How do musicians make their money today compared to the good old days?

[Robcatt24]

Back in the day, a band would make an album, sell the album, and tour to promote the album.

I'm totally clueless about today's music scene.

Are today's musicians making way more money than the old bands? Do they still put out full albums or just release a song or 2 every so often?

Hang on, my 8 track player came unplugged.

 

[TurnipDaBeet]

Branding

You dont actually make money selling the music.

Gotta tour yer *** off.

Merch

 

[CB3UK]

Playing out is where musicians make their money. Always been that way really.

With the internet you can so much more easily promote yourself, but at the same time its hard to be hears above all the noise because now everyone, good and bad, have the same advantages.

 

[KyFaninNC]

Studio musicians probably do fine.

 

[dgtatu01]

Every band even/especially the big ones make money playing shows. Very little left in the album sales and royalties game.

 

[cawoodsct]

Music videos on MTV drive album sales.

 

[Gassy_Knowls]

Jimi Hendrix made $0.35 on his first gig

 

[CB3UK]

Music videos on MTV drive album sales.

 

[_ukcat]

I read Keith Richards book and at 1 point The Rollings Stones were paying 95% in income tax to British Government!

 

[Kooky Kats]

So he snorted barrels of tea in protest.

 

[TopCat BBN]

Playing live, selling merchandise & being a hired gun i.e. studio work. Nashville is booming. Not just country anymore. You can make a full time living off just studio work or being in a good cover band. You can actually just do acoustic sets & make a decent living. Some also work part time as a luthier or music store or instructor to help supplement their income. You just need to be flexible & look for opportunities. Where there's a will there's a way.

 

[CrittendenWildcat]

Every band even/especially the big ones make money playing shows. Very little left in the album sales and royalties game.

I think this is the most accurate answer. Used to be, bands toured to promote and support record and merchandise sales, so tours were designed to break even. Today, touring is the moneymaker, and the most profitable tours are those by the most established artists. Ticket prices have risen correspondingly.

 

[chroix]

Bands have always made their money off concerts and the label makes the money off of record sales.

The Stones have the model dialed in. Wrote a bunch of hits and toured off of them for 40 years. Drop a new hit every 10 or so years so you stay on the non classic rock radio enough to be relevant for many generations. Brilliant. Grateful Dead kind of nailed it as well. Except for even less hit songs.

 

[CrittendenWildcat]

Nice discussion of what mid-level artists make touring:
The Reality of Touring Revenue

 

[CrittendenWildcat]

...and this article covers how the industry has changed. Whereas touring used to bring in a pittance to the artists compared to record sales and was considered a "loss leader," today touring has become the primary source of revenue for artists:

Where Bands Get Their Revenue These Days

 

[gamecockcat]

When you look at the number of CDs moving in a year now versus 20 years ago, obviously touring is where the money is. A 'huge' CD may sell 500k copies. Previously, there were many times multiple albums that sold over 1 million copies

 

[buster3.0]

However, the superpower bands and artist who have reached near billionaire stars, or at least worth hundreds of millions of dollars, became that way due to the worth of their recordings and continued sales over many decades. I am looking at you Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Don Henley, Elton John, etc.

Hell, the Beattles didn't even tour during the prime of their run. Michael Jackson not so much either. The days of plopping down 10 to 20 bucks for an album or CD are over. Buying 45s are over. Millions of people buying one of these particular products at once is over.

 

[Ryan Lemonds Hair]

They make their money by being sexy. That is all that seems to matter to major record labels. They can auto tune the albums. They can lip sync while doing the dance routines during concerts. The one thing they can't do is make a fat ugly chick look hot in a skimpy outfit while doing those things.

 

[CB3UK]

Nice discussion of what mid-level artists make touring:
The Reality of Touring Revenue

What a great read.

When I was a teen I had pie in the sky rock star dreams. I quickly realized I didnt want that grind or lifestyle, and wasnt willing to do what I had to for years on end to make it.

I play music because I enjoy making music and it makes me happy, and I hope when we play, it makes others happy too. Im totally fine just doing occaisional gigs and regional shows and that being enough. I do it for my enjoyment, and turning it into that slog....I was wise enough early on to say eff that. And Im quite happy working a career kob and getting to be a weekend warrior. Also allows me creative freedom I may not have if I had to pay my bills solely on music, where you start having to make alot more concessions.