Professional Orchestra Player The following case study looks at ten years of income and expenses for a young professional orchestra player. He is currently a section player in one of the top orchestras in the United States. This is his third salaried position with an orchestra, though in years past he has also earned significant income from freelance positions with a variety of professional orchestras and ensembles performing in the US and internationally. He has also earned some money doing session work in the studio with a range of artists, and from teaching and master class performances, though these sources have been dwarfed in recent years by his income as a salaried player. The artist is professionally trained and holds a conservatory masters degree in his field. He is a member of the AFM. He has health insurance and a pension provided as benefits of his current position. He does not compose and does not yet participate in sound recording revenue streams, which we discuss further in this report. PRIMARY GENRE Classical ROLES Performer Freelance player: live Freelance player: studio Teacher YEARS ACTIVE 2000 present TIME SPENT ON MUSIC 100% INCOME DERIVED FROM MUSIC 100% This case study includes a time series chart of income 2001 2011, revenue pies for each of the years 2007 2011, and an analysis of income versus expenses across time.
Gross Revenue This section reviews the overall gross revenue numbers for 2001-2011, as well as definitions for each category. Gross Revenue, 2001-2011 Salary: orchestra 64.8% Freelance: live 27.3% Teaching 3.1% Freelance: studio 1.9% Prize money 1.8% Recording Income 0.8% Radio royalties 0.3% The artist completed his undergraduate work in 2003, and received his conservatory graduate degree in 2005. While in school (2000 2005), the majority of his income came from freelance performances with a variety of ensembles and regional orchestras. He also participated in and won a number of performance competitions, netting him some prize money. He also earned a bit of money from teaching. In 2004, he retained his first salaried position; a summerlong placement with a regional orchestra. He repeated that work in the summer of 2005 with the same company. In 2006, he began his first full-time position with a major orchestra. From 2007 on, the artist s income begins to shift towards that of a professional orchestra player; a salaried position that is supplemented by freelance gigs, studio work, teaching and honoraria. In the next section, we will look at gross revenue by year from 2007 to 2011. Graphs do not have a Y-axis dollar value in order to observe the conditions of our privacy policy. In addition, graphs and visuals in case studies are not comparable within or between case studies. Information detailed in case studies is based on data received directly from the artist or their authorized representative. The data analysis and lessons learned here are based on individual experience, and do not necessarily reflect the experiences of all musicians in genre or roles. Case studies are one of three ways this project is looking at musician income. Learn about methodology at money.futureofmusic.org. 2
Gross Revenue, 2007 In 2006, the artist was hired as a section player in a professional orchestra. His income in 2007 reflects this, with 73 percent being derived from this salaried position. He also continued to do some freelance work with smaller orchestras, ensembles and chamber music groups, which accounted for 24 percent of his income. Two percent of his income came from teaching private lessons to a handful of students. Revenue Category 2007 Details Salary: orchestra 73.2% Salaried position with an orchestra. Payment includes rehearsals and performances Freelance: live 24.5% Payments for specific performances with a variety of ensembles, orchestras and chamber groups. Also a few club gigs and weddings Teaching 2.3% Private lessons 3
Gross Revenue, 2008 In 2008, the artist ended his salaried position with one major orchestra, and he began auditioning for others. He continued to perform, touring Europe with a number of groups and freelancing with other professional orchestras. He also earned some radio royalties, which were passed through to him from the orchestra he was part of from 2006-2008. Revenue Category 2008 Details Freelance: live 61.4% Payments for specific performances with a variety of ensembles, orchestras and chamber groups. Also a few club gigs and weddings. Salary: orchestra 35.5% Salaried position with an orchestra. Payment includes rehearsals and performances. Radio royalties 2.9% From performances with orchestra. Freelance: studio 0.2% Payments for studio session work. 4
