Why I'm quitting music as a job

**JayAmel** · #1 10-12-2008, 08:06 AM

Ok folks, where do I start ?

I’m turning 50 soon, and I have been a pro bass player (on and off) for the last 3 decades. Most specifically, I have spent my whole time and made a living out of music for the last 5 years, as I had happened to do several times earlier.

I’m turning 50 and I’m turning disillusioned. Don’t know how it works in the other parts of the world, but what looked like a fantastic idea turned out to be a catastrophe.

French artists have a special status. To make it simple, while musician, singer, actor etc. are some kind of precarious jobs, they have to work approximately 50 days per year to then get what looks like a decent income. Of course, for this system to work properly, there are huge social fees attached to each working day, and these social fees have grown up, up and up again through the years. This made artists’ employment become more and more difficult as time went by.

In addition to that, many amateur musicians offer gigs at discounted prices, while they won’t declare their incomes to the Tax Department. This is totally illegal, but as long as bars, clubs, pubs have some musicians playing, which is attractive for customers, they don’t matter what the music is, how it is played, how it sounds. Only two things matter : musicians help customers come, and they have to be as cheap as possible, no matter whether this is legal or not.

The only way for pro musicians to still get working days is pay the social fees themselves, deducted from their salaries!

Ok, I don’t only play for bars and pubs. I also play in a cover band whose contracts are with “local societies” (kind of cultural services of towns, but registered as non-profit organisations). But the cost of a whole band is also raising more and more every year, and while many people now prefer watching reality shows on TV or, reading tabloids instead of going out to see and hear a band, and since what they pay for drinks makes the venue possible or not, well, more and more local societies stop hiring bands. Some engage DJ’s instead, some even stop the local festivities. While most professional bands used to have at least 50 dates per summer, now most of them have 15 or 20. And many have stopped their activities.

Now what is happening ? I am one of these pro musicians who undergo the perverted effects of that system. And, as well as many of my friends whose many are way better musicians than me, I won’t have enough working days when the expiry of my “status” comes (circa Feb 15). Which means as of Feb 16 2009 or so, I won’t have a single euro coming anymore.

“OK Jay, why don’t you try to get a part-time job in parallel ?”

Guess what : if, as a pro musician, one has a single day of paid activity in something else than music, cinema, TV…, he loses all his rights to the system.

I had a decision to make. I did. I’m currently preparing a home-based business to replace my pro musician’s job. Just because I want to make a living, not a dying, out of my work, no matter what work it is.

Please don’t get me wrong : there’s no whinning or so in what I have written. What is happening was quite foreseeable, it was a known threat, and I knew since a long time that at a moment I would have to make that decision. Of course that makes me sad, because I have gigabytes of memories stocked on videos, photos, but they won’t replace the fun and kicks I had with my (mostly) beloved musician friends. I’ll try not to dive down into too much nostalgia, though.

Sorry for this long post. Please forgive me if I have been too talkative. But TB is a big part of my ‘musical family’ and thus was obviously THE place for me to write down what is going through my life at this time.

Cheers,
Jay

Steve · #2 10-12-2008, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayAmel

In addition to that, many amateur musicians offer gigs at discounted prices, while they won’t declare their incomes to the Tax Department. This is totally illegal...

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Musicians really are their own worst enemies.

IMHO.

Be strong my brother.

kesslari · #3 10-12-2008, 11:48 AM

It's really hard to make a living as an artist, in most countries.

I made the same decision years ago.
One of the things that led to that decision for me - I was playing in a band with a keyboard player who had recorded for everyone from Dylan on down - rock, funk, jazz, you name it. Wrote songs on big albums. This man had more soul in his little finger than most people have in the whole of their bodies.

If the world were a just and fair place, Smitty would have been living in a big house on the hill, eating porterhouse steak and drinking fine wine every night, and driving a big ol' Cadillac (he was that kind of guy).

Instead he was living in a crappy rented house, driving an old beat up car that limped from gig to gig (with frequent stops at the mechanic's shop to keep going), and struggled each month to pay his small bills.

The world is not a just or fair place, and musicians and artists are not well treated, as a rule.

Good luck to you. The good news is that once you stop playing music for your income, you can start to really focus on the music you love to play, rather than the music that will pay the bills.

The Owl · #4 10-12-2008, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kesslari

It's really hard to make a living as an artist, in most countries.

I made the same decision years ago.
One of the things that led to that decision for me - I was playing in a band with a keyboard player who had recorded for everyone from Dylan on down - rock, funk, jazz, you name it. Wrote songs on big albums. This man had more soul in his little finger than most people have in the whole of their bodies.

If the world were a just and fair place, Smitty would have been living in a big house on the hill, eating porterhouse steak and drinking fine wine every night, and driving a big ol' Cadillac (he was that kind of guy).

Instead he was living in a crappy rented house, driving an old beat up car that limped from gig to gig (with frequent stops at the mechanic's shop to keep going), and struggled each month to pay his small bills.

The world is not a just or fair place, and musicians and artists are not well treated, as a rule.

Good luck to you. The good news is that once you stop playing music for your income, you can start to really focus on the music you love to play, rather than the music that will pay the bills.

AMEN my brother. I made the decision some years ago NOT to pursue music as my source of income, but rather allow myself to freely create art. My day-gig is in service to that aim and believe me, this Owl is far happier that way! The "music biz" is really a sewer and then some.

Jazzdogg · #5 10-12-2008, 04:25 PM

Sounds as though, from your description at least, the intervention of government in music has been a catastrophe!

