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Bigger COVID-19 worry?

#102
postalflunkie said:
An old friend of mine posted this on facebook, just another way to help out the musical community.

I’ve seen people asking how they can help some of their favorite bands/musicians get by since the clubs have been closed and shows have been cancelled. Although gigs are my only source of income, my wife has a good job, so fortunately, we will be able to get by. Most of my musician friends are not so lucky.

A real easy way to give them some support (and you actually get something in return) is to go online and buy their music. Buying a hard copy of a CD will pay them the most money, but downloading is the next best thing. Notice I said “download” and not “stream.” Here’s why:

- If you download a song for 99 cents on iTunes, the artist gets paid 64 cents.
- If you stream a song on Spotify, the artist gets paid 1/3 of a cent. That’s right- ONE THIRD OF A PENNY.

So either go to your favorite bands' website(s) or go to your online music source of choice (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc) and search the artist's name, download some music that you get to keep and listen to forever, and know that the majority of that money is going to help your currently out of work musician friends (and mine) out in this difficult time.

Much love!
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This is nice of him. The profit margin on records is even better. Buy vinyl!
Also a 1/3 of a cent is kind of on the high side. It depends on where and when the stream occurs. And after publishing and label cuts, its a fraction of even that. It negligible for almost anyone not huge.
 
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#103
I've been cruisin' this planet for two thirds of a century. Ain't never seen nothin' like this. Ever. The only thing close was the blizzards of '78. Weren't allowed to drive for over a week. Seemed like a year. Nobody really knows how this will go. I feel for those who's income is wiped out. Can't imagine. The restaurant business will definitely be affected as there's a whole BUNCH of young people learning how to cook right now that will soon realize how much cheaper (and sometimes better) it is than constantly paying someone to make them a burger.

Things will be different in a whole host of ways, more working from home, more public hygiene (hopefully), less business travel and more digital conferencing, etc. But live music is not going away. It's just too damn good when done well and memorable. Time for serious woodshedding!!!!!
 
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#104
Mike Whitfield said:
I can certainly see why bars would like that. I drink maybe six shots a year but if trapped with an EDM jockey with audio and visual mashups I’d drink them all that night. Have to admit though that not having to yell at each other to communicate on a date would be nice. Although full disclosure I’ve been out of the dating market so long that I don’t even remember who brings the handcuffs and who brings the alpaca so I might be wrong.
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I’m glad my nephew is doing well with it, but i’m not sure i could deal with it for any length of time either. When i’ve been to his shows I usually hang for an hour or so and make sure to go by and tell him how great it sounds. TBH i prefer those nights when my brother talks him in to drumming for the old guys. He’s a seriously good drummer but gave it up in favor of what he’s currently doing after he did time in 3 different bands who could blow the roof off a joint, and couldn’t make gas money in any of them.
 
#108
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#109
/\/\3phist0 said:
Welcome to the new normal.
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Be careful. A lot was learned by the successful management of social media for the last election. They (THEY...caps intended) learned a lot. You can bet that social media and every thing internet will be used to steer public opinion, response and action . And your tax dollars are paying for it. Keep your flames to yourself. This is all about affluence and influence and their ability to steer your tax dollars their way. Non-partisan response.
 
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#110
Waiting to get "drafted" into hospital service. I do primarily home-based clinical services...I'm the guy who runs the ventilators...and closely watching the onslaught in NYC. Health care professionals are getting sick and dying while trying to treat the afflicted. This holds true for all the professionals in the trenches.

Riis
 
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#111
biggest worry as a musician? that "getting back to normal" is going to be so far into the future that a lot of these remaining venues that have live music are simply not going to come back. That businesses will be slow to book bands again, even if the "all clear" signal is given. that our band will simply whither and die from a lack of gigs.

but as a person, of course I worry abut me and mine getting sick. I worry about the effect this is having on people that literally have no income now (I'm not one). the toll this is taking on people, relationships, jobs...society
 
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#112
QORC said:
biggest worry as a musician? that "getting back to normal" is going to be so far into the future that a lot of these remaining venues that have live music are simply not going to come back. That businesses will be slow to book bands again, even if the "all clear" signal is given. that our band will simply whither and die from a lack of gigs.

but as a person, of course I worry abut me and mine getting sick. I worry about the effect this is having on people that literally have no income now (I'm not one). the toll this is taking on people, relationships, jobs...society
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Even if they do come back, most of them won't have the budget for live music. Bars/restaurants have the ability to buy food and drink on credit if needed, but bands have to be paid in cash at the time of the gig. And the cash simply isn't going to be there. Same with weddings and private events. If a couple is having a wedding in the wake of all this, the band will be one of the first things to get cut.
 
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#113
I suspect many bars in our area will close for good. That business is dependent on nightly revenues and having to shut down for 30-60 days, and especially for a longer period, will make it impossible to reopen unless landlords, banks, and lenders are willing to float the notes and work with tenants to allow a long term pay out of late rent due to lost revenue.
I'm sure landlords who own multi space properties like retail strip centers, where many bars are located, don't want to end up with empty properties. But those landlord also have to pay their lenders. So the fall of the dominoes may be in the hands of the big lenders.
Only time will tell.
 
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#114
friskinator said:
Even if they do come back, most of them won't have the budget for live music. Bars/restaurants have the ability to buy food and drink on credit if needed, but bands have to be paid in cash at the time of the gig. And the cash simply isn't going to be there. Same with weddings and private events. If a couple is having a wedding in the wake of all this, the band will be one of the first things to get cut.
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Agree. Even if some do manage to reopen the loss of revenue won’t allow them to pay cash for live entertainment. My market is fragile as it is and I Know some of the owners live week to week to survive.
Yes this is a horrible time and the loss of human life with this is so tragic. It’s what happens after it’s over that has me scared as well.
 
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#116
in my city, it's proliferating to a ridiculous degree. all these people mostly solo guitar stuff, pretty much BEGGING people to tune-in. And adding paypal addresses. Virtual tip jars. and virtually nobody is paying attention. it's sad. it's delusional. it should be beneath some of them. for some, they just want to play (but then why beg for $?). For others, its a desperate plea for relevance. I get the idea that some of their egos cannot fathom that there is nobody to play in front of them during this shut-down. Hey, I'm a musician. I miss playing too. but I sure as hell am not going to "live-stream" my band. I would be 100% against it. I mean, do what you wish, but literally some of them have come back on FB virtually dressing people down for NOT tuning in, for NOT giving them money. it's rather sickening.
 
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#118
So many questions...
I feel that things will not simply go back to the way they were, how could they?
I haven’t been playing with anyone for a bit, but totally not worried because, how does that help?
I’m mentally inviting a new paradigm that works better for all of us!
 
#119
i agree. live music in a lot of ways has already been aging out - there isn't the market, the money or the number of venues that host it now as there was even 10 years ago, and a fraction of what it was 30 years ago. I fear that this virus thing is going to erode it even further. I don't know what the new paradigm will look like, but i'm actually considering to what extent my musical career is winding down (I'm not young) and whether it is time to sell at least a few of my things. I had a good run, but it feels like it's all petering out
 
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#120
I hear that.
I have actually found myself looking at acoustic instruments (various drums, percussion) with a different and renewed view...I suppose just incase the power grid goes down.
Perhaps that’s an extreme situation, but it has crossed my mind more than once.
How long before we can get together and jam again?????
 

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