Sharing practical steps for how artists can get over the line from ‘weekend warrior’ gigs to living entirely from music.
This is one of the questions I get asked the most:
“I’m sick of grinding away on the treadmill working ‘for the man’ (or treading water on welfare payments) and just not making progress with my passion. How can I quit my ‘day job’ and start doing music as my main income?”
That’s the dream, right?
Living from music?
That’s what you want.
That’s why you’re reading this.
That’s why you were savvy enough to follow my profile.
Perhaps, you occasionally do gigs, but you don’t have enough of them to even come close to consistently cover all of your bills. I mean, rent alone is so friggin’ much these days! Right?
Like many musicians, you might find yourself in a position where you have a normal, comfortable ‘day job,’ perhaps even one you like or at least don’t mind (or you might be in soul-destroying grind of a job) or similarly, 2 or 3 part-time/casual jobs, but it just isn’t your passion or your dream. And on top of that, this other work knackers you out so much that your V8 engine brain feels like it’s firing on only one piston (“Give me my coffeeeeee!”), but instead of having 100% energy to work on your music career you end up flicking through facebook and instagram for hours seeing all these other musicians posts of the amazing places they’re travelling to on tour.
Many musicians run their music career or band, kinda like a part-time job on the side. One that either makes little to no inflow of cash, especially after you’ve paid for strings, fuel and the repair on your buzzing pickup, or it’s financially the equivalent of a part-time job.
If this situation makes you happy, then read no further. You’re enlightened. Please start your own blog on how to embrace mediocrity. Hehe.
Digs aside, if this situation slowly drains the living essence from your soul, stay with me all the way through because there are solutions to your woes and you most definitely can make a living from music.
Here’s a 4 phase (no, not the stage power source) strategy that will put you on the fast lane to success in living from music.
1st Phase:
HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED TO SURVIVE & THRIVE?
(THE SECRET SLS FORMULA)
Whilst it seems like the hardest thing on Earth for a musician, or any artist, to do, it actually isn’t all that difficult. And don’t worry, I’m about to walk you through it.
We often have this arbitrary amount in our minds of how much we need to earn to quit the day job, or how much we think we want or need per month to be comfortably happy and financially free without struggle.
Many people think that amount is something like $10,000 per month for financial freedom, but that amount really depends upon what your responsibilities are, what you spend and also what you’d like to spend (like buying new guitars, pedals, or interfaces, or microphones, etc.).
So how much do you NEED to survive?
We’re talking the basics (no, not Gotye’s band) - The bare minimum for you to get by without getting into debt or being evicted.
And we’re talking specifics, not a vague idea. Vague ideas garner vague results, if any results at all.
So get a pen and paper or laptop out and answer these questions about what you spend per week.
YES, DO IT NOW!
[I know you’re wanting to skip it and go to the next step, but if you want success, don’t. Knowledge equals nothing if it isn’t put into practical action]
If a particular bill is monthly or quarterly, then find your most recent and most expensive bill (better to be over the under) of each particular utility and divide it into weekly chunks:
source
SURVIVAL AMOUNT:
That is your minimum amount per week that you must clear. Ok, so far so good...
But hold on! That doesn’t include luxuries and extravagances I hear you say, so you must also include miscellaneous expenses such as:
LUXURIES AMOUNT:
SAVINGS AMOUNT:
And, if you want to get ahead and excel in life financially, then we must not forget both your savings (minimum 10% of either your pay or your expenses) and career kitty (minimum 10%) either? [eg. $132] $______________
.
Now add the previous total to the savings total: [eg. $661 + $132 = $793 p/w] $______________ p/w
.
So our smart financial SLS equation is:
.
SURVIVAL $ +
LUXURIES $ +
SAVINGS $
= MINIMUM WEEKLY EARNINGS REQUIRED TO GET AHEAD
THAT’S the amount you need to clear per week minimum to live an abundant life.
Ouch! I know, that figure suddenly seems scary for some of you, yet for some of you it seems like a cinch and you had no idea that it was such a small amount.
Either way, you now have a very specific target amount and once you have a target, you can go about planning how you’ll achieve it.
Now, for most of us the amount we earn per week will fluctuate up or down depending upon a myriad of factors, like gig pay amount, etc. I mean, some weeks you’ll have nada and other weeks you’ll have heaps of income, so it often can be more helpful to break it all down (or up) to monthly expenditure as being the target you must reach per month.
.
So multiply your total x 4: [eg. $793 x 4 = $3172 p/m] $______________ p/m
.
If the amount seems a little high for you now, then you must find things to cut down on (no, definitely not the healthy nutritious food!!).
I’m speaking of extraneous things like fast-food, the yacht club (lol) and the NFL tickets (really? Supporting the well funded sports industry instead of the independent music industry that you want to be a part of? Shame on you).
If it means your career will become successful then surely some of these unnecessary luxuries are worth sacrificing, at least for a while until you’re on track.
Avoid living beyond your means.
Basically, the main rule, or philosophy the rich follow religiously that the poor are terrible at is:
ALWAYS SPEND LESS THAN WHAT YOU EARN
Now I know you want to skip past this step and get to the next bit, but if you don’t nut out the above, then all further information is fruitless, vacuous knowledge for you.
Seriously, I’ve been where you’re at.
I know.
.
I use to avoid all this shizzle like the plague. I’d reach for my guitar, instead of the calculator. I’d check Bookface and Instacrack instead of following these simple steps and it got me further from my dreams. Further from my goals.
You don’t want that.
.
You want to excel!
.
You want to succeed!
.
You want the world to hear your music!
.
The best part is that once you’ve completed this vital, yet easy phase, you only have to check in on it once in a blue moon, which means you can pick up your instrument and get back to creating…
PHASE 2 COMING VERY SOON
STAY TUNED!
Nathan Kaye is an independent artist that with 18 years of professional experience touring the world as a multi-instrumental one-man-band and is massively passionate about sharing the secrets of making a living as an artist.
"I believe that the world becomes a far better place when every creative soul is making a living from what they love most, for it is the arts that shifts consciousness and it is the arts that influences and inspires each heart and mind to reach the highest potential."
Copyright © Nathan Kaye All rights reserved worldwide.
YOUR RIGHTS: This book is restricted to your personal use only. It does not come with any other rights.
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