How Much Do Studio Musicians ACTUALLY Get Paid?

Have you ever wondered how much studio musicians actually get paid? In this video, we'll break down the reality of the music industry and discuss how much studio musicians make per gig or session. If you're interested in pursuing a career as a studio musician, or just curious about the business side of music, then this video is for you. Find out the truth about studio musicians and the money they make in this eye-opening discussion.
Musicians Union Pay Scale | www.afm.org/wp-content/upload...
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Video Chapters
00:00 | Start of Video
00:48 | How Studio Pay Works
02:19 | Pay Rates
04:50 | Musician Credits
06:09 | At Home vs Studio Rates
07:52 | Finding Studio Sessions
08:50 | Main Takeaway
10:04 | Outro
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[@reidrollins3345]

As a musician who is upcoming to get into the industry, PLEASE keep this type of content rolling. It clears up SO much confusion and misinformation from the internet

[@youngprofessor]

It used to be standard practice for musicians to get a small percentage of the song if they did the artist a favor, did the session for less than scale. We need to bring that back.

[@jjbruzr]

TY Travis! I love how real you are. It’s work!

[@nonotesnelson]

Thanks as always bro, I’ve been thinking of pursuing this myself

[@mauricemusician7636]

I would absolutely love more of these. I'm rebuilding my career to move in this direction

[@murrayrappel6901]

Finally someone willing to explain the seldom topic of money, keep in going, get behind the scene info

[@noplacate]

Excellent video. Great information Travis.

[@marvanhart]

Great Content Travis

[@THEFEEL57]

Great content and presentation thank you

[@paulreilly4510]

Hello Travis. Another fine video that many artists overlook. Thanks. I saw a couple Charity Gayle vid's recently that you played on and I saw/heard you use different instruments on different songs. I think your decision process around that would be interesting and valuable for your audience. Active vs passive. Why? Five string vs four string. Why? Are these choices yours alone or is the lead artist or producer involved? I admire your work Travis.

[@martyg374]

Music is a great hobby. Used to be good job.

[@stereothrilla8374]

24+ year publisher and old school A&R here. It is very hard to make a living in the music industry these days. Sadly, the most money I’ve made in my whole music career has been writing really bad music to license for film/tv or doing really cheesy jingles. This has all been within the past 5 years. I consider it to be the worst music I’ve ever made yet it has made me the most.🫤

[@cornfilledscreamer614]

And sadly, you're about to lose a lot of what you've got to the world of AI. That really sucks, too...

[@JaredHumphers]

Some great insight here! ✌️

[@Kironkp]

Very helpful thank you

[@juanhayes2411]

Thx bro very knowledgeable.

[@stabbly]

Unrelated to the video, but you did really well with your weight loss! Thanks for your videos too!

[@derekdepina1423]

Bro I thought that was you playing on Chris Blue’s, Gaither special. This video confirmed it for me lol. You killed it bro.

[@PiotrSilver]

@TravisDykes is it true that Pbass is the best for studio work? Also which fretboard to choose? Maple or rosewood?

[@col145]

You’d probably make more money busking. I make that much playing a 2 hour gig in my local pub. But hey good luck to ya 👏👏🎸

[@logantodd6500]

Thank you for the great information Travis. Curious to know your opinion on the distinction between day rate and song rate? Almost all the sessions I do here in Nashville are day rate. I feel like song rate has only come up for me when recording from home or while doing indies. Typical day rate for label stuff is $500/750 and $350/500 for indies…at least in my experience. How often do you go to studios and work a song rate?

[@spacecash9721]

You are not valuing yourself. You could harge 5x and also ALWAYS receive songwriting and production credits for ANYTHING you play on ANYONES record. Musicians talking like this (afraid to lose work so I won't even bring up the idea of getting royalties) is a very scarcity mindset. I guess it's different because I have a much more lucrative passive source of income so I don't NEED to do session work I do it for fun even with big label artists. $2,500/hr lowest I would do session work and after the session depending on what I provided, I will negotiate with MANAGEMENT (not the artist) about getting points aka royalties for the work I did. I've almost never been turned down. -"In life you get what you ask for, not a penny less not a penny more." Just another viewpoint for everyone out there.

[@Staykool777]

good luck! I'm a producer. Why would I spend $2,500 for getting a great take for $350. Sorry, you are delusional.Unless you have a very long list of credits and that means nothing if you're actual performance is mediocre.

[@rickyhillis9021]

Easy to go on KZbin and post your dreams but that’s what they are, dreams. 😢I’ve lived in Nashville my whole life and know reality. Musicians playing for the biggest names aren’t making that much a session.

[@spacecash9721]

@@rickyhillis9021 Nashville is saturated with top tier musicians. There are more needed in other cities, if you are focused on just being a musician and not producer/writer/engineer/mastering like a lot of people these days they can do ALL those things at a high level. If you're specializing in just session work, carve out a niche in the hip hop community in ATL for example or LA or Miami where they re saturated with producers who just make hot drums beats on fruity loops and have money to pay for REAL musicians, Chicago is another city just thought of. You can also learn how to produce and write and engineer at a high level to enhance your skillset and be a one stop shop. Throwing out options not being rude or anything I'm sure you're 10x the musician I am lol but doesn't mean I don't get big records placed and synch licensed music in video games/films etc. I'm not gonna be able to go out and tour some popstars world tour as a guitarist lol but I can write and produce the songs she'll be performing and noodle on the guitar enough to come up with great ideas/chords.

