Frazz and Jef seem to share a theme. For Frazz, being a custodian is an offset from the pressures of the entertainment world. For Jef, Frazz is his offset from a world he seems to find both interesting and irrational. Each has found a professional level that includes a sense of achievement and pleasing results, so other things seem less important. We should all be so fortunate.
“And Kris he is a movie star and he’s moved off to L.A.” – H. W. Jr. Kris Kristofferson’s first job when he got to Nashville was a school janitor. I always wondered if he was the inspiration for Frazz.
That’s a good one, must admit I liked this strip. And, Frazz has enough income to afford a $10K bike and take it all over the country to compete in triathlons. Not bad on a “janitor’s” income. By the way, the janitors I know are school board employees, make a decent wage, have super benefits and are unionized.
One of the secrets of enjoying a life of means is having the sense to live below those means so you never have to worry about money. There are too many folks who make over a million a year who get treadmilled by getting all the things a person of means is supposed to have. Frazz limits his extravagances to the things that bring him joy.
From the Nashville Songwriters Association site: "Songwriter royalties are the only income stream in America dictated by the Federal Government! Songwriters cannot increase their mechanical and performance royalty income even if the cost of doing business increases.
A songwriter may go years without receiving royalties. If they have a hit song, the Federal Government says that the songwriter must receive royalties immediately after they are collected. This means a songwriter might receive most of their income from a song in one calendar year – making that income subject to a disproportionately high income-tax levy. Other creators, such as book authors, can negotiate the terms of their payments over several years for tax purposes – but NOT songwriters! Songwriters were once allowed to average their incomes. This is no longer permitted."
If you’re poor, you have to know your income because every penny matters. If you’re well off, you might know your income because it’s interesting to you. If you’re rich you cannot know because you own investments… and the value of the investments changes from moment to moment.
I have found that an important part of being able to enjoy life is figure out what you like doing best first. Then find a way to get a job doing that, or making a job like that for yourself. Next, find out what you need to be doing that job. It probably won’t be easy – it takes about 5000 hours (2-1/2 years, 40 hour weeks, 50 weeks a year) working, practicing, schooling to start getting good at it, and about the same to master it. Remember – YOU HAVE TO HAVE FUN DOING IT!!!! The people who love their jobs never work a day in their life – they’re having too much fun.
I know that it’s true- I’m doing it. Started with a bulb and a battery when I was 5 and always loved (at the time) playing with it. Went to school, had a number of entry type jobs, still having fun & learning to apply the schooling..
Now, I’m 69 YO, no required retirement age, still loving what I do, and getting paid for what I’d be doing at home on my own nickel if I retired. HAH!!!
The lake where I do most of my open water swim training is in kind of an affluent section of an affluent county. How affluent? We sight on, and swim to, a lighthouse. A real, two-story-high, blinking lighthouse. A working lighthouse, or at least a lighthouse that works, because there are no reports to my knowledge of mariners running aground on the reefs of Walnut Lake. This ain’t no lawn ornament. Except it is. It is someone’s private lighthouse, for decoration and atmosphere. On an inland lake that’s three-quarters of a mile across. And we swimmers benefit mightily from it.
When we swim back, we aim for a less obvious but still effective distinctive notch in the treeline. It’s not as easy to see as a lighthouse, but it’s easier to see when you’re swimming into the sunrise than the mansion I’m about to abruptly change the subject to.
Also because the mansion is so enormous you’d have to aim for the correct sector of the thing if you don’t want to end up swimming an extra quarter mile. This is a house that makes a statement. And I am confident that statement is, “damn it, we ran out of money AGAIN.” I believe this is the third year it’s been there, maybe the fourth, and it’s still nowhere near built yet. We’ve seen at least two For Sale signs out front, and the pace of construction is one of fits and starts and long periods of no apparent activity. Maybe the stock market dips, maybe somebody’s multimillion-dollar bonus doesn’t come through. Or, let’s be fair, maybe it’s just hard to schedule the kind of artisans you need for that kind of architecture. Haw! I crack myself up. It’s not that interesting. It’s just big. What it does not look like is a source of joy. Stress, yes. Aggravation, yes. Pride, sure. Forced patience, definitely. Fear and insecurity, likely. But joy, no. I’m not seeing waves of happiness emanating from it.
I looked it up (or tried to). Songwriters get around $.09 per record/track sold. So, a gold record (1 million copies sold) would bring in $90,000, but a beginning songwriter will probably have to split that 50-50 with the publisher.
The writer also gets performance royalties for when the song is performed in public or played on the radio (or streamed on the internet). I could not find how much that is.
Finally, there are royalties if the song is used on television, in a movie, or in a video. This royalty is negotiated; obviously, the bigger the hit, the more negotiating power the writer will have.
So, unless Frazz’s song sold many millions of copies, or was in the top ten for weeks, he was unlikely to make enough on one song to be financially independent.
drogers30 over 5 years ago
The royalties keep coming every time it’s played or recorded.
Nachikethass over 5 years ago
Having money’s nice. But having a life’s better.
marc robinson over 5 years ago
How come we never see Frazz playing music? Or encouraging a kid to play? His free time seems to be all about the triathlon stuff. It’s odd.
sandpiper over 5 years ago
Frazz and Jef seem to share a theme. For Frazz, being a custodian is an offset from the pressures of the entertainment world. For Jef, Frazz is his offset from a world he seems to find both interesting and irrational. Each has found a professional level that includes a sense of achievement and pleasing results, so other things seem less important. We should all be so fortunate.
