By now you've read 15 columns about different aspects of the Music Business and how to work and make money in different fields. You may wonder which one to choose. Should you teach, play sessions, do freelance work, try to get a tour, or start your own band? For many busy professional players the answer is all of the above.

The main challenge with multiple streams of income is that you have to organize your life very, very well. The main reward is that if one stream of income dries up, another tends to expand to take it's place. If you only do work for one Artist and the Artist loses his or her record deal or can't get enough bookings or, even worse, fires you, you've lost your entire income. If you also do freelance work, maintain a roster of private students, write a series of articles or interviews for a publication (as Lane and I both do), play sessions, and lead your own bands, losing the Artist gig may be a bit of a blow to your ego, but you can usually survive on the balance of your workload while you find another playing situation.

The reality is that most working Professional Musicians I know do several things at once. The studio drummer teaches a roster of students, perhaps tours on weekends with a band, and also may own a home studio where he does remote recording or prepares and sells drum and percussion loops online. The guitarist may be a songwriter as well as teaching private guitar lessons and being a Church Musician. In my own case, I've always carried some roster of private students even when I wasn't teaching at Belmont or The University of Miami.

The best sort of income stream is doing some form of work that doesn't depend on you being there and physically playing all the time. After all, you can only play or teach so many hours in the day. A good example of a non-labor intensive stream of income would be to write songs or a method book. In each case, the songs or book would be earning income (hopefully!) while you were also plying your trade as a bassist. It's as close to cloning yourself to do more gigs as you can get with out all of the hassle of dealing with clones <lol>.

This sort of approach means you have to step back from your own ego and identity as a Bassist and would-be Rock Star in a Rock Band (or whatever) and see whatever else you can do with your skills. Of course, the more you know and can do the more you can earn, so working on your skills is always a good investment in your career. Try this for yourself and see if it work. It has for me.

Peace and Low Notes,
Roy C. Vogt
Nashville Bassist
Bass Instructor, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

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