Today we complete our interview with our good friend Ayo Awosika.  We put a spotlight on the often misunderstood term “making it in the music industry” as well as diversifying revenue streams by simply pursuing your interests and some vocal tips from an absolute Pro.

Quote:“(With success) there is no arrival point, you continue to arrive and take the next step and the next…”  - Ayo Awosika

Ayo Awosika is an LA-based vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. She is also a vocal/performance coach, music director, and arranger. She has toured and sung background vocals for artists including Miley Cyrus, Sam Smith, Rob Thomas, The Chainsmokers, Danny Elfman, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Carlos Santana, and Pentatonix, among others. Ayo has shared the stage or opened for the likes of Richie Havens, Ryan Shaw, Peter Eldridge, and Esperanza Spalding and has also performed with the Colorado Symphony. 

She has performed on The Today's Show, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ellen, BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, and The Voice, as well as the UK's top music TV show, Later...with Jools Holland. In 2019, she had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a vocalist in the choir heard throughout The Lion King film soundtrack. Since then her vocals have been recorded on scores for several TV shows and feature films like Minions 2, Nope, Creed III, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, and Despicable Me 4. Ayo is a Berklee College of Music graduate.

Her debut album, “We Best Not Wait,” produced by Scott Jacoby (John Legend, Sia) was released in 2016. 

In 2023, she was commissioned to compose and conduct a new choral piece for a 250 person choir that debuted at the 2023 Sister Singers Network Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then she has been commissioned to compose several choral pieces for various groups in the US, as well as being invited as a guest artist to workshop, perform, and guest conduct with these choral groups. The next one is with Cincinnati's MUSE choir at the end of April. 

Most recently, she was a featured singer in Disney's 80s-90s Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl as well as a member of the choir for the 30th Anniversary Lion King Show.
Wow, right!? One of the greatest joys of being on this earth for a longer period of time is seeing the results of people's pursuits. Ayo is a prime example of how consistent pursuit and unwavering dedication can yield great results, and we are so grateful to be around to see it all come to fruition as well as share her story with you. 

As always, thanks for joining us, and remember there is already enough for everyone; you just need to know how to get it. Until next time, on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself, Chris Webb. Stay happy, healthy, and wealthy. Most great desires will seem impossible until you get there, so just keep going and take the next step. This is Musicians Tip Jar.

Sing better instantly with these 6 simple warmups from Ayo Awosika: https://bit.ly/ivb10

Work with Ayo directly to elevate your voice: https://bit.ly/BookwithAyo

Subscribe to Ayo's Youtube Channel: https://bit.ly/YTSubAyo

Ayo's IG: @ayoawosika (https://www.instagram.com/ayoawosika/)


Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.com 

Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi

https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrock 

Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Today we sit down with the powerful Ayo Awosika and explore how diversifying her skills has been one of the most powerful ways to create new opportunities, increase adaptability, and ensure long-term success in her career and creative endeavors.

Quote:“(The music business) truly is about referrals, community and connection” - Ayo Awosika

“Your health is your Wealth”  - Ayo Awosika

Ayo Awosika is an LA based vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. She is also a vocal/performance coach, music director, and arranger. She has toured and sung background vocals for artists including Miley Cyrus, Sam Smith, Rob Thomas, The Chainsmokers, Danny Elfman, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Carlos Santana, and Pentatonix, among others. Ayo has shared the stage or opened for the likes of Richie Havens, Ryan Shaw, Peter Eldridge, and Esperanza Spalding and has also performed with the Colorado Symphony. 

She has performed on The Today's Show, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ellen, BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, and The Voice, as well as the UK's top music TV show, Later...with Jools Holland. In 2019, she had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a vocalist in the choir heard throughout The Lion King film soundtrack. Since then her vocals have been recorded on scores for several TV shows and feature films like Minions 2, Nope, Creed III, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, and Despicable Me 4. Ayo is a Berklee College of Music graduate.

Her debut album, “We Best Not Wait,” produced by Scott Jacoby (John Legend, Sia) was released in 2016. 

In 2023, she was commissioned to compose and conduct a new choral piece for a 250 person choir that debuted at the 2023 Sister Singers Network Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then she has been commissioned to compose several choral pieces for various groups in the US, as well as being invited as a guest artist to workshop, perform, and guest conduct with these choral groups. The next one is with Cincinnati's MUSE choir at the end of April. 

