Balance Sheet: Annie Blackman Breaks Down Income and Expenses from SXSW 2023
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Balance Sheet is our effort to break down taboos around money in the music industry. Today, Annie Blackman goes through the income and expenses from performing at SXSW 2023.
Brooklyn-based folk artist Annie Blackman is all about honesty. It’s baked into her songwriting, which feels personal, authentic, and filled with clarity; her latest, an EP titled Bug, is the most recent evidence of that. The album’s third and final single, “The Well,” is grounded and lyrically rich, but arrived with a playful music video that acts as a window into Blackman’s more whimsical sensibilities.
As an artist who has been writing since her teenage years, Blackman is no stranger to the lifestyle required of working musicians. In our latest edition of Balance Sheet, Blackman takes us behind-the-scenes of her journey to SXSW 2023 in Austin, Texas, breaking down the costs required to travel to and from the festival in addition to lodging and entertainment.
“I made $300 from one show, but the whole thing went to my two band members,” she shares of her experience. Read on for a portrait of the circumstances many rising artists must manage in order to bring music to wider audiences.
Travel
I flew to Austin, TX, from Newark, NJ. At the airport, I bought a chocolate chip cliff bar, turkey stick, and grande iced coffee with whole milk (yes, whole milk). I slept most of the flight there and back. Was the airfare worth almost one-half of one thousand dollars? I think so. Uber costs added up, too. Getting around Austin wasn’t easy, especially since I frequently bounced between downtown and non-downtown unofficial shows. I got a couple of free rides and took a couple of long-ish walks, but the cars added up. There was also one pedicab ride during which I thought I might die.
Subtotal: -$702
Lodging
The greatest blessing of SXSW 2023 was how my friend Marlon and his partner Clare opened their perfect/beautiful/cool Austin home (for free) to me and other musician pals. I can’t emphasize enough how meaningful it was for them to let me (and Evan, Steven, and Mario) crash at their house for free for a whole week. Who does that!? I slept like a baby for seven nights and woke up to fresh coffee, clean towels, friendship, awesome vibes, etc.
Subtotal: $0
Food
I had some delicious food that week — lots of tacos of varying contents. Perhaps the most exciting meal was when Marlon and Clare took me to Waffle House, and I got the Country Ham. At the beginning of the week, Marlon took us to the grocery store, and I bought a family-size box of strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats which I used to supplement my meals. My label manager Jessi took me out to a lovely dinner, Marlon treated me a few times, and my dad came on the trip with me, so he covered a few dinners which was all nice and helpful. I paid for my two bandmates’ food/coffee whenever they let me.
Subtotal: -$247.77
Entertainment
The main entertainment cost was thrifting. I bought a pair of vintage jeans and a brown George Strait T-shirt. There was also a quick trip to a toy store while waiting for our table at a diner, and I bought five rubber animal figurines. At Marlon’s, we watched a few episodes of Milf Manor, which was certainly entertainment but completely free.
Subtotal: -$118.86
Music Expenses
I paid my bandmates the only check we got that week— splitting it between the two of them. Also, the jack on my guitar shorted which would have required a repair, but I was able to borrow an alternative from a mutual friend. I still haven’t fixed it!
Subtotal: -$300
Income
I made $300 from the first show of the week. The other two shows I played were official showcases, so those weren’t going to yield any cash. I have a remote, non-music job that I was sort of planning on doing while I was away, but it quickly became apparent that the festivities were too distracting, so I took the week off.
Subtotal: $300
Balance Sheet
Travel: -$702
Lodging: $0
Food: -$247.77
Entertainment: -$118.86
Music Expenses: -$300
Income: $300
Total: -$1,068.63
Balance Sheet: Annie Blackman Breaks Down Income and Expenses from SXSW 2023
Mary Siroky and Wren Graves
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