Putting Common Assumptions About How Musicians Make Money to the Truthiness Test

In March of this year, Artist Revenue Streams co-directors Kristin Thomson and Jean Cook participated in a panel at South by Southwest called Brass in Pocket: Accessing More Musician Income. Drawing upon data collected through the Artist Revenue Streams project and the panelists’ personal experience, they talked about a handful common assumptions and myths about how musicians make money.
This week, the ARS team is expanding on the SXSW panel topic through a series of posts.
We’re starting by tackling the assumption that musicians are rich. This is a feeling that is reinforced by shows like MTV Cribs, by annual lists from outlets like Forbes and Billboard that publish figures about the most well-paid musicians, and even by musicians themselves who reference luxury brands in their lyrics, or embrace high-priced lifestyles. Naturally, the public begins to assume that musicians – especially chart-topping, highly visible ones – are rich, based largely on what they see on stage, read about online, or hear on the radio. And even when the musicians aren’t rich, some embrace the stereotype because it adds to their own brand’s value.
There are some musicians who are doing very well financially (at least in gross earnings), and we applaud their success. But, just like the US population, there are very few at the top. While there are a handful of musicians who are wealthy, the vast majority of working musicians in the US are middle class earners.
Examining the qualitative and quantitative data collected as part of the Artist Revenue Streams project, we find that the average personal gross income for the past twelve months of all survey respondents was $55,561. This number includes income from all sources, which could include other jobs (music related or otherwise), pension payments, investments, and so on. This is slightly higher than the US population.
By multiplying personal gross income by percent of income derived from music, we were able to calculate a gross estimated music income (EMI) for each respondent. When aggregated, the gross EMI of our 5,013 survey respondents was $34,455. This is slightly lower than the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ per capita personal income estimates for 2010, which was $39,945. This finding was recently referenced in Berklee College of Music’s Annual Salary Survey. Note as well that this is gross music-related income; it does not reflect music-related expenses, which can significantly eat away at musicians’ revenue.
Check out this blog post for more data about musicians’ income and expenses, then tune into additional posts in the coming days, where we’ll be using data to examine the veracity of other common assumptions. For instance, in a post-Napster world…
1. “musicians make all their money from shows/live performance”
2. “musicians don’t make money selling recorded music any more”
3. “musicians make all of their money from selling t-shirts/merch”
Musicians: what are other assumptions that you hear? What do your relatives or friends assume about your livelihood that is either incorrect or incomplete? What blog or article comments have infuriated you? kristin [at] futureofmusic [dot] org (subject: Mythbusting%20request) (Hit us up here!) We are game to tackle other misconceptions and see if the data can provide some clarity beyond personal anecdotes or isolated instances.
Comments
6 comments postedDoes anyone really believe
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 5, 2012 - 2:29pm.Does anyone really believe that musicians are rich? It's hard to take this seriously if that is one of the main premises.
Also, who is saying that ALL money is being made off tours/shows or merch today? Or that NO money is being made off records? For lower to mid level bands, it would seem that shows & merch would have more earnings potential than record sales today... no?
Too bad these extreme examples (all or nothing) were used to make your point, otherwise, it might carry more weight and legitimacy.
Anonymous: thanks for
Submitted by kevin on December 5, 2012 - 3:07pm.Anonymous: thanks for reading. I know it may seem crazy to anyone who has spent time around working musicians, but yes--many people have radically inflated ideas about how much musicians make. And this is nothing new--I remember 12 years ago writing a point-counterpoint for my college newspaper where it was argued that "musicians didn't need any more money for their diamond studded wallets."
And the myths that the lions' share of artist net income comes from tours and merch are indeed similarly pervasive--just check the comments section on any music/tech blog, or on Reddit, or endless Facebook debates, and you'll find people pushing that line. The actual numbers may suprise you--stay tuned.
It's pretty hard to believe
Submitted by SMB (not verified) on December 10, 2012 - 10:09am.It's pretty hard to believe that anyone with an understanding of the music industry beyond the 'Simon Cowells' and the 'Britney Spears' can contemplate that musicians are wealthy people. But I think there in lies the problem, not enough people know the music industry beyond the X Factor, or the pop 'myth' of the select few that show off their material wealth and glam.
the truth is, that the vast majority of the industry are noth wealthy, but on the flip side they are also talented, in it for the music rather than the ego and talented. Hopefully one day the industry will reward such qualities again.
I think we need to create a
Submitted by Josh (not verified) on December 10, 2012 - 12:32pm.I think we need to create a more in-depth chart of musician incomes based on how they distribute their music and their label affiliation. Most people who think musicians are wealthy are only speaking of major label artists who have their music distributed and promoted through radio, television etc.
I'm not saying I agree with those people, but the average consumer is going to fire back that, "Oh ya, well all those little guys bring down the number."
A musician is a person who
Submitted by donavan (not verified) on February 16, 2013 - 8:55am.A musician is a person who plays a musical instrument, especially (although not necessarily) as a profession, or is musically talented.
denton record label
This is invaluable
Submitted by Zac Shaw (not verified) on March 13, 2013 - 11:00am.This is invaluable information, thanks FMC.
I think with a more representative sample size of musicians who might be described as "pre-professional" or "aspiring", you would see the vast number of "musicians" (as defined by consensus) are un- or under-employed. Anecdotally, I have met hundreds if not thousands of musicians (people who are actively composing, performing or recording but not necessarily earning significant or any revenue) and less than 10% of them would make the top 80% in this chart. Maybe I'm hanging with the wrong crowd!
Of course, FMC led the way to answer the unanswerable question "How many musicians are there?".... I hope I added some finer points to the rhetorical answer on my blog: http://www.mediapocalypse.com/how-many-musicians-are-there-copyright-cha...
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