Why we need to educate the next generation of musicians about money
Brian Zhang ??
Ghostwriter for Music Founders | Helping musicians conquer their mental health challenges so that they can create music that reflects their true selves | Join 350+ musicians reclaiming their confidence today ??
At the start of 2022, 63.5% of musicians in Australia reported worsening levels of mental health since the start of the COVID19 pandemic, according to a study the Edith Cowan University.
Worryingly, at least half of the musicians surveyed reported depression and one of the main causes of their declining mental health was financial uncertainty which led to greater levels of stress and anxiety.
We live in a world where money is a necessity whether we like it or not. At its core, money buys us three out five of life’s main necessities, food, shelter, and clothing. Beyond that, money can give us access to basic healthcare (at least in Australia), basic education, transport, and the odd luxury here or there. Fundamentally, having enough money will go a long way to give you the best chance of whatever you want, whenever you want, with whoever you want in life.
Money isn’t always the easiest topic to talk about at the best of times.
Historically, many cultures haven’t been overly encouraging when it comes to openly talking about your financial struggles or even your financial successes. Thankfully, these days, it’s less frowned upon and we as a society are becoming more relaxed on the subject.
Yet, for musicians, it still remains a topic of contention. It’s even considered blasphemous for a musician to think about money in certain genres such as jazz, where going after a high paying gig puts you at risk of being called a “sellout”.
Many musicians will even go to great lengths to stamp out any talk of money management or business, and instead, willfully choose to struggle for their next meal or sleep out in the streets.
But why is that? Why is it that money, something that helps you gain access to life’s necessities that keeps you alive, is considered poison to some musicians?
The Not So Glamorous “Struggling Musician”.
Musicians love a good story about a struggling musician. From Charlie Parker to Elton John, from Billy Joel to Marvin Gaye; the tortured souls who went bankrupt and had to fight tooth and nail for every meal yet would still dedicate 12 hours a day to practising nonstop in the name of music. For many aspiring musicians, the musician who practises all day in their garage, lives in a van and travels around the world is a hero and an icon. Driving from city to city, playing at famous music clubs such as the Blue Note or the Village Vanguard, writing songs with your band mates into the night, interacting with fans after gigs and not being tied down to any “adult responsibilities” — it’s the most romantic and perfect life that every musician dreams of having one day.
For a musician, this is all part of the journey and part of the artistic, emotional, and spiritual path that a musician must take on. Ask a musician how they make their money or where they get their money from and 9 times out of 10, you’ll get an answer something like this — “I don’t play music for money, I play music for the love it”.
There is definitely nothing wrong with choosing a career for the love of it. In fact, music is one of the few professions the world where people do it purely for the love it. In any other field such as business, accounting or digital marketing, most people will answer “it’s good money and it pays the bills” or “it feeds the family”.
Let’s compare these other jobs to a musician for a moment;
In the world of digital marketing, it’s perfectly acceptable and often commended if someone decides to chase after a high paying promotion or move to another company that offers a more enticing salary.
In the music world, a musician will be lamented, ousted, and called a “sellout” if they decide to sign a high paying record deal, take on role on a tv show that pays well, or work with a world famous pop star.
In the world of business, if an entrepreneur decides to turn their business into a franchise, it’s considered a smart move to help expand their brand and company.
In the music world, if a jazz musician decides to change genres and tap into the world of pop music, then all of a sudden, they are no longer an artist and have lost all respect.
Any non-musician will find it incredibly insane and ridiculous that a musician is willing to sacrifice a lofty paycheck to maintain their artistic integrity, when in reality, this is one of the main reasons as to why the mental health of musicians has been so poor for decades and continues to be a major problem.
Whilst we may respect and admire Bob Marley’s “my richness is my life” approach, in reality, this attitude is often the cause of great financial stress and ultimately poor mental health for so many musicians around the world.
In an ideal world, the life of a struggling musician is the epitome of someone who stays true to their heart, never sacrifices any artistic integrity, spends all day writing the most beautiful and poetic songs to share to the world and never has to worry about money.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. In the real world that we live in, the struggling musician is someone who has to fight tooth and nail for their next meal, has to scramble to find a place to sleep, and suffers from serious mental health issues due to the uncertainty, instability, and volatile nature of their careers.
COVID19 Has Changed Everything
Pursuing a career in music was already considered financial suicide well before the COVID19 pandemic. But as COVID19 began to wreak havoc on everyone, on all parts of life and society, continue to pursue or stay in a career in music was becoming increasingly difficult throughout the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, getting regular gigs and finding work as a musician was already hard enough on its own. One of the main causes of poor mental health amongst musicians is anxiety about not knowing when the next gig will come, and when COVID19 came, these levels of anxiety shot through the roof.
