Why bother being in a band and why bother trying?

VimFuego

life is special, you only get one. You should be able to spend that one chance doing something you love. The idea of spending my life doing something I hate fills me with dread. Now that is futile. 

Drew_TNBD

Sambostar said:

If you think about it rationally and pragmatically life is completely futile, there is no point to it at all and it's the same with bands I'm afraid, that is just a fact of life. 

What makes anyone so special that they want a wage slip for it?  Can always go and get a job down the fish packing plant.

Fuck dude.. put down the Nietzsche. You're so bloody depressing when you read him.

jd0272

Sambostar said:

If you think about it rationally and pragmatically life is completely futile, there is no point to it at all and it's the same with bands I'm afraid, that is just a fact of life. 

What makes anyone so special that they want a wage slip for it?  Can always go and get a job down the fish packing plant.

I have NEVER seen a fish packing a flower into a box. Where is this place..  

Clarky

the way  I see it is that what medium the music is on don't matter [CD, vinyl, mp3 etc]..

a musician creating music to sell is no different from any other kind of manufacturer..

it is something created in order for the creator to make money [so they and eat and pay the bills etc]

taking free copies of their product denies them the ability to make money [in some cases to make a living]

a 'fan' taking their product for free is not a fan..

they are essentially making the artist not only work for nothing, but also to shoulder the costs of their creation..

so the theft hits the small [self funded] artist twice..

it's pretty cruel..

wave100

As someone who spent a large part of my life trying to make a living from the music industry, I have been much happier (and relatively wealthier) since I got a "proper" job that allows me to create the music I love in my spare time.

viz

I've seen a few friends from my youth shoot off to super stardom, but I've seen many more make a very good living in the industry, performing, teaching, recording soundtracks, doing session work, employed in orchestras or broadcasting companies or arts organisations or educational establishments, lecturing, publishing books, managing clubs, DJing, running jam nights, working in music shops or gear companies, etc. And I'm sure most superstars supplement their income through a whole range of other musical commercial ventures and teaching.

It's got to be only a very tiny percentage of working musicians that get all their income from their rock band's music sales, royalties, merchandise and concert tickets. I know many more people making a success in music than those making a 'failure' in it, because success to them doesn't just mean being Bruce Dickinson, it means having a fulfilling career in the music industry, which is within the grasp of most musicians if they want it badly enough. And then as people have said, having one's art as one's hobby can also be perfectly fulfilling too. That's what I do and I don't regret it or see it as a last resort - I love my job and I love my hobby, and I'm very active in one and quite active in the other, which is absolutely fine by me. I think those of us who want to should definitely all be in bands and carry on trying - we almost can't help it - it's just that it doesn't have to be the only thing one's trying to achieve, and if it's not commercially viable on its own it doesn't mean it's a failure. Good luck with your band though, I think your music's great.

jonnyburgo

If you are making music that appeals to a niche audience then you cant expect to make a living out of it purely by itself. But it is a buzz playing your own stuff, even if it is to 10 people.

 Look at Sunday league footballers, some of them might be shit hot, good enough to go pro even, but they don't give up because they aren't. They do it because scoring a goal feels ace.

Drew_TNBD

jonnyburgo said:

If you are making music that appeals to a niche audience then you cant expect to make a living out of it purely by itself. But it is a buzz playing your own stuff, even if it is to 10 people.

 Look at Sunday league footballers, some of them might be shit hot, good enough to go pro even, but they don't give up because they aren't. They do it because scoring a goal feels ace.

Spot on really.

Although I need to get a handle on the post-gig downers that I experience almost every time. It's like ... big big big big rush...... then it's over and nothing is any different. Back to life.... oh shit I WANNA KILL MYSELF HAR HAR HAR BETTER GET BACK ONTO T'FRETBOARD AND SAY SOME STUPID SHIT!

... Yeah.

digitalscream

Drew_fx said:

Although I need to get a handle on the post-gig downers that I experience almost every time. It's like ... big big big big rush...... then it's over and nothing is any different. Back to life.... oh shit I WANNA KILL MYSELF HAR HAR HAR BETTER GET BACK ONTO T'FRETBOARD AND SAY SOME STUPID SHIT!

