Slow day at work today, so I thought I’d talk a little about my current circumstances, if anyone is interested. And even if you’re not. So there.
I came to the conclusion about 6 months ago that the music industry really sucks. Not necessarily every part of the music industry, but definitely the parts that center around being a performer, and more specifically, the opera industry.
After 6 years of pursuing a career as a professional opera singer, and doing fairly well when compared to the legions of other NYC wannabe opera singers, I’ve decided to call it quits. I’m tired of going to auditions and being rejected over and over. I’m tired of having to kiss the behinds of complete jerks just to get the few jobs that are out there. And I’m tired of being poor. This starving artist stuff is for the birds. 🙂
Basically, I came to the conclusion that I was no longer interested in a career where, if I were lucky enough to be the 1% of 1% who actually go on to viable, successful singing careers, I’d be away from my family 6 months out of the year. That dream no longer hold the allure that it held for me when I was 22.
So, it’s time for a huge life change – woohoo! I’m currently preparing to apply to law school. Yes, quite a change, huh? I’m studying for the LSAT, reading up on school, etc. So we’ll see what happens. At least I’ll be able to use my brain again.
So, there we are.
Your conclusion
Hey, I came to that same conclusion nine years ago in college 🙂 Welcome to the club!
That said, I still enjoy it too much to give it up. I enjoy fiddling with the dials in my studio, making music. But it’s often music nobody else hears, except maybe a few close friends. I keep telling myself that one of these days I want to put out an album of my stuff, but the moment I consider how much effort is involved (the burning, the labelling, the attributions, the cover art), I just go “ugh” and go back to twiddling dials again…
The performance aspect is really rough, for sure.
Curious that you want to go for a law degree. I need to let you know what you’re in for there, too:
On the other hand, if you’re going into law because you enjoy it, I say more power to you. I’ve considered going into law long and deeply, analyzing my motivations for wanting to do so. The motivator, for me, boiled down to being able to represent underdogs in technology IP cases. I really see a need for technically-competent lawyers who can understand the technology involved and present it in such a way that a federal judge can understand it, too. I’m very pro-free-speech, and consider source code for programs to be one of the most volatile and abused forms of protected speech today.
But what I do well is UNIX systems administration. I love what I do, and plans for returning to school to learn another profession are, for now, on the back-burner. Maybe when I am forty 🙂
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Music vs Manna
From the totally non-musically-talented side of me, for someone like you with great talent (which I’ve seen in person) to “hang it up” makes me go “NOOOOO!!!” I would die to be able to make music like you do.
From the husband/father side of me, knowing that there are people depending on me for food and shelter and being able to be there, I’d say it’s a smart decision that will pay you back much more than being an opera singer ever could. Nothing compare to the kids going, “DADDY!!!” when you come home in the evening.
The thing is, as we get older, we get to see what life is really about, and very little of it resembles Hollywood. Be it sports or music or acting or whatever, for each person that “makes it”, 1000 or more with equal or greater talent don’t. There’s no shame in making your attempt, and there’s equal if not greater pleasures to be found in working a 9-5 and coming home to your family each night. At least you tried to reach your dreams, a lot of people don’t even make the effort.
Now since you’re not going to do opera, my personal opinion would be to move out of N.Y. Come back to where rents are reasonable and you can actually drive your car!!! 😉 Buy a house w/a pool and a deck, and teach music in the spare time.
I’m still looking for a miracle worker that can teach me to sing, and teach Caleb music, so he has a chance 😉
My $.02 Weed
You Will Have An Advantage
Many Operas are written in Italian. Italian is sort of derived from Latin. The first three months of law school are spoken entirely in Latin.
I expect nothing short of Law review.
Congrats!
That’s a big decision to make and a lot of work ahead. But I don’t blame you for being tired of being poor. There is plenty of brain work in music, but you’re definately in for a new challenge. Best of luck to you and have fun with it. —
Christy
Thanks!
Thanks guys! I feel really good about the decision, and find that I really don’t miss opera much at all (I was never that much of a fan to begin with!)
I will definitely continue to be a musician – exorcism couldn’t remove that part of my personality. I’m continuing to compose, only classical music right now, but I want to try my hand at some more pop tunes, since it’s been 8 years since I’ve written one. Who knows, I might even start another band. 🙂
And don’t worry about the money, Matt – I plan to take the sell-your-soul corporate law route. I quite enjoy the work at the firm where I’m currently working as a secretary, and FIRST-YEAR associates (i.e. right out of law school) make $125,000. That’d be awfully nice.
— Ben Schuman Mad, Mad Tenor
$125K?
<converts New York dollars to Utah dollars in his head>
Yeah, that’s about $75,000 Utah dollars per year 🙂 Well, at least last time I checked, New York salaries run about 1.5x-2x Utah salaries. Still not bad money at all though, if you invest it wisely.
So you’re working for these guys right now? Have they made any suggestions about bringing you on as an associate once you’ve finished your degree? Or are you in a job there where they’d never consider you lawyer material?
