MUSIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP

#2
YOUR MUSIC
CAREER II
By Pieter Schoonderwoerd
CONTENT (03.09.21)

Attendance
Assignment Income Circle
Thoughts on Money & Art
Portfolio Career
Your Ikigai
Creating Creative Assets
Questions

Your Music Career II

ASSIGNMENT
INCOME/CAREER CIRCLE

Your Music Career II

KORTE
Possible careers:
1 Performing artist

INLEIDING
2 Producer
3 Composer/arranger/songwriter (for contemporary dance/theatre/film/pop
artists)
4 Label (ambition)

EXAMPLE 1ST YEAR STUDENT

As a performing artist it depends on my audience how much money I make. I
will make money with touring, selling merch and selling music.

As a producer people can hire me. I will probably be charging a fixed amount
for my services, depending on how good I am and how big my clients are.

As a composer/songwriter/arranger I will be hired and ask a fixed amount for

the project. I will also make money from royalties. If a song is streamed or sold
more often, I make more money.

If I work for a label I will be employed and I’ll be making a fixed amount of
money for my hours.
Your Music Career II
GREAT RESOURCE ON LIFE
AS AN ARTIST

Your Music Career II

MONEY & ART
Bills are consistent. Income is not.
Artist reality: the demands of making a living collide
with the dreams of the creative life. This will be an
eternal struggle for most!
FROM "THE ARTIST'S JOURNEY"
Art = mostly project-based (tour, album, gig)
What do you do structurally? Fixed income.
What do you do project-based? Variable income?
Basic choice:
Jobs related to your art (drift away from your art)
Jobs not related to your art (protect creative
energy). Quote: "Kent Nerburn the writer, had
become Kent Nerburn the taxi driver."
What is the ideal balance?
I say this to not romanticize the life of an artist.

Your Music Career II

 HARD TRUTH OF LIFE

You become what you do.

But, it can be done: T.S. Eliot (poet)

was a banker, Philip Glass
(composer) a plumber.

How do you support your art?

How do you block enough time
for your art (main priority)?

Your Music Career II

 QUESTION

What is the most important lesson

you learned from Covid-19 in
relation to your career?

Your Music Career II

 DIVERSIFICATION !
AND...
Flexibility
Adaptability
Being proactive

A DIVERSE CAREER = PORTFOLIO CAREER

 LIFE AFTER CODARTS

CREATE YOUR
PORTFOLIO
CAREER
A MODERN
MUSIC CAREER:
Is divers
Utilises different passions, strengths, skills &
knowledge
Utilises current technologies (to distribute,
promote, fund, sell, connect, ...)
Diversifies risk
Is a Portfolio Career

Your Music Career II

PORTFOLIO
For most musicians, a music career is in fact
careerS. It is plural.

CAREER
Charles Handy:
"A work portfolio is a way of describing how the
different bits of work in our life fit together to
form a balanced whole.”

My LinkedIN career summary is:

Creative entrepreneur | Artist Coach | Non-Profit
Director | Entrepreneurship teacher | Author

Maybe yours will be:

Pianist | Composer | Performer | Music teacher |
Barista | Yoga-teacher
Your Music Career II
 YOUR MUSIC CAREER

HOW DO YOU CREATE

A PORTFOLIO CAREER
Why do you choose these different career paths?
What are your criteria/reasons?
THE IKIGAI
MODEL
The balance between internal
(talents, passions) and
external (needs, value)
Career sweet spot where your
talents and passions align
with what the people you’re
trying to serve need and are
willing to pay for.
 IKIGAI MODEL
Four Essentials

YOUR PASSION YOUR VOCATION

What are you good at? Are you
1 What do you love? If you weren’t
concerned about money, would
2 remarkable/the best in your
community, city, work field,
you still do what you’re doing?
country, or even the world at it?

YOUR MISSION
What does the world need? Are
YOUR PROFESSION
3 people willing to part with their 4 What can you be paid for? Can you
(eventually) make a good living
resources (money, time, attention)
to buy what you’re selling, doing this work?
because it leaves them better off?
IKIGAI
EXPLAINED
Each Ikigai circle represents an essential part

IS YOUR CAREER NOT FULFILLING AN of professional work life.

ESSENTIAL NEED? Does your career hit 3 or fewer circles? One
or more essential needs will be missing:
usefulness, passion, fulfilment or security.
Solution: Portfolio Career. Why? Different
careers/jobs/projects serve different needs
and other people.

Your Music Career II

 IKIGAI STEP 1: PASSION

What do you love?

List in Chat your interests. These can also be
outside the domain of music - such as film,
literature or theatre - and outside of the Arts,
such as psychology or engineering.
 IKIGAI STEP 2: PROFESSION

WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT?

List in Chat your strengths and skills.
 IKIGAI STEP 3: VOCATION

WHAT CAN YOU GET PAID FOR?

List in Chat activities (or careers) related to
your interests and skills/strengths that you
could get paid for.
 IKIGAI STEP 4: MISSION

WHAT DOES THE WORLD NEED?

List in Chat which deeper needs and/or
problems people could need your
contribution/help with. Eg. Hope, Connection,
Belonging, Equality, ...
 IKIGAI STEP 5: INSPIRING COMBINATIONS

Combine steps 1-2. Are there

combinations that resonate?
List in Chat possible combinations between
interests (passion) and strengths/skills
(profession) that could be a new career.

