STOP Chasing Gigs-Chase Income Streams Instead | How To Make A Living As A Musician

[@davidrichmusic121]

More Gigs is not the answer but getting the right gigs that pay and the mentality to get those gigs is what most musicians don't have. If you enjoy music and income isnt the driving force then a few pub or small club gigs is fine nothing wrong with that. But if you want to earn a living a good standard six figure plus then you need to apply business principles and gigs can be the answer. Not though if the ones offering gigs are looking for the cheapest you need to get out of that market and value yourself. As Terence says doing lots of cheap gigs is not the answer. But what if you commanded a high fee doing the top end? its an unsaturated market but you have to have more than a good sound you need to find those where money is not the issue its where they want the best. You need to have the business skills to get the 10k plus for a gig if you think that fee is not achievable then your right (for you) but it is with the right approach. Great vid Terence and nice sound to your voice. 💙💛

[@jakep5442]

You’ll only earn money from streams if you are the songwriter and own the publishing rights. If you are noted as a performer only then forget it

[@freakuensea]

Gigs are actually still the highest source of income for bands especially, although we do agree that that should not be the only source of income, there should be things like merchandising (which can also be sold at gigs btw), royalties (trying to get your songs on web series, movies, short films, radio etc.), website subscription (this one's a maybe because you'll need to make more content for this), brand collaborations and finally, streaming & video views revenue.

[@n34z3r]

Plus you gain an audience. Also you are perfecting your sound. Style. Music. Lyrics. You'll never know if you're really good without live gigs

[@yaccfonoti]

Do cover gigs guys. I’ve been a cover singer for the past 10 years in Australia I make about 2K a week, 1k on a slow week. Some weeks I’ve made 3k+ Weddings and privates will pay crazy amounts. It’s been an awesome ride and a fun way to live your 20’s. Now I’m getting older and wondering what my next move in life will be, I’m looking to be home more, so perhaps creating recording streaming could be my next chapter. Good luck to my fellow musos

[@BlazonStone]

Except your not playing your own music.... Which is what some musicians wants to do most of all

[@OnionSoup-yj2pf]

​@@BlazonStoneYou've made my point for me

[@TheAlam0]

​@BlazonStone Exactly, everyone has different goals in music, if they are fine with a cover band and aren't serious about getting noticed that's fine, but for somebody who's serious to get thier own Original music heard and build a connection with a fanbase it's a whole different gameplan. No disagreement here.

[@Coalation]

​@@BlazonStone It is perfectly possible to be both, you can start off as a cover band to generate a decent stream of income, and alongside that write some original songs and slowly incorporate them into your gigs. The right use of social media can be used to generate a large enough fan base to promote original releases and gig locations.

[@joeydego2]

Well……not to be too negative but these 5 points aren’t so easy. 1- doesnt work for cover musicians who need to get paid every time they go out. 2-merch is cool but none of us are selling thousands or even hundreds of tees. We sold a few dozen and barely made a dime. 3-lessons are cool but that is a full time job. Most successful lesson platforms add tons of new material weekly. 4-ok. 5-a lot of that work is locked down, and you’ll need real gear (thousands of dollars) to send work of any quality.

[@onechristianwallace]

In short,none of this works. Music is toast as far as business is concerned.

[@hddrummer8838]

Being a pro musician after 2000s is a heavy cross to carry. If i could go back in time I would definitely choose another career path.

[@onechristianwallace]

True

[@tartancomposer-pw1pe]

Great advice T, however, having a social media platform DOES NOT guarantee "engagement!" I started a tiktok account which was having lots of views and followers...but NO ENGAGEMENT!!! I had put up loads of videos about composing music and other pics/short 'fly-on-the-wall video vignettes and photos and in that time not ONE person took time to comment or ask questions about my content???? So...the viewing side of social media seemed to work, but the actual 'social' interaction between me and my followers was a non-event and I was left feeling frustrated and all my time and efforts being a were a non starter!

