How realistic is it to make a living off of playing music?
How realistic is it to make a living off of playing music?
Okay so an 18 year old senior in high school dropped this question and the answers from working musicians are genuinely some of the most honest things I've read about the music industry in a while
They've put thousands of hours into guitar. would die for it. wondering whether to pursue it through college or whether they're about to send themselves into a pit of poverty.
The answers did not sugarcoat it.
Someone who actually knows people making a living at it broke down what those people look like in real life. exceptional at their instruments and able to sight read very well. enjoy playing other people's music and not super concerned about getting paid for original work. play a huge variety of genres. prepared to travel frequently and far. and not wealthy.
That last one sitting there alone is doing a lot of work lol.
A veteran who made their living as a player, guitar repairman, touring guitar tech, teacher, and audio engineer for decades said it straight. it's a 24/7 365 hustle and the better you are at wearing many different hats the more work you get. you don't have to be the best but you have to learn quickly, show up on time, and be kind to everyone. that's 60+ hours a week for a mediocre income. after a couple of decades they got fed up and now work 40 hours for three times the money. their advice to their own musician son? get a job in an industry that pays so well you can afford to take weeks off to tour and make music a hobby.
Someone else put it even more plainly. even if you're amazing you're most likely broke or scraping by. social media makes it more doable than ever but also more saturated than ever. stay consistent if you love it but absolutely do not rely on it. it's a massive stroke of luck combined with meeting the right people.
And the instrument you play matters more than people admit. bass players and drummers who are actually good can almost always find work. guitar players are everywhere. if you want to work as a musician your odds shift dramatically based on what you play and how in-demand that skill actually is.
The most honest framing of all? making a living in music isn't "playing music." it's marketing your skillset until you have enough clients and gigs to piece together a full income. the romanticized version and the reality are two very different jobs.
Try it while you're young. the older you get the worse it is to be broke. that's not pessimism. that's just the math.
Do you make a living from music or do you keep a day job to fund it? genuinely curious what the split looks like for people actually doing it
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