How Much Do Singers Actually Earn in Australia?

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The annual income for singers varies greatly. The Economic Research Institute places the average salary range for a singer anywhere between about AU $85,000 and AU $147,000, with an hourly rate of about AU $58. But not all singers are reaping such rewards. A 2024 survey by the Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance (MEAA) showed that half of the country’s musicians earned less than $6,000 a year, forcing many to look for work outside of the music industry to make ends meet. 

Maclean, who is 38 years old, says his annual income has landed somewhere between AU $35,000 and AU $80,000 during his 15-year career. His annual pay is typically made up of a combination of income streams – from theatre to corporate bookings to crowd funding – which we will detail further below.

Maclean lends his voice to indie music, musical theatre, cabaret, and film productions. As an original artist, he has released two albums and five EPs, gaining a cult following for his brand of queer alternative pop. From a featured role in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby film to viral moments like the success of his 2014 single Stupid to touring the country in upscale theatrical productions – standing alongside industry royalty like Marcia Hines in Velvet Inferno at the Sydney Opera House – he says his adaptability has been one of his greatest assets. 

Maclean says a majority of his work falls under three categories or price ranges: musicals and cabaret productions, original music, and corporate bookings.

Notoriously, music streaming is not a sustainable source of income, because the leading music streaming services pay very little to artists. Over the past five years, Maclean’s music has clocked roughly 40,000 streams per month between Spotify and Apple Music, which pays him an average of AU$200 a month. 

Maclean also supplements his income through the membership platform Patreon, where he shares exclusive content such as gig recordings with paid subscribers. He earns about AU$300 a month from that, which he says helps to “cover the groceries.” 

“I don’t have a flash life, but I’ve managed to sustain myself in this industry,” he says. “I’m aware that in the indie music world, I’m not quite Ballpark Music, and in the musical theater world, I’m not Casey Donovan. I’m in that middle zone.” 

It involves a lot of juggling. “I wake up every day and I try to activate one part of my career,” he says. “It’s never everything at once. There’s value in me sitting at the piano for an hour, practising my craft or doing some songwriting.”

Caring for his instrument – his voice – is still a top priority, but Maclean says developing his personal brand and his artistic perspective are essential parts of what makes him an original artist and what has sustained his singing career. “Whether or not I’m singing covers, it’s my voice, my story,” he says.

“Your voice is a brand, and you need to sell that brand,” he adds. “Alan Cumming once told me that he’s never the best singer in the room, but he’s the best storyteller. I have a character that goes behind my voice, which I would say is almost as important as – if not sometimes more important than – your actual singing.”

Corporate bookings are often either extravagant private parties or an event that’s part of a huge promotional campaign for a major brand.

In Maclean’s experience, booking fees for corporate gigs start at around AU $4,000 and can reach around AU $10,000 to $15,000 for bookings that may involve “sharply rehearsed songs with dancers that they provide.”

“There’s two hot moments for corporate gigs: tax time [when companies look to use up their corporate entertainment budgets before the end of the financial year in June] and Christmas [when they spend on staff parties],” he says. “That’s when you want to be ready. So I usually leave a little spot in my calendar, because people want to spend cash, and you can ask for a much bigger fee.”

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The industry standard gig fee for singers starts at a minimum of AU $250, per the Musicians Australia Minimum Fee. That applies for any musician playing anywhere for any audience, and it’s based on the related “three-hour call” as set out in the Live Performance Award. This is the minimum standard for gigs, and singers may charge an artist fee on top of it.

“I’ve been paid anywhere between AU $350 and $650 for a support slot with a much larger act,” Maclean says. “But it certainly doesn’t usually get higher than $400 for a support slot.”

“Anywhere between $250 and $350 should be a pretty quick yes for an indie artist…unless [you’re supporting] a huge artist like Ed Sheeran,” he says. “Be really happy with yourself if it starts sitting around $350. That’s a nice place to be. Aim for that and give yourself a pat on the back if it turns up.”

Ensemble musical theatre singers: The pay rate for musical theatre performers is guided by the Live Performance Award set by Fair Work. For ensemble singers in major commercial productions, the minimum wage for an eight-show week is between AU $1,500 and $1,800. Performers who take on additional responsibilities like dance captains or understudies will earn higher pay.

