Music in 2009 and beyond….

 

Value seems to have shifted at some point over the past years from people to things; from skill to appearance. In my business it is obvious. People are not valued for the services they provide – period.

 

The examples from the music world are many.

 

The touring musician has pay dropping by the tour. Yet travel expenses often exceed the pay for the skills provided by that musician, necessary for the event to take place! Why should an airline get more than the artist? Why are promoters willing to fly at high expense and not willing to pay very well for the performance??

 

At a wedding, people will spend thousands of dollars on flowers. They will spend thousands of dollars on dresses no one will ever wear again. They will spend thousands of dollars on a reception location, the good silverware, chair covers, and any number of things. Yet when it comes to booking a band, they want a 6 piece band for under a grand, and often, waited till the budget was gone to even think about entertainment. The minister, necessary to make the event happen at all, is often the least paid person at all. You can’t even have a wedding without one! The music is the party, and people will remember the fun they had that day long after the menu has been forgotten and the flowers are dead.

 

Funny thing is, they seem willing to pay a DJ more than a band. A DJ often has little or no talent in music at all. A great DJ is often a great party host and, with experience, can have a good feel for song selection. But that’s it! The musicians I know will be as good or better with years more experience hosting parties and selecting songs! Yet – these guys with a computer and a lame sound system can get more money than a full band with 500% more collective experience than the 10 year DJ and his little brother moving the lighting in!

 

In the recording industry, an artist or record label might spend thousands on studio time and want players for free – or better yet – friend rates of nearly free. Now that the CD buying world has decided IT should get everything for free, most the big studios have failed and everyone has home studios, attempting to record big label budget CDs in basements across America. SO – an artist can spend thousands on a studio, and call friends in for a really quick, free session. Fortunately the musician pay is the same – next to nothing, yet a great chance to hang with friends and don’t forget - a ton of exposure!!!

 

A producer might offer you gas money to record on a commercial they are working on. A local college student might tap the teaching income for a community at 15 bucks a half hour, putting 30-40 year vets out of work. A local dinner theater might require 30,000 dollars of instruments be played, paying 50 bucks a night for a show. A record label will pay 1 to 2 dollars for CDs sold to the artist, while employing and running a large business off you and your starving friends. Don’t forget, they recoup all expenses at your royalty rate, so every penny they spend on you is paid at a dollar a CD. It takes thousands of CDs to pay back thousands of dollars.

 

The list goes on and on. Experience and developed skill in any area has become of little importance, and many businesses that do not exist without the talent base a musician brings to the table, are not paying artist, but rather the business and process of bringing the artist to the event.

 

Very little of our lives would remain very normal if it were not for the music that musicians bring to the world. Yet our skills are treated with such little support one might assume they are of little or no value at all. As the world continues to think music is free, the abilities of really talented musicians continue to be damaged by economics, and the quality of the music you might think nothing about stealing, continues to go down.

 

I hope things will turn around for future generations. Music has been a major part of our cultures and lives on this planet forever! I still believe in excellence and know that true skill and ability will survive all the trends in our culture. I only wish I had a sense of making rent next month.

 

Just remember, the most valuable things are not things at all! Love Music?? Show a little love for the people that make great music! Often this includes paying 99 cents instead of stealing tracks, and maybe buying a CD at a show, or just sending an encouraging note – we all need a little love to keep the circle alive.