Want to quit your 9 to 5 job to focus on your music career? Buckle up because being a musician can be a costly affair. Unless you land a sweet recording and sponsorship deal, chances are you will have to fork out the money for your recordings, equipment and travels yourself, over and above having to pay your bills and eat a warm meal from time to time. At present, it is estimated that the average American requires in the region of $4,100 to live relatively comfortably according to the First National Bank of America. Before quitting your day job to focus solely on developing your music career you need to consider a number of pertinent factors such as the following to ensure you will have enough money at your disposal to maintain a dignified lifestyle.
How successful are you currently as a musician?
If you want to be financially secure while working as a full-time musician you need to establish what your earning potential is. You need to be brutally honest with yourself about how much money you can earn every month by performing at gigs and selling your album/tracks and merchandise. If you find that you do not make enough to sustain your day-to-day living expenses it might not be the best idea to quit your job right away, at least not until you have stockpiled a nice amount of money. It is best to increase your number of performances prior to quitting your job otherwise you might be faced with significant financial strain if you find that you can’t get by on doing one or two gigs a week.
Do you have various income streams at your disposal?
If you are serious about making a living as a musician you need to ensure that you have multiple income streams as solely focusing on live shows may end up being very detrimental to your wellbeing. There are many ways to supplement your income including giving vocal/musical instrument lessons, designing a range of eye-catching merchandise, making yourself available as a sessional musician or even emceeing at special events such as weddings and birthday parties. The purpose of having multiple income channels available is to ensure you have an income even if, for some reason, you are unable to perform live gigs for a period of time. It is for the very same reason that you need to stockpile enough money before cutting off your income from your current job.
Make sure you have enough money stockpiled
There are a number of ways you can go about stockpiling money prior to quitting your day job. Aim to have enough money put away to cover your living expenses for at least 3 months before you resign as a recent study by Bankrate found that as many as 63% of Americans do not have sufficient emergency savings to cover an emergency expense of more than $1,000. You can opt to stash your cash in a safe place at home although that might tempt you into spending it before it is truly needed. Another alternative is to set up a separate bank account with a high interest rate and depositing money into it on a monthly basis.
If you have your heart set on becoming a full-time musician you need to pull out all the stops and pursue your dream with everything you’ve got. Instant fame and success are rare in the music industry but if you continue to hone your craft despite the unavoidable setbacks that befall every musician you are bound to turn your passion into a lucrative, full-time career.
