The Great Divide: Who’s Getting Paid (and How Much) in the Music Industry

Most people trying to learn guitar or taking guitar lessons are probably doing so because they either A) want to be a rock star or B) want to play guitar like a rock star. And naturally, most would prefer choice “A.” After all, becoming a rock star promises glitz and glam, women and booze, fame and fortune, right? Well… wrong. At least for the most part.

After taking a closer look at the music business and investigating how much money most musicians actually make when all is said and done, it seems keeping your day job and playing guitar on the side (choice “B”) is the most economical career decision. In fact, the pizza delivery guy who plays local gigs on the weekends might actually be richer than the lead guitarist of that band you just heard on the radio or saw on MTV (wait, do they even play music videos anymore? I think we meant YouTube). It all seems illogical, twisted, and just plain wrong, but unfortunately it’s the truth. We call it “The Great Divide.”

Now we here at TrueFire realize it’s not all about the money. In fact, if you’re in it for the money, you’re in it for all the wrong reasons and probably don’t deserve it. Making music is more than just a job, and many musicians willfully sacrifice career success in terms of dollars and cents for life success in terms of happiness and satisfaction. For that reason, musicians will always make music, bands will always tour, and young people will continue to learn how to play guitar and strive to be rock stars. In the end, music lives on. But wouldn’t it be nice if musicians actually got paid what they deserve!?