Quit Music. Seriously. (How to Keep Making a Living From Music in Australia)
Quit music. Not the playing, the writing or the Friday night gigs. Quit the version of making a living from music where one thing, usually gigs or streaming, has to cover your rent, your groceries and your next guitar. That version is broken for almost everyone, and the numbers below show why.
What replaces it is less romantic and works a lot better: a small mix of income, some from music, some from work close to music, and some from a job that leaves you enough energy to still care. This guide is for Australian musicians who are tired, a bit broke and still not willing to stop.
Very few Australian musicians live on creative work alone. Only 9% of professional artists work full time solely on their art, and almost half earn under $10,000 a year from it. The ones who last build several income streams, collect every royalty they’re owed, set a minimum fee, tie gear spending to paid work and treat a steady non-music job as funding, not failure.
How hard is making a living from music in Australia?
Hard, and harder than it used to be. The biggest long-running study of Australian artists, Creative Australia’s Artists as Workers report by David Throsby and Katya Petetskaya, looked at the 2021-22 financial year. Artists’ average total income from all sources was $54,500, which is 26% below the workforce average. Only 9% worked full time solely on their creative practice. In 2016 it was 23%.
Income from the art itself is thinner again. Almost half of artists earned under $10,000 from their creative work that year, and only 15% earned more than $50,000 from it. Four in five said they had to dip into savings or super to keep their practice going.
Musicians are not the exception. A survey by Musicians Australia, run by the MEAA, found 49% of working musicians earned less than $6,000 from music in the 2023 financial year, and 64% earned $15,000 or less. Only one in five made all of their income from music.
If most of your money comes from outside music, you’re not behind. You’re in the majority.
Why the old model stopped paying
Several things squeeze at once. Creative Australia reports that average income from creative work has stayed about the same once you adjust for inflation, while the cost of producing the work has gone up. Petetskaya put it plainly: artists’ real incomes have barely moved since the 1980s.
At the same time, rent and living costs climbed, and recorded music now pays in tiny amounts per stream, so a recording only replaces a wage if a very large audience plays it constantly. The MEAA survey also found 40% of musicians juggling two or more music jobs, and 42% doing unpaid work.
None of that is a verdict on your talent. It’s the shape of the market. Once you accept that, you can plan around it instead of blaming yourself for it.
Build a mix of music income instead of one big job
The musicians who stay in the game rarely have one job. The Making Music Work study surveyed nearly 600 Australian musicians and found 49% held two or more paid roles at the same time, across 560 different job titles. The most common were instrumental musician (25%) and private music teacher (10%).
Think of your income like a band. Some members keep time, some take the solos. You need both.
| Income stream | How it pays | How fast it starts | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live gigs | Fee per show, plus APRA royalties if you play originals | Fast, if you have a set ready | Travel, parking and gear costs eating the fee |
| Teaching (private or in schools) | Hourly, recurring every week | Fast | Cancellations and burnout from too many students |
| Remote session work | Per track or per day | Medium, you need samples of your playing | Needs a clean, reliable home recording setup |
| Mixing, editing or podcast editing for others | Per project | Medium | Endless revisions unless you set a limit up front |
| Songwriting royalties (APRA AMCOS) | Paid quarterly | Slow | Nothing arrives unless your songs are registered |
| Sync and production music | Licence fees and royalties | Slow | Usually needs a big catalogue before money flows |
| Grants | Project funding | Slow and competitive | Heavy admin, no guarantee |
| Non-music job | Regular wage | Fast | How much energy it leaves for music |
A simple rule we’d suggest: let two fast streams cover your fixed costs, and keep one slow stream growing in the background. Fast money keeps you calm. Slow money is what might one day let you drop a fast one.
Collect the music money you’re already owed
Plenty of Australian songwriters play originals every weekend and never collect live performance royalties. Venues pay licence fees for live music, and that pool goes to APRA AMCOS members who report what they played. If you don’t report, it goes to someone who did.
- Join and register. Become an APRA AMCOS writer member and register your songs. You can’t add a song to a report until it’s registered.
- Report after each gig. For shows at pubs, clubs, cafes and other venues in Australia and New Zealand, submit a Performance Report in the APRA AMCOS app or the Writer Portal. List any covers too, so their writers get paid.
