I almost quit making music.
Despite making $4 AUD per 1000 Spotify streams, I spent years chasing my dream of making a living off music.
Music has not only been a life-long passion, but also my identity - one I’ve been evolving ever since I picked up guitar and created my first song over ten years ago. In between university studies and part time jobs, an increasing amount of my time was spent doing something music - related. This could be producing songs or content, practising instruments, learning about music theory or even just analysing and dissecting pieces.
Not long after leaving university, I decided to try make music into a career. I was only working part - time, so every spare moment I had went into producing and developing my brand. I built this website, started a blog and online shop, and landed some freelance projects. On top of several short - form videos, I also created long - form videos on YouTube. The productive schedule also meant my guitar skills and creativity were flourishing. The dream was to be able to make a living by creating music and content - to be a thriving ‘bedroom producer’. Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life, right?
However, the more I chased success the less my passion shined. Gradually, I became more focused on the metrics, such as the number of daily streams and playlist adds, than the quality of art I was producing. My monthly listeners governed my self-worth more than the actual music I was bringing. As the streams fluctuated, so did my confidence and motivation to create. I found myself obsessively staring at the numbers several times a day, questioning ways to reach the magical ‘27 000’ - the number of daily streams required for minimum wage.
Even with a peak of 118 000 monthly listeners and the power of multiple music labels, I couldn’t sustain a fraction of the streams needed.
Making music used to be something so enjoyable I would lose sleep over it. However, it eventually became just a way to scrape desperate streams from unpredictable playlists. It was tough to admit that my passion was beginning to burn out.
I wrote this article to not only highlight a significant lesson learned as musician, but to educate aspiring producers on the danger of making music a career. It’s certainly not impossible - many have done it before, and I have the most respect for those who have put countless years into making it a reality. However, never let success be governed by metrics, and never lose sight of how music began as a passion for creating.
Fortunately, the more I eased off chasing figures, the more I started to enjoy working towards music again. Although I haven’t produced a lot of songs recently, I’ve got lots planned for this year. Despite my new full - time job taking a lot of energy, I’ve finally found peace of mind knowing I can do the things I want as a musician, without the pressure of generating income from music streams.
