Full-time musician | Update no.1

Giving you a breakdown on how the first few months of trying to make a full time income as musician. I'm not sure if this is at all interesting to anyone but I said that I would keep you updated so here it is!

Big thanks to all those who support me on Patreon including Peter Trickett, Ryan Harris, Tommy, Svilen Stoilov, Chris Davis and Brian Hook.

My Equipment:

[alexbabcock]

I don’t really know what that translates to, but you deserve all the best. You’re a great teacher, and have helped me a lot with guitar after just a few videos.. and I’ve watched plenty before those!

[yngvi]

Guitarist here, so not all your content applies to my instrument, but a lot of it does. Especially theory related.
I just want to say thanks, I really dig your approach to the videos - by which I mean your onscreen persona, mannerism and tone of voice. But you also produce some real quality content, I watch even the stuff that isn't directly translatable to my instrument.
Just... I appreciate what you do.

[relativetimeworx]

I'm definitely pulling for you man. I have a great appreciation for your content as I find that your delivery style immediately sparks my creativity and it always feels immediately applicable as well as filling the gaps in my own musical journey. Keep up the great work.

[patrickfitzgerald]

Your reasoning/planning seems impeccable . . . the stoic gods are surely bent over double with laughter! I'll post some marginally interesting thoughts of my own on Update #2.

[jamiesutphin]

Wow, that's pretty candid about yourself. You're keeping it real, the authenticity just makes you sit up and take notice.

[jenanderson]

I think it IS exciting! You left to be able to make money from music - you've earned more than your previous job and are currently growing. It's definitely inspiring. Xx

[DamDominiciMusic]

You are awesome Michael! As someone else commented here, piano is not my instrument. And as a guitar player I'm just getting so much out of your videos. Your pace, tone, examples, humor and graphics take the learning experience to the next level. Thank you for bringing all this to the world! Making a course sounds great!!! Best of luck!

[filiper]

Michael, I'm a big fan of your videos, quality of production, the contents, your language and humor are really unique.

As a suggestion, maybe it would be interesting to produce videos analysing a specific song's chord progressions & harmonies. This brings the theory to real and known songs, helping with the learning curve as well.

[srgntstache]

Guitarist here- I definitely agree when you say “You’re just getting started.” I think your work in video production is expediting your YT career because the quality is great. I love your teaching content. As I’ve gone deeper down the music theory rabbit hole it’s been harder to find information that connects the dots in a meaningful and contextual way. I want to know why these musical ideas connect and mesh, not just “copy this shape or play this scale”. Music is my way to express what I’m feeling. So I wanna continue to learn new ways to express that. Your content is great, please keep up the great work. Obviously more content more frequently would increase engagement, but I’m here for the journey at whatever pace.

[GeoffHudson]

Love the update, Michael! It's amazing that you've already grown your income to at least break even with your prior job. I love your candor, and in my opinion, that's probably the key to growing your reputation in your field and the income has obviously followed that. Most people who embark on this journey sorely underestimate the time and effort it takes to get established. Your prior experience and YouTube presence certainly gave you a leg up. I also think it was a smart move to have multiple streams of revenue to help even out the variability. I also think it's easy for creative people to get bored easily - so these various threads help to grow and nurture your passion from and to multiple directions. Best wishes for a fruitful outcome; you're off to a fantastic start!

[davidchukwuocha]

Exciting growth! Congratulations on thirty thousand subscribers.

[stamatismessinis]

I would only like to add my voice here to say how much i appreciate your content and the way it is presented. Concise, candid, with humor and humanity. Music has always been my hobby and I am aware that I lack the determination and structure (in my habits) to pursue it fully so I still carry my ball and chain with me as they still secure my monthly paycheck. I am also very unsure about how sustainable a music/media career would be considering the AI onslaught (good and bad), the diminishing revenue for artists and musicians who support them, as well as the whole so called "music business" in past and present, which is essentially an impoverished version of beekeeping.

I am glad to see you being honest about your endeavors and not selling the usual pyramid scheme style success story :) I wish you every success in the growth of your channel and other musical ventures. Honestly, I have benefited a lot from your videos, from your analytical way of thinking, almost like lego pieces coming together to become a greater thing. Wish you all the best!

[lovelakland]

I say it again. You're the most humble musician I've ever seen on YouTube. You're the best music teacher I've ever seen. You're exclusively who I feel to learn jazz from now. I've never seen anyone be so transparent. God will continue to bless you. You will be greatly blessed Mr. Keithson.

[tinpandarlings]

Thanks for your transparency on these issues. Good videos too !

[SheaViolin]

Congratulations on your success so far! It's inspiring to see, especially as someone who shares the same goal. I hope you keep collecting the wins!

[elfrank]

I am excited about your progress and hope to follow suit in the future.

[steevkelly]

i appreciate your honesty and transparency. being a professional musician isn't the fairy tale we were told - it's long, hard work. that's my comment to feed the algorithm, hope it helps bring more people to your channel. i've learned a lot from you in this short time.

[tonyrapa-tonyrapa]

Well done, dude! I sincerely hope your music career carries on growing.

[JosephRodgers-ktnt]

Love the theory content, saved me in composing for school! Glad your making progress

[LuckyLeite]

I've been watching your theory/piano content (thank you for that btw, really cool stuff) but this one I decided to chime in a bit. I'm myself considering how to start making money from music. Currently I have a job that supports my Music habit, but ideally I'd like to start cutting back from that and move into making at least a bit of supplemental income from music.

Following this here has been a great inspiration, thank you for your candor in putting it all out there. I agree what you said there about the "new normal" being multiple income streams: everyone I know who is a "full time" musician is actually supplementing that income with lessons, working at a music shop, etc. This is something that's made me more secure about keeping this job I have that I'm very grateful for and simply devoting more free time to music, but it's a balancing act that I haven't figured out yet

Anyway ramblings aside, thank you for this really inspiring work you put in here, and for helping an aspiring, relatively new pianist feel more confident about not wanting to learn how to read sheet music!