What, exactly, is a professional musician?

[MDBass]

This question is coming up a lot in my social networks, so I offer it to you. What does it mean to be professional? Can you have a day job to make ends meet and be a pro? Can you call yourself a pro if you take a little money for music but never made a living at it? Are you only pro level if you've made your living in music either now or in the past? Does it require a certain level of practice and commitment? What does it all mean?

A professional is someone who does "it" for a living, simple enough really.

Someone in a cover band that plays a gig or two a month for $100 bucks a man isn't a professional musician.

They might be a great musician, but they happen to do something else for money.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

This question is coming up a lot in my social networks, so I offer it to you. What does it mean to be professional? Can you have a day job to make ends meet and be a pro? Can you call yourself a pro if you take a little money for music but never made a living at it? Are you only pro level if you've made your living in music either now or in the past? Does it require a certain level of practice and commitment? What does it all mean?

If you get paid to play. Primarily as your main source of income. Like, it's your job (or a second job, but still a job) then you are officially a professional musician. When you make a living doing anything, it's a profession. You are a professional. Other wise, you are considered an amateur. Think sports. Amateurs are college athletes, professionals are league athletes. I'm a painter. It's my profession. If I taught lessons, or was a "for hire" musician, or played in a touring band to pay my bill's and put my kids through college, I'd be a professional musician. But, I'm not. It doesnt mean I can't play. It just means it's not my profession. Therefore, I'm an amateur. Or, hobbyist if you will. Nothing to be ashamed of by any means. Just the truth of the matter.

 

[superdick2112]

Pro = Makes a living playing music. Playing music is his/her primary source of income. Regularly plays concerts and larger venues, records in studios.

Semi-Pro = Makes money playing clubs & bars on weekends, may put out a self-produced CD or two, but primary source of income is day job or something other than playing music.

Amateur = Plays occasional couch concerts & BBQs, may even earn a few bucks doing it, but only enough to be considered beer money or pocket change.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

This is a serious question. It has a lot to do with the level of proficiency in live music now, as opposed to the level of proficiency required when I first started playing. And I don't mean reading. I mean showing up and suiting up and playing solos in the correct keys, not stopping songs in the middle because you didn't like something, and just generally not being a hobbyist.

My personal contention is that the market currently pays for hobbyist level music, and that's generally what they get. So is getting up on a stage and playing badly but taking home gas money now considered "pro?" Because nine times out of ten, that's what I'm hearing on stages in my town. What's happening in your town?

It takes a bit of doing to put all the parts together, but my stinky little bar band has several things going for it: Over almost four years, we've got a following; if you can draw, that is what is more important to a club owner than how talented you are. Of course, part of answering the question "Can you draw?" assumes that putting on a quality performance is an aspect of drawing power. Meaning, in our case, a performance that pleases the people who have come to hear it, while they talk to each other. (At our gigs, in a lot of ways, the crowd is the entertainment. A Redhead gig is a scene, if you know what I mean.) Which leads us to another technical aspect: We're loud enough to rock, but bartenders never complain about not hearing drink orders when we're in the house. We have our own sound guy at every gig.

Then there's the business side: Our BL is best buddies with the owner of every club we play in. And she knows clubs come and go. We lost two venues in 2017, another in 2018, and she's found three new venues to replace them. It's work. When we know we're going into a new place for the first time, if they have an open mic we hit it two weeks ahead of time so the regulars can see what they're getting. As some of you are doubtless tired of hearing, we have no EPK, no website other than facebook, no pro video or audio. We prefer to operate in meatspace.

A long-winded way of saying, we live in the lowest quartile of our profession--bar band--but we're pretty much at the top of it. We don't work for gas money. As I've been known to say, money is validation. Am I any good at what I do? Not for me to say. But somebody pays me to do it. YMMV!

 

[logdrum]

Union card?

 

[Bassheart365]

If it means "someone whose sole source of income is music," then it typically means someone who lives out of their wallet, does not own a home, has no health insurance, cannot support a family...stuff like that.

 

[DavC]

when it says just that on my taxes ..!! and i pay my self employment tax crap ... etc, etc ...

 

[DoctorZee]

I think it's harder to define "musician" than "professional."

 

[Alkali Ike]

A handyman might be able to do some plumbing. Maybe even competently. But he's not a professional plumber.

 

[trevcda]

To me, none of what you listed matters.

A pro shows up on time.

When said pro shows up, that pro has good gear. Good gear doesn't have to be expensive gear. But it has to work and sound great.

