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Writer's pictureLilan Kane

EPISODE 2: MONEY STUFF

Budgeting, Financial Literacy, Tax Stuff, Saving Money, and more! Aired Sunday, March 29, 2020

OUTLINE BUDGETING FINANCIAL LITERACY TAX STUFF MUSIC GRANTS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE DURING COVID19 GEAR INSURANCE PUBLISHING & DIGITAL ROYALTIES WHEN TO SPEND, WHEN TO GET CREATIVE OTHER WAYS TO SAVE

CLICK HERE FOR THE DROPBOX FOLDER LINK


BUDGETING - you can find Google Sheet templates in the DropBox Folder PERSONAL BUDGETING - Know where your money goes!


  • All income

  • All expenses

  • Business (potential write-off) expenses

Where can you cut expenses? Where should you keep things? Shop around to make sure you are getting the best deal on your phone bundle, your car insurance, etc. Separate your bank accounts - one for personal, one for business Recommended apps - Mint.com - great budgeting app and free, Quickbooks - free and free consults available PROJECT/ALBUM/SHOW BUDGETS Make a budget!! - learn Google Sheets Right meow! *What are your expenses? - band members, MD, rehearsal space, rehearsals, photographer, merch design, merch, merch person, hair/makeup, video/audio recording, flyers, posters, sponsored ads, publicist, street team *What is your potential income? - ticket sales, album sales, merch sales, donations Allocate your money in different areas - put aside $ from each gig/lesson paycheck into a tax fund and a larger creative/business fund --Use that for sessions, materials, gig pay, graphic design, merch, touring FINANCIAL LITERACY - Learn how to create a budget, track spending, techniques to pay off debt, tax planning, and effectively planning for retirement. - Talk to a financial planner and accountant (get a free consultation) or research resources for this. - Gain financial stability - do not spend what you can’t afford, pay off credit cards, build your credit and savings, consolidate debt - Learn about the stock market - check out Alex Attard’s facebook group “Investing With Friends” - Get a mileage card!!! - free flights/travel, research cash back cards, if you need to build credit, get a secure credit card - Stack some cash - cash never goes out of style! - Make sure you are setup on Paypal, Cash App, Venmo, and Zelle so people can pay you - Get a venmo and paypal card!! - they are free and you can choose fun colors! These cards act as debit cards giving you immediate access to the funds without having to transfer to your bank account


TAX STUFF Keep track of your receipts and travel. Spend a little time each week or month organizing your finances. Either find an app you like or dedicate a folder each month for all things music related, throw everything in the folder and organize it at the end of the month, then you can hand your 12 folders to an accountant at the end of the year Some write-offs include:

  • Booking fees for recording studios

  • Rent for classroom or teaching space

  • Utility costs for your workspace

  • The costs associated with registering for a business license

  • Maintaining insurance

  • Fees associated with maintaining your website, like domain registration and monthly hosting

  • Membership fees to professional associations, like the American Federation of Musicians

  • Professional services necessary for your business, such as lawyers' fees and tax preparation costs

  • Keep all receipts for travel to lessons, recording sessions, and performances, as you can claim the mileage come tax time.

  • Instrument upkeep and repairs, and the cost of consumable goods like rosin, are also deductible expenses.

  • Concert tickets, and transportation, and parking, incurred when you attend other musicians' performances. You attend these performances in order to enjoy them, but also to learn about musical trends, which makes them deductible.

MUSIC GRANTS Research grants in your area, FREE money is waiting! But you must have a plan and a budget/financial projection. You will need to propose why you need the money and where it will be going. Here are a few artist grants in the bay area:

  • Oakland - Cultural Funding Grant Program $1 mil per year to art & cultural activities

  • The Awesome Foundation

  • The Musical Grant Program - Mads Tolling 2019 recipient

  • Fleishhacker Foundation - dance, film, theater companies, chamber groups, John Santos

  • Financial assistance right now - many links in the Recommended Links PDF

GEAR INSURANCE Renter’s insurance and gear insurance are ALWAYS a good move. With the amount of money we spend on our prized gear, protect it! Renter’s insurance can cover a lot, but sometimes they will not cover certain things. It’s a good idea to call your car insurance and see if they offer renter’s insurance bundles. MusicPro.com - insurance site specifically for musical gear Clarions - classical Instrument Insurance WHEN TO SPEND, WHEN TO GET CREATIVE Free Services VS. Paid Work - You get what you pay for! It is a great resource to have people who are willing to help you out for free. Remember, your project will likely be lowest on the priority list and you may end up waiting a long time to get your final product. Asking for a homie hookup rate can be helpful so there is still a transaction of money to speed things along.

