vibrationisreality
Active Member
You're arguing for your limitations.
For those of you who have a 9-5 and do music as a hobby...
- Thread starter DoubleDouble
- Start date
You're arguing for your limitations.
Jeremy Spencer
Senior Member
Just be grateful you have a decent full-time career. You have two options; pursue work as a composer outside your regular career.....or go through life full or regret and resentment.
I chose a non-musical career many years ago, as I got tired of the erratic (and often vicious) nature of the music industry. However, I pursued music on the side and have been very successful with it for over 25 years now. This includes a healthy second income from composing, and also working as a professional drummer. Now my mortgage is paid off and I have a decent pension to look forward to. And after and early retirement, I can pursue music full time on my own terms. Win win.
The reality is....you'd prbably have better odds at winning the lottery than becoming a successful composer earning a steady annual income of $100K for 20+ years.
c0nsilience
Active Member
Attitude and mindset are everything. There's almost nothing as vicious in this life as the entertainment industry, as ironic as that is. A lot of talent is lain to waste due to a lack of timing, opportunity, and, let's face it, sheer luck. Grit plays a role, but it's merely a cameo in the saga of remaining self-actualized while trying to navigate the narcissism and cult of personalities that is the entertainment industry.
PaulieDC
Too much gear, not enough composing. Oy vey.
Wow, I could have written this as me, pretty much word for word. Coming back to music about 2014 after 20 years was amazing because of how much more is available... going from ¼" tape 8-track and one SPX90 to a DAW two decades later is NUTS, still loving every minute of it. Well, except it has given me pretty bad GAS. :D
BINGO!
HCMarkus
TL;DR
Although I celebrate all who make music for any reason, I must confess to enjoying music more than ever since I transitioned from part-time to full-time musician about 7 years ago. My change of status was necessitated by a layoff (when I refused a location change) after many years in a full-time day job. I had offers for other similar employment, but decided instead to convert my long-time "Wobby" (work/hobby) into full-time work.
I now record/arrange/produce tunes for others, score documentaries and play keys for session work and a couple of TV shows. Due to the time I spend in these endeavors, I am more skilled at my craft now than ever, and therein lies the real joy.
Like others who have chimed in here, the foundation I was able to build before trying to go full-time is probably the reason I have been able to make a go of it, and work seems to be finding me, due in large part to the years I spent volunteering with various songwriting organizations while still engaged with my former employer. While pulling down the day job wages, I built a comfortable studio, too; that was critical, as my overhead is very low.
Because I am more proficient than ever, I am more passionate than ever now, as a full-time musician.
Making music for money doesn't have to be a burn out.
I now record/arrange/produce tunes for others, score documentaries and play keys for session work and a couple of TV shows. Due to the time I spend in these endeavors, I am more skilled at my craft now than ever, and therein lies the real joy.
Like others who have chimed in here, the foundation I was able to build before trying to go full-time is probably the reason I have been able to make a go of it, and work seems to be finding me, due in large part to the years I spent volunteering with various songwriting organizations while still engaged with my former employer. While pulling down the day job wages, I built a comfortable studio, too; that was critical, as my overhead is very low.
Because I am more proficient than ever, I am more passionate than ever now, as a full-time musician.
Making music for money doesn't have to be a burn out.
richiebee
Active Member
I was in the music field for 17 years, when I decided to switch gears and make my hobby (photography) my profession, and my profession (music) my hobby. No regrets at all, though, when I was offered the photography job, I was really hesitant to accept it. I was a full time music technologist, with a side gig of playing live and on some recordings as a side musician, production (recording/mixing/mastering/arranging) and the tiniest bit of original composing. When my hearing started to feel unreliable, I decided to look for an alternative way to make a living. I don't perform at all any more, but I write more songs than I ever did and find it much more relaxing than I did when I got paid for it.
Photography for me, is a creative endeavour of sorts, but the fact that most of my photographic work is not creative, doesn't bother me. And I don't feel any real desire to take photographs outside of work. Although it has its issues, I really enjoy my job, I have much more free time than I did when I was a music tech, and I earn more money doing it too.
I must admit, I've been lucky since I started working in creative - in none of these positions have I ever had to do the sales pitch. That, I would be truly dreadful at, and would be the end of creative employment for me.
R.
Photography for me, is a creative endeavour of sorts, but the fact that most of my photographic work is not creative, doesn't bother me. And I don't feel any real desire to take photographs outside of work. Although it has its issues, I really enjoy my job, I have much more free time than I did when I was a music tech, and I earn more money doing it too.
I must admit, I've been lucky since I started working in creative - in none of these positions have I ever had to do the sales pitch. That, I would be truly dreadful at, and would be the end of creative employment for me.