A pro shows up knowing the material hands down..... unless it's a jam band.... in which case a pro shows up knowing how to play off of others.

A pro listens.

A pro knows what and when NOT to play.

A pro takes care of business and brings zero drama.

A pro considers all of the non-musical aspects of the band that move the band forward like marketing and customer relations.

A pro makes your band better.

You don't have to make a dime playing music to be a pro.

.....all in my opinion, of course.

I like that list. It nicely outlines what I strive for. I seriously asked myself the "what makes me a professional" question in my late teens. I'd taken summer school classes so that I could graduate a half year early and hit the road with a larger production bar band. I answered myself, that I would consider myself a professional musician when someone seeks me out personally, not as a group I was performing with, to compensate me for providing my talent and/or services as a musician. Through a lot of networking and shucking and jiving, I made it happen. Fill in work, fly in dates, some light arranging and even stage managing and production work. As with many, life eventually got in the way and upon trying to return to it, found it's a completely different landscape full of people looking for a hand out to move their aspirations along, that no longer value what people like me may bring to their table.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Now, this is what's interesting to me, because on some level I agree, and on another I disagree. There are many people I'd consider pro-level players who are doing occasional gigs for little to no money now, because nowadays that's all there is. But that situation has also allowed a lot of true hobbyists to enter the arena and strut around. Again, we're talking about "players" who can't stay in tune, can't solo in the correct key over changes, can't sing a harmony, stop songs in the middle, etc. All stuff that, in my day, was unheard of among what we considered to be professionals (well, maybe not the harmony thing but it was a lot easier back then to find singers).

In general, I find the level of quality in live performance, at least where I live, to be greatly dumbed down from where it was 30 years ago. There are exceptions to this. There are bands out there with great players but they are not the rule. So I contend that the lack of value appropriated toward music has created a situation where non-pros can get gas money but real pros can no longer make a living wage.

"There are many people I'd consider pro-level players who are doing occasional gigs for little to no money now, because nowadays that's all there is".

As someone who started gigging as a teen in the seventies, $100/person was the base pay scale then for many pros and crazily enough that hasn't changed. Then again, $500+/person gigs were reserved to someone working big stages. I can make that locally... so I don't think that it's really a case of a not being able to make a living wage, you have to separate yourself from the crowd. Which was true back then too. People tend to confuse that with making a living wage where you want to live. Like operating a shrimp boat in Nebraska.

 

[Brad Johnson]

There was a time in my life when I made a fair amount of money playing gigs. At this point in my life, I play in churches as a volunteer, but I'm a MUCH better musician, and I play with guys who make a living at it all the time. So, when was I the most "professional"? When I was getting paid, or when I can really play? Is it money or skill that makes you "pro"?

It's money.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

"Professional musician" is yet another label which leads to the language problem called "equivocal language".

 

[2F/2F]

It's a person who has figured out how to fully support him/herself using music.

I don't attach a certain income to it. In my eyes, it's all about the ability to self support, exclusively using your income from that one source. If you pay $500 a month to rent a room, and another $500 on other expenses, you make $1,000 a month playing on the street every day, and have no other job, then in my eyes, you are a full-on professional musician.

That said, an amateur, or a partial professional, can also conduct oneself as a professional. It's a slightly different meaning of the word, referring to a set of responsibilities, work ethic, and manner of conduct.

 

[Knavery]

A pro doesn't necessarily have to make money. IMO, a professional musician is someone whose educated in music, can play in a variety of settings, and knows his or her &%$*. Now if someone says, "Music is my profession... " Well then... That's how they make their bread and butter.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

A handyman might be able to do some plumbing. Maybe even competently. But he's not a professional plumber.

Nope, he's a professional handyman. Or Jack of all trades/Master of None. Pretty much.

 

[LordRyan]

Over the years I've read interviews with British musicians where they talk about turning pro. It seems they make a decision to become pro and the next day they are a pro. Don't know if any credentials are required or if they are pro just because they say they are. It seems like a British musician reaches some level of experience and overnight calls himself a pro because he has decided to pursue music full-time whether or not there is any immediate money being made.

 

[okcrum]

I see some of the degrees. But from my perspective, I played out five nights a week between 1978 and 1989. I bought a house with my earnings from music. I was paid a reasonable wage for my efforts. To me, those were the things that made me and others around me professional. Some of us were well schooled, some less so, but we had a common thread in that we all had figured out how to make money in live music, money that was good enough to pay the bills and feed our families.