Principal performers: Principals typically earn between AU $1,750 and $2,000 a week, while the lead performers or stars in major productions can earn upwards of AU $2,500 per week, according to Aussie Theatre. At the higher end, some performers with celebrity status can earn between AU $10,000 and $15,000 a week, but that is a rare feat in the local industry. 

Most musical theatre work is on a contract basis, with seasons running for as little as a month and rehearsal periods often paying slightly less. That means even some of the country’s most celebrated musical theatre performers take on other types of work to make ends meet.

Backup vocalists and session singers: The Live Performance Award sets the base hourly rate for backup singers between AU $35 and $48 per hour, depending on experience level. Backing vocalists often work on a project-by-project basis, typically earning between AU $250 and $350 for a standard set. Touring singers may receive AU $250 to $450 a day for mid- to large-size gigs, and stadium concerts range from AU $500 to upwards of $1,000 per show.

For recording sessions, the Musicians Australia Minimum Fee applies, with sessions typically paying AU $500 to $1,000.

The work can be consistent too. “Backing vocalists get so much work. They’re often the best singers on stage, and you can end up in really good, long-running jobs,” Maclean says. “If you’re good enough and you work hard enough, you can build up quite a lot of money.”

Opera and classical singers: Classically trained vocalists such as opera singers possess rare skills that require many years of specialised vocal training, so they demand a higher fee than other styles and are categorised separately under the Live Performance Award.

The lowest hourly rate for an opera singer is about AU $33, and opera stars can earn anywhere between a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands for a single performance as a guest artist. 

The demands of classical performers go beyond technique though. “You have to confidently be able to sing in German, Italian, or French if you’re going to call yourself a classical singer, because that’s what the repertoire will [involve],” says Christine Ibrahim, a classically trained vocalist and cabaret artist.

Ibrahim performs in both classical and contemporary music styles, and the fees differ greatly. “For a corporate gig that requests a proper classical repertoire, my fee will start at AU $1,200 for one song and go up from there,” she says. Meanwhile, a cabaret show where she sings a mix of opera and contemporary will pay roughly AU $1,500 a week.

It is rare for opera singers to find sustainable employment outside of Opera Australia (OA), the nation’s largest opera company, and the key state-based companies (the West Australian Opera, State Opera South Australia, Opera Queensland, and Victorian Opera). As of 2026, the average singers’ salaries at OA start at around $85,000 for young artists and upwards of $123,000 for senior principals, according to OA’s publicly available enterprise agreement.

“Obviously, you don’t want to be taking less than the award rates,” Maclean says. “You definitely can, and a lot of people do in smaller shows, but that puts you in a very precarious position moving forward.”

“I always drive that home to younger performers that accept a really low fee.” And, he adds, if an employer offers you less, it signals they may also be running an unsafe workplace. “Because if they're not following the award rates, they’re also not going to give you a contract. And often, those lower fees end up being the ones that sometimes don’t get paid, because they’re not following any rules.”

Of course, once the award rates are cleared, the longer answer also starts with “it depends.” Some performers may accept a door split as a gig fee, but Maclean has a hard rule about that. “I never want to be guessing what I’m going to get paid when I turn up to a show,” he says. “Unless it’s for a dear friend or a bar that I know, I simply would never accept less than $250 for a support slot.”

To build up experience, Maclean also encourages emerging singers to get involved in their city’s open mic nights and variety shows, where you can find community and make connections.

“It’s often about knowing the organisers of these events – the producers, the directors,” he says. “You want to be around the people who are creating, so look for the creators in your community and go to their events. You know, knowing Tom Cruise is not as powerful as knowing Steven Spielberg.”

When it comes to musical theatre, even performers who have strong commercial success may reduce their fee to work with a company or production that is artistically admired. An example of this is the Hayes Theatre Company in Sydney, which is regarded as Australia’s answer to off-Broadway, where Maclean starred in Jekyll and Hyde the Musical.

“There’s huge value in being around incredibly talented people that goes beyond money – whether that is for the love of it, for the community of it, or expanding your talent. It always depends,” Maclean says. “If you can do a gig where you’ll learn and expand your practice so that later on you might be able to charge a little more, that's money too. That learning is money.”