This is what it's all about.
You see prior to "Workingman's Dead", not only had almost no one east of San Francisco heard the band, they thought their music sounded like their moniker. Heavy and dark, somewhere between Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, whose eponymous debut would come out shortly thereafter. The previous albums were just for fans. And there weren't many of those.
But the Dead started to make inroads in New York. At the Fillmore East. Where they ended up starting at midnight and playing until dawn. They could have no restrictions. It was a special event. Which I learned about from the back cover of the program. Yes, when you went to the Fillmore you got a program, can you imagine that today? No promoter would spend the money. Then again, no act would authorize it either! Greed put the Fillmore out of business, but seventies greed is nothing compared to twenty first century greed. And on the back cover of that program was a picture of a sold out audience, standing, and a caption that said "2600 Happy People During The Grateful Dead". Maybe that's not exactly right. But I remember it saying "Happy", and I remember them standing, and I remember the thought of asking my parents to go to an all night show in New York City was completely taboo, because back then, after midnight, the train to Connecticut didn't run.
But I wanted to go.
Which is maybe why I was primed when I heard "Uncle John's Band" on WNEW.
Yes, I'd settled there. First it was WOR-FM, then WABC-FM, and then WNEW-FM, with Alison Steele and Zacherley and Scott Muni. Hell, I remembered Muni from AM! WABC! "#1 in the nation, the Scott Muni show!" He came before Cousin Brucie, talked just as fast, to hear his slowed down speech on FM made my jaw drop.
And I believe it was in my parents' living room, on the big rig, that I first heard "Uncle John's Band". This was before FM was ubiquitous in cars. Hell, we had it, but reception was awful.
"Uncle John's Band' sounded like a Crosby, Stills & Nash cut.
And at this point in time, Crosby, Stills & Nash (and at this point Young), were the biggest band in the land.
We know now that the Dead could never perfect these harmonies live. Then again, neither could CSN&Y! But the music was so sweet, acoustic guitars ruled, and the a cappella breakdown sounded like a church choir, assuming your church was Haight Street and tie-dye and love beads and nudity and sex and...
I bought the album.
The cover had a sandpaper feel. Abandoned after the album became successful. But that took a long time. Most everybody didn't sign on until the follow-up, "American Beauty", which I purchased upon release but never thought was as good. I loved "Box Of Rain", but it was no "Uncle John's Band". But I had to endure "Ripple" all through college, it drives me insane, to this day. "American Beauty" was a bit lighter, "Workingman's Dead" was dark.
And speaking of dark, my second favorite cut on "Workingman's Dead" is "New Speedway Boogie", the first side closer, the Dead's take on Altamont, which is just as good, if not better, than the Stones' film about the fiasco, "Gimme Shelter". With a hypnotic groove and a plaintive Jerry Garcia vocal before we could tell the vocalists apart, "New Speedway Boogie" is the essence of seventies music. Not made for the radio, but for the listener, who purchased and spun these albums ad infinitum.
"Please don't dominate the rap Jack, if you've got nothing new to say"
Yup, that's how we spoke back then. We RAPPED to each other!
And, of course, the second side closer, "Casey Jones", went on to be the most famous cut on the album, one of the biggest Dead songs ever, maybe only equaled by "Truckin'". You can hear the snort of cocaine right at the beginning, before the music starts. "Casey Jones" is the essence of the Dead, a drug-fueled trip of one's own, society be damned.
And be sure to listen to "Easy Wind", for the Pigpen vocal if nothing else. Pigpen was the soul/R&B aspect of the band, if he had survived, the legacy would be just a bit different, a bit less mellow.
As for the rest of the record, it sounded closer to Nashville, to country, than anybody other than the Flying Burrito Brothers at this point. One of the reasons "American Beauty" was so successful, in addition to "Workingman's Dead" laying the groundwork, was the step back from the hard core country sound. "Workingman's Dead" is spare, at times depressed, despite the ultimate ubiquity of "Uncle John's Band" and "Casey Jones" it wasn't for everybody, just the band's audience, which proceeded to grow and grow. You see the Dead weren't owned by the man, but their fans.
