Remember at the beginning of the pandemic when the world stopped? Gigs dried up, performances were canceled, no one bought music or commissioned new works, teachers had to pivot and learn how to teach online, and many musicians found themselves instantly out of work.
We couldn’t have predicted the impact a pandemic would have on our society, our economy, or our lives, but we can take steps today to create stability and sustainability in our careers and businesses going forward.
One of the best things you can do as you build your music career is to look for ways to diversify your income streams.
We call this a portfolio career: a combination of different jobs and paid activities that offer a balance of creative and administrative work and provide greater financial stability through diverse income streams.
If one part of your portfolio were to suddenly stop, you’d still have the rest of your portfolio to provide income as you work to expand one or more of your jobs or activities or search for something new to take its place.
In this post, we’ll share five practical ideas for diversifying your work through a portfolio career with advice for those of you just starting out and those who are looking to make a change in your current work.
5 Steps to Building a Diverse Portfolio Career
Step 1 - Start with something reliable
We believe it’s important to have some piece of your portfolio that provides a consistent, reliable income. This is especially true when you’re first starting out. A steady paycheck, however big or small, guarantees a certain amount of income each month. You can use this to cover your living expenses as you build up the other components of your portfolio that might not generate much income early on.
This steady-paycheck piece of your portfolio might be a part-time or full-time job. It might be teaching private lessons or doing administrative work for an arts organization, or something completely outside of music. The important thing is that the income is stable and consistent each month so you can rely on it.
This doesn’t have to last forever. Once you build up other pieces of your portfolio, you may choose to decrease or even let go of this initial piece that provided a steady income; but initially, it can be helpful to have something stable and build other things around that.
Related post: Is a Portfolio Career Right for You?
Step 2 - Let people know
When you’re building a career portfolio and diversifying the kind of work you're doing, it can be helpful to connect with people. Reach out to your family and friends and let them know what you’re doing. Connect with local professionals in the field—arts administrators at local organizations, other performing musicians, or music teachers. Attend events and gatherings, network, and meet new people.
We think it’s okay to say yes to things early on that don’t necessarily fit in your ideal portfolio. In fact, saying yes to an opportunity that pays well or offers valuable experience can be a helpful way of deciding what you want your ideal portfolio career to look like. Try it out and see if you like it. Over time, you can evaluate your jobs and creative projects and decide what things you want to keep doing, but in the beginning, don’t be afraid to try a variety of things.
Step 3 - Connect with alumni
If you have a degree in music (or two or three...), sign up for your school's alumni network after you graduate. Often, these networks can connect you with alumni/professionals in various places. Alumni are often happy to talk or meet with you and sometimes, connect you to other people they know. This can be especially helpful if you’re in a new city and trying to get connected to the local music scene (for gigs, teaching opportunities, etc.).
If you're moving to a new city, we recommend reaching out to people in that area in advance (at least six months, if possible) through your alumni network, friends, or colleagues so you can build some of those contacts before you get there.
Step 4 - Look for job postings
As a portfolio career musician, you're piecing together a variety of different kinds of work. If you're looking to expand or diversify, look where jobs or gigs are posted and see what might be a good fit for you and your skill set. You can find job listings through local organizations, arts councils, and associations, but also through word of mouth.
Maybe this is a one-time gig, a seasonal job, or maybe it’s something ongoing. Perhaps it’s something you create once and then sell over and over again in the future, generating passive income or royalties. You never know!
Step 5 - Follow up with people who have helped you
Our final piece of advice is to pay attention to the people side of what you do. People often have choices about who they’re going to hire in the music business, so making connections, saying “thank you” to people who have helped you, supporting others, and being reliable—these things go a long way. Be kind, do your best work, and be a good collaborator.
How to Curate Your Portfolio Career
At different points in your career, you'll likely have an opportunity to reflect on the things you really want to do in your portfolio career. There are times when you'll add things to your portfolio and try things and learn things. And there will be times when you take things out and hone in on activities that you're really passionate about.
When is it time to let something go?
When do you take something out of your portfolio? How do you know if it’s the right time to let something go, especially if it’s something you’ve been doing for a while?
Decide what you want to prioritize in your portfolio. What do you like doing? What is most meaningful to you? What compensates you well for your time?
You might have something in your portfolio that pays really well but is not something you want to do long-term.
We’ve both experienced this—letting go of something that looked good on paper but wasn’t the right fit anymore.
What is the income impact?
If you’re asking yourself, “Do I keep doing this thing or can I let it go?” we have some advice.
Look at the income impact of that decision. If you stopped doing that work, what would you lose? Could you increase the other parts of your portfolio to compensate? If it’s a substantial income stream, you might need to plan out six months or even a year to build up the other pieces in your portfolio to compensate before removing the piece you no longer want.
It's an editing process.
Be strategic about these changes. Have a plan in place to keep your income as consistent as possible while making the desired changes to your portfolio.
