To what extent is being a musician a "job"?

[Gadough]

This may be a silly question, but it's something I've always wondered about.

Does John Petrucci pay income taxes to the government? Would the government recognize Petrucci's membership in Dream Theater as an "official" occupation? Does being a touring musician make you "legally employed"? If Dream Theater broke up tomorrow and its members had to find new jobs, could they put their membership in the band as previous job experience?

[Adami]

This may be a silly question, but it's something I've always wondered about.

Does John Petrucci pay income taxes to the government? Would the government recognize Petrucci's membership in Dream Theater as an "official" occupation? Is being a touring musician legally considered an actual profession? If Dream Theater broke up tomorrow and its members had to find new jobs, could they put their membership in the band as previous job experience?

Yes.

And no to the last question, unless it's a music related job.

[ZirconBlue]

This may be a silly question, but it's something I've always wondered about.

Does John Petrucci pay income taxes to the government? Would the government recognize Petrucci's membership in Dream Theater as an "official" occupation? Is being a touring musician legally considered an actual profession? If Dream Theater broke up tomorrow and its members had to find new jobs, could they put their membership in the band as previous job experience?

Yes.

And no to the last question, unless it's a music related job.

They can certainly list it, whether it would actually be applicable job experience would depend on the job.

[ReaPsTA]

This may be a silly question, but it's something I've always wondered about.

Does John Petrucci pay income taxes to the government? Would the government recognize Petrucci's membership in Dream Theater as an "official" occupation? Does being a touring musician make you "legally employed"? If Dream Theater broke up tomorrow and its members had to find new jobs, could they put their membership in the band as previous job experience?

Yes.  Probably.  Probably.  Yes, but like Zircon said, whether or not its relevant is a different question.

[Accelerando]

Well let's say John wants to teach at Berklee....

Job Experience

Dream Theater 1985 - 2011
Guitarist, Producer, Lyricist


Im sure the founding member and guitarist of Dream Theater would find a job like this in no time

[Gadough]

Clearly

But I meant in a purely hypothetical situation where they had to look for office jobs, or something. I know it wouldn't be relevant in context, and that's exactly my point. It wouldn't be relevant, but what else could he put there? He hasn't had any previous job experience outside of DT, so would he would just be out of luck? That would blow.

[7StringedBeast]

Being a producer for a band is a lot of office style management stuff that I'm sure he has plenty of experience with.  Also he's been dealing with record companies for all these years.  I'm sure he has tons of business type experience and all that goes with being in a band besides playing.

[glaurung]

Though I doubt they have to do much of it themselves now, back in the bands early days where they might have to do do a fair share amount of the planning for a tour could apply for some kind of job where you travel a lot.

[bosk1]

Does John Petrucci pay income taxes to the government?

Yes.  Any money he receives is income, whether it is wages and salary from his company, or other income.  All income is taxed by the IRS and state unless it is specifically exempt.

Does Would the government recognize Petrucci's membership in Dream Theater as an "official" occupation?

Not sure what you mean.  The government doesn't care about "official occupations" for most purposes, other than, say, unemployment insurance, workers' comp., and other employee benefits issues that the government regulates.  Or are you again talking about taxes?  Most taxes are income related, not employment related.  But in either case, yes, he is being paid a salary as an employee of his corporation, so yes.

Does being a touring musician make you "legally employed"?

Depends whether you are drawing an income.  In John's case, yes.  He is employed by his corporation.

If Dream Theater broke up tomorrow and its members had to find new jobs, could they put their membership in the band as previous job experience?

Sure.  Whether it is relevant experience is a different matter, but a lot of that is all in how you describe it.  He has been a corporate executive for over 20 yeard now, for example, and has been involved in hiring and firing of employees, negotiating contracts, marketing, payroll and employee benefits, managing corporate finances, etc.

[Gadough]

Thanks Bosk, that clears a lot of it up for me. Like I said, I know it was a stupid question, but the idea of a touring musician being considered an actual job just seems weird to me. I'm not sure why.

[YtseBitsySpider]

^^Circus Maximus^^ would agree with you, they feel the same way.