Most recently, she was a featured singer in Disney's 80s-90s Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl as well as a member of the choir for the 30th Anniversary Lion King Show.

Wow, right!? One of the greatest joys of being on this earth for a longer period of time is seeing the results of people's pursuits. Ayo is a prime example of how consistent pursuit and unwavering dedication can yield great results, and we are so grateful to be around to see it all come to fruition as well as share her story with you. 

Action:

1. Taking Ayo’s point of finding ways to combine your diverse skills, create a list of 5 things you would like to put on your radar and include which of your skill sets would make you uniquely qualified to give them a try. Seeing this clearer will also help you identify what skills, resources, and connections you might need to pursue next, inorder to make these ambitions a reality.

**If you find this information useful, please rate and subscribe to the podcast and slam the Like button if you’re on YouTube, so we can help keep you up on the finance side of your music business.**

As always, thanks for joining us, and remember there is already enough for everyone; you just need to know how to get it. Until next time, on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself, Chris Webb. Stay happy, healthy and wealthy. The more skills you can do, the easier this career is to pursue. This is Musicians Tip Jar.

Sing better instantly with these 6 simple warmups from Ayo Awosika: https://bit.ly/ivb10

Work with Ayo directly to elevate your voice: https://bit.ly/BookwithAyo

Subscribe to Ayo's Youtube Channel: https://bit.ly/YTSubAyo

Ayo's IG: @ayoawosika (https://www.instagram.com/ayoawosika/)

Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.com 

Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi

https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrock 

Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

🎧 Episode Title: How Musicians Can Prepare for a Recession | Musicians Tip Jar S5 E2 In this episode of Musicians Tip Jar, co-hosts Chris Webb and Dave Tamkin tackle one of the most pressing concerns for independent artists and music professionals: how to recession-proof your music career. Whether you’re a gigging musician, songwriter, producer, or educator, economic downturns can disrupt your income streams. This episode offers 7 actionable strategies to build resilience, boost income, and stay financially secure during uncertain times. ✅ Key Topics Covered: 🎯 Diversify Your Income:

• Live shows, virtual concerts, and digital content
• Streaming royalties, merch, licensing, and Patreon
• Teaching music lessons and online courses

🎯 Build a Loyal Fanbase:

• Engage directly through social media and email lists
• Leverage crowdfunding and community support

🎯 Cut Costs Smartly:

• Reduce overhead and share resources with other artists
• Collaborate over compete during lean seasons

🎯 Embrace Technology:

• Use your production skills to offer services online
• Maximize reach with platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube

🎯 Financial Planning & Savings:

• Save in good times, invest wisely
• Consider tools like Acorns, Betterment, and SoFi
• Think long-term with non-music investments

🎯 Stay Flexible & Adaptable:

• Pivot to trends like livestreaming or virtual content
• Network with fellow musicians for collaboration opportunities

🎯 Strengthen Your Personal Brand:

• Define your artistic identity
• Build trust and open doors beyond music
• Future-proof your career with consistent branding

🎤 Real-Life Artist Examples: Learn how Megan Thee Stallion, Bad Bunny, Travis Scott, and Phoebe Bridgers adapted creatively during the pandemic and how bands like Nirvana thrived during the early ’90s recession. 💡 Bonus Takeaways:

• Adopt a mindset that sees opportunity in challenges
• Build and lean on your music community
• Understand that recession is not a matter of if, but when

Featured Non-Profit: Roots Music Project – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit empowering local music in Boulder, Colorado.

 🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform.
💬 If you found this helpful, subscribe, rate us, and like on YouTube to stay ahead of the game in your music business. #MusicBusiness #RecessionProofMusician #MusiciansTipJar #MusicCareer #IndependentArtist #CreativeIncome #MusicFinance #ArtistTips #FinancialWellnessForMusicians

Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.com 

Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi

https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrock 

Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

We are really excited to be back for season 5 of Musicians TIp Jar.  Thank you for being here; just by listening, you are supporting the cause and belief that all musicians can be free from the fear of money forcing them to quit. Today we are also excited to announce that our first of a series of mini-courses has launched, and we thought this would be a perfect time to show you how you can launch your very own courses too!

