gluke bastid said:

Jordainio said:

Fuck why is this so old...I just need to comment on here anyway to save this thread for myself quickly and re read it over and over...
but thanks very much for this post which basically destroys my dreams.
Heh, thanks though man it's hard out here for a drummer.

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The thing is, this was written by Albini, I believe, back in the 90s. Back then, at least some people were making money from record sales. This is no longer the case due to the internet. If you want to make money as a musician you either need to play high paying gigs, or sell your music to commercial/movie soundtracks. Unfortunately to achieve either, you need to go through the people who control those avenues. That means booking agents, managers, publishers, PR people and synch specialists.

Its a hell of a business. Don't quit your day job. But hey if you love it you'll do it regardless, right?

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gluke bastid said:

Jordainio said:

Fuck why is this so old...I just need to comment on here anyway to save this thread for myself quickly and re read it over and over...
but thanks very much for this post which basically destroys my dreams.
Heh, thanks though man it's hard out here for a drummer.

---

The thing is, this was written by Albini, I believe, back in the 90s. Back then, at least some people were making money from record sales. This is no longer the case due to the internet. If you want to make money as a musician you either need to play high paying gigs, or sell your music to commercial/movie soundtracks. Unfortunately to achieve either, you need to go through the people who control those avenues. That means booking agents, managers, publishers, PR people and synch specialists.

Its a hell of a business. Don't quit your day job. But hey if you love it you'll do it regardless, right?

---

I'm sorry but I can't agree with anything you just said. There are plenty of ways to make money as a musician. People just need to get the idea of being some rockstar who goes around playing gigs to hundreds of  thousands and having their cd's heard by everyone out of their head. It's unrealistic.

Just a few probably lesser-considered ways of making a decent-living off being a musician.

- Regular gigs (yes they don't need to be high paying gigs as long as you gig regularly). I'd also like to add that doing gigs is for the most part something on the side for a musician. More something they enjoy, but with the bonus of some tax free money in the pocket.

- Teaching. Yeah, it's not for everyone, but it pays damn good. This requires a lot of musical ability and knowledge but private instrumental lessons are pretty stress-free and very high paying. Why not do them out of your own house even? Also consider teaching at a high school , or music college

- Session playing. For those of who who don't know what being a session musician involves, you basically prostitute your musical services to those who need you. Let's say you play some crazy good funk bass. Some funk band/performer is recording an album and they need some crazy good funk bassist to play on a few of their songs. Well the recording studio will contact you and hook you up with a good deal. (You can make SERIOUSLY good money being a session musician, although you also need to be seriously good in the first place).

I'm taking too long so I'll just skip through a few more...

- Live mixing
- Sound engineering
- Music therapy 
- Composing (for more than commercials. There are some seriously talented people out there who compose music for various things (movies, games, videos, documentaries, etc.))

birdland said:

gluke bastid said:

Jordainio said:

Fuck why is this so old...I just need to comment on here anyway to save this thread for myself quickly and re read it over and over...
but thanks very much for this post which basically destroys my dreams.
Heh, thanks though man it's hard out here for a drummer.

---

The thing is, this was written by Albini, I believe, back in the 90s. Back then, at least some people were making money from record sales. This is no longer the case due to the internet. If you want to make money as a musician you either need to play high paying gigs, or sell your music to commercial/movie soundtracks. Unfortunately to achieve either, you need to go through the people who control those avenues. That means booking agents, managers, publishers, PR people and synch specialists.

Its a hell of a business. Don't quit your day job. But hey if you love it you'll do it regardless, right?

---

I'm sorry but I can't agree with anything you just said. There are plenty of ways to make money as a musician. People just need to get the idea of being some rockstar who goes around playing gigs to hundreds of  thousands and having their cd's heard by everyone out of their head. It's unrealistic.

Just a few probably lesser-considered ways of making a decent-living off being a musician.

- Regular gigs (yes they don't need to be high paying gigs as long as you gig regularly). I'd also like to add that doing gigs is for the most part something on the side for a musician. More something they enjoy, but with the bonus of some tax free money in the pocket.

