Portfolios & Pipelines…

The importance of a multi-faceted approach in developing sustainability in jazz and improvised music.

This essay was commissioned by the Australian online magazine Loudmouth, published by The Music Trust and I thank Richard Letts AM, for the permission to publish it here.

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What happens to a promising jazz and improvising musician once they have graduated from a tertiary institution with honours, a vice chancellor’s medal or a PhD in performance practice, and have started out in their professional career by scooping up scholarships, awards, showcases and other opportunities for young and emerging talent?  Is the upward trajectory and continuing sustainability of their career assured, and, if not, whose responsibility is it to ensure that musicians can make a reasonable and long-term living using their musical and other skills?

This article discusses issues of sustainability facing emerging musicians and provides some ideas for developing a diverse career using both musical and non-musical skills.  It also signposts some of the pathways and opportunities that are available, not just to emerging musicians working in jazz and improvisation, but to musicians working in any non-commercial music genre.

Bursting out of the blocks as the ‘one-to-watch’ is a common phenomenon in the world of emerging musical talent.  Every year, in countries across the globe, we see the next exciting vocalist-, saxophonist-, trumpeter-, bassist-, pianist-, drummer-composer-bandleader emerging into the music industry, eager to make their first forays into the business of professional music via an exciting debut album and live touring. 

They will tell you that they want to stay true to their vision, to ‘remain authentic’ while ‘not selling out’, to collaborate with like-minded and similarly skilled colleagues, to gain some traction with the ‘gatekeepers’, to be commissioned, to make multiple successful albums of original work, to tour that work in the best possible conditions locally, nationally and internationally, to build an audience, to be broadcast on radio and TV, while doing as little teaching or other supplementary work as possible.  And then to repeat it all but in better circumstances year-on-year.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  Sadly, it’s easier said than done. Building a sustainable career is relentless. And it’s a gamble because, at times, there does not seem to be enough work and opportunity in the industry to sustain all these bright young things together with their more established counterparts.  In a crowded industry what else do emerging musicians need to do to take them beyond what they’ve already got in their bag of musical tricks?

The Portfolio Career

There is plenty of research that illustrates that a career as a professional musician for many is a financially precarious pursuit [i] as well as a physically and mentally challenging occupation.[ii]

Empirical evidence from years of working closely with musicians, especially as a manager of established as well as emerging composer-performers,[iii] leads me to say that it is a rare bird that makes a sustainable living from simply making (creating and performing) and recording music.  Pre-2020 we already knew that income from recorded material for most jazz and improvising musicians was not enough to sustain them, and 2020 has introduced us to the new reality of no live performances for an extended period and therefore no fees, box office receipts or performance royalties.  So, unless a musician is in the fortunate position of having a back catalogue of financially lucrative copyrights, or finds a way to be paid for online content (e.g., collaborating on a subscription service, creating music for games, TV or other broadcasting ventures) or has, say a job in academia or in a salaried ensemble or a private income, she/he/they needs a strategy for survival. Not just to get through the COVID-19 pandemic, but to build a long-term sustainable future as a professional musician regardless of local and global circumstances.

We hear a lot about the portfolio career [iv] – a way of making a livelihood and building a career that does not rely only on the risky business of making records and live touring. A portfolio career can be perfect for a musician who has built up skills and interests in areas such as arranging, conducting, teaching, programming, producing and broadcasting, because such a portfolio leads to flexibility, stability and builds a fuller, less fragile musical life. In fact, recent research from Griffith University in Queensland called Making Music Work [v] indicates that most musicians, at least in Australia, do have portfolio careers.  This is not a surprise, especially in the jazz and improvised music community, where there is no recognisable touring circuit or major record company, limited broadcast opportunities, relatively small audiences for new creative music, as well as what can seem like a tsunami of new graduates entering the profession every year.

For a young musician, developing and activating this portfolio can be a hurdle when youthful exuberance or hope is the strategy,[vi] when your mind is shaped by careers of yore, when you are keen to get started on your debut album and tour, when you might believe that the world is waiting for you and your talent and that a college campus with its endless supply of people wanting to play for nothing and its sound-proofed practise rooms is real life.  Whereas, if you understand that a strategy for sustainability relies on exercising all your skills and attributes - both musical and non-musical – as well as lots of small actions taken to keep the career in perpetual motion, then there is more chance of building something that is sustainable. 

These continual small actions, could include: looking at the big picture to try to understand how things work, having exploratory conversations with and asking advice from those who are more experienced, gathering and exercising a network, researching the practices of others inside and outside of music, understanding what skills are necessary for each task and buying-in expertise as and when needed, exercising flexibility of mind, making and keeping a database of venues and promoters and other potential opportunities, building an online audience, making realistic timelines, understanding how to access funding – all these are things that can help diversify your practice, sustain your livelihood and build your career. 

