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Are there any performing businesses or jobs that still make money?

by Ellena
7 replies
I've always wanted to be a performer; but it seems that, except for the top 2%, nobody makes any money in the business.

I've looked into everything that appeals to me, from burlesque dance to modeling. Other things I've looked into and even taken some classes in include acting, aerial dance and other circus arts, and even behind-the-scenes work like costuming. I've also looked into singing, but I don't have the voice for it.

On average, all these people are poor, making small money (or losing money, in some cases). Yes, there's a top 2% making millions, but most are lucky to make $30,000/year...

Does anyone here know of any performance-based businesses or jobs that actually make real money and aren't impossible to get into? By "real money", I mean about $50,000 a year minimum, nothing ridiculous like a million a year (although that would be nice!)...

Thank you.
#businesses #jobs #make #money #performing
  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Teaching seems to be a pretty standard path for the performers at least in classical music. For private piano teachers, from what I gather, 50 k is a realistic expectation.

    If you think have the talent, why not shoot for the stars? 50 k is a lousy income for the stressses associated with a business.
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  • Profile picture of the author animal44
    I would suggest the ones making the money are those with no talent. - The promoters.

    Think about it, they're out promoting their acts all day. They don't have to fulfil the order, they leave that to the penniless artist and take their 20% while they're in the bar selling their next artist. They have the time to build the relationships and having 20, 30 or 100 acts to promote, you're far more likely to get paying gigs than a lone artist.

    Having said that, the best way to reach an audience is to get someone who already has their ear to promote you. Taylor Swift wrote a song about a well known singer and, as a result, he could not resist promoting her... And now she's making a little bit more than 50k per year :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
      Originally Posted by animal44 View Post

      I would suggest the ones making the money are those with no talent. - The promoters.

      Think about it, they're out promoting their acts all day. They don't have to fulfil the order, they leave that to the penniless artist and take their 20% while they're in the bar selling their next artist. They have the time to build the relationships and having 20, 30 or 100 acts to promote, you're far more likely to get paying gigs than a lone artist.

      Having said that, the best way to reach an audience is to get someone who already has their ear to promote you. Taylor Swift wrote a song about a well known singer and, as a result, he could not resist promoting her... And now she's making a little bit more than 50k per year :-)
      As a model, sign on with reputable local agencies, and/or start your own group of promotional models or other talent. Make sure everybody is going to be professional and reliable. Contact the local
      print advertising agencies and let them know about your group. Find events. Niches like Hot Rods and motorcycle show or events...

      Also, you can conquer social media by getting a following and monetizing your recommendations for talent to follow. Artists can more easily direct market themselves these days and you can help them.

      Taylor's a great example of self promotion (which you should be smart enough to extrapolate from for your self or other artists):

      Taylor and her Mom toured the country promoting her songs for airplay on the local radio stations. Homemade chocolate chip cookies were the door opener. Feed a DJ and you make a friend. It ended up leading to this phone call with Tim McGraw. Cool at the 4 minute mark with Tim. LOL.

      Scott Borchetta wanted to sign Taylor to his label, the only problem was he did not have a label. Just wanted to start one after working for other labels. She believed in him. Her Dad helped start it with about a 3% share in the label, Big Machine Records. (She had turned down an offer from a big label. Sony Records, I believe.)








      How Scott Borchetta Discovered Taylor Swift | Inc.com
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    Some commercials pay top dollar. I used to do some ads, TV and movie work when I was much younger. The problem is that it's not regular work. Have you looked at joining professional theatre companies?

    The entertainment industry is a very tough niche to work in and make decent regular money. I used to drive taxis at night and perform with my own theatre group. We toured our self-written show to schools around Melbourne.
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  • Profile picture of the author gjabiz
    I've also looked into singing, but I don't have the voice for it.

    In college I started a singing telegram service. Only problem was, I couldn't sing. So, THE OFF KEY SINGING TELEGRAM BUSINESS was born.

    Started with a 50 cent ad in college newspaper, was making a thousand bux a day in 90 days.

    Maybe you could do a "Specialized Messenger Service" too. 200 a day for 5 days is a grand a week, giving you the 50 k per year.

    gjabiz




    Originally Posted by Ellena View Post

    I've always wanted to be a performer; but it seems that, except for the top 2%, nobody makes any money in the business.

    I've looked into everything that appeals to me, from burlesque dance to modeling. Other things I've looked into and even taken some classes in include acting, aerial dance and other circus arts, and even behind-the-scenes work like costuming. I've also looked into singing, but I don't have the voice for it.

    On average, all these people are poor, making small money (or losing money, in some cases). Yes, there's a top 2% making millions, but most are lucky to make $30,000/year...

    Does anyone here know of any performance-based businesses or jobs that actually make real money and aren't impossible to get into? By "real money", I mean about $50,000 a year minimum, nothing ridiculous like a million a year (although that would be nice!)...

    Thank you.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      I would suggest looking at this guy on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KurtHugoSchneider the guy is my youtube hero. each and every person that he has in his videos has talent including himself. but none of them on their own were making it to the big time, so they kind of joined together... They have 600 Million plus views in the last few years..


      Keep your day job and start experimenting on youtube. For ME.. Art and Passion is not about the payday, its about the expression of self.. and hey if people pay you for it all the better!
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by Ellena View Post

    On average, all these people are poor, making small money (or losing money, in some cases). Yes, there's a top 2% making millions, but most are lucky to make $30,000/year...
    The flaw isn't deciding what to do. The flaw is believing that only 2% make money, and everyone else is poor. I don't know about dancing, acting, ...but I know something about how well stand up comics do.

    Maybe 20 years ago, this was truer. You either got famous, or you starved.

    But now, there is a growing number of comics that are making a few hundred thousand dollars a year, at lower levels....by simply building a following on Youtube, and building a list of fans online.

    Some comedians have ready audiences wherever they perform, because of their social networking. People are buying their CDs, their t-shirts, tickets to their shows.

    But these performers are building their own following...their own business...themselves.


    If you think people making the huge money, aren't working hard, promoting themselves, you are wrong. Very few performers are in demand, so much, that they just show up, and people throw money at them.

    On a TV talk show, when the actor is asked, "What make you accept this role?" and they say, "I was attracted to the challenge of the role. It touched my heart".....it's usually really more like "A job? I bothered the director for 6 months to get the part!"

    Perform anywhere you can. For free, if you have to. Be great. Get noticed. Promote yourself. There is a reason that 2% are making the big money. It's isn't luck. Find out what the top people did to get there...., and do that.
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