This is a preliminary draft. Please do not cite or circulate without the permission of the author. Career Challenges Musicians Face in the United States Ying Zhen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Business and Economics Wesleyan College Macon, GA, U.S.A. Phone: 478-757-3917 Email: [email protected] Abstract1 This study summarizes and analyzes the challenges and opportunities that musicians face in the United States, based on a survey of 1,227 musicians in the U.S. in 2018, which was conducted by the Music Industry Research Association (MIRA) and the Princeton University Survey Research Center, in partnership with MusiCares. The results reveal that although “artistic expression” is highlighted as musicians’ favorite aspect of being a musician, 61 percent of musicians’ music- related income is not sufficient to meet their living expenses. Such a share among male musicians is slightly lower than that of female musicians: 58.4 percent vs. 66.3 percent, respectively. However, such a share among white musicians is significantly lower than that of non-white musicians: 57.0 percent vs. 75.5 percent, respectively. The average American earns income from 3.5 music-related activities per year. The most common income source is live performances, followed by music lessons and performing in a church choir or other religious service. MusiCares membership has a negative effect on music-related earnings. All else being equal, musicians with a MusiCares membership make about 40% less music-related income than those without the membership. This might be in consistent with the role MusiCares plays as the charitable arm of the Recording Academy. Interestingly, when MusiCares membership is controlled, education attainment is no longer playing an important role in music-related earnings, while attending a high school featuring in music education is associated with more than 30% music-related earnings. In addition, the music-earnings advantage among those who attended a high school featuring in music education is around 45% significantly higher for those who were born in the U.S.A. than those who were foreign-born, all else being equal. Keywords: Musicians, Well-being, Career Challenges JEL Classifications: J15, J16, J44, J49 1 *This study is based on the report that was prepared by Professor Alan B. Krueger of Princeton University and Professor Ying Zhen of Wesleyan College, with the able assistance of James Reeves. The survey was implemented by the Princeton University Survey Research Center, under the direction of Ed Freeland. We appreciate the cooperation of MusiCares in partnering with us to recruit many of the musicians who completed the MIRA survey. It is a tremendous tragedy that Alan passed away in March 2019. Some key results from our collaborative project have been cited six times in his book that was published posthumously— “Rockonomics: A Backstage Tour of What the Music Industry Can Teach Us about Economics and Life”, which was released in June 2019. 1 1. INTRODUCTION Many of us live with music every day. Music is our great companion while driving, working out in the gym, and reading. Music is also around us when we share the happy and sorrowful moments with families and friends. Music knows no boundary, which is increasingly recognized as more than just being a source of entertainment. The United States has the largest market share in the world. According to the IFPI, the global trade body for recorded music, the value of recorded music in the United States accounts for one- third of the total world market, while recorded music is only a small part of the music industry (Siwek 2018). Working musicians have been considered as the heart and soul of the music industry, whose well-being largely determines the sustainability and growth of the music industry (Brown 2015). According to CareerExplorer.com, the current number of musicians in the United States is estimated to be 172,400, along with an estimated growth of 6.0% in the musician job market between 2016 and 2026. To further our understanding of the music industry, the Music Industry Research Association (MIRA) and the Princeton University Survey Research Center, in partnership with MusiCares, conducted a survey of 1,227 musicians in the U.S. in 2018. MIRA was a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes social science research on critical issues affecting the music industry. The goal of the survey is to better understand the circumstances and well-being of people who are trying to earn their living as music performers and composers, along with learning how different aspects of being a musician relate to overall well-being and life satisfaction. The questionnaire covers work satisfaction, time use, income, and health and well-being. This is a voluntary survey and all of respondents’ responses are strictly