Have you ever been in a social environment where people have been introducing themselves and their occupations?

By the time the conversation gets around to you you explain to the group that you are a full time musician or that you play music for a living.

Some people may greet the news with a raised eyebrow or a surprise look. This is because there is still a stigma that has been carried on from the last couple of decades that surrounds musicians.

People still have a preconceived idea or notion or expectation of what they expect of a musician.

As a musician is not a typical nine to five office job nor is it really shift work, many people seem to fail or comprehend exactly what gets put in to being a musician full-time and what is required to make a living out of it.

Playing music is a small fraction of being a full-time musician and a lot of people are unaware of the efforts musicians put in day-in-day-out; all the hard, unpaid work that is involved.

Before calling yourself a musician you are before anything else a business person, you are an entrepreneur, you are a marketer, you are a project manager, you are an agent, you are a CFO.

If anything you would call yourself a musician last and any of those things mentioned above first.

You are a business owner/operator

First and foremost you own run and operate yourself as a musician therefore you are a business owner.

In order to make money from music you must report your income therefore you need an ABN so just like any other person trying to run a business, you too, are doing the same.

As a business owner and operator you are responsible for getting your name out there promoting yourself to ensure that you have consistent work, to build relationships in order to keep work coming in.

As you are in an industry where there is a lot of competition, where there is a lot of people doing what you do, you must put your entrepreneurial and marketing hat on. You must think outside of the box whilst also playing the game in order to book gigs to build relationships so that you have repeat business from an agent or venue.

You are constantly thinking of ways to get gigs and maintain gigs. Just like any other business owner who is trying to retain clients and who are trying to find new customers to buy a product or to book a service.

It may be time to start shifting people’s mindsets. Us as musicians, or those in the industry, need to educate those who know nothing about the industry.

If there are more than a couple of people in your band you were immediately become the manager. You are wearing multiple hats and that is before you have played any gigs.

You are a marketer

As mentioned above getting your name out there as a musician can sometimes be challenging.

In the world where most people live on social media like Facebook, it is hard to break through the noise to get your name out there.

However, by combining traditional methods of getting gigs with the digital way there is a multitude of opportunity.

And while you may be able to find a gig and book a month or two of gigs you must still have people turn up to these gigs to show that there is a demand for your band and music.

This is where you put on your marketing hat.

You may have several channels where you promote yourself as an artist or a website where you list your upcoming gigs; whatever the case you will be wearing your marketing hat to reach out to those customers who have come to see you previously in order to get them come to another gig.

In other words, you are looking at a way to retain customers. In the world of marketing retention is a very important factor to consider when growing a business.

There are many ways to reach your audience and this can be done through email campaigns Facebook posts organic or paid Instagram posts YouTube videos or even print media such as posters and flyers.

Most of the time musicians take it upon themselves to organise marketing and marketing collateral. As if the musician where to hire a digital agency to do their marketing campaigns for them they would have spent a great deal more money on marketing than what the gig offers in return.

At times the venue or agent may assist with marketing and they will work with the musician to print collateral or to at least help push the word of the event on to various other channels.

For musicians to get many gigs, their marketing game has to be strong and ongoing.

Not only do Facebook pages need to be constantly updated but also bands and musicians must also be always updating photos and videos. So, before a musician has played a gig they have organised and managed their business and they have been busy marketing and this is before they’ve even played a single note.

You are a CFO

Once you have played a gig, you’re the one handling the invoices, writing them up, handing them out, following up, and then following up again.

Managing your own band’s finance is another hat a musician wears and largely isn’t something anyone talks about.

While an agent can handle invoicing (without transparency, mind you) you still need to invoice the agent, or the venue direct; and just like running a small business, sometimes client do not pay on time.

This takes a great deal of time and energy. And this is all to keep your business operating, and to ensure that there is an income.

If you are managing your band and you have multiple members, you need to ensure they are being paid fair and on-time too.

Some artists may use session musicians and have them provide an invoice with their own ABN, some bands may split the money equally amongst themselves, while some bands may put the profits into a main band fund.

Whatever the case, you as a musician are responsible for the financial tracking of your band. You must keep on top of your income, your expenditures, and if you are planning a tour or string of interstate gigs, you must make sure you are earning enough so that you come back with a profit.

Between gigs and being on the road, and learning new songs, a musician is thinking of all these things. Musicians cannot allow the financial ball to be dropped; it’s hard enough to make being a full time musician viable therefore keeping on top of finances is paramount.

You are a musician

Between politics and finances, you still are proud to call yourself a musician.

Whether you’re writing the next number one hit, or if you have been working hard at turning the latest Ed Sheeran song into your own; you are the one pouring your heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears and energy into your craft.

Cover artists are continually looking at ways to keep their sets fresh, or looking through the last 100 years of music, working out ways to bring them new life to show the world.

Original artists spend hours upon hours writing lyrics and licks, looking for that perfect blend of poetry and performance.

And all of the above efforts are unpaid. While the artist may earn a few hundred dollars to play a 3 hour gig, all the behind scenes efforts, the hours of practises and rehearsals are unpaid. The artist makes no money for perfecting their art.

Venues unfortunately book inexperienced artists as they offer themselves at a cheaper price, meaning the experienced artists get caught up in a race to the bottom.

And these inexperienced musicians may gain the experience they need over the next couple of years, they undercut the hard efforts put in by the ones who have been there through thick and thin; it damages the industry.

The is no industry regulator to state what musicians should be charging. Yet, you, the musician, charges on, continuing the pursuit of performative perfection, as you are a musician

A musician has an intrinsic passion for what they do. All the other stuff, politics, finances etc, is just white noise, because at the end of the day – all they want to do is do what they love.

But to pursue your dreams and your passion; you must make it financially viable. That is where the noise kicks in. And in an industry that is largely unregulated (when it comes to fair pay) it’s even more difficult for a musician to make a living off their art.

However, when you are at your next social gathering, you can hold your head up high and say you’re a musician because you know of everything that is involved. And if they don’t believe you, show them this article.