If you want to make money out of music, be a dj and do weddings.
Same for photography.
Otherwise, its art. Youre doing it for self expression. For those that see it as a hobby, the cost factor is nothing compared to mountain biking etc. Which are vastly more popular. And theres more threads on this elsewhere.
Why is this a topic, lol.
Created by an American?
Or an American’t am I right?
I was thinking about it, and if I didn’t buy all this gear at the low prices I’d gotten it at, I would have lost money. So in the end, I’m making myself in money by buying these machines now. It’s an investment, and investment that will pay off when my son grows up and begins using it to make 50 Billboard #1 hits, ushering in a new Era for underground hypnotic techno, and jump up/feel good house. Now who’s the not so smart person. 
Over my time in music (over 30 years) I’ve earnt far more from DJing and promoting club nights than music sales or gigs. I’m not talking loads, but probably a 1000 to 1 ratio. We, as a band, once earnt £4 from a gig that calculated the punters you brought in minus the beer you drunk 
Times are different now though. Just don’t think people go out and spend money any more. One positive of doing that was having an outlet for your own music, or music of artists that you respected and in the same vain. I do miss those days.
The music gear that I spent money on though brings far more mental well-being and a feeling like I can just continue to grow with for the rest of my days. That is priceless
Countless moneys have gone towards gear. But I have been offered some exposure, so it evens out
Always made music as a hobby and never made anything from it directly but I DJ and have made more from gigs than I’ve spent on gear.
Also my day job is teaching audio production and creative media in a college so though not making money directly from creating music it’s linked.
my daily job for earning money is IT, and music is sponsored activity.
i’m my own patron. isn’t it cool ?!
sold my fancy bikes in 2009 and built moderately priced low maintenance workhorse-style bikes instead.
one of the best decisions ever since i’m nowhere near a pro rider anyway.
the only problem is that rear wheel on full suspension bike is still 26 inches.
Made way more money with editing/sound design/production work than I’ve ever spent on music gear. About 8:1 ratio, I’d say. 
When I have to explain to non-synth people what I do with all that gear, I usually liken it to having a model-railway in the basement. It serves no practical or economic purpose whatsoever, except for the joy and entertainment I get from building something that works the way I wanna play with it. If someone peeks in once in a while and likes what they see, I get a boost, but it is not why I do it.
In the end it’s all about laying down tracks to nowhere particular…
Well, they did have one at the train station where I grew up, and I loved looking at that as a kid.
Beware, model railways may be a gate-way to synth addiction.
Money you spent drinking alcohol/eating unhealthy food vs. money you’ve earned from it.
Money you spent watching Netflix etc. vs. money you’ve earned from it.
Money you spent for concert tickets / club visits / football/soccer-matches vs. money you’ve earned from it.
Oh, and to answer the question, I earned way more money with making music, than with all my other hobbies. Maybe a few hundred bucks over the years. But at the same time, I also spent most of my “spare” money there (together with this awful RC Helicopter flying).
Tends to infinite function error…
I’ve spent 10s of thousands on gear for my just-for-fun home studio. I also ran a label here for a few years as a side project, was never really meant to make money but also didn’t anticipate that it would cost us somewhere upward of 360k in expenses over the years. We had two top 10 tracks and one nr. 1 hit in a niche market in those years, none of which made us any significant money to offset the high spending it took to get there.
I never think of music making as a likely way to make a living, but I do have a few friends here who work in the industry and live well doing it (studio owners, live performers, engineers etc).
I’ve come to sort of resent the commercialisation of music and how the myth goes around that you’d have to be “an artist” to make music (=becomes a barrier for many people to play themselves). To me music is more about making it than outputting something. It‘s more about the process than the product. I think expecting it to bring food to the table shifts that towards the product-side. I think that‘s a pitty really (I also see the neurosis to have to “finish tracks” in the same vain).
Put differently, I‘ve made a a hefty loss with music thus far and I‘m still bitter about…
Quick calculation shows Ive recovered 0.004% 
Who cares about money… it’s all about the friends we lost along the way. 
It’s a hobby for me so it’s a 0 with no intention to earn. Even though I made money in bands, this is a personal mission to give myself the fun of a hobby back, and I’m fortunate to have some cash to spend on doing it. I’ve got a very specific list of potential purchases and a budget for future additions. I may release some stuff once I get to a point I’m happy with it, but I’d be amazed if I made any cash back of it. The payment I get is the fun of exploring a new way of making music and coming up with the tunes themsleves.
