I'm not sure whether it's even practical for musicians to do this, but we have to draw the line somewhere …
Being a musician is as rewarding as it is difficult.
If pressed to characterize the innermost core of what I was meant to do, it would be music. I'm trained as a scientist, and have developed some level of competence online as a content creator, but nothing speaks to me like music. If I had to give that up, I'd be in rough shape for a long time.
Musicians, gigs, rehearsals
Just like lawyers want to do law, and like doctors want to practice medicine, musicians want to play. And although we can play any time we want to in the privacy of our homes, we want to some extent commune with other musical souls, otherwise known as doing gigs.
Wouldn't it be nice if musicians could agree on a song list (and maybe the keys of the songs) and just show up at the gig, play for a few hours, and get paid, just like that?
Many musicians reading this are saying, “Hahaha! Good one!”
Oh no! Before getting to the point where a band even looks for gigs, there's usually rehearsals. And the bigger the group, the more rehearsals there will be. Working out background vocals. Arranging horn parts. Getting the right bass licks. Transitions. Dynamics. Oh yeah, and sound, too.
This takes a lot of time, both in and out of rehearsals.
It also takes time and gas just to get to the rehearsals.
You get what you ask for (even if it's nothing)
I've played music for approaching forty years, and have been at a level where I could do paying gigs for thirty of them.
The problem with being a musician — if one can call it a problem — is that there are many, many good ones out there. I know that for every person at my level, there are dozens at my level or higher.
There are only but so many gigs that are within reasonable driving distance, or even unreasonable driving distance, for that matter.
So, it seems like there's a lot of competition for the available gig money and, depending on the area, that may be the only money that a musician makes in the band. Some areas have the gig demand that allows the better bands to pay musicians for rehearsals, but it always depends and this isn't the norm. In my area, it seems that the going rate is zero.
Do what you love as a musician, and you might break even?
Not that I ever actually asked for pay for rehearsals. I guess I thought that all I'd get in response is a laugh.
But, what this meant is that not only did I not get paid for any rehearsals, I had to get myself to the rehearsal as well.
(ProTip: The person running the band wants as many rehearsals as you'll give him. And it's always at their place.)
I was asked to be part of a band a few weeks ago by a drummer friend of mine.
After one trip to pick up the first set of CDs, and four trips to rehearsals, I excused myself from the band. We had rehearsed less than a dozen songs, total, and it looked like there were going to be more rehearsals of these same songs before the person running the band looked for gigs.
I was already $194.20 in the hole, and had gotten paid nothing for my time. I might go easily $1,000 in the hole before we got the first gig.
Mileage: Deductible for musicians too!
The $194.20 is an exact number. It's simply the standard mileage that I could deduct for those five trips. It was 17.1 miles one way to pick up the CDs, and 41.1 miles one way to each of the four rehearsals.
That sum, times 53.5 cents per mile, gives me $194.20 in perfectly legitimate deductible expenses for this venture that I hadn't seen a dime for (and wouldn't anytime soon, with the current rate we were going through the songs).
I'm a slow learner, I guess. I worked with a trumpet player a few years ago. I must have went up for at least a dozen rehearsals to his house. We had one paying gig out of all of that. We had another non-paying gig, and he even managed to turn down the free meal they offered O_o. That relationship ended up costing a few hundred dollars (though I did buy my current arranger keyboard for it, which has served me well otherwise).
Anyway, the fact that mileage is deductible I think is news to some musicians. It was to some of the band members I played with in another band.
It adds up quickly. It puts a number to your expenses. And it might press the issue whether a particular band is a good business idea or not.
I realized the economics of the arrangement, and that contributed to why I decided to quit.
Time: Not deductible but still important
The other part of the equation was the time I was spending. It was 25-30 hours either on the road or at rehearsal, plus time preparing outside of that.
Problem is: I can't deduct the value of my time. (Which makes sense; otherwise business owners would be sure to calculate the value of their time so that it magically offset all of their income.)
My time really, truly was worth nothing in this context.
This is not to say that it's always a bad idea to work upfront for free, if things look promising.
But there's a point after which it starts to become clear that the payoff is a long way off. Then it's just stupid to keep going.
Takeaways
These observations don't apply just to musicians, of course. They can apply to any freelancer that goes around to clients. (Like tutoring, for example.)
- Figure what will cover expenses. Consider the value of your time and other expenses. Favors are one thing; comp work is another and there should be a clear path to non-comp work (i.e. paid work).
- State what you need. My experience is that you only get if you ask. If you want to be paid for rehearsals or mileage, ask. Otherwise, well, you'll get nothing.
- Keep track of your mileage. In order for the mileage to be deductible as a business expenses, it needs to be tracked and written down (that's a question they ask when you deduct mileage). Also keep track of actual expenses, and deduct one or the other (but not both). You may also need to work with your local or state government if you have business use of a vehicle.
- Keep track of your unpaid time. Like I mentioned before, this isn't deductible but it does supplement your memory as to how much time you've poured into a project. (If the time is paid, of course you're tracking it.)
- Treat things like a business. It ultimately boils down to this, and this goes for any kind of freelancing: Treat things like a business, and you'll be treated more seriously.
