Comments on: The Hustle of a Cellist in New York

By: Julie Anne Chin@facebook

Julie Anne Chin@facebook — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:12:01 +0000

@Evie I would be worried if I were you. What will you do if you are sick? What will you do if you lose your job? What will you do if your rent increases? Do you want to have a family? $60K in a major city is not a lot of money. It also doesn’t set you up for retirement or handling life’s disasters (or even non-disasters of your 30s). It is unnerving to not know where your next paycheck is coming from and whether you’ll have a job in 6-months – especially if you see the industry in decline. I just made the switch to become a creative professional, and if I’m lucky if I can make that in a couple of years. Meanwhile, recent grads with no social skills or life-perspective are getting paid twice that in my city. Our values are upside down.

When I talk to my (well-educated!) friends, they feel that art does not need to be an endeavor of focus (because that’s what we were able to do as kids when we had way more time!) They remind me that artists and innovators have never made any money (as if the plight of the artist is to be starving) and are compensated through happiness through their art. But it’s not true that art hasn’t been valued. During the Renaissance or Ancient Egypt, or anytime we had amazing cultural development, artists and scientists were well-taken care of and favorites of the court. Burning Man is a fantastic expression of creativity – but it’s NOT art.

By: Evie

Evie — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:34:12 +0000

Wow. Having $10K in my bank account would unequivocally change my life and eliminate 90% of my debt. Kinda hard to feel sorry for a single person making $60k with a cushion like that. And I am speaking from a mid-30s, creative professional, college educated, employed, Los Angeles living, privileged background perspective. My personal financial situation is strained at best, but whenever I am freaking out quietly in my bedroom about having $100 to last me a week and a half til my next paycheck, I remind myself there are people working harder than me for a lot less. I dunno, kinda missing it on this one.

By: Ivona Poyntz@facebook

Ivona Poyntz@facebook — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:38:16 +0000

$60k is NOT Ok?…

By: Ian

Ian — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:20:37 +0000

Chic Noir,

I took your idea and ran with it. Loaded up at the salad bar. Just made bail. :)

Loved the musician’s comment about shallowness and short term thinking. I think that’s a byproduct of the underbelly of American culture. Wall Street. Bottom line. The truth is, short term thinking ruins eveything.

By: chic noir

chic noir — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:06:20 +0000

@Genghis Khat – LOL you are a hoot :)

By: liznieve

liznieve — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:58:36 +0000

@chic noir
Let me tell you, even “professional” creative fields are doing this too: I work in architecture, and if I could count on my fingers how many free projects we do (RFPs, RFQs, renderings for some conference or another), and how many hours we waste doing it, I would need a whole lot more hands. That’s why the person designing an $80 million building is making $60k a year.

By: Genghis Khat

Genghis Khat — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:45:41 +0000

@chic noir You are not! I was like, Woooooooooooow. Aaaaaand a cellist. That splash you hear is my panties hitting the floor.

By: chic noir

chic noir — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:39:21 +0000

I’m going to Whole Foods to eat some Tuna and crackers, when a Whole Foods Employee asks why I’m eating something I didn’t pay for, I will tell the employee that Whole Foods is being paid in the “exposure” for having the privilege of having me eat in their store.

I’m going to try this on my parents when it’s time to pay the rent.

I’ll see how far this can take me.

By: chic noir

chic noir — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:36:52 +0000

Right at this moment the Olympics in London have adopted a policy that all the musicians involved with the Olympics will not be paid, they will be paid in the “exposure” for the privilege of playing at the Olympics.

Oh how I hate this. It’s something going thru the creative industry, even fashion models have this issue. In the corporate world, there are unpaid internships. I hate unpaid internships. No way in hell should companies be able to get away with this.
Nothing will change until we stand up.

By: chic noir

chic noir — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:53:42 +0000

@chic noir I try to keep $10,000 in my account, I guess that’s my version of an emergency fund.
*scratches head*

For most people in this country, 10k is an emergency fund.

And our friends who went to law school are making $300 an hour, not to mention our friends who are bankers, they’re all making six figures

Well I’m sure many of your friends who are lawyers and bankers wish they had the life that you have. You get to do something you really love and you manage to make a decent living. I don’t think 60k is bad for a single man living in BK.

*sighs*
Looking at Peter’s health insurance issues… we really need universal healthcare ASAP in this country.