- Teaching. Yeah, it's not for everyone, but it pays damn good. This requires a lot of musical ability and knowledge but private instrumental lessons are pretty stress-free and very high paying. Why not do them out of your own house even? Also consider teaching at a high school , or music college

- Session playing. For those of who who don't know what being a session musician involves, you basically prostitute your musical services to those who need you. Let's say you play some crazy good funk bass. Some funk band/performer is recording an album and they need some crazy good funk bassist to play on a few of their songs. Well the recording studio will contact you and hook you up with a good deal. (You can make SERIOUSLY good money being a session musician, although you also need to be seriously good in the first place).

I'm taking too long so I'll just skip through a few more...

- Live mixing
- Sound engineering
- Music therapy 
- Composing (for more than commercials. There are some seriously talented people out there who compose music for various things (movies, games, videos, documentaries, etc.))

---

gluke bastid said:

Apologies I took it for granted that the whole slant of this thread/my reply/Steve Albini's article was oriented around the aspiration to "make it" as a recording artist.

Yes of course you can teach or be an engineer or various other things, but that's not really the same as being a professional performer, is it?

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Immortal Corrupter said:

Don't forget all the random merch you can whore your logo on

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There's quite a lot of things I didn't mention, I was just trying to make a point

birdland said:

gluke bastid said:

Apologies I took it for granted that the whole slant of this thread/my reply/Steve Albini's article was oriented around the aspiration to "make it" as a recording artist.

Yes of course you can teach or be an engineer or various other things, but that's not really the same as being a professional performer, is it?

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I was only referring to "don't quit your day job" and other not so well-thought out comments.

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Quote:

In the 60s through the early 2000's the money that made the bulk of the music industry was music sales. Now music sales make up a shred of what they used to. Recording artists aren't making money. That era is esentially over. Today's commercial equivalent to the Beatles (unfortunately the likes of the Jonas brothers or Miley Cyrus) make money off of concerts, merchandise, and television. NOT album sales.

Pointing out that the Beatles made $ off of recording without touring is not relevant. The industry is different.

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gluke bastid said:

*sigh* I'm just curious how many times I'm going to have to make the same point before you acknowledge it either by agreeing or disagreeing.

In the 60s through the early 2000's the money that made the bulk of the music industry was music sales. Now music sales make up a shred of what they used to. Recording artists aren't making money. That era is esentially over. Today's commercial equivalent to the Beatles (unfortunately the likes of the Jonas brothers or Miley Cyrus) make money off of concerts, merchandise, and television. NOT album sales.

Pointing out that the Beatles made $ off of recording without touring is not relevant. The industry is different.

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Ok I'll acknowledge it right here - yes the music industry is a lot different now than it was 40-50 years ago. I'm simply making the points I am, as irrelevant as you may think they are, because I'm not one to agree with the whole "the music industry is fucked" hype which is pretty much where this thread is coming from.

The music industry doesn't only consist of touring/gigging. That's a big point I'm trying to make which YOU aren't acknowledging, as you think it's somehow irrelevant. Now, I apologise for being optimistic as you seen quite taken aback. That said I'm going to make a pretty big call here, disagree if you want, I don't care. I know what I'm talking about pretty well when it comes to music so I don't need your approval.

The music industry is better now than ever.

Why? Big artists are making less money. Obscure, less mainstream artists are far more easily heard, their music far more easily obtained.


If you think this is a bad thing... Well I feel sorry for you

gluke bastid said:

I'm trying to point out to people the reality of this business. I understand money and fame may not be the motivation, but I've also been around and I know for a lot of musicians that dream is in the back of their head, which is fine.



I just think that if you are counting on that huge signing bonus with a massive advance I'm just trying to tell you that's not really how they do it any more. There may be a few exceptions, but there aren't many.

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Well I agree with you on this.

Luckily it seems to me that for the large majority of dedicated musicians money isn't a motivator.