Backstage Money embarks on an incisive examination of the intersection between artistry and financial literacy, an area often neglected within the music industry. Hosted by Jason K. Powers, these episodes will introduce an array of artists who articulate their personal experiences and insights regarding the financial realities of a career in music. The discussions highlight the pressing need for musicians to cultivate an understanding of their income streams, particularly given the contemporary landscape dominated by digital platforms that often yield meager financial rewards unless the artist reaches an extraordinary level of commercial success.
Throughout the episodes, we'll dialogue about the dichotomy between the artistic passion that fuels their endeavors and the pragmatic financial considerations that underpin their careers. While the allure of living in the moment may be enticing, it is imperative to recognize that financial obligations loom large, necessitating careful planning and proactive management of one’s finances. Artists share candid anecdotes regarding the challenges of balancing creativity with financial sustainability, underscoring the notion that the business of music requires as much attention as the music itself.
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Transcripts
Speaker A:
Welcome to Backstage Money.
Speaker A:
Real world finance for musicians.
Speaker A:
I'm your host, Jason K. Powers.
Speaker A:
And this is where music and money collide.
Speaker B:
You want to have a real convo about finances?
Speaker B:
You sure.
Speaker C:
Streams of revenue, people, Streams of revenue.
Speaker D:
Living in moments is great.
Speaker D:
That's cool and it's satisfying for those moments.
Speaker D:
But there is a bill at the end of the dinner and you have to be ready to pay for that bill.
Speaker E:
The band is a business, so there's the band side playing shows, hanging out with people and having fun.
Speaker E:
But then there's the corporation and the taxes and the bills you have to pay.
Speaker E:
Trying to make money to support your family.
Speaker E:
So you keep doing it.
Speaker B:
Understand, like why do you want to label?
Speaker B:
Is it just for financing?
Speaker A:
I'm banking on myself.
Speaker A:
I'm betting on myself.
Speaker C:
The streaming dollars are like chump change.
Speaker F:
Unless you're getting billions of streams, Nashville's the music city.
Speaker F:
Well, show us the love.
Speaker F:
If you're the music city, why don't you pay to play?
Speaker F:
Because you're making a ton of money in your bar and they are through sponsorships, through the people standing at the bar paying $12 for a beer.
Speaker F:
Give me a break.
Speaker F:
Right?
Speaker B:
You have to keep dreaming when it feels impossible because there's a baby version of yourself out there whose life is going to be saved because of it.
Speaker A:
When you're a rookie, you can't go to the record label and say, we want to tour with Motley Crue.
Speaker A:
We want three videos.
Speaker A:
We want to do the rock one first.
Speaker A:
Then we're going to do this up tempo.
Speaker A:
Then we're going to do the ball.
Speaker A:
We want this many records in the stores.
Speaker A:
We're only going to tour in a bus.
Speaker C:
No, people don't want to be controlled like this anymore.
Speaker C:
They don't want these companies pocketing billions of dollars when they're making.003 of a stream.
Speaker D:
If you go out and you playing shows just for the honorarium, which isn't much, hardly, you need merchandise.
Speaker D:
You need something appealing to the fans so you can sell.
Speaker B:
Huge things are happening in the background.
Speaker B:
You're doing great.
Speaker B:
It's like, yeah, well, I'm still working a full time job.
Speaker B:
I'm still like pinching pennies to pay for the next song.
Speaker E:
You have the wrong manager, they can make some wrong.
Speaker E:
They can not only just be using your money for things that have nothing to do with you.
Speaker E:
They could get you into bad deals that don't make sense in bad situations that you don't want to be in.
Speaker B:
I know, like what we're doing for this, what we're doing for that.
Speaker B:
Finance is just, like, the only thing stopping that.
Speaker D:
They're selling 50, 60,000 albums for us, but we're not getting any of the money.
Speaker C:
I would say learning to put aside and invest and be clever with money, because a lot of artists that can get to retirement and go, oh, wow, I don't have the money to retire.
Speaker D:
Everybody thinks they want to be a rock star until they're gone from home for 230 days a year.
Speaker F:
Maybe the right question is, what would make people show up and watch my band?
