I figured that there are some here at Chiff & Fipple that have a career in music and I thought that it would make a nice poll.
Can't wait to see the results!

"Way of life" would have been a nice choice too.

Can't answer because it's both (the basis of my career and one of several serious 'hobbies') and more!

It's seventy-five percent of my life outside of paid employment, if that's what you mean.

Does moderating an online music board count as a career, and is it a musical one?

Mine's been more of a careen than a career, but that's a different story.

That may make the poll pretty biased, no matter if music is a career or hobby most Chiff and Fipple would most likely consider it a way of life.
Sounds like you enjoy what you do. It will probably make the poll lopsided, but I made it so that there is a both choice.

What if music is an addiction or a curse?

So music is your curse, huh?

It's a blessing AND a curse.

And a cure.

yer doin' it wrong

yer supposed ta pick two things


that are not mutually exclusive

What would you call it when you frequently play for a paying audiences, but it barely covers the cost of getting there?

For me, music is much more than a hobby, but my "career" is the equally insane calling of art. Both are obsessions or compulsions rather than a pastime...

It seems that obsession might be the word that fits this forum best.
I like that word, I never thought about it that way. I always thought that something either had to be a career or a hobby, because otherwise there would be no time to eat, or sleep. (I do many small things at once)

I can't say that I really had a career. I was a high school teacher for three years, and I'm proud of the effort that it took me to accomplish that, but mostly I worked at whatever presented itself at the moment, and some of the day labor jobs were not that glamorous. I started making pvc flutes maybe 15 years ago. I had always been interested in music and instruments, and making flutes kind of evolved from that interest. However, making flutes and selling flutes are two different things. The internet and ebay gave me my start. I was at the right place at the right time on ebay. People were interested in my one-piece pvc flutes for $30, and very few people were advertising Irish flutes on ebay. However, at the present time that is not the case, and I have decided to no longer advertise on ebay. I am hoping that my reputation will carry me forward into the future. I think of my flute-making as a retirement hobby, but at this point it is also as close to a career that I will ever see, that is unless our lucky numbers come through on the Hoosier Lottery.

Commitment would have been another good choice. I have been in the folk group at whatever church that I attended since I have been a teenager. When I learned the guitar is when this became a commitment. Commitments are good. There have been so few people who play instruments in the parishes that I have been a member that this becomes a commitment. Back in 1990, we became the Saturday Night Mass Folk Group because the previous people, a father and son, moved away and someone needed to fill the gap. I never got to meet them.