Why bother being in a band and why bother trying?

digitalscream

Wis for @MazzaG there - I think a lot of the problem is that too many people see it as a binary situation, where the reality is that there are plenty of approaches along the spectrum that has "give up and settle" at one end and "fame and fortune" at the other.

guitarfishbay

imalone said:

guitarfishbay said:

That isn't a fair statement.  If his response to me was 'this is how it works in law' rather than a statement that looks like it could be fact or opinion, then I would have responded differently.

Okay, sorry if I wasn't clear enough. Hope my later post made more sense.

No worries @imalone, internet forums aren't always the best things for understanding communication, and I've got no problem with what you posted.

fretmeister

digitalscream said:

Wis for @MazzaG there - I think a lot of the problem is that too many people see it as a binary situation, where the reality is that there are plenty of approaches along the spectrum that has "give up and settle" at one end and "fame and fortune" at the other.

This.

But then I do see some people who realise this, they play sessions, they teach, they set up web-magazines and they write and play their own stuff. For most people, earning a living in music is based on a variety of tasks / services and not relying on a single income stream.

The best and most important realisation seems to be that to live on music then your instrument needs to be in your hand for 8 hours per day and each hour needs to have a value.

hugbot

Something small to consider when I go on the "why bother" funk- I think most of my social circle these days is made up of people I met playing music, either as bands or at gigs or whatever.

Some people spend all their free time shuffling from work, to pub (with their workmates), to home. I get to meet tonnes of awesome, interesting people and do awesome shit with them.

chillidoggy

I might be a rubbish player, but I can't help but get all excited whenever I get a whiff of live music in the air. I cannot pass a music shop without staring through the window, at the very least, if not going in to browse. Even though I don't actually need any more gear, I still look at guitars and amps online. If a a rock track comes on the radio, I have to stop what I'm doing, and listen to it.

It's an addiction. Or an affliction.

Drew_TNBD

Music makes me produce vag jam.

monquixote

Indeed wise words from @MazzaG

I'd never discourage someone from following their dreams, but I think anyone undertaking it because they think it's an easy option compared to getting a "real job" is going to have a rude awakening.

If you love it and can't imagine doing anything else and you are prepared to accept that the most likely outcome is you will end up working harder than the average person for less than the average amount of money and with much greater uncertainty in your life then you can definitely make a living in the music world.

 

I know plenty of people that do and probably wouldn't have it any other way, but I also know quite a few rich kids who mostly bummed off their parents while writing a few songs and bitching about why someone from a record label wasn't kicking their door down with a wheelbarrow full of cash.

hugbot

My old band leader had a big "making it" ambition. We spent a lot of time doing photoshoots and "making contacts" and very little effort actually writing decent songs...

Trying to court label attention like that really added up to the worst of both worlds because we didn't have the outright polish to be something like a Paramore (which would require, among other things, songwriting chops that are tight as fuck) but were too poppy and bland for anyone who wanted to hear something actually original and decent.

Danny1969

@monquixote

Your not wrong there, If I added up my hours of recording sessions engineering and gigging it's about 70 hours a week and I'm far from rich or even comfortable
But it doesn't feel like work and that's the crucial thing. I'm flying back from the US today and I don't get that horrible post holiday blues cos I hate what I do ... I'm looking forward to getting back in the middle of music life again. It's a vocation not a job

samzadgan

why???

 

because at some poin my wife will see through the facade and leave me...and at that point i would still need to look cool to pick up young (legal) girls.