[@juanhayes2411]

Hey question are you doing tutorials request sir?

[@AlmadenJeff]

I work at non-union shop churches. So pay is low to non-existent. There are only two churches that are union shops that I know of. Out here though for label studio musicians, one has to have a union card. I suspect Nashville is the same way.

[@Tylerjamesalford]

Wheres the source for that Bukovac session he was playing with Chris?

[@MaTTheWish]

I just picked up the harmonica, I'm thinking about coming down to Nashville and just raking up some serious cash.

[@othnielzamble3539]

So real...

[@prestige2000rider]

I imagine most of the A-list players do ok. A friend of mine who sided in the 80's and 90's (who now produces) in L.A said they were always working. But as RIchard Page once said you dont want to take more than one day off at a time because your clients might start to disappear.". Get a few big sessions under your belt then the calls and texts start to roll in more evenly. Reputation is everything and the big players always are on their best performance. !

[@goncalo_santana]

Hey Travis, I haven’t watched the full video yet, but I have a question. This might clear throughout the video because I’m on 1:40 rn, but, you’ve mentioned there are indie rates and label rates. Now, me as an independent artist and musician I understand that indie rates are much more affordable than label rates. But won’t label rates fall on the artists back? Since we all know that a label is a “bank” that loans you money and you have to pay it back with sales, shows, merch etc. won’t the higher label rates add to all the debt the artist is already in?

[@spacecash9721]

Yes but...the artist is betting on themselves if they are engaging in a label deal where they're basically getting a loan like you're describing. Rarely works out, most artists are never going to make a living for more than one album even if they have a major label deal and a hit album. It might allow them to not be in debt but they won't be making retirement money.

[@jpsmusicandmore5457]

Nashville should be union and scale is what it is and depending where you are in the pecking order you get double or triple scale... Labels use them because they dont make mistakes and they lay down the tune. Lots also charge rate for blocks of time.

[@jaycareaga9929]

Studio players don’t like take touring gigs for fear of losing their spot on the studio food chain.

[@SIRUS80]

Most touring musicians have a session career when they get back home??!! :) Oh brother... in their mother-effin dreams hahahah

[@justanmpowereddude5021]

For the algorithm

[@bradarnold7834]

I love your videos and appreciate your sharing but I genuinely think you are undervaluing your work. I’m only peripherally familiar with the music industry so I can’t argue against what you’re saying with any expertise but I have worked in entertainment industry for decades so I know a good deal about gig work under different wings of the same corporations. The rates you talk about sound like what I’d pay hiring someone off of fivver. But even if I’m wrong and these rates are the real going rates PLEASE STOP CHARGING LESS FOR RECORDING AT HOME. When you record at home you are doing the work of MORE people, not less. And you need to spend your own money on recording equipment that the employer is using to record their album. You should be adding on a kit rental fee for your recording setup and a bump for the recording and engineering you’re doing. They’re not doing you a favor by letting you work at home - they are offloading equipment cost and several other people’s jobs onto you.

[@calebovich]

The Los Angeles version of this video would be a lot different. Just saying

[@jordanwalker7554]

Better or worse?

[@spacecash9721]

@@jordanwalker7554 bettttteeeerrrrrr

[@miked3535]

How many studio sessions can a musician get a year? That's criminal how low you get paid.

[@sweezyjackson4935]

Union musicians get paid scale at the minimum. The top guys get scale + whatever he negotiates. You wanna get paid?? Join the union

[@cancelbubble6535]

How do taxes work? What can you write off? What can't you write off?

[@spacecash9721]

ask your entertainment CPA. You can write off a lot. Very good that you're thinking about that. Certainly a good % of new instruments, Uber rides to the gig, coffee lol, flights of course, any music books or material that you're using to NETWORK or LEARN within your field.... pretty much endless. Most people won't even bother 🤣 artists/musicians are often not good with money. I had to take 2 full years of music to study money and finance in order to understand and 10x my earnings. Great that you are asking these questions !

[@garyr7027]

Some have a per diem allowance per day they don't even pay taxes on for expenses.

[@officialdannyventura]

Do you as studio musician ever hold back or not provide a certain level of quality for a recording based on how much they are going to pay you? or do you provide the same level of playing/product regardless of the amount of $$$ you will be receiving?

[@JasonPruett]

100 an hour? 1k an hour? but you need 3k a month to live so you need enough work to make a living. care homes pay musicians 150 an hour if you do all of them in the city would be a living

[@BrandOdyssey]

Listen up people. There is NO money in the music industry. $300 for a song at the top end unless you are a master player and you get $700. Fuck that for a joke. Can’t even pay the rent. Get a real job and play guitar as a hobby. What a sick industry.

[@Staykool777]

Why are you even here?

[@MobiusMinded]

And now… some facts from someone who’s spent 40 years working for major labels. The Major Labels have contracts with the Musicians Union and thus any major label work gets paid as per those contracts. THAT is why major label session work is more expensive than “indie.” When musicians who are members of the Musicians Union work on an indie session they are cheating their union agreements and doing it under the table, thus cheaper, but technically they are cheating. But they/we all do it. There is no union for Engineers & Producers…. Unless you’re speaking of TV/Film/etc. Capitol Records studio was the only one in LA that had any union agreements that affected there engineering staff. Anyway…. THAT is the real reason for the price difference. In demand session musicians with a reputation can charge double scale, triple scale, etc. on the major side. On the indie side it’s about what favor/deal one can get.