confidential. This study summarizes findings from the MIRA Musician Survey related to musicians’ career opportunities and challenges, along with exploring the gender and ethnicity interactions’ effects. Specifically, musicians’ income sources and shares of music-related income are analyzed, along with the important factors affecting their overall/music-related income. The remainder of this research is structured as follows. Section 2 introduces the data and summarizes the sample characteristics. Where possible, results are compared to a national sample of musicians and to the U.S. general population of adults. Section 3 introduces the research methodology, including the empirical design, data and measurement. Section 4 presents the estimation techniques and empirical results. Section 5 is a summary of research findings and future research directions. 2. DATA AND SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS The MIRA Musician Survey was limited to people who earn most of their income as a musician or are working toward the goal of earning most of their income as a musician. The goal of the survey was to identify and interview a representative group of individuals who earned a living as a musician or music composer, or who were endeavoring to earn a living through making music. 2 We designed the questionnaire specifically to benchmark responses for musicians against the general U.S. population, based on other nationally representative surveys. The survey was conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Center (SRC) between April 12th and June 2nd of 2018. In brief, the SRC recruited U.S.-based musicians who were clients of MusiCares and others who were part of a list of music industry personnel maintained by the American List Council. Respondents were also asked to refer other musicians, who SRC attempted to interview. Table 1. Sample Characteristics (Comparison of MIRA Musician Sample to U.S. Population of Musicians from ACS) 2012-2016 ACS 5-YEAR ESTIMATES - PUBLIC USE MICRODATA SAMPLE OCCUPATION= 27-2040 AGE 18 AND OLDER ACS Musicians MIRA Musicians U.S. SAMPLE(unweighted) 263,438 1,227 RACE Count Percent White alone 207,121 79% 941 78% Black or African American alone 32,865 12% 159 13% Native American 1,072 0.4% 11 1% Asian or Pacific Islander 10,250 4% 10 1% Two or More Races 6,733 3% 70 6% Some other race alone 5,397 2% 15 1% HISPANIC Not Spanish/Hispanic/Latino 241,134 92% 1,158 95% Hispanic 22,304 8% 58 5% SEX Male 172,032 65% 791 65% Female 91,046 35% 434 35% NATIVITY Native 232,965 88% 1,130 93% Foreign born 30,473 12% 85 7% MARITAL STATUS Married 127,579 48% 596 49% Widowed 10,219 4% 16 1% Divorced 28,765 11% 202 17% Separated 5,170 2% 23 2% 3 Never married or under 15 years old 91,795 35% 375 31% AGE 18-24 29,665 11% 8 1% 25-29 26,697 10% 62 5% 30-34 26,517 10% 110 9% 35-39 20,101 8% 121 10% 40-44 20,041 8% 121 10% 45-49 19,837 8% 119 10% 50-54 21,552 8% 119 10% 55-59 25,495 10% 166 14% 60-64 26,462 10% 194 16% 65-78 47,071 18% 184 15% EDUCATION 8th grade or lower 4,220 2% 4 0.3% 9th-12th grade 10,331 4% 25 2% High school graduates 41,493 16% 76 6% Some college 65,843 25% 273 22% Associate's degree 13,085 5% 86 7% Bachelor's degree 74,361 28% 375 31% Master's degree 43,398 16% 86 23% Professional degree beyond a bachelor's 4,119 2% 10 1% degree Doctorate degree 6,588 3% 93 8% Personal Income Past 12 Months Less than 5000 39,930 15% 68 6% Between 5000 and 7499 13,602 5% 46 4% Between 7500 and 9999 10,963 4% 35 3% Between 10000 and 12499 17,989 7% 61 5% Between 12500 and 14999 9,892 4% 67 6% Between 15000 and 19999 21,442 8% 71 6% Between 20000 and 24999 21,486 8% 97 8% Between 25000 and 29999 16,394 6% 85 7% Between 30000 and 34999 15,458 6% 74 6% Between 35000 and 39999 11,511 4% 68 6% Between 40000 and 49999 20,828 8% 113 9% Between 50000 and 59999 14,048 5% 107 9% Between 60000 and 74999 15,264 6% 115 10% Between 75000 and 99999 11,258 4% 108 9% 4 Between 100000 and 149999 8,205 3% 58 5% 150000 or more 15,168 6% 18 2% Household Income Past 12 Months Less than 5000 5,982 2% 39 3% Between 5000 and 7499 3,023 1% 34 3% Between 7500 and 9999 2,748 1% 20 2% Between 10000 and 12499 5,238 2% 29 2% Between 12500 and 14999 4,385 2% 37 3% Between 15000 and 19999 8,391 3% 53 4% Between 20000 and 24999 9,689 4% 62 5% Between 25000 and 29999 9,120 3% 57 5% Between 30000 and 34999 9,730 4% 49 4% Between 35000 and 39999 11,006 4% 60 5% Between 40000 and 49999 19,930 8% 101 9% Between 50000 and 59999 20,206 8% 99 8% Between 60000 and 74999 26,683 10% 121 10% Between 75000 and 99999 33,473 13% 148 13% Between 100000 and 149999 36,741 14% 179 15% 150000 or more 34,348 13% 94 8% *Note: Total count of musicians from ACS is 263,438 and maximum sample size for MIRA Survey of Musicians is 1,227; some sample distributions for musicians may not sum to 1,227 due to missing data.