https://jazztimes.com/departments/education/jazz-after-college/
@GoForth, thanks for posting. Good article that paints a realistic picture. My son knows and has played with some of the people featured in the story.
The article was posted in the UNT vocal jazz facebook page.
Good article. I believe there is value in spending whatever years in school doing what you love, regardless of career outcome, and that everyone can keep music in their lives on whatever terms that ends up meaning.
I noticed that only one person in the article mentioned family. I always wonder about how the picture changes for those who want a family. Females in music have a biological clock and feel some pressure on this, but I never see it mentioned. Impossible to work all day, see kids, and go out for a gig at night. I truly believe that women will never be equal in the jazz world unless that issue is addressed. Not sure how. Daycare for gigs?!
Although the article doesn’t mention it, the UNT singer and the UNT pianist profiled in the story are engaged to be married. Two of the musicians in one of the groups my son plays with regularly recently got married. And a couple other musicians my son plays with a lot each have parents who are both musicians. I don’t know whether two musicians who marry each other have any fewer challenges in pursuing a career in music, but I would guess it at least helps them understand and empathize with the challenges the other is facing.
I also found this comment in the article interesting:
My son typically sends out hundreds of emails every time he puts together a tour for his trio. So I wouldn’t view Clayton’s efforts as setting “an astonishingly high bar.” It’s just what you have to do.
As my daughter gets closer to graduating college, I admit I lose way more sleep than Id like to wondering what will happen after she graduates.
I have recently developed a “worst case scenario” that usually puts my mind at ease at least long enough for me to fall asleep. Lol
She is not in Jazz, but Pop /Rock. ( I find more in common with the Jazz world than the classical. )
That “worst case scenario” is actually not all that bad and probably pretty common among musicians.
Currently, she teaches private lessons in a studio. I assume she could easily double her students when she is not in school anymore, since she only keeps 10 hours open for lessons per week. She can also command higher pay (as set by the studio) after she has her degree.
She currently gets about 50-60 gigs per year. Most are in the summer because 1) opportunity (local festivals and summer events) and 2) it’s hard to gig when college takes up 50-60 hours a week of your time. Also, she is not yet 21 and her group has to turn down a lot of much higher paying gigs because she cannot legally be in the venues.
So we know how many contracts she has, how many she could have, and about how much the pay is…
Out comes the calculator and even estimating on the low side, I figure she can at least afford to move out! Success! Ha ha!
Actually, it is better pay than many of the colleges we visited are claiming their grads make, so I guess I can’t complain. I think most of us expect music careers to either be feast or famine (emphasis on famine). I worry most about lack of health insurance, but there will be a few years to figure that out. Our health plan does not cost any more with her on it so no problem to keep until 26.
Anyway, I think we’re all looking for some reassurance sometimes. And this isn’t a “my kids got a record deal and headed to LA” dream come true story. This is just a music kid hustling for gigs and teaching some lessons and not starving to death. Hopefully that will bring comfort to any of my fellow worry warts.
@compmom I have a lot of thoughts on family and women trying to make it in many careers but music seems especially cruel. Women have a much shorter timeframe for peak earnings and my daughter seems aware. I think it motivates her to do as much as she can NOW - even while still in school and being absolutely exhausted most of the time. We’ve discussed ways that her career will likely need to evolve as she ages. It’s not a fun ( or fair ) conversation to have and I’ll leave it at that. My D is a music business major with a couple of minors, so I do feel like that may help her transition into a “still in music but less performance” career if/when the time comes.
I really like your emphasis on living the life with hustle, gigs, and teaching versus the “got a record deal and headed to LA dream come true story.”
For composers it is a bit tough because one needs enough success to get performed.
I have noticed that some festivals and residencies allow spouse and children, but there still seem to be more obstacles for mothers versus fathers.
Our kids are aware of the issues at least, in ways that my generation wasn’t. I will admit, however, that we have joked about a very outdated strategy for female artists: marry money!!! Or find a royal patron!!!
@dbandmom wrote: Anyway, I think we’re all looking for some reassurance sometimes. And this isn’t a “my kids got a record deal and headed to LA” dream come true story. This is just a music kid hustling for gigs and teaching some lessons and not starving to death. Hopefully that will bring comfort to any of my fellow worry warts.
