Artist Compensation

A Fistful of Dollars: Funding The Next Innovative Music Startup

By Julian Weisser

Berklee Groove

April 15, 2012

[…] One of the more interesting bits of data presented during the panel had nothing to do with startups but should be looked at and analyzed more in depth. Kristin Thomson, an Artist Revenue Expert at the national nonprofit Future of Music Coalition, presented those in attendance with a new study that showed most artists earning over 100k a year counted their accountant, lawyer and webmaster as their three most important team members. This needs to be looked into further because as Thomson pointed out, there is no way of currently knowing if these artists have that level of success because of the accountant, or if they have an accountant because they have reached that level of success.

Importance of Performance Rights Highlighted in Artist Revenue Streams Project

BMI

April 12, 2012

The Future of Music Coalition (FMC), a national nonprofit advocacy group for musicians, has launched the Artist Revenue Streams (ARS) project, a multi-phase research effort that aims to document how today’s musician earns a living.

In the project’s first report, performance rights royalties have emerged as one of the most dependable, longest lasting sources of income for songwriters and composers. The findings independently emphasize the vital importance of BMI membership for creators, many of whom rely on BMI earnings their entire lives.

The ARS project will reveal more data gathered from a second test group in May 2012.

Jean Cook on Musician Income Streams and Anti-Social Music

By Jacob Feinberg

Resources for New Music

March 27, 2012

I talked with Jean Cook last October after hearing her speak on WNYC’s SoundCheck, hosted by John Schaefer. They discussed her work researching artist revenue streams with the Future of Music Coalition. While most information widely available on making money as a musician largely focuses on or caters to indie rock bands, this discussion intrigued me because it seemed to embrace all professional and semi-professional musicians, regardless of genre or style. So I contacted Jean Cook to ask her a few more questions about it and her other musical activities. read more

Future of Music Coalition publishes case study revealing artist revenues

By Eric Alper

That Eric Alper

March 19, 2012

The Future Of Music Coalition has published a case study profiling artist revenues in a number of occupations: Jazz Bandleader-Composer, Indie Rock Composer-Performer, Jazz Sideman-Bandleader, Professional Orchestra Player and a Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. read more

Study: Lawyers and accountants highest-paid members of musicians' teams

Alternative Press

March 19, 2012

Digital Music News reports on a new study by The Future of Music Coalition, who interviewed thousands of bands and artists about the makeup of their teams and found that attorneys and accountants were overwhelmingly the highest-paid members of said teams, outranking label executives, publicists, tour managers and everyone else: read more

How Do Artists Make Money?

MEOW

March 20, 2012

Want an enlightening look at where the money in the music business goes? So does the Future of Music Coalition. They are studying the results of an in-depth research project to establish what the revenue streams are for musicians in all genres of music – from classical to indie rock.

The Future of Music Coalition, founded in 2000, is a national non-profit that focuses on education, research and advocacy for musicians. They also produce an extraordinary annual summit attended by musicians, music industry heavyweights and government policymakers.

Here is the breakdown on how survey results were compiled:

More than 5,000 US-based musicians and composers were surveyed between Sept. 6 – Oct. 28, 2011. read more

At SXSW music festival, money talks abounds

By Todd Martens

LA Times

March 20, 2012

…There seem to be more ways than ever for the independent artist to bring in cash. The Future of Music Coalition, an artist lobbying group, announced during SXSW the results of two years of research into how musicians make money. Jean Cook, one of the architects of the project, said the research revealed 42 potential music revenue sources. No single artist is, of course, benefiting from all 42. A classical artist, for instance, may have access to only two or three, she said. But a singer-songwriter may be able to pull from as many as 25 revenue streams. read more

Future Of Music Coalition Releases First Wave Of Musician Financial Case Studies

Music Industry News Network

March 26, 2012

Future of Music Coalition has released the next data set from its groundbreaking Artist Revenue Streams research project: five financial case study profiles that provide rich, verifiable information about how certain musician types are making a living. […]

How Do Musicians Really Make Their Living?

Hypebot

March 26, 2012

The Future of Music Coalition has released data from its Artist Revenue Streams research project, where financial case studies drawing from 4-12 years of accounting data provide information about how musicians are making a living today. These five case studies provide a financial profile of different types of full-time musicians. Each case study graphs and explains the musician-based sources of income over time, and the results tell a lot about the state of today’s music industry.

The case studies reflect the working lives and income streams of five different types of full-time musicians: […]

Future of Music Coalition Publishes Case Study Disclosing Breakdown of Working Musician’s Income

By Jennifer Newman Sharpe

The Law Offices of Jennifer Newman Sharpe

March 21, 2012

The Future of Music Coalition recently published a 12 page case study profiling the income from 2008 – 2011 of a working indie rock composer-performer. The full report is available here although I’ll go through much of the information below. […]