R.
soundofmaw
Casual Observer
I find it interesting how many musicians (esp. composers) end up in IT careers. I'm one of them. There seems to be a strong link between music and technology so perhaps it's natural for one to transition to the other (or vice versa).
The nice thing is, IT pays very well typically (beats being a Walmart greeter, though I thinks those folks are swell). I'm not sure the advancement of music tech would be were it is today without all the 9-5 hobbyists shoving wads of cash into the hands of Spitfire/VSL/EW, etc. every Black Friday. WIN WIN for us all!
Also, very excited to see what our favourite devs will do with MIDI 2.0 in the coming years.
The nice thing is, IT pays very well typically (beats being a Walmart greeter, though I thinks those folks are swell). I'm not sure the advancement of music tech would be were it is today without all the 9-5 hobbyists shoving wads of cash into the hands of Spitfire/VSL/EW, etc. every Black Friday. WIN WIN for us all!
Also, very excited to see what our favourite devs will do with MIDI 2.0 in the coming years.
NekujaK
Living outside the traditional concept of time
It can be both.
I make music both for money and for creative personal expression. They are two completely different activities, and come from very different places inside of me, and satisfy completely different needs.
Like @HCMarkus , I was laid off from my job (but it was this year.), and since I'm old enough to consider retirement, I decided not to go back to the corporate world and devote most of my time to mercenary musical pursuits. I treat it like a job, and yeah, that means sometimes I'm not 100% excited about the task at hand, or there are impossible deadlines to meet, etc. but at least it's still music. I view it as nothing more than a series of problems to solve. And it sure beats bagging groceries
Meanwhile, in my spare time, when I'm feeling inspired, I make music purely for creative expression, and it's an entirely different activity. I approach it differently, think about it differently, make different kinds of creative decisions, and the final result serves a different, more personal, purpose.
There may come a time when I burn out from making music for money - I can accept that. But for now, the job aspect of music doesn't mean that I can't also make music for enjoyment on my own time.
I make music both for money and for creative personal expression. They are two completely different activities, and come from very different places inside of me, and satisfy completely different needs.
Like @HCMarkus , I was laid off from my job (but it was this year.), and since I'm old enough to consider retirement, I decided not to go back to the corporate world and devote most of my time to mercenary musical pursuits. I treat it like a job, and yeah, that means sometimes I'm not 100% excited about the task at hand, or there are impossible deadlines to meet, etc. but at least it's still music. I view it as nothing more than a series of problems to solve. And it sure beats bagging groceries
Meanwhile, in my spare time, when I'm feeling inspired, I make music purely for creative expression, and it's an entirely different activity. I approach it differently, think about it differently, make different kinds of creative decisions, and the final result serves a different, more personal, purpose.
There may come a time when I burn out from making music for money - I can accept that. But for now, the job aspect of music doesn't mean that I can't also make music for enjoyment on my own time.
dcoscina
Senior Member
I’ve always juggled a day job that pays the bills with music side gigs. When I was younger I lamented this but as I’ve gotten older and developed better composing habits, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at. It's nice to have health benefits and paid sick days/vacation.
The best part is that I can pick and choose the stuff I want to work on and not take everything because I have to put food on the table.
I have a few career composer friends and the state of media scoring being what it is, I don't relish being them. Budgets are smaller, time frames are shorter and there is very little creative input they have anymore with the advent of technology...
The best part is that I can pick and choose the stuff I want to work on and not take everything because I have to put food on the table.
I have a few career composer friends and the state of media scoring being what it is, I don't relish being them. Budgets are smaller, time frames are shorter and there is very little creative input they have anymore with the advent of technology...
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HCMarkus
TL;DR
This. Remembered with fondness.
mothershout
Music theory, composition, extended jazz chords :)
While I had a 9-5 job, I found it too challenging to make space for music. It takes so much time to bring a project from idea to complete that I could have spent six months' worth of free time on any one song, and become completely frustrated with it. So music was just something I tinkered with.
But having that 9-5 (as a software engineer, and thus well-paid) allowed me to eventually retire (after something of a burn-out). Now music is what I do, and it's hugely enjoyable, because I don't do it to earn money. As others have written above, the world is full of studios and composers and songwriters, and the amount of competition for any paying work is overwhelming. So I chose to opt out of all of that, and just write what I want to hear, for the fun of doing it.
