Who Earns What

Perks: "We're treated with respect: Our rider says we get a bottle of booze and beer at each show, and our meals are paid for most of the time. Those are things you never get when you start out in the music business. You're talking about guys who were working menial jobs. I was making $20,000 a year busting my ass on a job site."
Pains: "I'm on the phone constantly. We're not paying a manager, and we don't have a record company. The job doesn't have a pay scale. One guy can work for nothing, and another guy can make hundreds a night; there's no way to gauge it. The fans have high standards -- you'd better be really good or they'll turn their backs on you."
Pay: $150,000

MAJOR-LABEL A&R EXECUTIVE
Los Angeles

Perks: "At a major label in the 21st century? It's a leaner, meaner record business. The expense accounts here are now very, very modest. But people are still wowed by the fact that you're in any type of entertainment. It's a lot sexier to have a business card with my company's logo than to be working at Kinko's."
Pains: "I scour North America for records on independent labels or unsigned talent with airplay on local stations. In the old days, you could break records regionally. Now it's very difficult. It's hard for local acts to gain traction nationally. In pioneering times, you'd just call a whole bunch of record stores and they'd say, '3 Doors Down' -- they didn't have a label then. But in the shrinking retail environment, when you call a Best Buy, you don't get anyone on the phone who has any passion for music."
Pay: $92,000 (pay at previous label: $250,000)

MUSIC PUBLICIST:
New York City

Perks: "I've worked with everyone from David Byrne to the Beastie Boys, and hanging around listening to them talk about their art is inspiring. People have this perception of publicists as bombastic and full of shit. But I bring art to the masses. I've had artists say to me, after their first big magazine feature, 'Now my parents think what I do is legitimate.' And they mean it."
Pains: "There's less money to go around, so you have to take on more clients to maintain your standard of living. On the Web, there's a problem of accuracy: To get info up as fast as possible, sometimes you lose the facts. Sometimes I have to explain reviews to my clients: 'Is that bad or good?' 'Well, he did say you sound like Arcade Fire, and everyone likes them, right?' If something goes well, you can take credit, but if it goes wrong, you get blamed. And press still doesn't sell records."
Pay: $120,000