**JayAmel** · #6 10-12-2008, 04:27 PM

Thanks fellows ! Fully agree with all you have stated. No trouble for me, I know it is a good decision, and I always look forwards, never backwards.

**JayAmel** · #7 10-12-2008, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzdogg

Sounds as though, from your description at least, the intervention of government in music has been a catastrophe!

Almost true : most exactly governmentS (all of them since 1969). It's not a matter of politics per se, just some odd concept around music as a job. Everyone, by these days, was pretty sure that would work, and it did. Then came the bad effects, which were not directly the fault of any government, but due to crowds of people who wanted to become pro musicians and committed massive frauds for that. And yes, the frauds did work too. (basically, these people were fictively employed, so their rights were opened, but at the end nobody would pay the social fees - the problem is, these people were dozens of thousands - and there are still many)

ROON · #8 10-13-2008, 09:28 AM

I hope you leave the music scene/industry with some good memories, Jay. Best of luck for your future endovours.

spade2you · #9 10-13-2008, 09:36 AM

Sounds like you've thought things through and are making the best possible decisions.

MrLenny · #10 10-13-2008, 10:53 AM

I'm 55 years old and feel the same way. Gigs are far and few in between and the
whole scene keeps withering away. Playing bars is brutal work. Private gigs have
been taken over by DJ's.
My next move is to drop out of gigging and try studying again and possibly teaching.
Bonne chance mon ami.

**JayAmel** · #11 10-13-2008, 02:56 PM

Thanks everyone ! Yes that is a decision I have been thinking about for a long time before making it. I feel no sourness, even no disappointment actually, I just knew this had to happen, and finally I'm glad I'm quitting because of this situation instead of health issues or other kinds of bad stuff.

I'll keep on playin' everyday, such as I've been doing through the last 32 years. Musically speaking, that's the only important thing to me.

Beefbass · #12 10-22-2008, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLenny

I'm 55 years old and feel the same way. Gigs are far and few in between and the
whole scene keeps withering away. Playing bars is brutal work. Private gigs have
been taken over by DJ's.
My next move is to drop out of gigging and try studying again and possibly teaching.
Bonne chance mon ami.

Totally agree with all of this.

fokof · #13 10-22-2008, 07:54 AM

I'm 43 and survived by doing different things always in music domain.
I am a bass player , soundman , studio tech , technical director for some events.
Would you loose your rights if you would diversify?

Your system in France is a big advantage though for a lot of people , we don't have this around here ( Montreal ).
When I don't work , I have absolutly nothing to rely on as a musician.

J'ai connu beaucoup d'artistes a qui ça a sauvé "le Q" (excuse l'expression)

The Golden Boy · #14 10-22-2008, 09:11 AM

"love is love, work is work- people who do 'love' for 'work' are called 'hookers.'"

chadds · #15 07-01-2009, 08:00 AM

My choice was to play music for musics sake. Many friends have had poor health, poor relationships, poor money and moon tans from the 9-2 thing.
When I was 16 my decision was to make my pay through more traditional employment and make music without the thought of getting paid. Interestingly I'm getting paid now and playing with serious pros playing fun "semi improvisational/whatever tune comes up laugh music". ie. Ohio Players bass lick with some comped 80s keybd with the sax player playing "West Side Story". The audiences love it and keep coming back for more.
Any who we never recoup our investment in instruments and amps playing clubs. The frustration of being a music box for some drunks who are trying to recapture some margaritaville moment from 30 years ago is intense... and they aren't listening.

I have friends who are so good that if it were about that they would be highly paid. It's not.

Bruce Lindfield · #16 07-01-2009, 08:21 AM

Ah of course the thing is that when you get to this kind of age - it is expected that you will be playing Jazz...

That's where you're going wrong!

**T. B. Player** · #17 07-01-2009, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayAmel

Almost true : most exactly governmentS (all of them since 1969). It's not a matter of politics per se, just some odd concept around music as a job. Everyone, by these days, was pretty sure that would work, and it did. Then came the bad effects, which were not directly the fault of any government, but due to crowds of people who wanted to become pro musicians and committed massive frauds for that. And yes, the frauds did work too. (basically, these people were fictively employed, so their rights were opened, but at the end nobody would pay the social fees - the problem is, these people were dozens of thousands - and there are still many)

Frauds in jobs? At least they're in the music industry there. They're in our banking system, investment companies and insurance companies over here.

Oh - forgot - real estate too.

OK - every industry!

Just goes to show what happens when everyone takes advantage of the system to bend it to their own desires and gains and doesn't give a rats about how their actions will affect anyone else.

Z

ggunn · #18 07-01-2009, 09:01 AM

Although it was not my only source of income at the time, I was in an "in it for the money" band for more than 15 years. I quit that band and I'm now in an "art for art's sake" band that produces virtually no income for me at all, and I am much happier. How many times can one play "YMCA" and "Play That Funky Music White Boy" and pretend to enjoy it?

It's just another turn of the wheel. Take the opportunity to get back to what got you interested in playing music in the first place.

JayB · #19 07-01-2009, 11:32 AM

When I was in college, I was a totally gung-ho about playing music for a living. When I realized that with my skill set my only real option was playing in cover bar bands, I figured there were better ways to make money.

Now, while I'm not a professional musician and make peanuts anyway, I found a job in "the arts" in NYC that provides a stable paycheck, the chance to explore other sides of creative work, and provides me the flexibility to focus on and find an audience for my obscure creative music. I'll probably never make a dime off of it, but I'm way more happy then I would if I ruled out everything but paid bass playing work. YMWV.