There's a great quote from Terry Pratchett's Maskerade about the relationship between money and art:
But having that 9-5 (as a software engineer, and thus well-paid) allowed me to eventually retire (after something of a burn-out). Now music is what I do, and it's hugely enjoyable, because I don't do it to earn money. As others have written above, the world is full of studios and composers and songwriters, and the amount of competition for any paying work is overwhelming. So I chose to opt out of all of that, and just write what I want to hear, for the fun of doing it.
There's a great quote from Terry Pratchett's Maskerade about the relationship between money and art:
That's my attitude to music. I never expect to make any money, I expect to spend money on it.
dcoscina
Senior Member
This past year I’ve written 3 concert works one of which is being premiered by the Rosenheim orchestra on Dec 17th. Maybe if I was trying to do film scoring and a day job I couldn’t manage that but concert works I can chip away at over the course of a couple months quite successfully. 
OP
OP
DoubleDouble
New Member
Thank you all for sharing your stories and input. Your comments have been uplifting and motivating; I cherish them greatly. I'm looking forward to my journey toward a new career path, and your stories have given me the comfort to move on. I've been making music for the past couple of weeks, and I wasn't expecting it to feel the way it has; it's been fun again. Thanks again, everyone, and I wish you all the best!
Marcus Millfield
Senior Member
It sucks and is a blessing at the same time.
After going for my music degree when I was 16 I quickly realised I wasn't going to be able to make any sort of living for myself playing trumpet. Back then, every major local orchestra was downsized/merged/stopping and musicians I knew were all gloom about their future. I realized very early on I needed a back-up plan. I studied IT and pursued a carreer in that field. To pay for my tuition, I worked as a brassinstructor. Opportunities were abundant in IT opposed to music and I got a reasonable IT job at age 21. I'm still working in IT, going from numerous system engineering jobs to cybersecurity.
Over the years, I've been playing either free or low-paying gigs and teaching brass and conducting local bands as a sidegig. I quit that after my health was impacted too much by the busy schedule. IT needs you to keep learning and so does music, that didn't combine that well.
Over the years I've been very glad I ended up with a great career in IT and banging my head on the wall not pursuing my musical carreer as a player when I had the chance in my early twenties. Music is where my heart is, but nothing beats the IT-job for financial security. I never had to worry about my financial situation or that of the people I care for because of the job. For that, I'm grateful.
After going for my music degree when I was 16 I quickly realised I wasn't going to be able to make any sort of living for myself playing trumpet. Back then, every major local orchestra was downsized/merged/stopping and musicians I knew were all gloom about their future. I realized very early on I needed a back-up plan. I studied IT and pursued a carreer in that field. To pay for my tuition, I worked as a brassinstructor. Opportunities were abundant in IT opposed to music and I got a reasonable IT job at age 21. I'm still working in IT, going from numerous system engineering jobs to cybersecurity.
Over the years, I've been playing either free or low-paying gigs and teaching brass and conducting local bands as a sidegig. I quit that after my health was impacted too much by the busy schedule. IT needs you to keep learning and so does music, that didn't combine that well.
Over the years I've been very glad I ended up with a great career in IT and banging my head on the wall not pursuing my musical carreer as a player when I had the chance in my early twenties. Music is where my heart is, but nothing beats the IT-job for financial security. I never had to worry about my financial situation or that of the people I care for because of the job. For that, I'm grateful.
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Ogdru Hem
Member
Fellow architect here. I'm working regular hours and actually picked up music more seriously quite recently as I never (aside playing on guitar) was doing anything more that few tunes in FasTracker back in the days. Now I'm learning piano, music theory and trying to compose my stuff and am loving it as a hobby. I did recently a paid thing which was a great experience but I don't know if I would like to do it full time. Guy Michelmore has a great clip on earning as a musician and turning your hobby into a job. Example that being a trained musician you end up composing tunes to ads to earn money sends a message to me. You of course need to be good at it as well but still - you're left with little time to pursuit your opus magnum. But it is as well in architecture - I'm doing stuff that isn't really "artsy" but it pays the bills and leaves my evenings to my family and my hobby.
TintoL
Senior Member
Hello fellow Architect. We are living similar scenarios. I did study music with my father and then on my own. And even though it was clear to me I loved the orchestral arrangment and composition, I never pursue it professionally because of the architectural experience I was going through. The pressure to be on time was stupidly ridiculous and the job I ended up doing day by day was nothing like what I experienced in the project design during university.
Guy Michelmore's video showing how you end up doing music for commercials is a view I knew. And felt very similar to the side jobs I took as an electrical or plumbing drafter and other things. I am happy with just experiencing music as it is and share it, either good or bad. what ever.
Maybe it's a way to support the sampling industry with the amount of money I expend on libraries
. I mean, right now is pure FOMO with so many deals.Anyways.... good luck with your music.
