I believe the biggest issue with live music is we have been supplanted by streaming music, where people can hear songs they want to hear played the way the want to hear it. As bassists, we’ve been supplanted by computer generated parts, or musically not needed.
From a historically perspective , over the last 100 years, popular music was music to dance to. Live music was a part of a social event, an environment to meet or celebrate, and could be enjoyed by a broad age group. The band/music was a secondary consideration as long as they were reasonably in tune, started and stopped together, and the right songs were played.
Where things went off the rails is when the band/music became the main focus of attention. This required some sort of musical acumen of the paying audience , or repeated exposure for people to fully appreciate the “art”, or some distraction, ie, multiple dancers on stage engaged in high energy aerobics, pyrotechnics, and or lighting. With the closing of clubs, bars due to enforcement of DUI laws, as well shrinking radio play lists, it is really hard to get the exposure you need to promote and develop your musical brand.
Going forward, our opportunity as players is that you’d better get your arms around the fact that nobody owes you a blessed nickel because you can play an instrument. If you expect to be paid, you better be playing something that somebody is will to pay to hear.
