Music and Finances (Part 3)

Read Part 1 here.
Read Part 2 here.

I am finally getting back to this series after a few weeks. In the previous two posts, I started discussing what I would consider to be a healthy mindset (foundation) for musicians to have about money. First of all, I said that musicians should avoid being selfish by pursuing their dreams at the expense of their families, and secondly, I said that they need to get their financial house in order before they start (by watching debt and expenses).

In the next post, I am going to start discussing the landscape and opportunities for Christian musicians but I want to take this post to discuss one more very important philosophical point: you will be happiest if you can decouple money from music entirely.

I have talked about this before of course. You may have heard me say that if you depend on music to feed your family, you may be in for a very frustrating life. First, there is not an enormous amount of money in Christian music at all. (Contrary to what some may say, there are not a lot of wealthy people cleaning up selling Christian music of any type.) And second, when you are too dependent on music for money, there is a big temptation to focus on pleasing your base rather than taking risks that artists need to take and following the path God wants you to take.

That second reason may sound nebulous so I want to elaborate a bit. There is a very natural tendency in music to play it safe. Professional musicians will develop a base of fans, customers, followers (whatever you want to call them) and musicians know what their base wants. They know that if they keep putting out projects of music that hit that mark, they will be able to earn money by selling to their base.

Ironically, this tendency toward safety hurts musicians in the long run and it hurts music in the long run. No great composer or performer has ever been great because they played it safe. They were great because they discovered more, explored more, and raised the bar.

We need that in attitude in Christian music. I know talking this way makes some people nervous (especially conservatives). I know there are dangers too. But music can only improve if musicians are willing to take risks.

I have never made it a secret that I have an income outside of music. Sometimes, people probably see me as less credible in music because of that. Some may wonder why I am credible to write this series in the first place when I don’t depend on music for money.

But here is the truth: the situation I have is an enormous blessing. Not having to worry about paying the mortgage with music allows me to take risks I would probably not have the guts to take otherwise.

So if you are younger and thinking about doing music on a professional level, consider doing it the way I have. Don’t be in too big of a hurry to jump in with both feet. Get your financial house in order and develop a income out of music so that when you do music, you can do it without the shackles that money can bring.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make good music without focusing on it as a career. On the contrary, it is quite possible you will feel the financial freedom to go much further as a musician.