[Harp-L] List of harmonica players who have achieved becoming millionaires?

[46long Blake]

I got a $23 royalty check from streams of my duo's original music this
year! Like Weird Al said, "Thanks for the sandwich!!" ;)

On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 10:01 AM Mike Fugazzi <harpninjamike at xxxxx>
wrote:

> In fairness, if a harmonica player makes $40,000 a year and has a 25 year
> career, they have made a million dollars.  That being said, the list of
> harmonica players making a decent living - Forbes reports that the average
> annual salary in the US is $59,428 - is probably very very low.  For
> those that are making "good" money, they are surely diverse in revenue
> streams.  Meaning, they aren't just playing music for people to listen to.
> Those that do make a significant amount of money gigging probably do things
> other than play harmonica too.
>
> Anecdotally, in my head, many of the "famous" harmonica players I know
> supplement their income working jobs outside of music.  Those that don't
> are few and far between like Jason Ricci and Dennis Gruenling (I assume).
> The elder statesmen have either been that established over decades OR, I am
> guessing, have benefits from being at retirement age that make things more
> manageable?
>
> Many years ago, I read the Little Walter biography, and I swear I read that
> even at peak popularity, LW was playing covers on guitar to make most of
> his money.  To make an average salary, a harp player would have to make
> $1,250 a week, year round.  Let's say you have no expenses and three great
> gigs a week making a couple hundred dollars for a couple of sets, so
> roughly $600.  I am not saying you can't make more than that, but am
> looking at it realistically.  You could teach a few lessons a day at $50
> and get close to $1,250.  But you are also probably booking your own gigs,
> doing your own promo materials, and trying to be a content creator....so
> you'd be working full time as a musician.
>
> The best way to make a livable wage as a musician is to perform in a cover
> band.  I know guys locally charging several thousand a show.  Assuming it's
> $6,000 a night, almost half probably goes to expenses.  The other $3,000
> would be split between 5 band members, maybe?  So, they are making about
> $600 a gig.  Pros are the amount of effort to sustain booking shows is
> lesser and you don't have to work as much off stage.  Locally, the seasons
> create a stronger demand for shows part of the year, so winters might be
> slower.
>
> Another workable model is to not play in a band but to do duo or trio.  You
> can charge $300-400 a show with lesser expenses and overhead.
>
> At the end of the day, there is a lot of nuance to the topic of who makes
> money with harmonica and how much.  There is also popularity vs money or
> online presence vs gigging to consider too.  I've noticed a lot of
> contemporary harmonica content creators get views, but are intermediates at
> best.  They seem to teach content at their level or maybe a step below.  My
> point being there is a doable floor of entry for trying to make income as a
> content creator.
>
> Finally, the case can be made at times that the better you are from a
> technical standpoint, the more you hit a point of diminishing returns where
> the general public cares less about what you are able to do or how "good"
> you are.
>
> I started playing in the early 2000's and was too late for the 5-7 shows a
> week and too early to get in on the YouTube train before it became
> saturated.  I long ago decided that harmonica was a hobby and I would only
> do it under my terms, whatever they are at the time.  I view it like the
> lottery, you put a little effort in and some day you might get lucky
> meeting the right person at the right time (kind of like Mickey Raphael).
> Could I sing and/or play harmonica at a professional level? Absolutely.
> Have I ever really tried to do that?  No.  I like having a steady job,
> income, and supporting my kids.  Since returning to gigging (I took a long
> time off when I went to grad school), I've booked limited winter dates and
> as much as I can in the summer.  I play in a dad band (wide range of covers
> on a very small scale of $75-$100 a night) and a duo (which I LOVE LOVE
> LOVE to do), where I clear $150-300 depending on the gig.
>
> As a duo, I basically get to do whatever I want.  I get to play stuff like
> this https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7IvCJu7ifl8 and still get to do this
> https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NPICWtlg1k0.  FWIW, when it comes to
> posting
> gig content, I consistently get the most views from Facebook.  TikTok is
> consistent, but not as many, and YouTube is all over.  I posted clips from
> the same gig where the one I thought was kind of lame got a ton of views
> and then one that I think is really good got like 100.  I can't figure out
> YouTube.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 5:49 AM Ken H in Ohio <airmojoken at xxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > Not sure a list exists... but I bet these three are at the top of it !
> >
> > 1. Bruce Willis -- $250 million
> > 2. Jim Belushi -- $50
> > 3. John Popper -- $10 million
> >
> > Ken H in OH
> >
> > On Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 5:57 AM F F <franze52 at xxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > > Does anyone have statistics on the harmonica players who have achieved
> > the
> > > milestone of becoming millionaires?
> > >
> >
>