Lots of people I know are chasing the same $75-100 three hour bar gig, complaining of the money and lack of more work.

Thanks to the internet and YouTube, there are lots of opportunities to increase your music income.


If you play at a place that draws business owners, look for retail jingle work. Or, team up with a video producer to do original scores for YouTube productions. They're everywhere.

This is work that didn't exist 5 years ago.

In my case, as a studio player, and industrial photographer/writer, I just combined the two. A great, written to the action on the screen score creates real value in a promotional video.

Think of it! Everything you hear on radio and see on TV or the internet has an audio track; at least 1/2 of which is created on a work station by a musician.

As far as getting paid, the more of the action you can control, the better. If you just provide music as a "hired gun" during an edit, the rate is set.

If you control the entire project, you can "bundle" scripting, production, graphic design, etc. into a package that results in revenue of up to $1,000 a finished minute for the score on a complex, mid-priced finished product. Total revenue can be $100,000.00 on a 15 minute production with a small amount of animation and limited travel. The high end is $250,000.00 plus.
Most of my work is in that range.

Money depends on the size of the project (and the size of the client) as much as complexity.

A little imagination, and the ability to stay up for 30 hour stretches at a time (plus nerves of steel) makes the cash register ring.


Russ

Along those same lines, there are a lot more markets out there than the usual, low-paying, restaurant/bar jobs. The senior circuit is far more lucrative and so are private parties. Picking up $500 to $1,000 for a private party makes for a pretty good afternoon or evening wages.

Every couple years is election year, and those politicians need lots of other people's money to stay in, or get into that cushy job. On most election years, especially the local and state elections, I was always able to pick up 50 to 75 jobs, and while you were booked for 3 hours, you rarely played more than an hour and a half because all the rest of the time the politicos were on stage making speeches. And, every time I performed a political fund raiser, I gave out loads of cards to other politicians and their supporters who also held fund raisers and private parties. Fund raisers can pay very, very well. I had $500 minimum for fund political fund raisers.

Good topic, Russ,

Gary