And "Workingman's Dead" is the foundation. Without it, you don't have the Dead of today. The venerated band that was far ahead of its game, who let people tape and trade when that was considered anathema, who realized road receipts trumped record sales every day of the week.
Start here.
Or if you know it already, think back, revel in the pleasure of its discovery.
Yes, the Dead are not quite like anything else. It's a road, a commitment, it's definitely worth the journey.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
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Friday, 3 August 2012
Wisdom
Who do you go to for guidance? Who understands how the game is really played? Who can help you navigate the waters, help you get to your destination?
It's usually not your best friend. He or she will tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to know.
And your parents... You don't tell them the truth, why should they be able to give you appropriate advice? Furthermore, you're their child, embodying all their hopes and dreams. They can't get over their image of you to truly rescue you from the pickle you've gotten yourself into.
No, you need a business colleague. One who might not even truly be a friend. Who's a bit more than an acquaintance. Who knows the parameters. Who will help you out.
Some will want payback. That's the game they play. They want to help you so you'll help them, when they need it.
Others do it out of the goodness of their heart.
But you need their advice, or you're lost.
Oftentimes they're the most reviled people in the business. Because those sans wisdom are jealous. That these people know how to play the game and they don't. They figured out how to get ahead, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Everybody thinks it's about connections, who you know, where you went to college, what you got on your SATs, but you can't quantify wisdom, it's not something you put on the wall, it's something you gain, through insight.
Those with wisdom have experience. Young people are bullheaded, they believe they can power their way through anything. The older you get, the more you realize this isn't true. Life is about losing as opposed to winning. And if you don't know this, you just haven't lost yet, or you're living in denial.
That's what you want, one phone number, one e-mail address, one person you can go to in a moment of crisis who can shoot it to you straight. Who can tell you whether to take that job, marry that person, invest that money. Because they've been there before. They've analyzed the situation from all angles. They're your last best hope at figuring it out.
On "Newsroom" this week, Sloan Sabbith is in a pickle. She needs wisdom, she needs someone to guide her through.
Mackenzie MacHale, another woman, rises to the occasion.
But although Mackenzie is a friend, and means well, her advice leads to explosions. Instead of calming situations down, she adds gasoline to the fire.
So Sloan turns to Will. The anchorman. The asshole.
Because Will has survived. He's been there. He's made it to the top. And that's no easy feat. You may be jealous of the President, of the CEO, but respect the fact that they got there. They've seen the game. They know how to play it.
Ultimately, it comes down to Sloan lying on the air. When she was right. She just committed an ethical faux pas.
But by lying, she'll save her job and the job of the spokesman she interrogated on TV. She'll save face for the corporation.
This is where it gets ugly. Most of the people who play by the rules, who believe everything is either black or white, don't win.
Sometimes you've got to do what's expedient.
Especially in the music business.
I could tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end. And sometime, late at night, I will. You can't write them down. They can't be attributed. But they're the lore you're privy to when you get in the game.
You've got to have your go-to guy. Or gal. You've got to know who to depend on for honest, expedient, forthright advice.
I've got mine.
Find yours.
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It's usually not your best friend. He or she will tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to know.
And your parents... You don't tell them the truth, why should they be able to give you appropriate advice? Furthermore, you're their child, embodying all their hopes and dreams. They can't get over their image of you to truly rescue you from the pickle you've gotten yourself into.
No, you need a business colleague. One who might not even truly be a friend. Who's a bit more than an acquaintance. Who knows the parameters. Who will help you out.
Some will want payback. That's the game they play. They want to help you so you'll help them, when they need it.
Others do it out of the goodness of their heart.
But you need their advice, or you're lost.
Oftentimes they're the most reviled people in the business. Because those sans wisdom are jealous. That these people know how to play the game and they don't. They figured out how to get ahead, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Everybody thinks it's about connections, who you know, where you went to college, what you got on your SATs, but you can't quantify wisdom, it's not something you put on the wall, it's something you gain, through insight.
