Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess – Don’t Rely on Music to Make Money Nowadays

As streaming grows more popular and the pool of musicians grows larger and larger, Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment’s Jordan Rudess advises aspiring musicians not to rely solely on their music to make money.

Speaking with Kaaos TV, the Dream Theater keyboardist admitted that he believes Patreon and other similar tools will become a primary source of income for new musicians as they start their careers.

“I really think it’s moving in that direction more and more,” he said. “I think it makes so much sense. I like it. In general, I feel great about it.”

Rudess went on to explain how difficult it is to start a career as a musician now because of the internet, especially if they don’t have the financial backing of a label. If the artist doesn’t already have a decent-sized audience, it’s easy for their work to be overlooked because of how many other new artists there are. And not to mention — streaming hardly generates a profit for artists unless they are racking up millions of listeners.

“There’s plenty of ways to put your music out there, but are you gonna get it heard? Is it gonna make a difference? Is it gonna make any money? That’s the problem,” he continued. “That’s challenging. So some of these companies have to figure out ways to help musicians.”

The keyboardist therefore suggested that potential musicians find other ways to make money in order to sustain a music career — regardless of how talented they may be.

“It’s a much safer way to do it. If somebody has a great brain for more than just music, how can you find something that you make money with that you can also have some time so you can be a happy musician and buy the instruments that you want. And not have to rely on, ‘I’ve gotta get a gig playing in a bar somewhere, ’cause I have no money, and I’m scraping pennies off the floor.'”

Listen to the full discussion below.

Jordan Rudess Interview With Kaaos TV