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February 1, 2022

Live music doesn’t always pay the bills. So what else can you do?

By: Elizabeth McQueen

In this episode, you’ll learn how much money the average Austin musician makes per gig, and why it can be hard to make a living playing live music.

Then you’ll learn all about an alternate revenue stream for musicians — sync licensing. Nathalie Phan, founder of SoundSync Music, will explain the ins and outs of sync licensing from an agent’s perspective and Austin rapper Tee-Double will walk you through the artist’s perspective.

During Nathalie’s segment you’ll hear the song “Black Tea” by Slug, Elijah Fox, Soul Food Horns and Yasper.

During Tee-Double’s segment you’ll hear “Caped Up” from his album Local Transplant.

Nathalie Phan is pictured in her home on Jan. 31, 2022, in South Austin. Michael Minasi/KUT

 

Hip-hop artist Tee-Double is pictured in his home studio on July 15, 2021, in Austin. Michael Minasi/KUTX

 


Episodes

June 30, 2022

NFTs and Music: What is a NFT? The Song!

Here’s your very own, very fungible copy of the soon-to-be hit song, “What is an NFT?”

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June 14, 2022

NFTs and Music: Minting an NFT

Miles and Elizabeth go on a journey to mint an NFT. But in order to do that they have to write and record a song, buy cryptocurrency, set up a wallet, and list an NFT for sale. But things don’t quite go as they planned.

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May 31, 2022

NFTs and Music: What is an NFT?

In this first episode of our mini-season about NFTs you’ll learn all the things you need to know in order to understand what NFTs are and how they work.

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April 5, 2022

The Return of SXSW

We’re taking a look at the first in-person SXSW in 3 years. You’ll hear from rapper and event curator J Soulja, bartender and co-founder of the Amplified Sound Coalition Jeanette Gregor, artist manager Andi Narvaez, Cheer-Up Charlie’s owners Maggie Lea and Tamara Hoover, musician and composer Graham Reynolds, freelance writer Brianna Caleri, artist, instrumentalist, bandleader and soundman Thomas Cook, and musician Jackie Venson.

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March 29, 2022

Bonus! A City Department just raised their rate for musicians to $200 per hour.

The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department just raised their rate of pay for musicians to $200 per hour per musician. Hear why that happened, and how they hope this change will inspire other departments.

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March 7, 2022

What Mayor Adler has to say about the Live Music Fund

Hear what Austin Mayor Steve Adler has to say about the history of the Live Music Fund, why he raised concerns about the Live Music Fund Event Program, and what he thinks should guide the conversation moving forward.

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March 1, 2022

The city has millions of dollars to support the Austin music scene. But who gets the money?

We’re looking at the Live Music Fund. We’ll tell you what it is, how it came to be, and we’ll explore the conversation around who gets the money.

You’ll hear from various people across the spectrum of Austin’s live music ecosystem.

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February 15, 2022

Musician pay for live shows in Austin hasn’t changed in 40 years. Here are some other ways they’ve found to make money with music.

Austin musicians are making the same amount of money per gig as they did in 1979. In the latest episode, we look at gig pay through the years and talk to musicians Greg Clifford and Beto Martinez about how they’ve found ways to make money from music that don’t involve playing live.

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