In the Live Music Capital, Gigs Often Fall Short, So One Austin Artist Turned to Licensing

Austin carries the title of Live Music Capital of the World, but performing on its stages does not necessarily bring in much money. Musician Mike Booher, who fronts the band Booher and plays guitar with A. Sinclair, described the disappointment of leaving a show with a tiny payout. "Sometimes you walk out of there with freaking 46 bucks," he said. "It's heartbreaking."

Nailing down what local performers earn per show is difficult because the range is wide. An informal social media survey by the Pause/Play podcast found pay running from playing for exposure, meaning nothing, to $50 to $100 per person, to several hundred dollars each, and occasionally more. Responses put the average at roughly $100 per person per gig.

At that rate, a musician would have to book 45 gigs a month to comfortably cover Austin's median rent of $1,500. Many performers therefore hold jobs outside the music business to fill the gap.

Some, however, have found ways to earn a living from music itself. Longtime Austin musician Terrany "Tee Double" Johnson receives emailed "briefs" from music supervisors nearly every day. The requests can be highly specific. One, he said, described two kids walking down an alley across from a club playing hip hop, along with what the song should be about. "So it's really particular," he said.

Johnson combs through his catalog for a track that suits the scene and sends it back quickly. "You have to be quick," he said. If a brief arrives at 8 o'clock, he is likely to respond with a song by 8:30.

The practice is known as sync licensing, in which the owner of a song is paid for allowing it to be paired with visuals in a television show, film or video game. Johnson has a deep supply to draw on: 30 self-produced albums, plus what he described as "five hard drives of just terabytes of songs" that remain unreleased.

When nothing in his archive fits, he creates something new, using sample kits or chopping up and replaying a record. His studio stays on nearly all the time, he said, because he never knows when an idea will come. He has also reworked existing material on request. For the film All She Can, producers asked him to adjust the lyrics and beat of "Hey DJ," which had appeared on one of his albums. He turned the changes around quickly, and the song made it into the movie.

His songs have also been placed in "Breaking Bad," "Rick and Morty," "The Start Up" and National Geographic programs.

As a kidney transplant recipient, Johnson has been especially cautious about performing live during the pandemic. He said sync licensing has been vital to his livelihood and now pays him more than rapping or performing would, even though performing is his first love. The income, he said, gives him a cushion so that he does not feel pressure to take a show.

More of Johnson's story and a deeper look at sync licensing are available in the latest episode of Pause/Play, which can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR One and other podcast platforms.