For example, a skill in singing plus an interest

in psychology could be a future career in music
therapy.
 Applying the Ikigai Model
A deeply personal career path.

ARTIST CAREER MUSIC CAREERS

You utilise one specific career that hits You utilise your broader music-related
all four boxes. Cg. you are a performing skills and knowledge to expand your
artist and that is your passion, performance career by adding other
vocation, mission and profession. It is activities such as teaching, producing,
both sustainable and fulfilling. recording, etcetera. Combined these
should hit all four boxes.

MUSIC INDUSTRY NON-MUSIC CAREER

You utilise your skills and knowledge You utilise your talents and strengths
related to the music industry to also in non-music related fields such as
hit those dimensions that are missing hospitality, health-care, or graphic
in your artist career. For example, you design.
also start organising festivals, become
an artist manager or booking agent.
 YOUR MUSIC CAREER

CREATE CREATIVE
ASSETS
CREATIVE ASSETS
A strategy to grow your (music) career is to keep
building your creative assets. These are:
Intellectual Property: composer/arranger, recording
artist (your knowledge, skills)
THERE IS NO CAREER LADDER FOR
Performing: studio session-musician & live music
ARTISTS
session-musician

READ THIS ARTICLE BY ARTIST Transfer of knowledge: teaching, writing/talking

COACH MARK MCGUINNESS. about music)

Social & Reputational Assets: Fan data, your network,
your brand, awards
Fundraising income: crowdfunding, grants, subsidies,
sponsorships
Online income: such as from YouTube.

Your Music Career II

1.INTELLECTUAL Become (also) a composer/arranger

PROPERTY (I)
Work freelance for video-game companies, film producers &
directors, marketing content agencies, orchestras and
conductors etc.

Additional income streams

YOUR BRAINCHILDS ARE YOUR INCOME.
From mechanical royalties, public performance royalties,
commissions (by another entity to create an original work for
them), and synch licenses. (more on these later)

More income streams

Modern composers publish music books, conduct jazz
orchestras, receive commissions, earn royalties, and give
masterclasses. In addition, offer your services to prospective
clients on platforms such as Soundbetter or Fiverr. To connect
you and your compositions or beats (idea?) with a publisher use
platforms as Kobalt Music or Soundgine. Lastly, to sell your
sheet music, you can use ScoreExchange.com.
Your Music Career II
1.INTELLECTUAL
Most artist perform live and release albums. Either as a
bandleader or as a sideman. There are several ways of earning

PROPERTY (II) money as a recording artist. Sources of income related to

commercial use of your sound recording are:

1. Physical retail sales (record stores, Amazon, mailorder).

AS A RECORDING ARTIST 2. Digital sales (Bandcamp, MP3s through Amazon, Google
Plays).
3. Merch (CD, Vinyl) sales at live shows – it can add up to 10-25%
of that live-shows earnings.
4. Streaming services (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Deezer).
5. Digital performance royalties (Internet radio) – are you
registered at the corresponding PRO?
6. Master use license for synchs, ringtones, etc.

Point 1 to 4 requires active promotion on your side. Do you have

a plan for each of these different sources of income?
Your Music Career II
2.BEING A
Already since the piracy era of the 2000s, performing
(touring) has been the most important source of income

PERFORMER for musicians. How do you maximize your income?

Let's start with an easy question: what kind of gigs are

there?
AS A RECORDING ARTIST

Your own music gig

Session-musician gig
.... ??

Your Music Career II

2.BEING A
Your own music gig (bar, jazz club, large music venue,
festival)

PERFORMER Session-musician gig (other bandleaders, orchestras, big

bands, theatre productions)
Tribute band gig (Tribute to Queen– a match for city
theatres)
GIG OVERVIEW The Wedding/Corporate Gig (familiar repertoire, easy
listening, entertaining)
WHICH OF THESE HAVE YOU NEVER DONE
Educational gigs (kids, teens, students – “What is
BUT WOULD YOU FIND INTERESTING?
Improvisation/classical music/etc. ?”)

DO YOU KNOW PEOPLE THAT ARE ACTIVE Theme gigs (Christmas, New Year, 70’s, Romanticism)
IN THAT SCENE? Support Act (low fee, potential new audience & network)
Showcase gigs (all about the network and potential new
REACH OUT. fans)
Other: Military, Cruiseships, ...
Online gigs (hard to turn into a profit, more centred around
community building, fanbase growth)
Busking on the streets. Your Music Career II
2.BEING A
How do you actually earn money at all these gigs? Six
options:

PERFORMER
1. A performance fee
2. A salary as a member of an orchestra/ensemble
3. A transport costs refund
GIG OVERVIEW
4. Your merchandise sales
5. Tour support (subsidies, record label)
6. Your Performance Rights royalties (send in your setlist).

Are you aware of these six options? And what can you do
to maximize your income from each of these?

Your Music Career II

 CREATIVE ASSETS 3-6 NEXT YEAR

Which creative asset can you work

on this quarter? Pick on and take
action (go small). Block 2-4 hours
each week for your music career.

THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS?
Pieter Schoonderwoerd

Your Music Career