Those with wisdom have experience. Young people are bullheaded, they believe they can power their way through anything. The older you get, the more you realize this isn't true. Life is about losing as opposed to winning. And if you don't know this, you just haven't lost yet, or you're living in denial.
That's what you want, one phone number, one e-mail address, one person you can go to in a moment of crisis who can shoot it to you straight. Who can tell you whether to take that job, marry that person, invest that money. Because they've been there before. They've analyzed the situation from all angles. They're your last best hope at figuring it out.
On "Newsroom" this week, Sloan Sabbith is in a pickle. She needs wisdom, she needs someone to guide her through.
Mackenzie MacHale, another woman, rises to the occasion.
But although Mackenzie is a friend, and means well, her advice leads to explosions. Instead of calming situations down, she adds gasoline to the fire.
So Sloan turns to Will. The anchorman. The asshole.
Because Will has survived. He's been there. He's made it to the top. And that's no easy feat. You may be jealous of the President, of the CEO, but respect the fact that they got there. They've seen the game. They know how to play it.
Ultimately, it comes down to Sloan lying on the air. When she was right. She just committed an ethical faux pas.
But by lying, she'll save her job and the job of the spokesman she interrogated on TV. She'll save face for the corporation.
This is where it gets ugly. Most of the people who play by the rules, who believe everything is either black or white, don't win.
Sometimes you've got to do what's expedient.
Especially in the music business.
I could tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end. And sometime, late at night, I will. You can't write them down. They can't be attributed. But they're the lore you're privy to when you get in the game.
You've got to have your go-to guy. Or gal. You've got to know who to depend on for honest, expedient, forthright advice.
I've got mine.
Find yours.
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Thursday, 2 August 2012
From The Byrds To The Eagles
I blew ninety minutes on this last night and my only regret is it ended.
I famously say I live in California because of the Beach Boys. And if you don't believe me, you've never heard "California Girls".
But by time I'd graduated from college and was footloose and fancy free, the music had changed. Instead of Brian Wilson, it was the Eagles. Who dropped "Hotel California" the year I entered law school. Can you imagine hearing that for the very first time? I went up to Music Odyssey on the day it was released, came home and broke the shrinkwrap and was absolutely stunned when the sound emanated from the mega-stereo I got as a reward for giving up the itinerant life of a ski bum. It'd been eighteen months since "One Of These Nights". The "Greatest Hits" album had only increased the legend. We knew Joe Walsh had joined the band, but who expected this turn into rock? Suddenly, the Eagles were the biggest band in the land.
And it was all because of that song.
Today music is mindless. Something that bounces off your ass as you're boogieing in the club. But no one could listen to "Hotel California" and smile beatifically. It was dark, it was introspective, it made you question, and it was the biggest song in the land.
But that's not where this 2007 documentary from the BBC starts.
Really, it begins with the Byrds. With David Crosby. Pontificating.
But he's not the only one.
You get Graham Nash. Hell, you even get Ned Doheny!
But first and foremost, you get David Geffen. Looking younger than everybody else in the show. Telling the truth.
You see he was a motherfucker. That's why Crosby, Stills & Nash hired him. Only Geffen could extract the members from their former deals and put them together in this new band. "The man" can kill your music, via contracts.
And when Geffen sells Asylum to Warner and the Eagles hire Irving Azoff as their manager, what's the first thing he does? Sue Geffen's ass, for the publishing. Which Geffen never returned. Even though he gave Jackson Browne his publishing back.
And you've got to know something. It's just business.
Then again, you play at this level and you've got no friends. You sleep with one eye open. Geffen says he had no paper with his acts, they could leave whenever they wanted to, but no one never did. You may tire of screwing the most beautiful person on earth, but you never tire of having a cunning Rottweiler in your corner.
