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Real Musicians don't make money.

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Hi guys,

So many great responses in this thread, some of them pretty funny!

"oh, so you're the guy that's pushing down our wages and ruining it for everybody else?"

There's always a fine line between getting yourself out there by taking a reduced fee and not putting up with being an underpaid musician. What's the old wisdom about hiring a band? "Try calling four or five plumbers to work for six hours on a Saturday night. I'll play for half of that." ;)

Just curious, had you been drinking? Alcohol makes idiot's opinions seem far more important than they are. If you weren't drinking, why would you even pay him any mind. Seems a smile and an, "OK," would have been a sufficient response.

Sage advice from a real, seasoned pro. Thanks Joe. :)


This is just about perfect. :D


Yes, people can die from exposure. :p


This guy got to play percussion on a tropical island and never get paid. He must be a real musician. :rolleyes:


I don't think I understand this. :D

was talking about a song with my wife the other day, she couldn't place it. i say "i could sing the chorus for you but you'll have to pay me 5 bucks..."

I often tell my wife, "If I had a dollar for every time I played that song...... oh, wait... I guess I did get paid a dollar every time." :whistle:

Sounds to me like sour grapes on his part. Too bad you couldn't have made off with his girlfriend. That would've made this gig outstanding.

My future wife was impressed by my good looks and talent on the bass and vocals. She walked right up and asked me to dance on our break. She was even more impressed when she found out I had a day job.

That's not to disparage anyone who makes their living full-time in the music industry. It's just that I realized a long time ago that because of my lack of talent I would never be able to support a family in the lifestyle I wanted to. So I have a second job in IT. :smug:

Mr. @bigboy_78, you run into all types when you walk off stage. I'm glad you were able to let this punter be the jerk that he is, and just walk back on stage. Folks like that aren't worth the trouble.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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"Traveled the country playing drums".... what, just freelance, willy-nilly, 'will play drums for food'? You drag your kit around and see which way the wind blows?

This totally reeks of "I don't play 'drums', I own a few drums like a bongo drum or djembe, and I show up where people are playing, and hop up there and start tappy-tapping on my drums, then I go sleep in my tent until the next Burning Man-type event."

Just sayin'.
 
Hi,

I get paid to haul musical equipment and work as a roadie. I play music for free.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff


Almost got into a fist fight on Saturday. I had a punter tell me I wasn't real musician because I had a day job. He was the real deal because music was his passion, he'd just travelled the country playing drums and never got paid for one gig.

He wore this like a badge of honour. He was proud of the fact he never accepted a cent for performing. He was actually offended, to the point of aggression, when he realised we were being paid to play the "lame cover songs" that his girlfriend had been dancing to all night.

The fellow just couldn't accept that someone could enjoy playing different styles of music, or you know need money to pay a mortgage.

It's been a long while since I've felt that close to a fight, but this guy was ready punch-on just to prove he was a more passionate musician.

Other than that It was an outstanding gig at a beach-side pub.

Sounds like he was trying to justify himself to someone making more money than he does playing music.

Definitely not worth getting that worked up about, but hard to do in the moment.

Comment about jealous his GF was enjoying might be closer to the truth.
 
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I played with a drummer with a similar attitude last week.
I had met him briefly at another gig we both played, although in different groups. I introduced myself, and right away he starts talking about he's a professional touring musician, just played to 80,000 people at a 4th of July gig...
I thought it was strange that a guy with that kind of success would be playing with us for very little money in the next few weeks.
Dude shows up to our gig a little late because he doesn't have a car, and has to find someone to pick him up and drop him off.
I understand not making any money in music, but I think some folks use it as a cop out because they're too lazy to do something else.
 
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Almost got into a fist fight on Saturday. I had a punter tell me I wasn't real musician because I had a day job. He was the real deal because music was his passion, he'd just travelled the country playing drums and never got paid for one gig.

He wore this like a badge of honour. He was proud of the fact he never accepted a cent for performing. He was actually offended, to the point of aggression, when he realised we were being paid to play the "lame cover songs" that his girlfriend had been dancing to all night.

The fellow just couldn't accept that someone could enjoy playing different styles of music, or you know need money to pay a mortgage.

It's been a long while since I've felt that close to a fight, but this guy was ready punch-on just to prove he was a more passionate musician.

Other than that It was an outstanding gig at a beach-side pub.
Aggression is a sign of insecurity. Your business is none of his business and does not affect him. And he is comparing apples to oranges. And clearly his girlfriend likes what you're doing if she was dancing to it. What an idiot.