In the blink of an eye, gigs were cancelled with many musicians in Australia reported losing up to 27 gigs in the same of 3 days when the pandemic first hit in March 2020. Monthly and yearlong tours were cancelled, with no resumption date in sight, and this saw an increase of anxiety amongst 61% of musicians in Australia.
It’s a similar story in America, 61% of musicians in the US reported heightened levels of stress and deteriorating mental health as a result of the financial stress caused by the COVID19 pandemic.
The dramatic increase in financial stress due to the COVID19 pandemic only added to the mental health crisis in the music industry and slowed any progress that was being made when it came to mental health support for musicians.
Whilst the world is slowly opening back up in 2022, the financial and economic impact of COVID19 is far from over, and for musicians, the uncertainty as to when the next gig will come remains.
In Australia, we’ve seen many popular live music venues for musicians shut down for good including Venue 505, The Lansdowne, and Giant Dwarf in Sydney, and The Butterfly Club, Old Bar and The Leadbeater in Melbourne. For those venues that do remain open, managers and venue owners remain reluctant to bring back live music as they struggle to stay keep their head above waters financially. For those musicians who are returning to gigging, they are still struggling to make ends meet as venues are paying musicians less due to cost cutting measures and difficulties in turning a profit.
Financial Education is crucial for the mental health of musicians
Earlier in this blog, I mentioned that for most people on this planet, having enough money to be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, with whoever you want is true financial freedom.
I think it’s fair to say that regardless of what field you are in and what you do for a living, this is the same for everyone. The exact number may be different as some people may feel like they need to be a millionaire to have financial freedom whilst for others, it may just be enough to pay the bills, put food on the table, send the kids to a good school, and go on a nice holiday every now and then.
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For a musician, this could also mean not stressing about when the next gig and being able to sit at home and play their instrument for the sake of it, without worrying about when the next pay cheque will come.
Unfortunately, this is not something many musicians learn how to do efficiently and effectively as it’s rarely, if not ever, included in their music education.
In my journey so far, I’ve had thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of conversations with fellow musicians about how great B.B King is, or how beautiful Tommy Emmanuel’s solo fingerstyle guitar playing, but I can count the number of conversations I’ve had about music business and how to make money as a musician on both hands.
At the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where I studied Jazz Performance, there are about 100 different glasses dedicated to improving your craft, technique, compositional and improvisational skills as a musician, yet there are only 2 classes dedicated to music business and financial management for musicians.
For me, this is not good enough, and given that financial stress is often cited as one of the main reasons as to why there is a mental health crisis amongst musicians around the globe, it’s a no-brainer that all musicians need to start being educated on how to make money and how to manage their money.
How I learnt to be financially independent and stable
In 2017 I went on a 3-month trip to Europe and North America where I was lucky enough to meet some of the best fingerstyle guitarists on the planet including Mike Dawes, Stuart Ryan, Don Ross, Calum Graham, Antoine Dufour, Maneli Jamal and Tommy Emmanuel.
Not only did I get the chance to have a few lessons with my heroes, but I also learnt a lot about the music business and the harsh realities of being a professional touring musician. All these guitarists have had incredible levels of success, but the biggest lesson that I learnt from them had nothing to do with guitar playing.
In fact, these guys taught me a great deal about the ins and outs of how to treat my music career as a business without sacrificing any artistic craft or integrity.
Stuart Ryan, who is one of the UK’s best guitar educators, talked how he became one of the most sought out guitarists to write music for radio and tv shows. He also talked about how he got into becoming a music journalist where he’s written for many guitar magazines around the world, whilst also releasing his own guitar education books for schools and universities around the UK. Whilst Stuart doesn’t live lavishly, this has allowed him to buy a house and live comfortably with his beautiful wife.
Mike Dawes, one of the best percussive fingerstyle guitarists today, talks about how he landed a gig with Justin Hayward and the Moody Blues and how this gig has led to several other opportunities over the last 10 years that ultimately bought him his first house.
Maneli Jamal, another sensational fingerstyle guitarist, shared his desires on moving away from full time touring and launching an online fingerstyle guitar website, whilst releasing music in Spotify.
At no stage did I think these players sold out or decided to chase the money, as they all continue to release and share beautiful music to the world today. They also happen to be financially stable and have a steady income stream that has helped them get through the pandemic and will continue to help them get through any tough financial period in the future.
Prior to 2017, I went back and forth and wondered whether I wanted to pursue the professional music career on the road just like Tommy Emmanuel. Whilst every one of these players I met shared how much they loved touring around the world, they also warned me of the extreme difficulties and emotional sacrifices that they’ve had to make.
