Last year, she won Best Pop Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
After the release of her debut album The Rose of Jericho, she is nominated four times – for Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist and Best Pop Artist.
This year’s awards are being held this evening at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.
Speaking to the Herald’s Money Talks podcast, Lines says she has always been entrepreneurial and is learning about investing and managing money.
Ultimately, it’s not what drives her, but being able to make a living is important for artists, she says.
You never want to sell your soul, she says.
“The creation of my art is so important, and how I go about that comes first. And then if I can make money and sell off that, then that’s awesome.”
“Music is my fulltime job, which I’m very, very lucky to be able to do and to have, I work really hard, like I hustle all the time.”
It’s not easy for musicians in the modern world of free streaming.
Monetising your creativity means a big focus on live performance and managing your own merchandise.
“My team works really hard, so I have all of these people that are working hard for me so that I can have income that comes off the shows and off the songs that I release and off the merch that I make.”
Lines says she enjoys the business side.
“I do. I’m very business-minded.”
It is a bit like running a company, she says.
“I guess the company of Georgia Lines, which is so strange that it’s like myself and a third person.”
“You have to think that way about it otherwise things get quite muddy.”
On a personal level, Lines says she’s always been savvy with money.
“I love spending money, which is not super great,” she says.
“But even as a kid, I would sell things on the side of the road and friends of my parents would drop off boxes of avocados and I would sit out on the street and sell them for a dollar.”
“I had my first T-shirt business at 12. I loved having money to spend, but I think my journey, within the last few years, I’ve become a little bit more of a saver.”
Lines credits a Kickstarter campaign she ran to fund her first recording session in the US, which provided the motivation to really lift her musical game.
“It crowdfunded, which meant that I had to do it!” she says.
“I was like, all of these people have backed me, and now I have to follow through. That was a really significant time for me, where I went over to Houston, and I started recording.”
Off the back of that release, Lines managed to secure a slot at the prestigious South By Southwest music industry festival.
It was while performing there that she caught the attention of a major international management company, famous for promoting Coldplay.
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Georgia Lines about her career and how money has impacted her life as a musician.
Lines will be performing one live show – Music Under the Stars with Friends – at the Civic Theatre on June 15 for the Auckland Live Cabaret Festival. Tickets are available now.
Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn’t about personal finance and isn’t about economics - it’s just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it’s had on their lives and how it has shaped them.
The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large for the Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.
Money Talks is available on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