Building Dreams Through The Arts Founded in 1999, Prairie Music & Arts (formerly Prairie Music Academy) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) community school of the arts offering quality education and opportunities to people of all ages. It is our goal to foster musical and artistic exploration that leads to self-confidence and creativity, as well as to offer a community that both inspires and enriches. You can find us in Sun Prairie, WILearn more at: https://prairiemusic.org/

We have been hard at work creating our first course. This course is catered to all musicians to give them a solid foundation of how to increase, track, and keep their hard-earned money. It’s an intro course on building wealth as a musician, and that is why we titled it “How to be a Wealthy Musician.”

At the end of this podcast, we will give you the information to check it out, but what we really want to put a spotlight on today is creating a course, our experience of doing it so far, and why you should consider creating a course too!

Let's break down the steps we followed and discuss some tips that will definitely save you time in your course creation journey.

We started with our flagship course taught in college classes, The Financial Scale, but quickly realized this was far too much content to put into our first course. So, we decided to break it down into a more manageable amount of content by focusing on income and expenses. 

Action:

1. Check out our first course at: https://www.musicianstipjar.com/course 

**We know how valuable your time is; we appreciate you for spending this time with us and being a part of this community. It is our hope that you feel that sense of community here at Musicians Tip Jar and help us spread the word to make us stronger together.

Connect with us :Musicians Tip Jar@gmail and Musicians Tip Jar.com where you can check out all the resources and discounts we have collected just for you! And check out all our episodes now on our YouTube channel!

If you find this information useful, please rate and subscribe to the podcast and also slam the Like button if you’re on YouTube so we can help keep you up on the finance side of your music business.

Outro:As always, thanks for joining us, and remember there is already enough for everyone; you just need to know how to get it. Until next time, on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself, Chris Webb, stay happy, healthy, and wealthy. Remember, no one can say what you have to say just like you; the world needs YOU to say it. This is Musicians Tip Jar.

Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.com 

Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi

https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrock 

Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Just like my opening lines, we are all over the place today, highlighting our favorite moments and concepts from Season 4. These condensed tips are a powerhouse of ways to expand your reach and success in the music industry. Hard to believe we are at the end of another season here at Musicians Tip Jar.

This has been an incredibly value packed season full of inspiring guests and profitable insights. As is tradition here, we have done our best to condense the ideas and concepts that have had great influence on us each individually in hopes of giving you vantage points to launch from in the off season. Let's go!

Action: We tried to keep all the episode numbers with our top moments list so that you can go straight to the episode that inspires you. You must take action to keep yourself motivated and that needle moving.

** We know how valuable your time is, and we appreciate you spending this time with us and being a part of this community. It is our hope that you feel that sense of community here at musicians Tip Jar and help us spread the word to make us stronger together. www.musicianstipjar.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Today we explore the rich world of FI or Financial Independence. We show the various strategies you can apply from this way of life to ease your stress and improve your money habits, allowing you more freedom.

THE ALLIANCE FOR LIFETIME INCOME is a non-profit educational organization based in Washington, D.C., that creates awareness and educates Americans about the value and importance of having protected lifetime income in retirement.. The Alliance provides consumers and financial professionals with educational resources, interactive tools, and actionable research and insights to use in building retirement income strategies and plans.

 The Alliance was Elton’s first and only non‐profit tour partner and the sole presenting partner of his 2022 Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in North America last year.Together, the Alliance, Elton and his husband David Furnish, CEO of Rocket Entertainment and chairman of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, heard from hundreds of thousands of fans along tour stops. The message was clear –  financial security and planning for the next phase in life are hugely important to them. The couple plans to continue working with the Alliance to have these vital conversations throughout 2023.“It’s important that we all take the steps needed to ensure financial freedom in our lives, to follow our own yellow brick road,” said Furnish. “Though Elton and I have been fortunate, the need to save, protect and plan for the future are universal principles and the same for all of us. Our continued partnership with the Alliance for Lifetime Income furthers our mission to stand for human dignity at every stage of life.”Learn more at https://www.protectedincome.org/

What if part of the problem or perhaps the biggest challenge we face as musicians isn’t the money we struggle to bring, but what's happening with the money we do have and how it can build foundations when not wasted on pickle shots and designer jeans?  What if you're putting too much energy into the wrong areas of your business? What if you could achieve a status not about making millions but simply of Financially independent?  Let's dive into this cult-culture movement and see what nuggets are there for us musicians!  Let's go.



