Who gets paid

[Wasnex]

It still is. People are just too lazy to put any effort into it.

Perhaps ironically, I haven't played Mustang Sally often enough to get burned out on it. This is because so many other musicians hated playing it. Early in my career no one would play. But it became fairly common towards the middle of my career because all the old cats started to move on.

Some songs age better than others. In my experience, songs that are extremely catchy the first time you hear them often grate on your nerves after you have heard them several time. For example, I immediately liked a bunch of songs on Christopher Cross's first album, but I quickly grew tired of them. Now I can't hardly stand to listen to them .

 

[lfmn16]

No, really it's the song. As a military musician I played a record lift and also various high quality arrangements of Greenwoods, "God Bless the USA" ad nauseam. Even the audience eventually seemed to get tired of hearing it, but they still went through the motions of standing. I played this song with many musicians and we played it well. We were simply burned out on the song.

I'm talking about songs that bands play in clubs.

You can find an exception to just about anything if you look hard enough, but the exception doesn't invalidate the rule.

 

[SLIV]

No need to be condescending. Nothing you said is hard to understand. I've been on grass roots tours before, and I understand networking well enough to know one does not have to give up one's meager pay to find more gigs or a place to stay.
I don't mind helping out another band. I've done tons of free work over the years, recorded live shows and run sound, all for free. But they're not getting my money.
And it seems to me that if a local or regional scene does form in to a clique where bands are expected to give up their pay to others, those that resist will be ostracized unfairly.

In all sincerity I didn't mean to be condescending. I apologize. I'll try to explain what I meant.

I think there are different stances towards money in music. One stance, very individualistic, is that in a band every person gets X amount of money (percentage, dollar figure.) Then there is a stance that every band on a bill gets X amount of money and maybe the "bigger" band or draw gets more.

But there is another stance and that has to do with how a band fits within an ecosystem of music including the local scene, the regional scene, and the national one. In this stance, bands need the local scene and need one another. They book shows with one another, go see them when they're not playing, wear their t-shirts. In bands I've been in, we tend to play shows with the same 15 or so local bands. If one of them gets success, we all get success. When on road shows, the idea is to tap into that community in the other town. You become friends and support one another.

I read somewhere (Derek Sivers?) that to get sustainable success in today's live music market, you need to attract 200 paying audience members in 25 cities. That means you need friends "on the inside" in 25 cities. Helping out a good band, with a good following in their hometown, is one way of getting it started. This isn't about throwing money at a touring band you've never heard of, it's about building mutual relationships.

I also think you bring up a good point about potentially being ostracized in these settings for not wanting to participate in supporting the touring band, or even wanting to do it all outside of an ecosystem. I think it's done in different ways in different genres.

 

[Wasnex]

I'm talking about songs that bands play in clubs.

You can find an exception to just about anything if you look hard enough, but the exception doesn't invalidate the rule.

That was just an example of the song that I was most burned out on, but to be honest I never really liked the song to begin with. IMHO that's a big part soul sucking that goes along with playing covers. You are likely to cover many songs that you don't personally like. I think people assume that if they are playing originals, they will only do tunes they like .

It's true that I didn't play in clubs much, but I did do plenty of private parties and weddings with corporate bands. Plenty of the people I performed with hated playing Mustang Sally, but I always enjoyed it. Plenty of other songs that I hated to play though. But I was a professional and always tried to do my best, instead of complaining or doing a crappy job. I am sure I was guilty of overplaying from time to time , so I am not perfect.

 

[ThePez]

That was just an example of the song that I was most burned out on, but to be honest I never really liked the song to begin with. IMHO that's a big part soul sucking that goes along with playing covers. You are likely to cover many songs that you don't personally like. I think people assume that if they are playing originals, they will only do tunes they like .

It's true that I didn't play in clubs much, but I did do plenty of private parties and weddings with corporate bands. Plenty of the people I performed with hated playing Mustang Sally, but I always enjoyed it. Plenty of other songs that I hated to play though. But I was a professional and always tried to do my best, instead of complaining or doing a crappy job. I am sure I was guilty of overplaying from time to time , so I am not perfect.

haha, it’s funny i just played Mustang Sally for the first time Friday night. i’ve always known that cover bands hate playing it, but i’ve never had to... until now. i’d never even heard it before learning it two weeks ago. i like it! simple, fun. but, if i’d been playing it for the last 40 years, i see how it could get old.