I keep detailed records of my freelance work during each year. I thought I would share how my income has changed between the start of the recession and now.
Charts
Here is how I earned my income, by percentage, in 2008, 2009 and the first 6 months of 2010.
2008 Music Directing 61% Musical Theatre Performance 29% Writing 6% Copyist 3% Recorded Music 1%
2009 Accompanying 36% Music Directing 28% Church Organ 22% Writing 7% Recorded Music Sales 2% Classical Performance 2% Jazz Performance 2% Weddings 1%
2010 Musical Theater Accompanying 45% Church Organ 26% Writing 13% Music Directing 9% Copyist 4% Recorded Music Sales 2%
Notes:
Musical Theatre Performance – this means playing for shows, but not as the music director. 2nd keyboard, for example.
Accompanying – includes accompanying for classes, auditions and rehearsals. This does not include performances.
Analysis
You can see that in 2008 I was working nearly full-time as a music director for regional theaters and tours. When I wasn’t working as an MD I was playing 2nd keyboards somewhere else. I made a little money from blogging, a little from copyist work and very little from selling albums.
I experienced a sharp decline in music directing jobs in the 2nd half of 2008. Regional theaters had been hard hit by the recession, and many were not hiring or closing their doors. It was clear that I would need to fill in the income gap with other work.
As you can see from the chart, I tried a lot of different gigs and had the most success with accompanying and church organ gigs. I started my church gig in spring of 2009. Around the same time I found a job as an accompanist at college.
In 2009 I remember I was just trying everything to see what took. I was taking jazz gigs, gigs with symphonies, weddings – whatever came my way. I didn’t turn down anything in 2009. You can see that none of that took hold though – it has been the accompanying and church organ that pulled me through the economy.
Recovery
Like most people, the recession changed my career. Once the regional theatre and tour scene declined I moved full-time to New York and, for once, stayed here. Prior to the recession it was difficult for a lot of theatre workers like me to stay in the city. Out-of-town jobs were always calling.
Now that I’ve been in NYC for several years, I’ve set up a life here that I didn’t have before the recession. Things didn’t happened as I expected, I just had to adjust to the changing musician economy. What’s interesting to me is if the economy went back to 2007 levels tomorrow, I couldn’t just jump back into my own scene like nothing happened. With a recession this long, some doors close and some doors open and by the end of it you find yourself in a different room. Who knows how to get back to where you were?
Income from writing has increased – primarily because I put more time into it when the economy changed. I recorded a Christmas album during the down time of the recession, and that helped (marginally) increased income from recorded music. Lately more calls for copyist work has been coming in.
More calls have been coming for music directing work as well – that seems indicative of a recovery in our sector of the economy to me, but it’s purely anecdotal. Even so, it feels like good news to me.
David J. Hahn
David J. Hahn is a Broadway conductor and keyboard player. He co-founded MusicianWages.com with Cameron Mizell in 2008. Visit his new project, Songwriter.fm and sign up for his songwriting newsletter.
Thanks for sharing this data with us. It is clear that it is vital to have strong skills that can be adapted and to be alert to new possibilities and be willing to take advantage of these possibilities.
Good for you!
Yes, thanks for sharing. I always welcome financial info from musicians so we can all compare notes.
[...] Case Study: One Musician's Changing Income During the Recession [...]
For Musical Theater graduates what is your advice? I have a couple of young people whom I admire and their talents are wonderful but I am concerned for their careers and future. New York and California have their hearts and souls. They have high hopes and dreams of a bright future and much income. I see the economy as it is for our business and private sectors and how young people are having job career problems so I am even more concerned for these two young people. Thank You for sharing.
Hi Sheryl –
Certainly there’s reason for concern. Theatre is a tough business in the best of times. My advice to them would be to give it their best shot. Make the move to New York or LA and try it out while they are young. If it doesn’t work out then they can find something else to do. But I always think it’s at least worth a try.
Hi David!
This is a bit off-topic, but as an accompanist (and NOT a director!) who has recently played for a couple high school and CT musicals (and who would like to do it more), I was curious about the term “second keyboards.” What is that, exactly? Are there two piano scores that have completely different parts? Is it just filling in with some sustained chords here and there? Is this something that is often used in musical theatre, or does it depend on the show?
Thanks!
Jenny
That’s a pretty nifty reference to have, and can be especially helpful to zero in on the gigs that would help you make more money. But these are truly despairing times, I want to say hopefully it will all come to pass, but with all the instability, it’s hard to be positive these days.
That’s exactly where the chart came from in the first place. I was trying to chart out when my income came from so that I could have a better idea of what work to try to get more of.
[...] Here is an article that details Dave’s Income streams during the recession [...]
[...] Here is an article that details Dave’s Income streams during the recession [...]