Larry Jones
 
My next album might go platinum. So I'm not releasing it, because it also might not go platinum.
 
I am a former full-time pro Hollywood studio owner/struggling musician. I have promoted myself to complete amateur, doing exactly the music I freakin feel like doing.

Also, Minneapolis is where it's at.

There's a first...never thought I'd hear a Southern Californian say that Minneapolis is where it's at!

streckfus

Sylvan
2. Part Time Pro.
 
I work in IT mostly to keep my health insurance benefits for my family. I supplement the family income working as an audio engineer using SONAR.
I always have paying clients of one sort or another. Generally I net between $500 - $2,000 a month from SONAR related work. Although for July 2015, I am lined up with $4,450 worth of work. But I will be completely buried and will have no life to speak of outside the studio...ha ha ha. I guess that's what I wanted, well, I got it. At least for July, then back to the normal load. 

That's awesome!  Do you have a complete studio setup (separate control booth, room for miking a drum kit, etc.) or is it a single room project studio?  I'd love to start building up a client list and work on the cheap, but at this time it would be tough to accommodate anything other than solo singer/songwriters since I don't have the gear or space to accommodate a full band, etc.  I do my own "full band" recordings, but aside from vocals it's all in the box (Addictive Drums 2, Eleven Rack for my guitars, EWQL Hollywood suite, Pianoteq for my keyboard, etc.).

I have been leasing a large warehouse space that has been converted into a 7 room studio. A control room, a large live room, and several iso rooms.
 
However, the owner is a complete lunatic and I am transitioning out of there. It was a crazy deal anyway and I just want out. I had to share with another organization and the cost was high.
 
So I just moved my family into a real house and I am currently converting the garage and 1 bedroom into the new studio. It will be a lot smaller but I will still have room to do drums and even a full band all at once. That is all I need.
 
I should also mention that the IT department I work for is in a school district, so for half on June and all of July we are out of work for the summer. That is why I can line up so much extra work in the summer using SONAR. During the summer, audio work and SONAR is my only source of income. But we make just fine every year.

During the transition to the new studio, I am running large tracking sessions that require drums and full bands at a theatre in one of the schools I work at. All wood floors 14' high ceiling. huge open space. So it is all working out.

Full Time Hobbyist
 
(out of work, but enjoying it so far...)

Great thread! I am looking forward to reading more about what people do.
 
I myself am one step below hobbyist. Mostly I just play guitar to backing tracks. It keeps me off the streets.
 
I am an Aerospace Engineer during the day so the guitars and Sonar are my therapy :-)

Hobbyist here (but very serious).

Although I'm not crazy about the term "hobbyist", I guess that's where I'd fall!
 
Been playing guitar since I'm eight years old and have been passionate about music ever since (I'm 57 now}. I played in various bands growing up (including wedding bands when I lived on France for a while). I've been using Cakewalk since Guitar Studio days. I now just compose and record my own music to share with my friends.
 
I LOVE music and music production!

I am a full time piano teacher who owns a music school and home studio. Most of my work revolve arround making music for our music curriculum. Once in a while a paid job do come my way.

I am in category 0. Amateur.
 
Which actually is not a derogatory term. And is not a commentary on talent or skill as is sometimes the perception.  The root of the word means "lover of", but not engaged in a pursuit as a profession.
 
I have a passion for music and recording, but have done little paid studio work. Perhaps this will change as my load of responsibilities in other areas of life change. I mostly record myself, family and friends. I have dabbled a little in opening up my studio to the outside world. Most potential work I have had is by referral of overflow from a friend's studio. But unfortunately this didn't work out because some of those seemed to be nuts he didn't want to deal with. 
 
Also, I get inquiries from youngsters who think a whole cd project should be doable for $100 or less. (4 minutes a song, right?)
 
So at this point in life I haven't really tried to make use of my studio as an income generator, or pursue business, although I do have an equipment list that would compare favorably with most local facilities.
 
Most times when I speak with a prospective client the first question they have is "do you have ProTools?" Often this is the beginning of the end of our conversation.  There are a lot of people out there who know just enough about recording to have heard that one "should" use PT. 
 
Any income I derive from music is usually from live performances.
 
 
 

I'm a part timer.
 
I was able to semi-retire at 49 (because of some smart decisions, but mostly dumb luck!) and pursue some of the things I want to do.
 
Although I've been in and out of bands and played music since childhood, after slowing down my non-musical career, I had the opportunity to to "go on the road" with an established band. We played 2 to 5 nights a week and toured around the mid-west (I live in rural Nebraska). I'd always dreamed of doing that and enjoyed it tremendously. I made a lot of great music, met some incredible people (including my wife), worked with some big name acts and made some life long friends. But all good things come to an end, right? Things started to happen in the band that just didn't work for me and were beyond my control (I was just a sideman) and after 5 years I decided to get out. No regrets.
 
I started recording years ago on 4 track cassette and reel to reel decks and then moved to Sonar at version 2.0 (whenever that was). I've recorded groups that I was in, as well as a few other artists over the years, but mostly my own projects. I'm also part of an on-going collaboration with 3 of my brothers (link in my signature). Part of my studio time is spent transferring vinyl to digital. I have a huge collection of my uncles work, starting in 1958, that I want to preserve for family members. I have studio recordings, Grand Ole Opry shows, various radio shows, Armed Forces radio spots, live show recordings, etc.
 
I started pursuing live sound about 25 years ago. I started out buying and running SR for my own group, but grew from there. Over the years I've worked with area bands, festivals, community events and schools. Today we provide SR for area school events including musicals with up to 22 wireless systems and are always looking for ways to expand our SR business. The system continues to grow and we're always upgrading in quality. For bigger shows I sub-contract with a friend who runs a full time sound company to provide what I don't have. We also work with a company to provide big screen projection when needed.
 
Future plans include recording and playing live shows with my wife (yes, she's a musician also: classically trained and highly skilled!). We're also in the planning stages of building a big garage/shop/recording studio. It will be nice to get the studio out of the house and have room to expand.  
 
All for the love of music!  lol