Here is reassurance from a parent of a “kid” with middling success after almost 2 years out of school (MM VP). No big success here. But no big failure either. It’s just the day-to-day hustle of being a musician/artist and paying her rent, bills and now health insurance (just did that transition a couple of months ago). My D does say to me on occasion…I can’t believe I’m making it as a working artist.
In many ways, the transition has been better than I “feared” (trust me, my expectations were pretty low for money and success in the arts…right or wrong, they were). It has also been different than I thought. As a parent, you look for a path that you can share with family and friends over a cocktail…and as soon as I see one and get my “speech” ready…the path changes. It seems like the deck is being re-shuffled every 3 to 6 months…as she “finds herself as an artist/musician”…meaning gets hired and paid.
If your kid been cast/hired/gigging in high school, college, summers fairly consistently…that will continue (bc why not?). And, as long as responsible, she will figure out the cash situation if performing/teaching alone doesn’t cover the bills (as in my D’s case). There are always low level jobs available to fill that purpose…and they are not hard to get. And she won’t be alone…her “tribe” will be doing the exact same thing…and they help each other out. I know a TON of “kids” doing this between 22 and 32…they are my D’s friends…and none of them live at home!!
My D does a “bunch of stuff” on social media now about the transition from college to “real life”…recently asking what was different than expected to her friends. One consistent remark was … to keep yourself very open to where performing takes you…who will hire you…don’t put yourself in a box. Many commented that when they left college, they had a path in mind…and all said that went out the window within a year as the rubber met the road…and they started getting hired (or not) and passing from one opportunity to another. A strong arts community, good networking/marketing skills and being willing to put yourself into some “awkward attempts” seems pretty universal. And the old “be yourself” NOT who you think they want…was a key to getting hired mentioned often.
I think that this transition does parallel the college search in that it is scary and exciting at the same time…but at a DISTANCE…thank goodness! A parent can only take so much. My D entered college as a young, green performer and came out completely transformed into a true artist. Now she is going through another transition of becoming a working artist.,and yes it’s different (what skills are marketable). But it’s all good…and the music continues.
@bridgenail totally agree! One of my older Ds is a dancer and has discovered another passion, teaching (both dance and Montessori), which pays the bills. She’s not rolling in cash but can afford the lifestyle she wants as a 24-year-old in Seattle, where she is choosing to live right now, including dancing 4-5 times a week. If and when circumstances change, she will change direction. For now, she’s having a great adventure.
The scenario you describe sounds familiar for the jazz world based on observing my son and his musician friends. A mix of private students, public and private gigs, and miscellaneous musical activities, seems to be a realistic path to making a music living. (And I too had lots of worries when my son decided to embark on this path.) In my son’s case, he has about a dozen private students - could have more but he stopped taking new students given the time constraints of his other activities - and I’d guess somewhere around 250-300 gigs a year if you count everything (don’t know if that would be feasible physically for a singer). If he’s able to develop more of a name for himself, I think he’d eventually like to do fewer gigs (and higher average quality - he’s already starting to see what he would consider some higher quality gigs), and maybe get a college-level “adjunct” teaching position or two. And I would think that at some point all the traveling would get to be too much, but at least for now he really loves meeting people all over the country and the world and sharing his music with them. He says that the ability to share his music is what he finds the most fulfilling.
Good heavens! 250-300 gigs a year!!! More power to him!
I was able to attend one of those gigs.
I’m hoping to go this year!
As others have said, this is a wonderfully supportive community. It was a pleasure to meet @GoForth and his wife at one of my son’s gigs last fall. I’ve met a couple of other posters from this board at my son’s gigs and a few others have met my son at gigs I wasn’t able to go to when his trio was in their neck of the woods. @akapiratequeen, I hope you and your son are able to make it to one of his gigs this year, maybe after March Madness and April Angst. And I hope at some point I’ll be able to hear some of your sons/daughters at their gigs too.
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=16211
Just stumbled upon this and remembered the female vocalist of GMO was featured in the article @Goforth posted.
Hower, Western Illinois U is not a “prestigious program” (at least I don’t ever hear of it mentioned here). I thought I’d share anyway. I guess since my D passed on all her “prestigious program” offers to attend a tiny local liberal arts college, I find these type of success stories really comforting! Lol
Jeff Bradetich of UNT taught at WIU.