- One report per band. If you’re in a group, only one report per gig is needed. Pick one person to own it so nothing gets doubled or missed.
- Check promoted shows. At festivals and promoted tours, the promoter usually asks for your setlist and submits it. If nobody asked, submit a report yourself.
- Include livestreams. Australian or New Zealand based livestreams of your songs on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok can be reported as well.
The standard claim window is one year from the date of the gig. Royalties are paid quarterly, in February, May, August and November. Make reporting part of the pack-down routine, before you forget the setlist.
Set a minimum fee and say it out loud
Musicians Australia has campaigned for a minimum fee of $250 per musician for publicly funded gigs. South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, NSW and the ACT have endorsed it. It’s not a legal rule for every pub or private booking, but it gives you a real number to point to when someone offers “exposure”.
- Quote per musician, not per band. A $400 band fee split four ways is $100 each.
- Get the fee, set times, load-in and soundcheck in writing before the gig. A text or email is enough.
- Count the whole job: travel, rehearsal and setup hours, not only the time on stage.
- If you take a lower fee for a reason, know the reason. A good support slot is a decision. A favour every week is a habit.
Pick a day job that funds music instead of draining it
A day job isn’t giving up. For most working musicians it’s the grant nobody has to apply for. The question is which job.
Look for three things: hours you can predict or swap, work that doesn’t empty your head before evening, and ideally some connection to music. Teaching, live sound, venue work, music retail and audio editing all keep you close to the industry and your contacts. Plenty of musicians in the Making Music Work study also worked as sales assistants, journalists and librarians, and that’s fine too.
Be honest about the maths. A well-paid steady job a few days a week can fund a recording faster than a run of underpaid weeknight gigs, and leave you fresher for the shows that matter.
Spend on gear like a business, not a fan
We sell gear, so take this as a shop that wants you around for years: buy gear when it either earns money within a few months or removes a problem that’s stopping paid work. A reliable audio interface and one decent microphone can open up remote session work, online lessons and editing jobs. A fifth reverb pedal usually doesn’t.
You don’t need an expensive mic to start. Our guide to affordable microphones covers solid options for home recording, and if online lessons are part of your plan, getting rid of ground loop hum makes you sound professional on every call.
Keep a separate account or spreadsheet for music income and gear receipts from day one. Then ask a registered tax agent what you can claim. It’s the cheapest admin habit in your whole career.
Look after the person making the music
Money stress wears people down, and it’s one of the main reasons musicians stop. If it’s getting heavy, the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline on 1800 959 500 is free, confidential and open 24/7. The counsellors understand music and arts work, and financial worries are part of what they help with.
It also helps to change what you measure. “Percentage of my income from music” punishes you every month. “Hours a week I spend making music I care about” is a number you control. Grow that one, and protect it.
And if you’re worried about where technology is taking the industry, we’ve written about the technological threat to musicians and composers too.
Making a living from music in Australia almost never means living on one kind of music work. Stop waiting for gigs or streams to carry everything. Build two steady income streams, grow one slow one, collect your APRA royalties, charge a floor, and keep a job that leaves you energy to play. That’s not quitting music. That’s how people stay in it.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make a living from music in Australia?
Some people can, but they’re a small group. In the MEAA survey only one in five musicians earned all their income from music. Most working musicians combine performing, teaching and other music work with a non-music job.
How much do musicians earn in Australia?
Less than most people expect. Nearly half of the musicians in the 2023 MEAA survey earned under $6,000 from music that year. Across all professional artists, average total income was $54,500 in 2021-22, but less than half of that came from creative work.
Is there a minimum fee for gigs in Australia?
Not one fixed by law for every venue. Musicians Australia’s $250 per musician benchmark has been endorsed by six states and territories for publicly funded gigs, and many musicians use it as a starting point in other negotiations too.
Do I get royalties for playing my own songs at a pub?
Yes, if you’re an APRA AMCOS member, your songs are registered and you submit a Performance Report for the gig. Reports are generally accepted for up to a year after the show.
Should a musician have a day job?
For most, yes. Steady income lowers the pressure to take every bad gig, pays for recording and gear, and lets you say no. The best day jobs are predictable and leave you mental energy for music.
Set up for paid work at home
Remote sessions, online lessons and editing jobs all start with clean recording. Have a look at interfaces that suit a small home setup.
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