When I came home from that trip, I started thinking if there was a way for to find a middle ground where I could have the best of both worlds. I still wanted to play and share music with people, yet I also wanted financial security in the hope of one day providing for my family.
This is when I decided to pursue teaching and launched the first iteration of the “Brian Zhang Fingerstyle Guitar School”. Not only did this give me the opportunity to directed have an impact on people through my music, but it also meant I had a job that I loved where I would go to every day, come home, have a nice dinner, sleep in my own bed, and know tomorrow will be okay.
At the time I was 18, and now at 24, in 2022, I’ve saved up enough and I have the opportunity to expand and build a brand-new music school in Sydney, whilst also simultaneously building an online fingerstyle guitar school. And whilst I still have a small desire to play live in other parts of the world at some point in my life, I love that every day I have the opportunity to play my guitar and teach young kids (and adults alike) about the wonders and joys of fingerstyle guitar and music. Above all else, I also love that I can take my beautiful girlfriend out on a Saturday night, and every now and then I can spoil her with a fancy dinner or buy her a nice present.
Chasing Money doesn’t make you a sellout
Imagine a world where a musician who dedicates a lot of time to practising and improving their craft, who composes the most beautiful songs and gives each performance 110%, who plays in many bands and also enjoys performing as a solo act, is also someone who can pay all their bills on time, has a loving family, is able to provide their kids with the best education where they live and buy them presents for Christmas, and can also take a week or two off to get a bit of rest and not suffer a panic attack because they’re stressing about when they’ll be able to make money again.
Now imagine that same musician, who has decided to take on a position that not only gives them career satisfaction but also earns them a very satisfying pay cheque, isn’t called a sellout, and is instead commended for it by his fellow musicians and compatriots.
Just like the stigma attached to mental illness, perhaps it’s time we started taking the first steps to removing the stigma attached to musicians chasing money especially amongst jazz and classical musicians.
When Wes Montgomery, regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest jazz guitarist of all time, achieved commercial success in the late 60’s with his album “A Day in the Life”, he was called a sellout by many fellow jazz musicians and fans.
Many questioned as to why, the most creative and innovative jazz guitarist of the last 20 years would produce an album of the top 40 pop hits at the time. What many people failed to realise was that Wes Montgomery had a huge family of 7 year, and simply put it, he needed to pay the bills.
Whilst his life on the road resulted in some of the greatest jazz albums of all time and gave him notoriety as a great jazz guitarist, it didn’t do him any favours when it came to providing for his family.
Ultimately, many musicians aren’t just musicians; they are people with families who they need to provide for, they are people with boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands, and wives who they want to provide a steady and life for, and they are people who need to eat healthily, sleep in a comfy bed every night, and have a place they call home.
Behind the music, musicians are the same as the everyday office worker. They go to work every day and do the job that they are paid to do, and once the job is done, they go home to spend time with their family and friends.
Taking on a financially stable and well-paid role doesn’t necessarily make a musician a sellout. In fact, it might be the exact opposite as, from a long-term perspective, that financial security is what gives a musician the freedom to explore whatever musical venture and project they wish to embark on in the future. Furthermore, it will also mean their mental health will improve with the reduced financial stress, which will undoubtedly benefit them in their musical journeys in the future.
It’s not all about money
One of the reasons as to why money has always been a taboo subject for musicians is because many musicians believe money comes at the sacrifice of musical integrity and art.
I’ve personally held onto this belief for a long, long time, and even though I’ve changed my views on money in recent times, I still believe that music loses something the moment it becomes a business.
However, this doesn’t mean it has to be all about money. In fact, most musicians never use money as a reason to become a musician in the first place. If I had a student who wanted to become a musician for the money, I’d tell them to quit and become a CEO of a cooperate business immediately.
Unfortunately, in society, both in real life and in pop culture, money has been associated with greed and self-indulgence. Those who put money on a pedestal tend to be exploit it and use it for their own selfish needs and don’t give it the respect that it deserves.
With a change in attitude and perspective, money can become a tool for musicians to achieve financial freedom where they can, dare I say it, do whatever they want, whenever they want, with whoever they want.
For most musicians, it means having enough money to be able to continue releasing albums, performing live, whilst at the same time putting food on the table, paying rent, or paying off a mortgage, provide for their family and be able to take a week or two off without stressing about not making money.
If this is what keeps the music going, then it’s time we started encouraging and educating musicians on how to make money, how to manage it, and how to use it as a tool for the betterment of their mental health and wellbeing.