Making a living as a musician has never really been a secure or stable career choice. For all the creative or emotional satisfaction it can bring, it’s not always a guarantee that bills are going to get paid, the roof stays over your head, or that there will be food on the table. In a compact 83 pages, author Adonis Aletras’ book aims to get you thinking about squaring that particular circle, distilling some core ideas from his many years of experience of doing just that in his own musical journey.

Part 1 starts with a pretty stark but undeniably accurate discussion of why, in isolation, streaming numbers don’t make a good business model. With that reality acknowledged, Part 2 succinctly encourages an exploration of how your skills and areas of expertise drawn from your musicianship can be transferable, and therefore used to develop alternative or multiple income streams. These may well have music at their heart but, just as importantly, they can offer sources of income that then provide the freedom and security to pursue your personal music ambitions. Amongst other things, these include things like sync licensing, remote work for hire as a musician, providing technical audio services, or teaching either in person or online.

Part 3 focuses on basic strategies for staying afloat financially given the many uncertainties of working within the music industry, while Part 4 outlines some initial strategies that help you take the required action and move towards a more stable pattern of income without losing sight of your musical ambitions. Here, as elsewhere, there is common‑sense advice and encouragement to think strategically about how you build a sustainable path; there’s no waffle, just clear, simple and sensible advice written in a succinct fashion.

It is an efficient reality check for anyone — young or old — who is just beginning to work out how they make their musical dream into a pragmatic, sustainable pattern of work.

If your idea of a musical career is built on the possibility of a hit single opening all the subsequent doors, then good luck and fingers crossed for you. However, that’s not really the route to success you’ll learn about here. Nor is this a comprehensive textbook on the more realistic approaches it introduces. What it is, however, is an efficient reality check for anyone — young or old — who is just beginning to work out how they make their musical dream into a pragmatic, sustainable pattern of work. This is simple advice clearly articulated and intended to put some sensible strategy into your musician lifestyle. You could easily consume the entire book in a single extended sitting and, if you are just starting to build a career for yourself centred on your skills as a musician, that would be a couple of hours very well spent.