[TPIN] making a living playing trumpet

Fri Dec 14 09:14:13 CST 2007

Mark brings back the point I was making...

I beleive it's important for any young person considering a career *just* 
playing trumpet (or primarily), to do a quick market *comparison* of 
compensation with other careers, in terms of what they pay at the "top" and 
also what they pay as a "norm" (right under the old bell curve).

$300,000 grand a year is very fine income (of course that will be closer to 
170,000 after the IRS and State Divisions of Taxation get done raping you - 
and don't forget liability insurance, if your a doctor or a laywer, or any 
business owner...) Regardless, if making that kind of dough, and having that 
kind of life style is important to you, then you should be considering a law 
degree, or a going to school to become a dentist.  You can make 300K a year 
in either of those professions, pretty much in stride, if you want to. 

There literally hundreds of thousands of people making that kind of a living 
in the US (i.e., top 2% of the working population).  Compare that to the 
percentage of population making the same living playing trumpet who come 
anywhere *near* to making that much dough, and the reality becomes clear.

But... even more to the point: compare the percentage of population making 
incomes of 100K, or even 75K or 60K, with the number of trumpet players 
making the same amount of money *just* playing - and it really drives the 
point home.  I think the overall average income in the US is somewhere 
around 50K (maybe more, now).  Are there even 10,000 trumpeters in the 
entire WORLD that make that, *just* playing?  At that point, you're working 
with tiny fractions of a percentage of even the US population.

And it has less to do with talent or ability, than it has to do with 
venues.  There's another statistic that would be interesting to see.  What 
is the full-time-living venue *potential*?  How many venues or freelance 
markets can support a living?

Anyway... I'm droning on.  But if a young aspiring player can face all these 
facts and still wants to pursue it, then they absolutely *should*.  As long 
as they can provision for other revenue streams in addition to playing, it's 
certainly doable.  And... life is about more than making money, of course.  
We all know it's really about pretty girls and fast cars. <ggg>  Sorry - 
that's the obligatory humor part...

- Dave

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:13:22 -0500, Mark Deaton wrote
> If you're good enough to land a job with one of the 'big 5' 
> orchestras playing trumpet, the minimum you'll make is $115,000. per 
> year......not too bad, huh??  The first chair players average around 
> $300,000 per year.  Great work if you can get it.....
> 
> rick
> 
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> 
> And, I think it's worth noting that performing at that level is not a
> realistic goal for most people.  Even if you CAN play at that level,
> actually getting a job playing in a "big 5" orchestra is still 
> unlikely, for reasons that aren't on-topic enough to expound upon 
> here.  For an interesting, if not somewhat pejorative, look at this 
> phenomenon, read "The Black Swan," by Nassim Taleb.  It's not 
> specifically about music or trumpet playing, but it does help shine 
> a light on the "winner-take-all" phenomenon that exists at the very 
> top levels in music, art, literature, and similar competitive fields 
> today.
> 
> You can get it used on Amazon here: http://tinyurl.com/35nkrv
> 
> Food for thought...
> 
> Mark Deaton
> 
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