The Average U.S. Musician Makes Less Than $25,000 USD a Year

A new study shows that the average musician in the US makes under $25,000 USD a year. The survey, conducted and released by the Music Industry Research Association in collaboration with MusiCares and the Princeton University Survey Research Center, looks at the icnome of 1,227 musicians – both professional and amateur. The results show that the median musician made around $35,000 USD in 2017, but only about $21,300 of that total comes from music itself. The survey shows that a majority of the musicians get a good chunk of their money from live performances. The second and third larges sources of income are music lessons and performances for religious services.

According to Business Insider, the average musician makes less than half of the annual salary of the average US worker. In addition, the survey shows that musicians are more likely to struggle with mental health than the national average – one out of every 10 musicians have dealt with suicidal thoughts.

MIRA says that although the sample number in the survey is relatively small, they feel that “several of the findings from the MIRA Musician Survey raise concerns about the lives and careers of many working musicians.” Although music is a multi-billion dollar industry, 80% of industry revenue is earned by three major labels – Sony, Universal and Warner.

See the survey findings in detail here.