We'd never have noticed

Hey, it could be worse. You could've set fire to the PA, like we did last night...

Drew_TNBD

digitalscream said:

Drew_fx said:

Although I need to get a handle on the post-gig downers that I experience almost every time. It's like ... big big big big rush...... then it's over and nothing is any different. Back to life.... oh shit I WANNA KILL MYSELF HAR HAR HAR BETTER GET BACK ONTO T'FRETBOARD AND SAY SOME STUPID SHIT!

We'd never have noticed

Hey, it could be worse. You could've set fire to the PA, like we did last night...

Oopsie!

digitalscream

OK, so it was a slight exaggeration. The drummer's monitors burnt up - smoke an' everything - so we tried to get the attention of the sound guy and the owner (both at the desk). We were kind of waving and shouting them through the PA, and they just put their thumbs up and grinned.

Sometimes, it's pretty difficult dealing with stupid

jonnyburgo

Drew_fx said:

jonnyburgo said:

If you are making music that appeals to a niche audience then you cant expect to make a living out of it purely by itself. But it is a buzz playing your own stuff, even if it is to 10 people.

 Look at Sunday league footballers, some of them might be shit hot, good enough to go pro even, but they don't give up because they aren't. They do it because scoring a goal feels ace.

Spot on really.

Although I need to get a handle on the post-gig downers that I experience almost every time. It's like ... big big big big rush...... then it's over and nothing is any different. Back to life.... oh shit I WANNA KILL MYSELF HAR HAR HAR BETTER GET BACK ONTO T'FRETBOARD AND SAY SOME STUPID SHIT!

... Yeah.

Yep, totally get the comedown. Going on Rollercoasters makes me feel depressed afterwards.

jonnyburgo

The rush of adrenaline makes you know you are alive. "Life" doesn't give you the same rush, well it does but all too infrequently.

That's why so many performers get into drugs, keeping the party going.  People who go out onstage often dread walking offstage, loneliest place on earth etc.....

Clarky

so true….

most of the time spent on tour is actually majorly dull.. waiting around in airports, boring flights, hour after relentless hour on motorways, hours to kill between the soundcheck and the gig..

then there's that 90 minutes of magic

and nothing else matters

Danny1969

I think it helps if you love all kinds of music I love writings own stuff and especially recording it but I still love playing covers ......... And not just one genre but rocket metal Beatles shadows country etc I love it all

There's no doubt you can make a living from music but if you don't love all forms of music you can feel hard done by playing other bands tunes . I don't have a problem with it, having worked as a builder, a decorator, and many other jobs I find playing guitar a lot easier

Axe_meister

The trouble is we live in an era where anything that can be digitised is copied and available via a quick search term. Nothing can be done about it.
What really needs to change is the value of music being played live and an increase in the number of venues. After all playing live is the best part of being a musician.

viz

And a listener.

IanSavage

Clarky said:

then there's that 90 minutes of magic

and nothing else matters

Sounds like a 90s Metallica gig. 

imalone

This is all moot as apparently U2 will fix everything in a few days.

MazzaG

A lot of doom and gloom in this thread, sadly a lot of it is justified and is quite simply the truth.

However I see a lot of people, not necessarily here, try and put those down who do want to chase their dreams. I have been a victim of it and I have witnessed many people just give up because some boring, 'realistic', old fart told them that they were wasting their time. I think it is wrong and I am noticing a trend that those who do this are (a lot of the time) those who gave up on their dreams themselves and harbor a sense of bitterness. They 'settled' for the easier life. By ALL means if you are happy with music as a hobby then fantastic, I truly envy you, but please do not be that guy who tells the 'dreamer' that he will amount to nothing.

At the end of the day the way I see it is that if everyone who has ambitions and dreams to succeed in the music industry listened to the naysayers we wouldn't have any successful bands/artists. It takes a lot to achieve ANYTHING in most industries these days, you need to have a smart head on your shoulders - especially financially. You need to have resilience, patience and a very good work ethic.

YES the chance of success is small, YES it is a very difficult road and there are absolutely NO guarantees, but fuck me i would rather be on my death bed knowing that I at least tried to follow my dreams rather than look back on a life of regret and 'what ifs'.