How much money you need to make music your full time career

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One of the biggest misconceptions about the music industry people make is that you can’t make a living doing music. What if I told you there’s a way to make a living doing music. But before you go off and jump in you need to know how much money you need to make in order to make.

Don’t worry it’s a rather simple process you just need a pen and a piece of paper. If you are an excel savvy then you can use that as well.
What are your basic expenses

To get started there’s some basic information you’ll need. The first set is how much do you spend on average on the things to keep a roof over your head. The bare minimum necessities. These are your utilities: water and light bill. Your rent or mortgage payment and internet bill.

Why start here? This is because these are your must-have expenses outside of food. These are the things you pay before anything else.

To find these out just look at your last 3 months bill, add them up and divide it by three. This will give you the average amount you spend on each per month. This will give you a baseline figure to work with.

For example:

  • Light: JA$3,000
  • Water: JA$2,500
  • Rent: JA$25,000
  • Internet: JA$5,000

How much food do you eat per month

The next thing you need to calculate is how much money you spend on food each month. This might be hard for some if you don’t track it. What you need to know is how much money you spend on breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Anything in between like snacks and so on.

What you are doing now is besides having a roof over your head you are working out how much money you need to feed yourself and your family if you have a family.

If you’re on a special diet this should be easy because all you are doing is working out how much each item cost and having a final figure. Don’t worry if price change from time to time because this is just a basic figure to work out the final figure.

  • Grocery: JA$35,000

How much money do you spend on travelling

The next thing is how much money do you spend travelling. This should include going to the studio, shows. If you drive this should be gas to put inside your car and basic maintenance monthly. If you take the bus this should include bus fare and taxi fare.

If you are making car payment leave it out of this section we’ll get to that later.

Your paper should look something like this now.

  • Gas: JA$20,000

What other expenses do you have on a monthly basis

The final thing you need to write down is other expenses you have per month. This includes debt repayment, entertainment expenses, and spending. Studio time and other cost relating to investing in your music.

You can also make plans to save for the future and invest your money in other non-music related activities. If you have children this can include school-related expenses. Medical expenses. What you don’t want is to leave stuff out and you have surprises later down the road.

  • Car payment: JA$ 25,000
  • Studio time: JA$ 6,000
  • Saving: JA$ 4,000
  • School: JA$ 7,000
  • Medical: JA$6,000

Calculate how much money you need to live on a daily basis

Now is the time to tally all your figures to see how much money you should be aiming for each month from music. Your page should like the table below

Expense Amount JA

Light: 3,000

Internet 5,000

Rent: 25,000

Water: 2,500

Grocery: 35,000

Gas: 20000

Car payment: 25,000

Studio time: 6000

Saving: 4,000

School: 7,000

Medical: 6000

Final: 138,500

So from the example, you’ll need JA$138,500 to live on monthly. Whatever your figure is on your sheet. This is your goal to aim for monthly to make you dream of doing music full time a reality.

How you reach that goal is up to you because there are multiple ways to reach that target. Hope this is helpful and here’s a google docs template to get you started.

One of the biggest misconceptions about the music industry people make is that you can’t make a living doing music. What if I told you there’s a way to make a living doing music. But before you go off and jump in you need to know how much money you need to make in order to make

How much money you need to make music your full time career
One of the biggest misconceptions about the music industry people make is that you can’t make a living doing music. What if I told you there’s a way to make a living doing music. But before you go off and jump in you need to know how much money you need to make in order to make.
Don’t worry it’s a rather simple process you just need a pen and a piece of paper. If you are an excel savvy then you can use that as well.

What are your basic expenses

To get started there’s some basic information you’ll need. The first set is how much do you spend on average on the things to keep a roof over your head. The bare minimum necessities. These are your utilities: water and light bill.  Your rent or mortgage payment and internet bill.
Why start here? This is because these are your must-have expenses outside of food. These are the things you pay before anything else.
To find these out just look at your last 3 months bill, add them up and divide it by three. This will give you the average amount you spend on each per month. This will give you a baseline figure to work with.
For example:
  • Light: JA$3,000
  • Water: JA$2,500
  • Rent: JA$25,000
  • Internet: JA$5,000

How much food do you eat per month

The next thing you need to calculate is how much money you spend on food each month. This might be hard for some if you don’t track it. What you need to know is how much money you spend on breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Anything in between like snacks and so on.
What you are doing now is besides having a roof over your head you are working out how much money you need to feed yourself and your family if you have a family.
If you’re on a special diet this should be easy because all you are doing is working out how much each item cost and having a final figure. Don’t worry if price change from time to time because this is just a basic figure to work out the final figure.
  • Grocery: JA$35,000

How much money do you spend on traveling

The next thing is how much money do you spend traveling. This should include going to the studio, shows. If you drive this should be gas to put inside your car and basic maintenance monthly. If you take the bus this should include bus fare and taxi fare.
If you are making car payment leave it out of this section we’ll get to that later.
Your paper should look something like this now.
  • Gas: JA$20,000

What other expenses do you have on a monthly basis

The final thing you need to write down is other expenses you have per month. This includes debt repayment, entertainment expenses, and spending. Studio time and other cost relating to investing in your music.
You can also make plans to save for the future and invest your money in other non-music related activities. If you have children this can include school-related expenses. Medical expenses. What you don’t want is to leave stuff out and you have surprises later down the road.
Car payment: JA$ 25,000
Studio time: JA$ 6,000
Saving:JA$ 4,000
School: JA$ 7,000
Medical: JA$6,000

Calculate how much money you need to live on a daily basis

Now is the time to tally all your figures to see how much money you should be aiming for each month from music. Your page should like the table below

Expense
Amount JA
Light:
3,000
Internet
5,000
Rent:
25,000
Water
2,500
Grocery:
35,000
Gas:
20000
Car payment
25,000
Studio time
6000
Saving
4,000
School
7,000
Medical
6000
Final
138,500
So from the example, you’ll need JA$138,500  to live on monthly. Whatever your figure is on your sheet. This is your goal to aim for monthly to make you dream of doing music full time a reality.
How you reach that goal is up to you because there are multiple ways to reach that target.
Hope this is helpful and here’s a google docs template to get you started.

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