We are all in it together

A sustainable musical life requires balancing a multi-faceted portfolio of skills and manging a complex set of relationships. One way to mitigate the risk of ending up as an impoverished professional musician is to properly understand and to work hand-in-glove with those working in the business of music, i.e., the industry or the so-called ‘gatekeepers’.  These are the people with the complementary skills, experience and information that musicians need in order to understand the often complicated and arcane terrain, monetise their work and build audiences.  These gatekeepers, or perhaps we should call them enablers, work in recording, publishing and rights administration, programming and producing, venues and festivals, legal, financial, communications and marketing, management and agency, funding and advocacy – all the areas that musicians need to know about and need to navigate, but do not necessarily need to do, or do it all, themselves.

Reading a Guardian article on the TikTok lockdown sensation Curtis Waters,[vii] and the circumvention, or demise, of gatekeepers is interesting on several fronts. True, being a TikTok sensation is not what most, if any, jazz or improvising musicians want (and we’ll leave aside the ongoing controversy about this particular platform) but there are principles from which to learn.  TikTok and other social media platforms are places to showcase yourself and your work, and in the jazz and improvisation world it sits somewhere in the space occupied by jazz clubs, specialist broadcasts and record labels, the main difference being that with social media, the audience – your own audience accessed on your own phone - can be instantly captured, engaged and massive.

The ability to tap into an online audience is what excites the gatekeepers, as this is allegedly where money is to be made.[viii]  The article indicates that Waters’, buoyed by his social media success and with his audience in his pocket, cleverly avoided an exploitative recording deal where the balance of the financial return would go to the label, opting instead for a ‘licensing deal with a major label with a substantial advance included, whereby, after 10 years, the album’s masters revert to him.’ While a deal of this kind not a reality for most, if any jazz and improvising musician, there is no doubt that Waters has been astute. His is an approach – building an audience and negotiating with the gatekeepers - that is available to any musician, regardless of the genre and the reputation and size of the label, as long as they are prepared to understand how the business works and to negotiate (with or without the help of a legal team).

What I liked most about Curtis Waters’ story was his DIY, or jazz attitude, his desire to be true to himself and his creative output, his exploration and mastery of several non-musical skills including digital art and marketing, his experimentation and tenacity with the platform, and his playfulness – with the reverential pseudonym (derived from Joy Division’s Ian Curtis and Frank Ocean, and from there, Waters), subject matter, lyrics and lockdown antics - demonstrating that it’s not just music and music making that makes you stand out from the crowd and therefore get noticed both by the audience and by the enabling gatekeepers, it’s a combination of many factors – a portfolio - all so neatly and elegantly exercised by this 20 year old music business novice.

It can take a long time and years of experimentation across many and varied opportunities to be this business savvy and while the Guardian sub-editor got it wrong in highlighting his quote that 'There are no gatekeepers to the industry anymore’, it remains clear the opposite is the case.  In order for Waters to capitalise on his new-found popularity and notoriety, and to make some money, he will actually need a lot of help to navigate the industry and its gatekeepers, to maintain and grow his audience and develop a lasting and sustainable career.

So, understanding gatekeepers, who they are and what they do is critical for a portfolio career, and is not something to be learnt in a semester of non-compulsory music business classes while studying jazz at music college, although such classes might expand networks and help to understand the terrain.  While these supporting professions are perceived by some musicians to be hostile, it’s important to understand they are, in practice, wanting the same thing as the musicians – a vibrant sector bursting with innovation and experimentation counterbalanced by reference to the history of the music, further counterbalanced by variety of opportunity and a seemingly endless supply and circulation of diverse talent who are attractive to a paying audience.

Whose responsibility is it?

So far, we’ve seen that the responsibility for developing sustainable careers and stimulating opportunity for emerging musicians working in the non-commercial genres of jazz and improvised music, lies with both the musician and the industry (gatekeepers).  We’ve also seen that it works best when they are working to achieve a common goal. 

If we take a wider view and look at the ‘talent development pipeline’ [ix]…a journey from childhood music making through to fully fledged professional, we see that once the musician has completed their education, the responsibility is shared further with a range of bodies or organisation that keep the sector lubricated with funding and other opportunities.

The funding sector, like the industry, embraces the emerging as well as the established, and even though individual jazz and improvising musicians may not be in direct receipt of funding, most venues, festivals and promoters – all vital to careers of musicians of any genre - are subsidised by a combination of statutory funding, philanthropic funding, private giving or commercial sponsorship. 

