More on Education, Debt, and Economics

NewMusicBox published a great article today by Ellen McSweeney about the twenty-something perspective on the financial realities of pursuing a career in music. I highly recommend reading the entire thing.

Of course it has always been difficult to be a musician, but today's economic situation really compounds the problem. McSweeney touches on many of the important facets of the issue, but I also think it's true that the whole economic picture is bigger and more complex than what we find in our field of music.

The Ethical Elephant

During my junior year of college, one of the full-time faculty members sat all four(!) music majors down and advised us about the future. Of course, we were all nervous about our prospects for continuing on, finding a job, making a living (unfortunately finding a job is not synonymous with making a living), etc. His advice certainly did not mitigate this fear. Instead, he warned, "Don't go to grad school unless you absolutely have to. It's just not worth it. It's a lot of money and it's almost impossible to get a professorship these days." I remember that at the time, in my youthful innocence and idealism, I felt slightly resentful of this comment. What did he mean there weren't jobs?! Surely if I worked really hard and wrote good music I would be able to get a job somewhere!

Looking back, I'm impressed that my professor was actually willing to talk about something that so many others in academia tend to avoid. I now realize exactly what motivated my professor to give this speech and I'm much more appreciative of his honesty and integrity. What motivated him was a deep sense of moral obligation--not to his field, but to his students. The academic job market is pretty brutal (especially in this economy) and in many ways his assessment of the situation is accurate. Occasionally you will hear someone refer to the academic job market as a Ponzi scheme. To be fair, this is an exaggeration and an oversimplification. Many graduate students do know what they are getting into (in terms of student loans, job prospects, etc.). Many are happy just to further their education in the hope that they will be able to make it work one way or another, and graduate schools should not be blamed for accepting these students. That said, the number of graduating doctoral students far outstrips the number of available academic teaching jobs. It is a shame to see so many individuals--individuals who may be unaware of all of the details--leaving school potentially with mountains of debt and few financial opportunities.

The Artist's Career Path

Recently I was looking at the staff profiles for a nonprofit arts organization, and it should not surprise anyone that everyone on the staff was also an artist. What got me thinking, though, was one of the questions that each staff member answered on their profiles: “If you weren’t working here, what would you be doing?” Almost everyone answered with some sort of art career (running an art gallery, being a professional actor, singing, etc.). Even though I know I’m not really one to talk, I wanted to ask these people, if that artistic pursuit is really your passion, why aren’t you out there pursuing it? Not in a judgmental way-- just because I’m curious.

To be an artist or an arts administrator, that is the question. I suppose it’s not strange at all that these people wanted to be artists- after all, who goes into arts administration, if not people who care about the arts? Clearly these are not high-paying jobs, and like being an artist, you only work in the nonprofit sector if you love it or feel very strongly about a particular cause. The big difference is that unlike being an artist (probably), you will get paid every other week.

The 40 Hour a Week Composer

As I lay on my bed this afternoon after I got home from work, exhausted as usual, I thought about what it would be like if my full-time, 40 hour a week job was actually composing. Think about how much work I’d get done!  Does anyone actually compose as if it’s their full time job? 

On Selling Out

Last year, a student came up to me after class one day and told me that she thought it was "kind of wrong" to get paid to write a piece, that it was so much more "pure" to do it for free. I was never sure exactly what she meant by that, but to me it sounded like she was implying that when you create art for money it is almost like prostitution. That it can't be as meaningful if you're getting paid for it, or that it's somehow dirty, commercialized, and cheap.

Here are some questions to ponder: is it dirty when a surgeon is paid for removing a dangerous tumor from a loved one's diseased body? Is it wrong to pay teachers for instilling knowledge in our children? Is it cheap when you pay a mechanic to figure out why your car is making that terrible noise? All of these people provide valuable services to us, and arguably, to the community. Why is it somehow impure to pay artists for providing valuable services to us and to the community, through art, music, dance, theater, etc.? Why is there a stigma surrounding artists who earn income?

The Oxymoronic "Frugal Composer"

I have gone through most of my compositional education with teachers and mentors advising me to always put my best face forward in terms of presentation, networking, and marketing. Their advice is well-meant and probably realistic given the extremely competitive and networked nature of the composition field. However, often the advice translates in practicality to a number of details that cost a lot of money, ranging from binding scores for competitions (as I mentioned in my earlier post) to attending music festivals in another state or country in order to broaden your contacts and exposure. Overall, composers are advised to spend a lot of time and money trying to build not only a portfolio, but also a CV.