[@itsmaistro]

Exactly. I was doing production for s while before going back to being a live musician and even now it's still hard to get any engagement on my content. These algorithms completely screw you on any potential clientele

[@davecross4493]

The fact that you need to be youtuber and do lessons means the state that musicians are in now is sad. It's like you aren't even a musician anymore.

[@danielwofford275]

gotta say $350 per show sounds pretty low

[@reylunajr]

Shoot... in my area that's probably the highest paying rate ever. Very, very rare to find. But that's south texas for ya

[@danielwofford275]

@@reylunajr yeah, I might be wrong. I don’t know. Good luck though regardless.

[@Karll541]

it is low. Good bands should be getting 5k+ or higher. $700 a piece is reasonable

[@timfoyleband250]

Make it at 150-300 per

[@HustleBones666]

In the metal scene $350 would be baller money lmao

[@DeyquanBowens]

I appreciate this video man! I’m going to share your content with my community! 🙏🏾

[@TerenceFisher1]

I really appreciate it bro!!

[@itsmaistro]

It's truly hard out here even when having mutiple streams when those streams truly slow down to a hault

[@dulcegarden391]

I'm just going to say: THANKS A LOT!!!

[@lesjuly]

Legit question based on your presentation....How much $ do U make from #1 over the course of a year ?

[@jessewehner7838]

Terence what do you think of selling NFTs? Or essentially selling shares of your singles as NFTs? This seems like it may be a good way to crowdfund for beginner-professionals.

[@aryepack]

i sell my music as NFT but you have to treat it as a business still

[@AlbertoGomez-oi5ou]

thanks for the advice, the advices, for us musicians that went to school we seemd to be chasing the old mozart myth to be provided of opportunities as if we were at the 17th century

[@fumarfuego]

I do think it's pretty cool that everybody is trying to move musicians as entrepreneurs into more business mindset... The problem that all influencers seem to leave out is that quite honestly as an entrepreneur music is just a bad business. Inherently high risk... inherently low probability of return... Once you're looking for multiple streams of income, you figure out that music is a bad place to invest... A savings account would be better for your business 😂

[@onechristianwallace]

Because the average person listens to music for free on social media.

[@shanewoolsey940]

I'm 59 and 350 for a nights work on a weekend doing what I love instead of three back to back shifts at Mc Donalds. What am I going to choose? Making a living at it has passed me bye.

[@DURELLANTHONYSINGS]

You’re always dropping gems! Thank you, sir!

[@TerenceFisher1]

No problem man. Thanks for being here!!

[@mikeythapa5950]

The best video I have watched in a long time.

[@TheGbass87]

I haven’t played in a band for couple of years still practice but my desire diminished

[@Fraend]

nice audio for the voice in this video! great work bro

[@joejacksonmad]

Damn I just wanted to find out how to do this on the weekend.

[@Much_ruined]

You aint doing shit. How you got no hair on your head, but a full beard?

[@leemcintyre8787]

How do you do the virtual performances?

[@ben_vs_benjamin]

Thanks for this video. Great perspective

[@benjiscrolls]

we shall soon get engadged bro

[@djyous93]

I’m a full time DJ thankfully, i was a truck driver heavy lifting jobs. It’s totally achievable to live off DJing but gotta putting that work

[@rickmenduni9736]

❤love it wend u said stop running $100 gig so true 👍

[@tiowe4860]

thank you!

[@masonthomassax]

This is excellent info!

[@TerenceFisher1]

Thanks so much! Glad you found it helpful!

[@masonthomassax]

@@TerenceFisher1 Of course! Just subbed! Can't wait to check out more of your content

[@FishingForLife28]

Great video. Unfortunately it wont apply for my situation. But still a great perspective

[@juniordunkley2751]

This guy is just a common con man

[@freddiwilkins9985]

Proof?

[@teavucak]

❤️

[@damienszabo2260]

More crappy advice that doesn't apply to most musicians.

[@benp5528]

Quality advice