# How much money Marc-André Hamelin earn annually from his Hyperion recording contract?



## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

Just curious about how much a world-class talent with a taste for obscure repertoire and not signed to one of the big labels might hope to make bank.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

10k tops. He probably makes the bulk of his income from live performances and other extra-musical sources.


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## aioriacont (Jul 23, 2018)

Just curious why bother with other people's income?


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

ribonucleic said:


> Just curious about how much a world-class talent with a taste for obscure repertoire and not signed to one of the big labels might hope to make bank.


It depends on the people doing his business, if he has a good manger they can makes a lot.


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## vmartell (Feb 9, 2017)

aioriacont said:


> Just curious why bother with other people's income?


It is interesting to me because is obviously a sign of the health of the business that provides me with recordings. I worry when the people who make them cannot make a living out of it.

v


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

vmartell said:


> It is interesting to me because is obviously a sign of the health of the business that provides me with recordings. I worry when the people who make them cannot make a living out of it.
> 
> v


I think people used to make quite a good living from recordings, but not for a while, the contracts are very different, as are margins and volumes. None of the musicians I know live from their recordings, and one of them, an opera singer, has many to his name. Concerts and teaching are essential. In the early music world I was once in a discussion with some professional musicians and I remember one of them, a flautist, said that in her opinion the last person to make decent money from a recording contract was probably Christopher Hogwood! I don't think she was joking. There's one very famous harpsichord player I know who was one step away from eviction from his flat in Paris because he couldn't pay the rent. If you're a harpsichordist the scope from making money from concerts is very limited.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

Wow, if all this is true, I'm glad I never became a concert pianist (lack of talent).


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

chill782002 said:


> Wow, if all this is true, I'm glad I never became a concert pianist (lack of talent).


I wouldn't expect much of it to be true. It's all pure speculation. Anyway, I hope Hamelin's making more than 10k. It'd be nice to make at least a living wage on a recording contract. It's not like he's selling zero records.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

flamencosketches said:


> I wouldn't expect much of it to be true. It's all pure speculation. Anyway, I hope Hamelin's making more than 10k. It'd be nice to make at least a living wage on a recording contract. It's not like he's selling zero records.


Yeah, 10k seems extremely low and Hamelin is a highly regarded pianist, although his habit of recording works by almost unknown composers probably doesn't do him a lot of favours from a financial point of view. However, you can't tell me that pianists like Richter, Horowitz and Cliburn made that sort of money, I would have imagined their incomes would have been hundreds of thousands a year, if not more. Surely top pianists are generally quite high earners? Top conductors certainly are.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

chill782002 said:


> Yeah, 10k seems extremely low and Hamelin is a highly regarded pianist, although his habit of recording works by almost unknown composers probably doesn't do him a lot of favours from a financial point of view. However, you can't tell me that pianists like Richter, Horowitz and Cliburn made that sort of money, I would have imagined their incomes would have been hundreds of thousands a year, if not more. Surely top pianists are generally quite high earners? Top conductors certainly are.


We're not talking about total earnings, just those from recordings.

And you're talking about a different era. The pianists you mention were at the very top echelon, with recording contracts with major labels, at a time when physical product was all that there was - no broadcasts, no streaming, no file-sharing, no digital media - when LP's cost $7, now the equivalent of $40-50. In the modern era, musicians need to make their money via live events; recordings only keep their name in front of the public.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

wkasimer said:


> We're not talking about total earnings, just those from recordings.
> 
> And you're talking about a different era. The pianists you mention were at the very top echelon, with recording contracts with major labels, at a time when physical product was all that there was - no broadcasts, no streaming, no file-sharing, no digital media - when LP's cost $7, now the equivalent of $40-50. In the modern era, musicians need to make their money via live events; recordings only keep their name in front of the public.


Thanks, all very good points.


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