Sorry to say as long as you and others have this attitude you drag the whole live music scene down with you.
You can argure or put a case for your right to do so, but in the end it is you and those like you that create a problem, that grows to become the norm.
Maybe. It's not my intent to drag anyone down, or to criticize anyone here. Just to share ideas that others may find useful.
What am I doing wrong? I am not usually playing for free (I have done two free pub gigs in the last decade, and neither of them had any commercial potential). I'm simply saying that you can't stop it. If you want to try, well I think you are morally wrong to try, but I'm not inclined to waste time arguing the toss, since you won't succeed. But I have not struggled to find markets where I can differentiate myself, and my income from music is rising, not falling. I'm not that good. It isn't that hard.
Also, what does it mean to drag live music down? Not everything artistically great is commercially viable. Van Gogh struggled to sell paintings. Mozart was buried in a pauper's grave after supporting himself by teaching and patronage as much as by composition. Did they drag their art down by their respective contributions? What's wrong with deciding that a piece of music is worth creating for its own sake, even if I can't see a way to make money from it. What's wrong with someone who isn't good enough to be a pro playing in an open mic night, an Irish session or a karaoke for the fun of it? I'd rather people write great music and perform cheap or free, as opposed to yet another sequenced duo doing the same boring set of covers.
You seem to be starting from a view that gigs in bars is the pinnacle of achievement in music. I don't share that view.
FB is about business from a different model.
The key words. Business model. So let's take a few examples.
- The guys in ABBA sat and wrote 9 to 5 to produce material, then went through Eurovision to launch themselves.
- Savage Garden stopped playing live to concentrate on writing and became an international success.
- Lily Allen launched herself by giving her songs away on Myspace
- Justin Beiber was discovered on YouTube.
If your business model is to make a profit playing two-bit pubs, go for it, but I see that as a dead-end. If you want to make it, buy a Mac, learn to use GarageBand and start writing and recording.
Fulltime on anything means you have to earn a wage, there is no choice, you earn a wage or you cannot be fulltime so there is no choice.
The choice is whether to be fulltime. I don't believe the world owes you that, you need to earn it. Sorry, but figure out how to make a viable business in music (it can be done) or get a real job.
The opening line says it all "when i was full time", you need to be paid to be full time, it is not just the "stage time" that is what being paid for, it is the complete range of skills and time to get to that "stage time". I do not get paid for that couple of hours anyone sees on stage, that is the easy part of the job. Out of a 24 hr day stage time is just 2-3 hrs of paid time, it is the other 21 hrs of un-paid time that costs the money.
I agree.
You need to do what you do and make enough money to support yourself in the process. How you do it is up to you, but not everything is billable.
But the point you quoted is I was full time. Real, pay-the-rent-support-wife-and-kids full time. Not live-with-mum-and-dad-or-my-wife-supports-me-or-I-live-off-savings full time. I'm not anything great but the ideas I'm setting out here are not theoretical. And I'm not the only one taking this approach.
Spend your time complaining about the problem, or spend your time finding solutions. Up to you.
Trouble is if you put a truly talented band on stage that is going somewhere and a band that is not, the crowd do not really care. Talent has little to do with this situation.
Once that mix of alcohol and a funtime is mixed, anything that makes a noise and is familier will fit the bill. A crowded bar is no place to get opinions on what is good music and what is not when admission is free.
Nothing will dampen enthusiasm like a door charge.
Well, if you are talking no name bar gigs where you are working as a human jukebox, then yes. (And I stole the phrase "human jukebox" from Joni Mitchell, who used it to explain why she stopped gigging). So you need to change the equation. Become a name, so that people are coming to see you, not to drink. That's what the bands who are going somewhere do.
I am assuming there is a market beyond no-name bars where you are, as there is here. Your task is to come up with a product and business model that get you into that market. As others are saying, it revolves around drawing people.
Finally, your homework, should you choose to accept it, is to read the book "Rock On" by Dan Kennedy. An interesting perspective on the industry from a former exec at Atlantic Records. Then read up on Market Analysis and think about how it might apply to what you are trying to do.
Hope this helps and is seen as constructive, not an argument.
on the merits of original bands playing for free, but we certainly know the difference between cleaning a toilet and performing highly skilled labor! And, we both know that illegal workers are, and have been undermining our efforts and our income for years and years!
