What do you do?

It’s one of the most common questions anyone is asked when meeting for the first time. What do you do? For musicians and songwriters, it may not be such a clear-cut answer. In this open question to our readers, I ask how do you answer the question: what do you do?

To those who are touring the country or world, selling thousands of albums, and placing your music on major television shows and films, I congratulate you.  You’ve done it.  You’re making your living completely from your music (and luck), and that’s a beautiful thing.  Your honest and complete answer to this question is, “I am a songwriter” (or something similar).

For the rest of us, music alone won’t pay the bills.  We hold day jobs or some other source of income besides selling and playing music.  Maybe we enjoy our day-job, maybe we despise it.  Some us may have career-oriented job situations, others may be holding down a temp position for some quick cash.

Some of us play music on the side, and plan to keep it that way.  Others are working the day-job “for now” until the music thing takes off.  Our split career-personalities come in many forms and variations.

What does your day job say about YOU?  How much of your day-job makes up “what you do”?  Would you base it on the percentage of your income?  Or something a bit more personal?

I think it all comes down to how you want to define yourself and your place in the world around us.  If you earn 10% of your income from music, but spend 90% of your time thinking about and pursuing your passion, then your answer should be simple.  You’re a musician.  That’s what you do.  That’s what defines you.

I know that in the past, I felt a bit uncomfortable simply stating “I am a songwriter” when in actuality, songwriting only accounts for a small part of my income.  But I have come to realize that I treat songwriting and producing as something more than a hobby.  It’s my passion, and it consumes a large part of my physical and mental energy.

If you play music as a hobby and you’re happy with that, then your answer may be different.  You might first state your career as a ____, followed by “I also write music on the side”.  If you’re happy with this situation, then that’s great.  You can proudly present yourself as a multi-talented creative who has his hands in several things.

On the other hand, you may wish you can say “I play music for a living”, but it’s just not a true statement.  It’s up to you to make it true.  I’m not saying lie.  I’m saying take the steps necessary to make you feel more comfortable when you answer that question.  This might mean dedicating more time to your songwriting or composing.  Booking and promoting more gigs.  Searching for a new job that is somehow related to music.  Assess your situation, and make the changes that your passion calls for.

As they always say about careers in music, do it for the love, not for the money.  I say be passionate and proud of “what you do”. If you’re not, then it’s time to make a change.

Open Question

How do you address the question, “What do you do?”

Times are tough. Unemployment is rising, pay cuts are everywhere, and it’s becoming harder and harder to pay the bills. Everyone is looking for ways to supplement their income in 2009. For songwriters and musicians, there are many different ways to make money making music. Here are some ideas to help you leverage your music and songwriting skills to earn extra income this year.

Music For Picture Royalties

There is money in composing music for picture. Lots of money in fact. If you’re lucky enough to make a name for yourself as a composer of music for television, advertisers will pay big bucks for commercial jingles and background music. But as an unknown composer, there are ways to get your music on television where it can earn cash from performance royalties.

Check out this article, 7 sites to promote your production music and earn cash. These are websites where composers can upload their tracks, and television producers and film makers download and use them as background music in their productions. When your music hits the airwaves, you are paid performance royalties. I’ll go into further detail on the mechanics of this in a future article.

Composing music for picture can be a very effective source of income. When your music is made available on an non-exclusive basis (as is the case in the sites I listed above), they have the potential to be placed over and over as time goes on. So you might spend a day or so laying down simple instrumental track, and find that it continues to earn royalties for years to come. You can’t ask for a sweeter deal than that!

Earn Money as a Session Musician

In a rough economic climate like this one, you must be thinking about how to use your skills to keep the pay checks coming in. Consider promoting yourself as a skilled session musician. Provide a couple hours or days of your chops to recording artists, producers, jingle houses, and performances. Hit the classifieds and network it up to make a name for yourself.

Dedicate some time each week to improving and diversifying your playing skills. If you’re a seasoned pro in jazz guitar, try improving your blues rock riffs. If you’re a classical pianist, take some time to learn other styles of playing. It’s all about adding value to the musical package you bring to the table.

Earn Weekly Income Giving Music Lessons

If you have the ability to schedule a few hours every week to teaching music, this is a great way to earn extra cash. It’s also nice to have a steady source of weekly income. There are always people looking to take that first step into the world of music and that first step is to find a teacher. Promote your services on craigslist and post fliers in local music stores (any local storefront really).

Cover Bands Make Money

I know, I know. Most original songwriters can’t digest the idea of playing in a covers only band. But the truth is there is money to be made playing top forty songs to crowded bars on the weekends. If your original band is not getting off the ground as quickly as you’d like (is this ever a quick process?), you might want to consider splitting your time with your original band, and a gigging cover band. Just throwing the idea out there. Let’s hope it doesn’t actually come to that. No offense to all of you tapping into the lucrative cover band scene.

Over to You

Have you had success with any of these ideas?  Please share any other ideas to help songwriters and musicians stay afloat in these tough times.