Discreet Advice on Salaries: would be appreciated!
  • Stella611
    Posts: 112
    If there are any of you that are paid church musicians in a Texas metropolitan area (or other city area with similar cost of living), I would appreciate any private replies about how you are paid (hourly, salary, other), and what that ends up amounting to per hour, based on the average number of hours you work each week (averaged out over the course of the year).

    And, whether you think the current pay is just or not, and why or why not.

    Thank you.
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,217
    Often the local AGO Chapter has a salary guide--in this area it's on-line (Milwaukee.) They break down compensation in a variety of ways that may be helpful for you. Be warned: the AGO scale is usually higher than what the Catholic church likes to pay.
    Thanked by 1cesarfranck
  • rogue63
    Posts: 410
    The AGO no longer publishes the Salary Guide, and it's been taken down from all chapter websites. It was a dispute that involved the Federal Trade Commission and lawyers, etc. Anyway, don't bother with that.

    The AAM publishes a much better and more reliable guide anyway, including fees for weddings and funerals.
    Thanked by 3cesarfranck Cantus67 stulte
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,464
    Yes the AAM publishes a guide...do you know of one Catholic Church that remunerates musicians at that level? Some Anglicans do.
    The thing is, remuneration is the RC is all over the map. There is no guide followed, except that many parishes pay by the mass in order to avoid giving any benefits to musicians - we all know the full time jobs that are listed as '20 hours a week' to avoid this. Yes, social justice?
  • ContinuousbassContinuousbass
    Posts: 357
    Whatever salaries are elsewhere, ours is being cut due to “finances”. We don’t even know how much yet.
    ;(
  • JaredOstermann
    Posts: 483
    Holy Cow - the AAM guide makes the old AGO guide look downright stingy by comparison! I wonder how often it is followed in Anglican circles...
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,694
    do you know of one Catholic Church that remunerates musicians at that level?


    Yes, there are many.
    Thanked by 2BruceL Marc Cerisier
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,464
    matthewj:
    Really? I have never heard of a RC church anywhere paying what a person with a doctorate and the experience listed receives anywhere near the salaries mentioned.
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,916
    I am reminded of Joseph Haydn commenting on his younger brother Michael, lamenting how such a bright musical mind was so badly paid: "One could earn more money with a bagpipe than with masses and offertories."

    And this was at a point in time when the patrons of Church music were nobility, as well as clergy.
    Thanked by 2WGS mmeladirectress
  • ValerieOestry
    Posts: 39
    I was speaking with my mother about just this topic the other day. Not only does it make a difference in paying bills monthly; it makes a difference in the 403(b) contributions. So we are unjustly compensated now and in our retirement. She said something about not having to tithe - I told her that should be my choice, not the Church's. I believe it becomes a labor of love for all of us.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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