Nobody says one should do that. But unless you're really willing to do everything imaginable, there's absolutely no sense anymore in trying to make your living from it. It might happen accidentally, but that's about it. You may as well win the lottery.
Here's the thing: Many people who say the business now sucks and didn't before have very little experience with how the serious money is made in music.
Maybe you do. If so, you're entitled to reach your conclusions and this isn't a personal argument. I'm simply sharing a different perspective, based on my career. Doesn't mean I'm right or wrong, this is what I've experienced.
Most musicians don't know much about making money in music, because they don't know where the money is to be found. I certainly didn't until I got involved in it. What I learned is it's better to know stuff than to read stuff in media.
The money making end isn't in performing or playing on someone else's record - never has been - it's in writing.
Broadcast royalties from performing rights organizations (PROs), like SESAC, ASCAP and BMI can be worth substantial dough, including for current artists, many who are relatively unknown.
Today the PROs can track airplay pretty adequately, and make substantial payments.
This money is there today, and you don't need a Time Machine to make $$.
Just doing ads that run an average of 13 weeks nationally (I'm sure many people would never be willing to write ad music, but as I said in my post, I got started late in life and that's what there was) there were years that, production fees aside (production fees have been the major part of my income and are different from broadcast royalties), my own SESAC broadcast royalties alone have often run well into the five figure mark per quarter.
For ads. Played on terrestrial TV and radio, not cable or streaming. They still have terrestrial.
Note: You have to know how to register the works and get information from advertisers to share with the PROs, which is entirely doable.
I've
never had a hit record. No one streams my music. I don't exist on people's radar. And yet...
I've had singers earn SAG/AFTRA royalties in the $50-100,000 range for a single national campaign.
Lots of these opportunities didn't exist back in the day.
There's also money in licensing work for media. A tune can be licensed for film, TV, and for ads, and the revenue can be substantial. Because I was a lawyer with experience in entertainment law (I do keep my license up to date), sometimes ad agencies ask me to help them license songs. A single market, like a big city, can command six figure licensing fees, and national campaigns go into seven figures these days for a middling hit.
I know because I've negotiated these licenses, including with unknowns whose work wasn't a hit. Why they're willing to pay this kind of money I can't say, but they are.
For a band's songwriter or artist getting airplay in many markets for a longer time, royalties would obviously be much higher. Terrestrial radio and TV still make people money.
This is why labels always wanted publishing. Half of every broadcast royalty dollar is paid to the publisher, half to the writer. Today however, the labels do not ask to own the publishing; they'll split the publishing end with the artist for a given set of years, 5-7 or so (this is distinct from the writer's share), and then let the artist have 100% of their publishing down the road.
This is a huge change from the 'good old days' when the labels allowed the artist a pittance and wanted to own everything.
Also, big time tours are making scads of money for the artists who are popular worldwide.
I may be an outlier, and my experience may count for nothing. But it's also what happened.
