According to partial, “first look” results of the Future of Music Coaltion’s Money from Music Survey, independent jazz musicians on average made approximately $23,000 in 2011. Jazz musicians who are members of the American Federation of Musicians had a mean income of $37,ooo. The survey included self-reported data from 800 musicians, almost entirely living in the United States.
Finances reported included amounts made from non-performing activities such as teaching, royalties, merchandise sales and session work.
To date, no comparable survey has been done of incomes of jazz journalists. The Bureau of Labor Statisutics has reported that “(m)edian annual wages for salaried writers and authors were $53,070 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,150 and $75,060. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $28,020, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $106,630. Median annual wages were $58,740 for those working in advertising, public relations, and related services and $43,450 for those working for in newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers.” This information did not break out specific subcategories of content as such (i.e., no “writing about the arts’ vs. “writing about business”).
