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Mark

I thought you might find this interesting, as it kind of gels
with some of your thoughts and comments on being a musician
today and needing a private income.

The Guardian (UK) points out the recently release Berklee's salary survey:

"the study's salary figures for musicians appear optimistic to me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Berklee College of Music is reliant on thousands of students enrolling in its music programmes. The reality facing the majority of its students – and the thousands of music students at colleges and universities across the UK – when they graduate isn't quite as rosy. Once past the first hurdle of actually getting a job, they may find that club gigs often pay nothing at all. Some promoters even demand that you pay to play.

According to the Musicians' Union, 87% of its members are making less than ?16,000 a year. For songwriters, the prospect of making a sustainable living out of writing is even less likely: 90% of PRS for Music members earn less than ?5,000 a year. This indicates that being independently wealthy is a serious advantage if one wants to make music a full-time occupation."

Furthermore, according to a study recently conducted by the UK-based Word Magazine, a majority of charting British pop and rock artists were educated in private, tuition-based schools. The magazine found that 60 percent hailed from schools requiring annual tuition, academic admissions, connections, or all of the above. Yet overall, just 10 percent of the general population enjoys such privilege. Even crazier, just one percent of charting British artists claimed the same pedigree in 1990.

So, instead of bands like the Smiths, Oasis, and the Stone Roses, the current mainstream milieu includes well-reared artists like Lily Allen, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Florence Welch and La Roux. Digging deeper, Allen attended the pricey Bedales, at ?9,240 ($14,357) per term, while Welch attended the Alleyn's School, whose per-term commitments push past ?4,430 ($6,883).

As it's revealed 60 per cent of them went to public school... why are today's pop stars so posh?


Behind the music: Want a music industry career? It helps to be rich



--
Alisdair MacRae Birch
Guitarist/Bassist/Educator/Arranger

Wow, now that is interesting stuff!
Those links are going right on my Facebook profile. :)
Thanks!

Chris

On Dec 16, 2010, at 1:00 PM, Chris Smart wrote:

Wow, now that is interesting stuff!
Those links are going right on my Facebook profile. :)

Or more accurately well to do parents. You have to start pretty
young. Ten years ago four years at Berkly was @ 90K. That doesn't
count lessons for ten or more years prior to the entrance exam.

Ron
Living and playing outside the box.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Alisdair

Thanks for posting this, it is interesting!!! What is amazing
to me is that some of the mainstream media is now picking up on
this. Comments below.

The Guardian (UK) points out the recently release Berklee's salary survey:

"the study's salary figures for musicians appear optimistic to me.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Berklee College of
Music is reliant on thousands of students enrolling in its music
programmes. The reality facing the majority of its students – and
the thousands of music students at colleges and universities across
the UK – when they graduate isn't quite as rosy. Once past the
first hurdle of actually getting a job, they may find that club
gigs often pay nothing at all. Some promoters even demand that you
pay to play.

Me thinks, the Berklee salary survey was an obvious marketing stunt
to parents and those thinking of attending Berklee to persuade them that spending $$$ on Berklee would result in a viable financially rewarding music career. I think it is totally unrealistic.

It will be interesting to see how music colleges make out in the
coming years. I suspect we will see them down-sizing their
on-site classes, putting more short-term and summer programs
in their catalog and up-sizing more and more online courses so
they pump up the students and their income.

Furthermore, according to a study recently conducted by the
UK-based Word Magazine, a majority of charting British pop and rock
artists were educated in private, tuition-based schools. The
magazine found that 60 percent hailed from schools requiring annual
tuition, academic admissions, connections, or all of the above.
Yet overall, just 10 percent of the general population enjoys such
privilege. Even crazier, just one percent of charting British
artists claimed the same pedigree in 1990.

It does not surprise me at all. Lady GaGa, also went to a private
school on Manhattan's Upper East Side before attending NYU.

"Lady Gaga's uncomfortable childhood included parents whom Vanity Fair describes as "middle class," who raised their family on Manhattan's Upper West Side—where a modest, two-bedroom apartment typically costs $1 million or more. Her parents sent Gaga and her sister to an elite private school where tuition is currently $35,000 per year."



I do think this does have a bearing on being a musician today.

Mark

I don`t know of a single performer who is surviving by
performing alone - I think those days have long gone.

Life often goes in cycles so there may come a time when
people are sick of computerised Muzak and demand a live
performer at their favourite cafe. Probably not in my
lifetime though.

Will

--- In jazz_guitar@..., Ron Becker <ron45@...> wrote:

On Dec 16, 2010, at 1:00 PM, Chris Smart wrote:

Wow, now that is interesting stuff!
Those links are going right on my Facebook profile. :)

Or more accurately well to do parents. You have to start pretty
young. Ten years ago four years at Berkly was @ 90K. That doesn't
count lessons for ten or more years prior to the entrance exam.

It also helps to be young and pretty as well as rich. :-)

Mark