Gross Revenue, 2009 In 2009, the artist was hired as a section player in one of the top orchestras in the country. As a result, the majority of his income 74 percent was derived from this salaried position. He continued with some freelance live performances with regional orchestras and ensembles. He also did some freelance studio work, contributing to an artist s recording session and, separately, to some recordings for film and TV. In each case, he was paid for his time and skill; he did not receive any composition credits or any points on future record sales or synchronizations. Revenue Category 2009 Details Salary: orchestra 74.9% Salaried position with an orchestra. Payment includes rehearsals and performances. Freelance: live 17.9% Freelance: studio 7.1% Payments for specific performances with a variety of ensembles, orchestras and chamber groups. Also a few club gigs and weddings. Payments for in-studio performances for other artists sound recordings or soundtracks. 5
Gross Revenue, 2010 The artist s income in 2010 continued to reflect his position as a full time salaried player. His freelance gigs with non-full time orchestras and ensembles also continued, but made up a much smaller piece of his annual revenue. The remainder of his income in 2010 came from a bit of work in the studio, and from teaching private lessons to two students. Revenue Category 2010 Details Salary: orchestra 86.4% Salaried position with an orchestra. Payment includes rehearsals and performances. Freelance: live 9.1% Payments for specific performances with a variety of ensembles, orchestras and chamber groups. Also a few club gigs and weddings. Teaching 3.2% Private lessons 2.9%, honoraria 0.3% Freelance: studio 1.2% AFM + AFTRA IP Fund 0.1% Payments for in-studio performances for other artists sound recordings or soundtracks. Distributes money to non-featured musicians (including orchestra players) based on royalties accrued in foreign territories 6
Gross Revenue, 2011 The artist s income in 2011 continued to be dominated by his role as a salaried player. This was supplemented by a handful of freelance gigs both live and in the studio and some residual royalties paid through the AFM + AFTRA Intellectual Property Fund. Revenue Category 2011 Details Salary: orchestra 86.3% Freelance: live 4.9% Salaried position with an orchestra. Payment includes rehearsals and performances. Payments for specific performances with a variety of ensembles, orchestras and chamber groups. Also a few club gigs and weddings. Teaching 4.3% Private lessons, and honoraria for master classes and in-school performances AFM + AFTRA IP Fund 3.7% Freelance: studio 0.8% Distributes money to non-featured musicians (including orchestra players) based on royalties accrued in foreign territories Payments for in-studio performances for other artists sound recordings or soundtracks. 7
Income v Expenses The pie charts below show aggregate gross income, and the related expenses for 2001-2011. Gross Income, 2001 2011 Gross Expenses, 2001 2011 Musical Equipment Education Travel Expense Rehearsal Expenses Performance Expenses Other players/accompany Member Dues Overhead The pie chart for expenses has been scaled visually to represent that expenses consume about 25% of gross income. The table below provides details about expenses from 2002-2011. Expense Category 2002-2011 Details Musical Equipment 48.3% Purchase and upkeep of concert level musical instruments Education 22.1% Education costs and student loan payments Travel Expense 17.3% Work-related travel (usually reimbursed for these costs) Rehearsal Expenses 3.2% Purchasing sheet music and recorded music to learn new pieces Performance Expenses 2.7% Stage clothing Other players/accompanists 2.5% Paying other players for freelance gigs, accompanists for auditions, etc Member Dues 2.4% AFM Overhead 1.5% Application fees for competitions, auditions, minimal printing and promotional expenses 8
The chart below shows income versus expenses on a year to year basis. The grey line indicates net income from year to year. Income v Expenses and Net, 2001 2011 Radio royalties Recording Income Prize money Freelance: studio Teaching Freelance: live Salary: orchestra Musical Equipment Education Travel Expense Rehearsal Expenses What is really interesting about this artist and with professional orchestra players in general is the relationship between income and expenses. For this artist, there are only two significant costs in this time span: his education (including student loans, which were paid off in 2009), and his instruments. These are unavoidable expenses; it is highly unlikely that he would have a position in a major orchestra without an undergraduate and a conservatory degree (not to mention years of practice and performance). And, his job requires that he play on the best instruments, which are not only expensive, but also require insurance, upkeep, and special care while traveling. Clearly, his investment in career development education, freelance work, teaching, touring has served him well. As of late 2009, he has been in a position with an orchestra that provides a salary, health insurance and pension payments, but offers him enough flexibility that he can pick up the odd freelance gig or studio session. With student loans paid off and work-related 9
