Backstage Money is where music and money collide. Host Jason K. Powers talks with musicians and industry insiders about the realities of making a living in music, sharing honest stories, practical insights, and raw lessons to help you stay in control while building a career you love.
Tai Anderson | Market Like a Rockstar: Turning Fans Into Lifelong Advocates
In this episode, Tai Anderson of Third Day sits down with Jason K Powers to talk about the early business lessons of a touring band, a brutal review that reshaped how he thinks about success, and the fan-first framework behind his new book, Market Like a Rockstar.
Tai is a founding member and bass player of Third Day, a Grammy-winning Christian rock band that's sold over 7 million albums and just wrapped the first half of a 30th anniversary reunion tour. Tai and Jason get into what it was like playing to 20,000 people at a festival in Holland, and the one line a friend told him afterward that's shaped how he's approached his career ever since. They also cover how a rejected live album turned into a much better record deal, what Tai calls the "bouncer principle" for guarding who gets a voice in your band or business, a Taylor Swift meet and greet that turned him into a fan for life, and a lesson from Bono about what fans actually want from an artist.
If you're a musician trying to figure out how to build a real, lasting connection with your audience, and make better decisions along the way, this conversation is full of specific, hard-won lessons from someone who's been doing it for thirty years.
If this helped you think differently about the money side of your career, share it with another musician who needs to hear it.
Tai Anderson
Book: https://marketlikearockstar.com (https://marketlikearockstar.com)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taianderson3d (https://www.instagram.com/taianderson3d)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaiAnderson3D (https://www.facebook.com/TaiAnderson3D)
Backstage Money
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backstagemoney (https://www.instagram.com/backstagemoney)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backstagemoney (https://www.facebook.com/backstagemoney)
Free guide for musicians: https://1024wealth.com/music (https://1024wealth.com/music)
3 Sept 2026
Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot) | 75 and Just Getting Started: A Lifetime of Money Lessons in Rock
What does fifty years in rock and roll actually teach you about money?
Rudy Sarzo was born in Havana, spent part of his childhood in Miami and New Jersey, and has spent the better part of five decades on and around the Sunset Strip. He's played bass with Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, and Dio, and is still touring with Quiet Riot today at 75. Rudy walks through how he ran out of money in LA in the late 1970s, moved to New Jersey to earn enough to get back, and got the call from Kevin DuBrow that landed him in Quiet Riot the same day he returned. A few years later, a connection that traced back to a chance meeting with Randy Rhoads led to the audition call that put him in Ozzy Osbourne's band.
He also gets honest about the money side most musicians never hear about. He talks about the era when the business was completely opaque, when artists never saw how the industry actually worked and had to trust a business manager on faith, and the moment his wife took over the family's finances entirely. He explains why he sees music as a calling rather than a paycheck, and closes with the most direct piece of advice in the whole conversation: hold onto your money, because life is only going to get more expensive.
If you're a working musician trying to figure out the money side of a career that doesn't look anything like a normal job, this is a rare, honest look at what that looks like across five decades, from a guy who is still, by his own words, "just getting started."
If this helped you think differently about the money side of your career, share it with another musician who needs to hear it.
Rudy Sarzo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarzo.rudy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialrudysarzo
X: https://x.com/rudysarzo
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1mNKYdtelIG1hO58kEjdUQ
Quiet Riot: https://quietriot.band
Backstage Money
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backstagemoney
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backstagemoney
Listen: https://backstagemoney.captivate.fm/listen
Free guide for musicians: https://1024wealth.com/music
18 Aug 2026
Scott Happel (Multi-Venue Owner) on Door Splits, Hidden Costs, and What Artists Can Learn From the Venue Side
Most musicians have never heard how a venue actually thinks about a door split, a guarantee, or that catering line in a rider that quietly turns a $5,000 show into a $6,500 one.
Scott Happel has.
Scott is a co-owner of three of Denver's independent live music venues: The Oriental Theater, HQ, and The Federal Theatre. He built that footprint one venue at a time, almost entirely by accident. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on what happens on the other side of every deal a musician signs. He breaks down door splits versus guarantees, what a first email to a venue needs to include to actually get opened, and what breaks trust between an artist and a room that could otherwise have them back again and again. He gets specific about the parts of the business that rarely get explained clearly: merch splits, catering buy-ins that quietly change a deal after it's signed, and who should really cover the cost when an artist wants to sell a VIP meet and greet. He also tells the story of bringing The Federal Theatre back to life after roughly 40 years of sitting dark, a reminder that even the venues musicians play started somewhere and took real risk to exist.
If you're a working musician, this episode is about your side of the table too. Every choice a venue makes, from splits to load in times to catering budgets, connects directly to decisions you're already making about your own money. Knowing what a venue is actually pricing when it makes an offer, and what earns an artist a callback, puts you in a better position to negotiate and manage your own income with more clarity.
If this helped you think differently about the money side of your career, share it with another musician who needs to hear it.
Scott Happel & The Venues
The Oriental Theater: https://www.theorientaltheater.com (https://www.theorientaltheater.com) | https://www.instagram.com/theorientaltheater (https://www.instagram.com/theorientaltheater) | https://www.facebook.com/OrientalTheater (https://www.facebook.com/OrientalTheater)
HQ Denver: https://www.hqdenver.com (https://www.hqdenver.com) | https://www.instagram.com/hqdenver (https://www.instagram.com/hqdenver) | https://www.facebook.com/HQDenver (https://www.facebook.com/HQDenver)
The Federal Theatre: https://www.thefederaltheatre.com (https://www.thefederaltheatre.com) | https://www.instagram.com/thefederaltheatre (https://www.instagram.com/thefederaltheatre) | https://www.facebook.com/thefederaltheatre (https://www.facebook.com/thefederaltheatre)
Backstage Money
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backstagemoney (https://www.instagram.com/backstagemoney)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backstagemoney (https://www.facebook.com/backstagemoney)
Free guide for musicians: https://1024wealth.com/music (https://1024wealth.com/music)
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