Interesting article. I formulated a similar thing a little while ago, just with different numbers. Personally earning $100.000 is a big step above from 'a decent living', and I'm more then willing to settle for, say, 20.000. Let's assume part-time working should get me 10k a year, that means I only need to earn 10k through music. Following the articles numbers that means 100 true fans. I'm lightyears away from that now but it certainly seems feasible.
Personally earning $100.000 is a big step above from 'a decent living', and I'm more then willing to settle for, say, 20.000. Let's assume part-time working should get me 10k a year, that means I only need to earn 10k through music. Following the articles numbers that means 100 true fans. I'm lightyears away from that now but it certainly seems feasible.
I think there's some different assumptions in the article from what you might be using. For the numbers in the article I don't think that the individual would be getting US$100K net - that would be gross income. There's the assumption that costs would have to come off of that - running your website, paying for touring costs, studio time, liability insurance, new gear, supplies, etc. If you assume that in the end you want to earn the median US income for a college educated person in this music enterprise that's ~US$50K. Now, in the US you are going to have to buy health insurance and that's somewhere between US$5K to US$15K (and those are probably only decent plans). You may want some other benefits like retirement and disability insurance. All of that is usually provided by your employer. Put that together and you need maybe US$70-80K. That leaves ~$20K for overhead. Seems reasonable.
IIRC you are only in your 20's and live in the Netherlands(?). That makes a lot of difference. You don't have to worry about health coverage costs nor disability and retirement. Being in your 20's you can also get by with a lot less income but if you want a family or a simple middle class life then you need a bit more than US$20K. It also doesn't leave a lot of room for error - lose a couple of "true" fans and you might not be able to eat one month. Being wiling to start small at US$20K and then having it grow would be good though but in the long run you don't want it to end there.
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
True, I keep surprising myself with how naive I am. :( On the bright side, in the Netherlands health insurance is about E1500 a year, regardless from how sick you might be. If you become disabled or run in some other kind of trouble my government will take over (part) of my income. Now personally I wouldn't find it acceptable if I (university education) leech of my government but in any case there is a fairly big safety net over here.
But you're still right. There's no way at all I can maintain a family or such with such a low income. Ah well, I'm still young. Worst-case scenario is that I dont get a single true-fan, which will mean I have to get a job (or keep my current one). I think people have had worse things happen to them.
it's asbsolutely possible, i believe, to earn a decent living off of music in this world. it's not like you're trying to be a poet or a performance artist or something of that nature. that's because there is something called "the music industry" (despite whatever shape it's in right now.) there's no such thing as the poetry industry! you need a plan and a lot ofdetermination and you can do it. there's always teaching private lessons.
True, I keep surprising myself with how naive I am. :( On the bright side, in the Netherlands health insurance is about E1500 a year, regardless from how sick you might be. If you become disabled or run in some other kind of trouble my government will take over (part) of my income. Now personally I wouldn't find it acceptable if I (university education) leech of my government but in any case there is a fairly big safety net over here.
But you're still right. There's no way at all I can maintain a family or such with such a low income. Ah well, I'm still young. Worst-case scenario is that I dont get a single true-fan, which will mean I have to get a job (or keep my current one). I think people have had worse things happen to them.
I am sure you will get famous one day !