Prioritize what is important to you - Graphic Design and a good Mixing engineer is SO important, that is an area where I would definitely pay and not cut corners. Establish the expectations and deadlines in writing upfront and communicate often about the progress and any timeline adjustments. Pay half up front, half upon completion - Essentially, put a deposit down, DO NOT PAY IN FULL. This is a good incentive for the other person to complete the project. It also gives you the space to have more creative input. Worst case scenario if for any reason things go south, you have not lost all your money! Finding a Manager vs. Hiring Help - Chances are you do not need a manager, you just need some help. You are going to have to pay your dues and put in some time hustling and building relationships and fan base before any real manager will be willing to take you on as a client. Figure out where you need assistance and reach out for help in those areas. It is in your best interest to build relationships with people on your own anyway. Calling on Free Up & Coming Talent - Reach out to local creative institutions to find promising students who need to build their portfolios and resumes. This is a wealth of talent in so many fields including photography, video, recording, stylists, and more. I’ve listed a few programs these places offer that might be of interest for services.

*Call the schools and talk to the heads of the departments to find out who they recommend. Ex’Pressions College - free recording sessions, animation, digital film San Francisco Art Institute - photography, film, printmaking Oakland School for the Arts - fashion design, digital media, visual art, etc Academy Of Art - photography, music production & sound, graphic design, video, fashion California College of the Arts - animation, film, graphic design, photography, print media OTHER WAYS TO SAVE Learn how to cook - make your own food, make your own coffee, build a garden bed Eat on gigs - time your meals - skip breakfast, eat only lunch and dinner Shop on a budget - Trader Joe’s Shop n Save, shop in bulk on certain household items - TP, paper towels, pasta, rice, frozen meal packages that are great bases or side dishes, eggs, farmers markets, -boxed almond/soy milk, peanut butter, oats, canned goods, frozen vegetables, PB&J If you eat out, take half to go! - the portions nowadays are outrageous anyway If you order food delivery - get more than you need - you will have leftovers and only pay the delivery fee once Learn how to do things on your own - photoshop, write charts, make merch, websites, videos Check out “The Story” by WeAreKing Paris made this using paper cutouts and edited the entire video herself!

Barter: Save money & build relationships - what other services do you offer? Determine the monetary value and do a fair trade for each others services. Babysitting, meal prep, massage therapy, dog walking, house cleaning, cooking, music lessons, home organizing, graphic design, what else can you do??

  • Ex. Jason runs a recording studio for $60/hr. Jason has two young kids. You offer babysitting for $20/hr. A fair trade would be 3 hours of babysitting for 1 hour of studio time.

RECOMMENDED LINKS

BUDGETING/APPS Mint.com Quickbooks for Self-Employed Free Budget Templates - https://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/budgets.html How To Take Charge of Your Finances As A Musician 5 Finance Tips For Musicians How To Create A Music Marketing Budget in 4 Steps FINANCIAL LITERACY/TAX STUFF https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/ Tax planning for musicians - https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/income-tax-planning-for-musicians/ 100 Things Music Creators can deduct - https://growthgroup.com/tax-deductions-for-music-industry-creators-businesses/ Money Management for Musicians - https://www.aol.com/2013/05/30/money-management-artists-musicians/ Musicians Guide to Tax Write-Offs - https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/self-employment-taxes/the-musicians-guide-to-taxes-top-tax-deductions/L3dFXFokF 7 Ways To Protect Your Bank Account Before It’s Too Late Alex Attard’s Facebook Group - “Investing With Friends” SAVING MONEY/CREDIT CARDS 30 pantry staples on a budget Best Airline Mileage Cards - https://www.doughroller.net/credit-cards/best-airline-miles-credit-cards/ Ten Best Mileage Cards - https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnnyjet/2018/12/01/best-credit-cards-for-travel-miles/#1a194b586d48 Best Cash Back Credit Cards - https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-cash-back-credit-cards GRANTS https://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/chapters/oakland https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/cultural-funding-grant-program The Musical Grant Program - https://www.intermusicsf.org/mgp Fleishhacker Foundation - http://www.fleishhackerfoundation.org/grants/small-arts-grants/ GEAR INSURANCE Musicians’ Insurance: Everything You Need To Know Equipment Insurance - https://www.musicproinsurance.com/ Classical Instrument Insurance - https://www.clarionins.com/ MUSIC PUBLISHING & ROYALTIES Performing Right Organizations (PROs- ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) https://bandzoogle.com/blog/music-licensing-101-what-is-a-performing-rights-organization ASCAP - http://www.ascap.com BMI - http://www.bmi.com SESAC - http://www.sesac.com SoundExchange (streaming royalties) - https://www.soundexchange.com/ Nielsen BDS Radio - register songs for accurate and tracked radio play FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR MUSICIANS DURING CORONAVIRUS https://www.soundexchange.com/2020/03/18/resources-for-music-creators-during-the-coronavirus/ https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9337905/coronavirus-resource-guide-music-professionals-help Sidehustles - https://sidehusl.com/hiring-in-the-wake-of-coronavirus/ KQED - https://www.kqed.org/arts/13876893/emergency-funds-for-freelancers-creatives-losing-income-during-coronavirus Stimulus Package Info - https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/28/gig-economy-what-new-stimulus-package-means-freelancers/2934128001/ #mindyourbusiness #moneyformusicians #taxesfor musicians #financialliteracy #financialaidduringcovid

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