travel covered through reimbursement and per diems, career-related expenses are minimal. Beyond instrument upkeep, his only expenses now are buying sheet music and recorded music in order to learn new pieces, stage clothing like tuxedos and formal wear, and paying annual dues to the AFM. Income by Role The Artist Revenue Streams project has generally described participants through their participation in one of six role-based categories: Composers Recording artists Performers Session players Teachers This artist participates in three of these: first and foremost, he is a salaried performer. Second, he is a teacher (though this revenue stream is very small). Third, he is a session player. While freelance classical players don t tend to call themselves session players, they share characteristics Income by Role, 2001-2011 Salaried Player 66.7% Freelance 30.1% Teacher 3.1% with hired guns who are paid to play in the studio or on the road. In this artist s case, his session work includes freelance performance gigs, as well as studio recording work. In each instance, he is hired for his mastery of Instruments One of the significant expenses for orchestral players is the cost of instruments. Student-level string instruments can cost tens of thousands of dollars. String instruments for professional classical orchestral, chamber players and soloists can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes millions. Even bows can be in the tens of thousands of dollars range. Valuable fine string instruments and bows are often owned by non-musicians and treated as investments, as the value of these instruments usually appreciates considerably over time. Instruments owned by non-musicians, however, need to be played to maintain their value. Pairing a fine instrument with an excellent and famous player can increase the market value of the instrument as well. For that reason, it is very common for professional string players to play on borrowed or loaned instruments. Many of the most famous string players connect with patrons who can help them buy or borrow fine instruments to play. It is not uncommon for musicians who are fortunate enough to own a rare and valuable instrument to bequeath it to a protégé who is a good match for the instrument in order to ensure the instrument will be well cared for and will be used in the best way. 10
performance; he does not receive any composing credits, nor does he earn any additional money from the sales or licensing of the sound recordings he performed on. As noted in the introduction, this artist is not a composer. His daily work is rehearsing and performing works written by other composers, from classical repertoire to new pieces. Unless they are composers themselves, classical performers are not eligible to participate in any of the revenue streams available to composers such as publisher advances, commissions, mechanical royalties, public performance royalties or synchronization licensing fees. And, according to his accounting statements, this salaried player has earned very little from sound recordings...so far. This is not because the orchestra is not selling or streaming its existing catalog (it is), and it s not because those profits are not shared with players (they are). The primary reason this is so low is a simple one, in his case: this orchestra has only made a handful of live recordings during his tenure, so he has yet to participate fully in this revenue stream. Even with a longer tenure, however, money from sound recordings would probably remain a small fraction of his earnings, as many orchestras have lost their major label contracts in recent years and have, subsequently, curtailed the number of sound recordings they make. For more information about orchestral players and sound recording payments, see this blog post. http://money.futureofmusic.org/orchestral-recordings-and-performer-payments/ Reflections on the Nature of Orchestral Work This case study of a young professional orchestra player helps us to better understand how highly-skilled performers make a living. One thing that this audit cannot convey, however, is how difficult it is to secure these positions. There is an incredible amount of competition for a tiny number of open slots in orchestras, and our case study subject is one of just a handful across the country who are accepted into these prestigious positions on an annual basis, when thousands if not tens of thousands will audition. Finding a place in a thriving institution even after years of education and practice is no guarantee. That being said, there are about 10,000 players in professional orchestras in the US today, full time musicians who make a decent middle-class wage and are paid for their mastery of their craft. This case study provides us a glimpse into that world. 11