You have to accept that and then move forward anyway.

If you are pursuing it as a full-time job, then you have to acknowledge that the economic reality of being a musician for a living isn’t always rosy. If you’re making music, you have to first acknowledge that you do it because it’s what you want to do, not because you’re guaranteed to get rich or even make a living from it. If you’re feeling despair after looking at these statistics - don’t. So, most musicians don’t rely on a salary to get by. Average direct income from music for “all other genres” artists in the 18 to 29-years-old-range was $18,400, while the average non-music income was $11,800, for a total gross average of $30,200. It should be noted that only 33 percent of the musicians surveyed would be considered full-time musicians, making at least 75 percent of their income from music-related sources. The study presents an average annual gross estimated music income (EMI) breakdown for that group: 30 percent from live performance, 18 percent from teaching, 12 percent from salaried playing, 11 percent from composing, 10 percent from session work, 7.3 percent from sound recordings, and 1.9 percent from merchandise, with 9.5 percent for “other.” What’s interesting about the Future of Music Coalition study is that most of the non-classical music respondents self-identified in the “all other genres” category. So while that number sounds low, it isn’t the whole picture. In summary, the average working musician earns $35,300 USD gross revenue annually from their music career, counting income from a variety of sources. This data is a bit out of date by now, but there are still insightful takeaways to be found by messing around with the sliders and looking at different categories. As streaming continues to grow in popularity, it seems like this DIY segment - and the amount of money DIY artists can actually earn - will grow as well.īack in 2011, Future of Music Coalition conducted an insightful study that compares the income of independent musicians across genres, age ranges, years of experience, and gender. Technology makes it easier to record, produce, and distribute music without the help of a record label. According to a report by MIDIA Research, unsigned artists releasing music without the help of a label made up 6.3 percent of all Spotify streams in 2020 - a dramatic 28 percent increase from 2019.

The data doesn’t lie: DIY artists make up a fast-growing sector of the music industry. Sure, some artists get big cash advances, fast cars, and fancy mansions, but there are also independent musicians and performers who are able to make a reasonable living from live shows and streaming income. How much do musicians actually earn? The shifting landscape of the music industry has made it hard to gauge exactly how much money working musicians in the modern age actually earn on average.

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