If they so choose, musicians[x] can have many aspects of their careers funded by the same sources. Seeking funding to realise ambitious ideas or to complement other sources of support such as commissions and prizes, showcases or travel opportunities, is competitive and therefore needs a strategy, which in turn will activate the flexing of the portfolio career muscle (e.g., networks, writing and storytelling, audience development and communication, finances, producing). 

Other opportunities provided by a combination of the sector (venues, festivals, producers, etc) and the funding bodies and philanthropists include creative residencies.[xi] Such residencies can be self-directed or part of a wider program,[xii] and help to develop careers by expanding networks and horizons. Usually accessed via a competitive process, residencies accommodate creative practitioners who are at the forefront of innovation. There are several stand out options available to the jazz and improvised music community, including: Banff Center for Arts & Creativity (Canada), Civatelli Ranieri (Italy), Schloss Solitude (Germany), Montalvo (USA), Take Five (UK),[xiii] the Australian Art Orchestra’s Creative Music Intensive (Tas). These residencies provide time and a space for a complete creative and/or career focus and can facilitate life-long international and intercultural relationships which, in turn, can lead to future opportunities.  Right now, COVID-19 has upset the constant ebb and flow, but residencies at festivals, which allow for greater local engagement, less travel and sustained audience engagement, might see an increase from 2021, especially if  the sector is prepared to demonstrate consideration for climate change and the environment.  The future is likely to see increased importance attached to activities supporting the common good.

Residencies are just one example of opportunities in the talent development pipeline that are available to jazz and improvising musicians.  They are important as they recognise that working together in a more expansive and exploratory way, rather than a transactional way (band, record, gig, box office), can facilitate forward and ongoing momentum across a career.

As we have seen, many and varied things contribute to a career – both at the stage of developing the career portfolio or developing the opportunity pipeline.  All of us who work in jazz and improvised music are responsible for this community and must all use every available talent, skill, network and opportunity to collaborate and share for mutual benefit so that the sector is sustainable for everyone.

Martel Ollerenshaw, July 2020

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[i] Why Independent Musicians Are Becoming The Future Of The Music Industry, by Melissa Daniels, Forbes Magazine, 10 July 2019

[ii] Music Minds Matter, UK charity Help Musicians commissioned the University of Westminster and MusicTank to undertake the largest known study into mental health and the music industry, 2016.

[iii] Managed clients have included British saxophonist-composers John Surman and Andy Sheppard as well as the composer-arranger-conductor, Jules Buckley.

[iv] The Rise of the Portfolio Career, by Rebecca Mqamelo, YearOn, 15 February 2019

[v] Making Music Work: Sustainable Portfolio Careers for Australian Musicians (2016-2019), Griffith University, Queensland (AUS), led by Professor Brydie-Leigh Bartleet, et al, explores the conditions and strategies needed for musicians to sustain successful portfolio careers,

[vi] “Hope is not a strategy”, a phrase used in recent times by Benjamin Ola Akande, an economist, scholar, and Dean of the Business School at Webster University in Saint Louis in an open letter to US President Barack Obama, CBS News, 23 January 2009

[vii] Curtis Waters, TikTok king: 'There are no gatekeepers to the industry anymore', by Michael Segalov, Guardian, 19 July 2020

[viii] Video: Can you Make Money on TikTok?, BBC, 21 April 2020

[ix] In management speak, ‘HR practitioners have to develop the right talents, in the right people, at the right time, in the right way, to ensure their talent pipeline has an abundant supply of management talents’ (Haskins and Shaffer 2010) and in arts speak, the talent development pipeline can be seen in action with the PRS Foundation’s Talent Development Partners.

[x] For example Jason Moran’s Harlem Hellfighters project has funding from a variety of sources in the USA, the UK and Europe.

[xi] For an article describing the pros and cons of artist residencies, see: ‘Getting Away With It’, by Clive Bell, The Wire, 2019 Rewind, January 2020

[xii] E.g., Asialink Arts Residencies are innovative, flexible and supportive, and are grounded in personal and enduring relationships. The program promotes sustained cross-cultural dialogue by facilitating reciprocal residencies and trialling new models of engagement.

[xiii] Between 2004 and 2017, I produced Take Five, alongside John Cumming, the founder of Serious and the London Jazz Festival.  A ‘formal’ program for emerging creative musicians working in jazz and improvised music under the age of 35, Take Five prioritises a multi-disciplinary weeklong residency aims to demystify the music business and build sustainable careers.