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Today we complete our chat with front range blues musician Mike Maurer.  We discuss the journey we take to finding our style, showing the market your value and keeping your heart on the most important part of being a musician.

“All the money and all the details will go away, what really matters is how you make people feel” - Mike Maurer

Mike Maurer is a Colorado based musician who began playing guitar at a very early age, studying with Jock Bartley of the hit band, Firefall. After his debut release, Chasing Pearl , Mike toured extensively, sharing the stage with acts such as Johnny Winter, Eric Gales, Tab Benoit, Earth Wind and Fire, Richie Kotzen and Papa Chubby. His long awaited follow up album is set for release in fall 2024. Aside from endorsements and regional awards, Mike is an excellent and seasoned performer, teacher, and all around fun guy to be around.  Let's go!

Today's action is to make a short list.  List the top five income stream sources.  Now take the fourth and fifth and let’s come up with two ways to take those revenue streams up in the list.  This shouldn’t mean spend a lot more time doing these. The answer should be in how to show those areas more of your value so it can increase.  An easy example is with our discussion of the tip jar QR code to multiple tip options. This instantly showed results for me and I believe it will for any of your performing musicians out there too!

https://mikemaurermusic.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Today we chat with Colorado, front range, blues musician Mike Maurer. Together we discuss how breaking out of bad habits makes room for the good stuff to come your way, more ways to multiply your earnings, and defining the vision of your future.

“What I really do for a living is carry music gear around and play Tetris with time.” - Mike Maurer

Mike Maurer is a Colorado based musician who began playing guitar at a very early age, studying with Jock Bartley of the hit band, Firefall. After his debut release, Chasing Pearl , Mike toured extensively, sharing the stage with acts such as Johnny Winter, Eric Gales, Tab Benoit, Earth Wind and Fire, Richie Kotzen, and Papa Chubby. His long-awaited follow up album is set for release in fall 2024. Aside from endorsements and regional awards, Mike is an excellent and seasoned performer, teacher, and all around fun guy to be around.  Let's go!

Mike Maurer…https://mikemaurermusic.com

As always, thanks for joining us, and remember there is already enough for everyone, and yours is waiting around that roadblock.  Until next time, on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself, Chris Webb. Stay happy, wealthy, and healthy. By making better habits, you will break the bad ones. This is the Musicians Tip Jar.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Today we complete our interview with the sync-artist, creative, and mentor, Jared Oluwa.  We examine his two year rule strategy, discuss how his biggest placement to date came about, and share the value of joining organizations that align with your passions.  

“I've been without money and felt like i've had all the money and had all the money and felt I had no money and wasn’t happy” - Jared Oluwa

Jared Oluwa is a 35 year old artist from Los Angeles who is an instrumentalist and vocal producer. Growing up in a musical family, he tends to work closely with his youngest brother (Beats MadeByFresh) who plays a big part in instrumentation. Together, they have landed placements on BET, VHI, MTV and many more.
Aside from music, Jared has always had a heart to share his knowledge with the Creative Community. Some of the organizations he volunteers with are Lawndale High School, Youth Mentoring Connection, Music Forward & the GrammyU Program as a mentor. In 2021, he joined the LA Recording Academy where he became involved in Advocacy and served on the Professional Development Committee.

 / jared-oluwa-006912123   @jaredoluwa https://www.musicianstipjar.com/




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.

Today we discuss the simple power of showing up. We expose how this simple idea is often the reason why successful people, well, succeed. It exposes the reality that often its not what we NEED to do but instead how to get ourselves to SHOW UP and do the damn thing!

Jared Oluwa is a 35 year old artist from Los Angeles who is an instrumentalist and vocal producer. Growing up in a musical family, he tends to work closely with his youngest brother (Beats MadeByFresh) who plays a big part with instrumentation. Together, they have landed placements on BET, VHI, MTV and many more.

 Aside from music, Jared has always had a heart to share his knowledge with the creative community. Some of the organizations he volunteers with is Lawndale High School, Youth Mentoring Connection, Music Forward & the GrammyU Program as a mentor. In 2021, he joined the LA Recording Academy, where he became involved in Advocacy and served on the Professional Development Committee. Oluwa shares his journey with us, including how he got into sync, using social media, and finding ways to sneak in naps all while still showing up for himself and his community. Lets Go!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-oluwa-006912123/ @jaredoluwa https://www.musicianstipjar.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.