anymore except for a very small portion of musical artists in the USA.

We’re talking probably fewer than 500 musical artists who still benefit from the Old Way of Making It in the Music business (i.e., being signed and promoted by a Major Label).

That’s part of the reason why the Top 10 hits list is dominated by the same 10 artists, year after year after year after year.

It’s monotonous.

Some of the music is great, and the talent is terrific.

But, wow, it’s so much different than the mid-1960s until about 2005.

Did someone say Napster?

The biggest difference?

Streaming versus physical record sales. The barriers to entry are lower, but making it is exponentially harder.

Let me put this in perspective for you.

I used Google AI to do some analysis on this over the weekend, and continued this morning.

Here’s the harsh truth.

If you remove the “heavy Hitter, Super stars and Household names” only About 500 musical artists in the USA make a “living wage” doing Nothing but their original music full time.

Meaning, they tour and play gigs about 1/3 of the year and earn streaming royalties. Most if Not all sell merchandise, and likely have Patreon subscribers who subsidize their efforts.

This also means that they spend 100% of their free and waking time devoted to this pursuit.

What is the saying?

If you never want to work again, find a job you love and then you’re really not working.

Uh, yeah, but let’s peel this back a bit.

If you only want to get on stage and perform, record and release your songs, and let someone else worry about all the other “business crap” that they have to do to “make a living,” well, then you better be in the next tier of musical artists.

Guess how many are in the tiers above these 500 making a Living Wage?

About 700 total.

And these 700 are split into 4 tiers.

some of these 700 don’t even exist as a touring or recording act anymore (e.g., R.E.M., Michael Jackson, etc.).

Even more so, to even be in the bottom of Tier 4, the lowest part of the 700, you have to be somewhat of a “household name.”

Meaning, that if you have a group of 10 people gathered and the musical artist’s name is brought up, at least one or two of the 10 will know who you are talking about.

(“Oh, Lord Huron, yes, I have heard a few of their songs.”

“Who? Mac DeMarco? Oh yeah, that name sounds familiar.”

Etc., etc.)

The group below this elite household-name tier are either on the content creation treadmill from Hell, needing to hustle like mad to sell merch, vinyl, subscriptions, streaming gigs, in-person gigs, etc., etc. …

Or they have a “day job.”

There are about 1,000 musical artists that make the majority of their money from playing gigs and who have about 15–20K monthly listeners on streaming platforms.

Again, only about 500 of these are doing this full time.

The other 1.3 million USA-based musical artists? Slim Pickens.

People with 500 regular streams per month likely have about 1,000 “true fans,” and they end up making about $3.50 to $20 per year from these streams.

And I thought we, The Leavers, were not doing so great. But Heck, we’re right in there with this group, at about $10 per year.

(That’s right, we just put the songs on repeat in the background … JK! But 500 active listeners per month? Uh, not even close, that’s for dang sure.)

Look, I’m not saying you can’t make a living playing or being involved in music, You absolutely can and Many do.

but it’s highly unlikely to do it Primarily being a star of the stage.

You will have to be a combination of Not just a performer, but also a:

1) retail merchandiser

2) fundraiser

3) music instructor/teacher, session Player, or both

4) content creator

and/or

5) wedding singer of some sort …

in addition to streams and gigs for your original songs.

The odds of reaching that top 1,200 musical artists in the USA level are less than 1/1000th.

And, Many at that level are Legacy artists, who benefited from the days of Radio Play.

Oh, and here’s the real kicker in the groove tracks …

the 500 or so that are doing this full time below the Household Name level?

Besides being on the content-creation treadmill from hell that eats up 100% of their free time and psychological bandwidth …

They are likely only making about what a mid-tier bartender would make working 35–40 hours per week,

about $55,000–$60,000 per year.

Just to put this in perspective.

In the USA, about 45% of the total workforce makes $55,000 or more per year. That’s way better than 1/1000th, wouldn’t you agree?

And if you are full time, you have a 23% chance of earning $100,000 or more per year.

Also, you have a 2% chance of earning $500,000 per year or more if you play your cards right … and can maintain your integrity.

It comes with compromise.

and you don’t clear this amount.

and you certainly don’t spend this amount if you want to reach FIRE!

I was saving 50% of gross my last five years working full time, and 80% in the last year.

And I was “weird” compared to my peers, who loved to get new cars, take magnificent luxurious vacations, had the finest of clothes, etc.

Meanwhile, I was skipping coffees, sometimes bringing my lunch (or getting the less-than-$10 options), and taking public transport back and forth to work.

Invest, invest, invest. Forget the rest of the BS.

What is my point in all this?

I am trying to come to terms with the idea that for me, music is art for art’s sake.

And perhaps a way to connect with others, but I haven’t figured that out quite yet either.

Showing up to play 3 songs at an open mic at a dirty tavern, which is a two-hour drive from my house and requires 6 hours in a day, has worn thin on me. I’ve hit a wall.

(6 hours? How do I figure?

Rehearsal, load up, round-trip travel, plus staying for the whole show versus being a “selfish” artist who gets their songs in and splits, doesn’t care about supporting the other artists, or forming relationships … uh, that would suck, too.)

There is no “business model” I have found that will “work” for me or align with my values when it comes to this field.

And it’s creating a real tension inside that has me stirred up.

What will I do about that?

We will see.