income (was MySpace Controversy)

["Rainer Thelonius Balthasar Straschill" <rs@moinlabs.de>]

> Most of my music income comes from playing gigs, not CD 
> sales.  CDs are just a promotional device.  And how much do 
> you make, Rainer?

This year, I made something like €23 from CD sales, all at one concert 
(the only one I played this year). I could've sold more if I had brought 
more of my own CDs (just guessed nobody would want them anyway ;). 

For this reason, Warren's statement seemed rather...unbelievable to me, 
taking into account that Warren is a professional musician and I am not.

The reason why I am not a professional musician? It doesn't pay off. 
Example calculation: the largest amount of money I got for a solo gig 
minus my expenses was roughly €200. This included a two-hour 
performance, setup and breakdown time, loading and unloading both at the 
gig and at home (let's say 2h in total, which is a very careful 
estimation), plus a half-day drive to and from the performance (don't know 
in detail, but 12h total is again a careful estimation). So I earned a 
total of €200 for 16 hours, or €12.50 per hour. This does not take in 
investment in gear, preparation for the concert (like putting my rig 
together), rehearsing, time and money invested in marketing (there wasn't 
any) etc.
In my day job (salary earner), I make more than three times that money per 
hour. I'll get that money if I get ill, or if for some weeks nobody is 
interested in my services. I don't need to do marketing (if I do and am 
successful, I get additional boni), and I don't need to do any investments.

Another example: the most my band Eclectic Blah got from a single gig was 
€400. We performed that one as a six-piece, so it's €67 per person, or 
if you count in loadout/in, setup, breakdown, soundcheck, travel to the 
venue and the actual performance, about €15 per person and hour. Again, 
not counting in time spent rehearsing, equipment costs, costs for a 
rehearsal room or rehearsals.
With that group (which has been on hold for some time now), we were able 
to come out with a slight plus (and still have some savings that would 
allow us to do a CD of live recordings), but only because none of the 
musicians ever saw a single cent of the money.

        Rainer