I’ve done work for law firms before. I think that Systems Administrators rank somewhere just above "the fax girl" on their importance totem-pole.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
brown nosing
I haven’t mentioned anything yet, because law school is still over a year away, but believe me, I’ll make sure I use all the networking potential I’ve gotten from working here.
— Ben Schuman Mad, Mad Tenor
Would They Pay For It?
I’m guessing you’re currently a full-time employee at the the firm, right? Would they pay if you were to go part-time at night?
My sister’s doing that right now. It’s much better to have someone else pay for grad school.
Part-Time
Well, we decided against working during the day and going to school at night, because it would mean that I wouldn’t see my family for four years. And that’s bad.
Instead, I’m just going to take a crapload of loans and hope for the best. I’m sure I can get some kind of money out of my firm tho, because I’d be very interested in coming back to work for them when I get out of school, and I know they’ve given money to other employers.
— Ben Schuman Mad, Mad Tenor
hello to Matt, also for Ben
Hey Matt,
This is Jennifer Furst–my friend Karin Henins (Maloney) forwarded me the link to your site. I might have posted this message twice by accident, actually, because I am so low-tech–I wrote a message and lost it…so… here it goes again:
I was so amazed to find out that you are a father of four! I looked at the pictures of them, and they are beautiful. Congratulations to you and your wife. You definitely have done a lot in the intervening 13 years since I last talked to you! I wish I had the capability to download the Wayward Sun tracks, because I would love to hear that stuff again. Unfortunately, though, my computer is from the Stone Age…
I am living in NY and pursuing a career as an opera singer, and by day, I work for Columbia Artists Management, Inc–a big classical music agency–in a prominent opera department. It’s kind of for this reason that I knew I had to write something on your blog–I happened to tune in on the day that Ben wrote that he was changing careers.
I totally respect a decision like that–the life of a pro singer is really rough, and not for everyone, regardless of their talent. I’ve thought of switching tracks a million times myself…but I didn’t really feel like I could read that, and not make an offer to him, given that most of having a career in music is knowing the right person–so hopefully Ben will read this.
Ben: I remember being impressed by your voice those many years ago when I was dating Matt, and I am sure that you’ve only improved. If you would like to give it one last shot, I would be more than happy to receive your materials (actually, I read your resume/bio online), including photo and CD/tape (high quality is NOT necessary–only good enough that you feel it represents your sound well), and present them to the managers here at CAMI, and get you some feedback. There’s no obligation in this–it totally sounds like you’ve made up your mind and feel comfortable with it–but I couldn’t not offer. Like I said before, most of getting somewhere in the arts has to do with knowing the right person. I have no problem getting your tape to the right person. I can’t make any guarantees, but being a tenor of 28/29 years is such a viable and salable thing to be!
Changing careers because you WANT to is one thing–changing because you just didn’t know who to go to is another. So, if it’s something you would like to do, write me an email at jfurst@cami.com and I’ll give you the address and any other information that you would want.
And Matt–if you’d like to email me there, too, I’d love to hear more about how you are doing. oh! and by the way, that quote was from a different friend–her name was Carrie. what was i thinking, by the way, to be looking at the joy of sex with my boyfriend and ANOTHER GIRL? That’s really funny.
hope to hear from you, Jen
Leaving Performing
Ben:
I was in the chorus of the VLOG MIKADO with you in 1998. I thought you were great. Since then, well after 9/11, I gave up the pursuit when I found what my real passion was–being a publicist. I got some great experience in NYC in PR and moved back out to NW Washington State to start my own business, breathe fresh air and get away from all the neurosis of crazy people in New York.
Don’t get me wrong–I love New York, but my life is much more fulfilling helping my community out here. I am the publicist for a theatre company and I recently played Ko-Ko in THE MIKADO, which had the biggest houses in the 75-year history of the theatre company. I just finished acting in a comedy there and hope to play Jud soon in OKLAHOMA!
It’s great to be back enjoying peforming for performing’s sake rather than taking part in the rat race to try to get by.
I commend your mature decision. Most artists are too vain to admit that there might be something more emotionally and financially rewarding out there than the arts. They are a great outlet on the side, but $$$ is nice too. My life is 100% better now and I don’t regret my choices one bit. Good luck in law school!
Paul N.
being poor sucks
Well at least you can go back to school, if you can find the money. The issue with being in this rut, and I am there after years of trying to grapple with what little there is to get out there, I am poor and it sucks. I don’t have the resources to go back for training for that great job to pull me out of the bowels of being poor. I now have to settle for any band-aid job because after interviewing for decent positions, because I have been a musician singer and “out of the almighty job market” for years, I can’t find a job. With bad credit and piling bills and no relief, employers that run credit checks shred my info after checking mine.
I wish you the best of luck seriously. If I had it to do all over again, I never would have decided to try to make a living in music.
Have you..
ever considered becoming a nurse?