Be Smart! - How to Make Money with a Jazz/Commercial Music Degree
Part 3: Make Money by Saving Money
Part three of my series about how to be successful making money with a music degree has to do with the decisions that we make surrounding money. Remember—the best way to have money is to not spend money, but perhaps more importantly: DO NOT WASTE MONEY!
Possible ways to lose money:
Spending too much money on college
Go to a school that does not saddle you with unnecessary debt. Go to a strong, accredited school that provides opportunities. If you are looking at a music school that costs more than $10,000-$15,000 a year, reconsider your options. If the loan payback is too much it makes having a career in the arts extremely difficult. Having too much loan debt also can make graduate school impossible. The number one way to wreck a career in music is spending too much money on an undergraduate degree.Rent/Car/Household
Get roommates when you can. Do not buy a brand new car when you could choose a perfectly good used car. Shop at discount stores. Keep a budget. Track your expenses. Find the best price for cell phone plans, car insurance, etc.Buying musical gear
-Buy used gear whenever possible.
-Don’t have too many instruments and get rid of instruments that you are not playing.
-Do not buy things you do not need — like extra microphones, patch cables, or random musical gadgets.
-Don’t buy discount instruments. Like, for instance, don’t spend $1000 on a Walmart soprano saxophone when you could save the $1000, save up another $1000 and possibly find a real soprano saxophone.
What opportunities exist for musicians to save money?
Scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study—these are awarded based on academics and/or musical skills. Keep the GPA high and play a strong audition.
Graduate Assistantship positions for graduate study—seek opportunities through postings and word of mouth. Apply and deliver a strong audition. Be able to demonstrate your teaching skills and your willingness to work hard.
Endorsements—these are perhaps more for professional musicians out of school, but it is possible that companies will give you deeply discounted prices for instruments, reeds, mouthpieces, strings, cymbals, pianos, etc.
TAXES
Get savvy with expenses and taxes. You will need to will out a Schedule C as part of your federal tax returns. It may sound complicated but it is not if you use software like TurboTax. Just follow the prompts and you can do this easily. It is never too soon, though, to start thinking about ways to make tax time easy for yourself.
How do you make musician tax time easy?
Create a separate bank account for your musical income and expenses. Get used to carrying around an extra credit card that is for your business purposes. It will allow for you to more easily track where the money is going.
Log your expenses, which might include new equipment, repairs on your existing instruments, reeds, drum sticks, guitar strings, etc.
Count your mileage — to gigs and to rehearsals. This adds up and will be helpful with your tax returns.
Get used to tracking these expenses, which are deductable: travel, meals, concert tickets, etc.
Make smart decisions and be confident that a degree in music can lead to success!
Just for fun, here is a video of our recent WVU Faculty Jazz concert: