Just had a 2 hour conversation with my best friend, a highly regarded musician who plays with well known acts. Even with session work, touring, television appearances, etc. he still finds himself living very close to the bone.

Disheartening to me but at least he is well-informed upfront.

due to the ease of file sharing, etc...

He was in that business for about a decade. Still loves music, but not the business.

There are certainly session musicians in LA and Nashville making a good living primarily from playing studio sessions. Back when I lived in LA (about 10 years ago) I knew a percussionist who'd played on almost every orchestral film score from the 90's. It was a nice game to name a movie and ask if he'd played on the soundtrack; Predator II? Check. He gave it up though. When I met him, we were both getting master's degrees.

However, most of these players also play live (whether it's with part-time orchestras, musicals, bar bands, etc.) and maybe teach as well.

It's like being self-employed in any field. The jobs might come and they might not. Union rate is good, and the really in demand players can command more than that, but it's not like people are getting these contracts for weeks at a time; a few hours at a time is more likely. So, yes, they're well payed considering an hourly wage but probably otherwise poor.

Trying to make a living as a musician isn't easy. Two months ago I was waking up at 5:15am and driving 25 miles through the snow to work 45 hours a week at a warehouse making $8.50/hour. Now I'm living in a villa in Switzerland (payed for: I have an apartment in it - it's amazing... I can't imagine what it would cost) and getting a decent per diem basically for doing whatever I want. It would be perfect, but it's a five month contract, and then I'll be unemployed again with nothing on the immediate horizon.

Anyway, he's 17. If he loves music, he'll stick with it one way or another. 17 was literally half a lifetime ago for me, and I've been working on music full time since at least then. The sucky parts about it have really sucked, and the great parts about it have been really great.

I think he needs to pursue a music career of some kind, because that's his passion. I just hope he doesn't give up and just go sell insurance (which is just fine for some folks). I'm trying to encourage him to do his research.

One of my heroes (who I now count as a friend) studied and taught classics and comparative literature at Ivy League schools while doing music on the side for decades. Since he's retired he does music full time. Likewise, another friend of mine taught photography. I know another composer who works for Doctors Without Borders.

However, I do know more who are like me; that is, working for landscape companies, restaurants, loading trucks, retail, office work, etc. I sort of wish I'd found something else I could be equally passionate about as I am about music. Even if it were another field that jobs are hard to get in (isn't that every field these days?), it would double my prospects of getting a job I enjoy. It's not that I feel I'm above doing blue collar work, but I also don't know if I want to be doing this back and forth between good-paying music gigs and low-paying jobs for another decade, let alone three decades.

I think he will always do it as a hobby. His best bet is probably to have a "steady job" and then add in gigs when he can. If he can make it full time, more power to him, I'd like to see him try, but he needs to find his own way.

I would have never come this far musically if it weren't for having supportive parents. When I first went to college, my dad said I could get a music degree if I got a "real degree" too, so I was in a double degree program. Well, after about a year that went out the window. My parents saw that I was still interested in music and it wasn't going away (the number of music majors that switch to other majors or drop out after the first year or two is staggering - I think part of it is going from being the best at what they do in high school to being completely average in their new peer group) and stuck with me throughout. I did very well academically and eventually got paid to do a PhD. Still, now being a bonafide expert in my field, I'd be lost without my family. Before coming Switzerland last month, I was living in my brother's basement and driving a car my dad lent me. I know they both would have preferred I was more "realistic", but they're still supportive, and that means the world to me.

As long as he's trying hard to stay gainfully employed in a field he loves, I have no right to complain. Thanks for the kind words.

My son (the Chet) is in a band called Eels.
He has two gold records on his wall from his participation on the recordings.
He has told me that he gets $350 per song/per part no matter how many 'takes' to get the part right.
He is a multi-instrumental player, so if he plays two parts on a song it's $700.
Some songs take days to complete from cutting scratch tracks to final mix down.
No royalties unless he writes and is given credit.
Touring as side man for him is $2k/weekly while on tour.
Bigger named stars pay more to side players while on tour.
The BIG money is when a song is used commercially or on a film (such as Shrek series where you can hear Eels tunes)
He spends HOURS rehearsing at home, unpaid.

http://www.eelstheband.com/

I had a fun experience being invited to play as a solo act at a music festival. I recorded an album (paid for by myself) on a tiny budget, played the festival, got three standing ovation encores and a rave review in the papers the next day. I thought about it as a career long and hard. I then thought about what I had earned for my efforts. Enough to take my girlfriend out to dinner twice with enough for a snack for me later on.

Later that year, I was offered a job out there in the real (sorta) world. I took it and never looked back.

I love music, always have, always will. As a kid, I played in a band that backed up Canned Heat and the Youngbloods. As an adult, I have played in front of Bill Clinton and done a 45 minute long duet with Theodore Bikel. But that was for fun, not because my life depended on it. The applause and the cheering were a nice ego boost, but I don't regret my decision.

You still gotta pay the bills. Mine were higher than my musical prowess was going to pay for. I took a long hard look at things, realized I was not going to be the next Eric Clapton or Leo Kottke, and dealt with it.

In a novel I read some 30 years ago, a Basque poet was philosophizing with some buddies, saying a man had two options: either increase your material possessions to meet your wants, or reduce your material wants to the level of your possessions. I was lucky enough to do the first, but my wants are modest, and most people are forced to do the latter anyway. A LOT of them are very talented musicians. Better your son knows that going in. If he still wants to pursue it, that's cool, but at least he knows what he's in for.

It's a shame it's so hard to make a decent living at it (for most) but at least he can do it part time or as a hobby. I'm glad you had some fun times with it !

Having no pressure makes it a LOT more enjoyable, too.

There's a few people who go through the roof and an overwhelming majority for whom it's a side job or a marginal living.