MS72 over 5 years ago
coo coo ca choo
Ichabod Ferguson over 5 years ago
“And Kris he is a movie star and he’s moved off to L.A.” – H. W. Jr. Kris Kristofferson’s first job when he got to Nashville was a school janitor. I always wondered if he was the inspiration for Frazz.
cervelo over 5 years ago
That’s a good one, must admit I liked this strip. And, Frazz has enough income to afford a $10K bike and take it all over the country to compete in triathlons. Not bad on a “janitor’s” income. By the way, the janitors I know are school board employees, make a decent wage, have super benefits and are unionized.
Darwinskeeper over 5 years ago
One of the secrets of enjoying a life of means is having the sense to live below those means so you never have to worry about money. There are too many folks who make over a million a year who get treadmilled by getting all the things a person of means is supposed to have. Frazz limits his extravagances to the things that bring him joy.
rugeirn over 5 years ago
If Francis doesn’t know what his royalties are, I guarantee you he’s being fleeced like a young goose.
TennesseeFran over 5 years ago
From the Nashville Songwriters Association site: "Songwriter royalties are the only income stream in America dictated by the Federal Government! Songwriters cannot increase their mechanical and performance royalty income even if the cost of doing business increases.
A songwriter may go years without receiving royalties. If they have a hit song, the Federal Government says that the songwriter must receive royalties immediately after they are collected. This means a songwriter might receive most of their income from a song in one calendar year – making that income subject to a disproportionately high income-tax levy. Other creators, such as book authors, can negotiate the terms of their payments over several years for tax purposes – but NOT songwriters! Songwriters were once allowed to average their incomes. This is no longer permitted."
Concretionist over 5 years ago
If you’re poor, you have to know your income because every penny matters. If you’re well off, you might know your income because it’s interesting to you. If you’re rich you cannot know because you own investments… and the value of the investments changes from moment to moment.
1MadHat Premium Member over 5 years ago
I have found that an important part of being able to enjoy life is figure out what you like doing best first. Then find a way to get a job doing that, or making a job like that for yourself. Next, find out what you need to be doing that job. It probably won’t be easy – it takes about 5000 hours (2-1/2 years, 40 hour weeks, 50 weeks a year) working, practicing, schooling to start getting good at it, and about the same to master it. Remember – YOU HAVE TO HAVE FUN DOING IT!!!! The people who love their jobs never work a day in their life – they’re having too much fun.
I know that it’s true- I’m doing it. Started with a bulb and a battery when I was 5 and always loved (at the time) playing with it. Went to school, had a number of entry type jobs, still having fun & learning to apply the schooling..
Now, I’m 69 YO, no required retirement age, still loving what I do, and getting paid for what I’d be doing at home on my own nickel if I retired. HAH!!!
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
PostsFrazz15 hrs ·
The lake where I do most of my open water swim training is in kind of an affluent section of an affluent county. How affluent? We sight on, and swim to, a lighthouse. A real, two-story-high, blinking lighthouse. A working lighthouse, or at least a lighthouse that works, because there are no reports to my knowledge of mariners running aground on the reefs of Walnut Lake. This ain’t no lawn ornament. Except it is. It is someone’s private lighthouse, for decoration and atmosphere. On an inland lake that’s three-quarters of a mile across. And we swimmers benefit mightily from it.
When we swim back, we aim for a less obvious but still effective distinctive notch in the treeline. It’s not as easy to see as a lighthouse, but it’s easier to see when you’re swimming into the sunrise than the mansion I’m about to abruptly change the subject to.
Also because the mansion is so enormous you’d have to aim for the correct sector of the thing if you don’t want to end up swimming an extra quarter mile. This is a house that makes a statement. And I am confident that statement is, “damn it, we ran out of money AGAIN.” I believe this is the third year it’s been there, maybe the fourth, and it’s still nowhere near built yet. We’ve seen at least two For Sale signs out front, and the pace of construction is one of fits and starts and long periods of no apparent activity. Maybe the stock market dips, maybe somebody’s multimillion-dollar bonus doesn’t come through. Or, let’s be fair, maybe it’s just hard to schedule the kind of artisans you need for that kind of architecture. Haw! I crack myself up. It’s not that interesting. It’s just big. What it does not look like is a source of joy. Stress, yes. Aggravation, yes. Pride, sure. Forced patience, definitely. Fear and insecurity, likely. But joy, no. I’m not seeing waves of happiness emanating from it.
asrialfeeple over 5 years ago
A gold record doesn’t pay anything, as it isn’t alive. People playing/buying your music a lot is what pays the bills.
amaryllis2 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Having grown up in an area that became wealthy around us, and having seen how that played out across people’s lives, I truly love this week’s strips.
Hank Gillette Premium Member over 5 years ago
I looked it up (or tried to). Songwriters get around $.09 per record/track sold. So, a gold record (1 million copies sold) would bring in $90,000, but a beginning songwriter will probably have to split that 50-50 with the publisher.
The writer also gets performance royalties for when the song is performed in public or played on the radio (or streamed on the internet). I could not find how much that is.
Finally, there are royalties if the song is used on television, in a movie, or in a video. This royalty is negotiated; obviously, the bigger the hit, the more negotiating power the writer will have.
So, unless Frazz’s song sold many millions of copies, or was in the top ten for weeks, he was unlikely to make enough on one song to be financially independent.