Edward Avedisian played with the Boston Pops for 35 years and the Boston Ballet Orchestra for 43 seasons, performing with Aerosmith, Whitney Houston, Tony Bennett, Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price, and Big Bird from Sesame Street over the years. He earned a modest salary, however, last year he has donated $100 million to he to Boston University. Unbeknownst to many, Avedisian found stunning success through his personal investments, turning the modest salary of a musician into a fortune. He was self-taught as an investor, reading books and Investor’s Business Dailyand regularly watching CNBC and Bloomberg for tips. Avedisian was a buy-and-hold investor, focusing on initial public offerings (IPOs) and taking a lot of risk by buying on margin. His secret was - “success is the intersection of opportunity and preparation”. Avedisian died late last year. Boston University Today has the story.

An interesting interview by The New Cue with Paul Heaton from The Beautiful South and The Housemartins, on several topics, including money: "I have seen that the more money you make, the more it controls you. They move to bigger houses, with bigger fences and bigger gates. The higher the gate, the more safe they feel, but I always think that’s really unsafe. I live in plain sight. I live on an ordinary street. You come up to the door and I answer. There’s no barrier between me and other people, because I think if there is it promotes a them-and-us thing. If I have someone stalking me I know straight away. I’m not a curtain twitcher but I know everybody on our street. So if someone tried stalking me, they’d be stalked back".

Pop stars Shakira, Elton John, Ringo Starr, and Julio Iglesias were named in a new leak of private financial documents, known as the Pandora Papers, published over the weekend by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, offering a glimpse at the tangled web of offshore accounting and alleged tax avoidance schemes used by some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people. None of the above were accused of any wrongdoing or of violating any laws.

More money - more problems, no money - no music
July 06, 2021

Podcast: The impact money has had on music-making through the centuries

The latest episode of The Listening Service podcast explores how our transactional economy underpins centuries of music-making from Notre-Dame’s patronage of the polyphonic Perotin, over Beethoven writing a symphony for £100 and Wagner losing over a million on the premiere of his operatic masterpiece The Ring cycle, to Pet Shop Boys singing about everything reduced to financial value.

Who wants to be a KSI?
February 08, 2021

KSI: I have reached peak happiness with the money I have

The YouTuber-turned-rapper KSI says he has earned enough money and is ready for a change in his life. The 27-year-old made his debut on the Heat Rich List last year, with estimated earnings of $12 million over 12 months, which seems to be enough for him - "I have reached peak happiness with the money I have. I don't need anymore, so I am just trying to do what I can, help who I can, support charities and have a good time man" - Music News reports.