Does anyone out there make a living as a musician in 2024?

[osiris]

I've always wanted to call myself 'Various Artists', so I'd always be on a chart somewhere.

[zerocrossing]

did frank not do anything for you?

Frank knew my grandmother and her sisters (who always got sent tickets whenever he was in the NY/NJ area) but I was too far removed for him to be aware of.

[FarleyCZ]

I think the right answer is "Yes and no, depends.". There's huge surviorship bias. Whoever is making living in music will always tell you that with enough effort you can do it. But the only way we keep believe in this is because we don't have the bumbers. And I'm willing to bet they are quite pesimistic in that regard.

On the other hand, there are two silver linings there:
1) Nobody will make living in entertainment anyway once AI starts to rub every rabbit exactly where they like it.
2) I often hear from people who pushed through and made it their job that the passion lost it's shine a little bit. It becomes chore. A lot of people start to have demands on how the music should sound like. On that note, I'm seriously considering making a radio station that would play only music from people wih dayjobs. Because that's how you stay free when it comes to art.

[Constructed Identity]

My mom was a commercial artist and she always told me: "don't get into art, talent is cheap". I listened and tried to become an engineer.