Musicians and the infinite workday

By Jess Santacroce
​Music Writer, 955 The Heat Phoenix Radio

​Making a living entirely from practicing your art is rare for most artists, including musicians. Firm statistics on the number of musicians with outside jobs are not available, as both the musicians themselves and the people performing the studies may have differing ideas on what constitutes a job “outside” of music. A musician who supports herself by doing work that has no direct connection to music would certainly say she had a “day job” or a “side job” or “side hustle.” Someone who regularly performs his own compositions for small fees for an audience, but pays his bills by teaching high school music would likely consider both of those jobs part of his music career, but he might not. That same person might classify his teaching work as a “day job,” because it does not involve performing his own compositions. However, informal surveys conducted by various websites and companies devoted to supporting musicians report anywhere from 70% to more than 75% of musicians needing some type of steady work outside of playing, singing, or writing music to survive. 

This makes the modern workplace trend of the infinite workday particularly problematic for musicians. Coined on June 17, 2025 in a study done by Microsoft, “infinite workday,” refers to the unwritten and unstated expectation that an employee continuously check in to their workplace and remain constantly available to do work tasks, regardless of what their official schedule or contract might say. Your work files are accessible on your personal laptop, so your boss sees no reason why he can’t call you and ask you for some information from them at 9 p.m. on Saturday. Your company has always had a policy of responding to customer messages in one day, and now that you have the company app installed on your phone, your department head interprets that as 24 hours from the time the customer messages, not one business day, forcing you to continuously check in and deal with customers, even on your hours and days off. 

While great for the company getting essentially free labor, and for the supervisor getting to chalk their behavior up as “leadership” or “team building,” this is disastrous for the finances, mental health, personal relationships, and often physical health of employees in any field. For musicians, there is the possibility of it completely ruining a musical career, as writing time, practice and rehearsal time, and even meetings to arrange management and gigs and the performances themselves can now be interrupted or even completely ruined by demands from a day job supervisor or client. 

Since this trend does not seem to be going away, prevention is the best way to protect yourself and your music career.

Avoid phone conversations with supervisors as much as possible

Supervisors who push for “talking things out” or “working out arrangements” over the phone are not trying to make a personal connection with you, and it is not easier to do things if they call you on your cell phone after hours instead of sending you an email or message over company channels. They’re trying to escape accountability by preventing you from having a record of what they said. A department head or manager who sends an email stating, “We strive for work-life balance and only expect you to answer customer messages during your scheduled hours” risks getting that sent right back to them when they later turn around and expect you to respond to work inquiries at all hours. If they call you on the phone and promise that you won’t have to log in on your time off, they can claim they never said that when they suddenly expect you to be available all day every day. Communicate through email, messenger apps, and video calls that can be recorded and saved if at all possible. If they demand your phone number, or have access to it through already existing records, place the phone in another room during rehearsals, recordings, and performances, and make sure your work does not have any unnecessary numbers, such as the number to a recording studio you regularly use or the phone numbers of anyone in your band as emergency contacts. 

Decline any work accessibility measures that are not requirements of your job under your contract

When offered a company app you can download on your phone, an email account you can open at work and at home, or any other “take the job with you” technology, immediately email your supervisor or department head and ask if this is required of your position. If it is not required, do not download or open it. These features are not designed to help you in case you can’t come in to the office one day or want to do some quick catch-up work on the train on the way to work. They’re designed to give the company the means to make you work for them all the time.  

One trick managers use to get around this is to state that the company app or program is not required to be installed on your personal device, but then later demand that you do something that can only be done by using that same software. Do not add the software or app to your personal device “just for this task.” Remind your supervisor that you have a written record of them saying the software is unnecessary, and inform them that your devices cannot accept it and you need to be able to do whatever it is they’re asking you to do through your computer or phone at work. If they claim this is impossible, then they must provide you with a device you can use to access their app or software. Of course, you will leave that phone or other device at work, or if you work remotely, someplace you only access during work hours. 

Set up a dedicated work place, not work space for remote jobs

Most “work from home” articles advise you to set up a dedicated work space as soon as you accept a remote job. This is fine advice if you have a spare bedroom or den in your home, or even a spare desk you can wedge into a corner of your kitchen or den. It keeps your work things out of the way, and more importantly, it helps you separate day job time from music (not to mention everything else in your life) time. When you’re in your home office, or at your home desk, you are “at work.” When you’re not, you are “home.” 

The problem with this is that not everyone who takes a remote job has a room they can set up as a home office, or the money to buy a desk for work. If you are one of these people, buy a cheap bag or a bin at Dollar Tree. Keep all of your work materials, including any devices you use strictly for that job, in the bag or bin. That bin or bag should be kept tucked away. When it is work time, bring it to the kitchen table, or to the desk you already have in your bedroom or den. When work time is over, pack it away. 

Remember that work culture is not the same as it was fifty, thirty, twenty, or even ten years ago

Your music is always your most important work, but you may be investing too much into your day job anyway due to outdated career advice. In the workplace of the past, dedication was rewarded. If you went above and beyond, came in early, stayed late, did work outside of your scheduled hours, you would be rewarded with promotions and bonuses, and treated with dignity and respect. 

Today, workplace culture is usually completely impersonal, and seems to be growing more and more so by the year. Over-dedication to a company only shows your supervisors that you are someone who goes overboard trying to please people, and are therefore someone who is easy to disrespect, manipulate, and push around. 

Do what you need to do to keep your day job for the sake of supporting your music career, but keep it in perspective. Your music will always be a part of you, and nobody can create or perform your music exactly like you. Your day job will replace you within weeks of your departure.