What it implicitly also meant was that we had to deliver a product to our audiences that they wanted to pay money to hear.

What got me started on this whole thing was a post a few days ago on Facebook where a friend was chastizing other musicians for not coming out and supporting other bands in "the local scene." He seemed to be saying that only through the warm bodies of other musicians would our collective dreams and aspirations be met. And then, with no trace of irony, he suggested that we shoudn't let money be a factor because "we all get in for free."

I'm like, how is that supportive, if you're not even spending what it takes to get us all gas money? And what incentive does a professional musician have to want to be a part of that kind of scene in the first place? This guy is touting himself as a promoter but I'm sitting there thinking job one of a promoter is to get your talent a paycheck. Am I really this much out of touch?

I agree with everything you've said in this thread. That type of "promoter" is common among the metal crowd here. So are the seeming legions of rank amateurs.

My old DB teacher summed it up nicely for me when I asked him the same question that this thread title does:

"Not all musicians are professionals, and not all professionals are musicians". That's as true today (possibly more so) as it was 40-some years ago.

 

[LBS-bass]

It takes a bit of doing to put all the parts together, but my stinky little bar band has several things going for it: Over almost four years, we've got a following; if you can draw, that is what is more important to a club owner than how talented you are. Of course, part of answering the question "Can you draw?" assumes that putting on a quality performance is an aspect of drawing power. Meaning, in our case, a performance that pleases the people who have come to hear it, while they talk to each other. (At our gigs, in a lot of ways, the crowd is the entertainment. A Redhead gig is a scene, if you know what I mean.) Which leads us to another technical aspect: We're loud enough to rock, but bartenders never complain about not hearing drink orders when we're in the house. We have our own sound guy at every gig.

Then there's the business side: Our BL is best buddies with the owner of every club we play in. And she knows clubs come and go. We lost two venues in 2017, another in 2018, and she's found three new venues to replace them. It's work. When we know we're going into a new place for the first time, if they have an open mic we hit it two weeks ahead of time so the regulars can see what they're getting. As some of you are doubtless tired of hearing, we have no EPK, no website other than facebook, no pro video or audio. We prefer to operate in meatspace.

A long-winded way of saying, we live in the lowest quartile of our profession--bar band--but we're pretty much at the top of it. We don't work for gas money. As I've been known to say, money is validation. Am I any good at what I do? Not for me to say. But somebody pays me to do it. YMMV!

This sounds pretty much like all the bar bands I was in during the 80's. We knew what it took to bring in people, we did that, and we were good enough collectively to make it a good enough experience that people wanted to come back again. Sounds like there are still opportunities out there, at least in your town, for people who are doing things the right way.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

A pro doesn't necessarily have to make money. IMO, a professional musician is someone whose educated in music, can play in a variety of settings, and knows his or her &%$*. Now if someone says, "Music is my profession... " Well then... That's how they make their bread and butter.

Not really bro. That's more like being a skilled musician. Like being a skilled laborer compared to the guy pushing the broom. You're still just a laborer. Meaning you have no trade. You can conduct yourself professionally. You can be quite good at things. But you're still just a laborer. Can't be billed as a carpenter, or mason, or electrician. Even if you're good at any of those things. Or, all of those things. You're still just a laborer. Not a tradesman. Meaning, you have no profession. You do many things daily. But, as a title, you'd be a laborer. A "Skilled Laborer" to be nice about it. A "Skilled Musician", an "Educated Musician", who doesnt play music to pay the bills, is just a musician. There is no profession there bro. Just like the guy down the street that builds a guitar every couple years. Is he a luthier? No. A Luthier is a tradesman. It's what he does. It's business. That guy makes instruments for fun. He's a hobbyist. Could he be better than most. Of course he could. Is he a "professional luthier?" No. It's actually pretty simple. And, it has nothing to do with skill level. A profession is business. It's what you do. Not, among the many things I do well. Not, I've taken some courses and had lessons for a few years, so I'm a professional. I have a few computer certs, among many many industry related certifications. I've been through many different classes and training courses. But, I've been painting consistantly for 16 years now. I have done pretty much every single aspect of my trade at least once. I'm highly proficient in my trade, and therefore it pays me better than anything else I could ever want to start trying to switch to. So what do I do? I paint. I'm a painter...professionally. I also beat a mean bass, can rock the drums, and can spit some pretty decent ryhmes.