And the arc of the show is a bit too simplistic. Kind of like Jonah Lehrer, making the facts, in his case the facts he made up, fit the story. You see life is messy. California is messy. For every surfer there's a drug addict. For every sophisticate there's an Okie. But in the late sixties that's where you went, to feel free, to realize your dreams.
L.A.
What I love about it is most people don't get it. They see the smog and the traffic and the lack of a downtown and mutter that New York is the greatest city in the land. That's right. But if you're not about the hustle and bustle, if you're about feeling more than thinking, if you want to actually live your life while it's going by, L.A.'s the place.
L.A. is where it doesn't matter where you went to school, if you even did at all, who your parents are is irrelevant. You make it up in L.A. as you go. Your wits are your greatest asset. Your CV is almost meaningless. Can you hang, can you inspire, can you deliver?
A whole host of musicians did.
Sure, a lot of them lived in Laurel Canyon. But not all. Because the specific location was irrelevant, Los Angeles, California was a state of mind. It's where it all began. It drove the culture. And as you watch these images go by, you'll get that.
Oh, you can beat up the Eagles for being mercenary. Then again, he who succeeds is always subject to naysayers and abuse.
But this is how it worked back then. We followed the music. Business was one step behind. Listen to Geffen go on about it. And you can tell, he's not lying.
Music just does not have that power today. The California sound put so much money in the system, everybody wanted in. Hell, that company known as Time Warner? Its main asset is its cable system. You know what paid for that? The profits from the record companies!
Hell, in the seventies there was more money in music than movies.
Because of the honesty.
See Carole King at the piano and you'll marvel that she was ever that age, with so many hits under her belt already, starting over.
James Taylor... The junkie poet. Waddy Wachtel says if he was in a rock band, he'd be dead, he couldn't get away with that lifestyle.
And be sure to stay in to hear the story of "Tonight's The Night", told so eloquently by Ron Stone. People forget that at the peak of his career, Neil Young intentionally destroyed it. No one else has done that since. They don't have the balls.
If you lived through the era, your eyes will mist over and your heart will break at the same time you self-satisfiedly pat yourself on the back for being there.
If you weren't alive back then, even if you favor hip-hop, country or electronic music, watch the entire thing. You'll learn a few lessons. How a bunch of people who didn't come from rich families, who in most cases had never graduated from college, invented an art form so powerful that it truly moved people. Yes, there was no more powerful person in the late sixties and early seventies than a musician.
Imagine that.
Start here: http://bit.ly/QyoKgV
And at the end of the clip, click on the right to see the ensuing segment, there are seven in all.
This will make your day.
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I famously say I live in California because of the Beach Boys. And if you don't believe me, you've never heard "California Girls".
But by time I'd graduated from college and was footloose and fancy free, the music had changed. Instead of Brian Wilson, it was the Eagles. Who dropped "Hotel California" the year I entered law school. Can you imagine hearing that for the very first time? I went up to Music Odyssey on the day it was released, came home and broke the shrinkwrap and was absolutely stunned when the sound emanated from the mega-stereo I got as a reward for giving up the itinerant life of a ski bum. It'd been eighteen months since "One Of These Nights". The "Greatest Hits" album had only increased the legend. We knew Joe Walsh had joined the band, but who expected this turn into rock? Suddenly, the Eagles were the biggest band in the land.
And it was all because of that song.
Today music is mindless. Something that bounces off your ass as you're boogieing in the club. But no one could listen to "Hotel California" and smile beatifically. It was dark, it was introspective, it made you question, and it was the biggest song in the land.
But that's not where this 2007 documentary from the BBC starts.
Really, it begins with the Byrds. With David Crosby. Pontificating.
But he's not the only one.
You get Graham Nash. Hell, you even get Ned Doheny!
But first and foremost, you get David Geffen. Looking younger than everybody else in the show. Telling the truth.
You see he was a motherfucker. That's why Crosby, Stills & Nash hired him. Only Geffen could extract the members from their former deals and put them together in this new band. "The man" can kill your music, via contracts.
And when Geffen sells Asylum to Warner and the Eagles hire Irving Azoff as their manager, what's the first thing he does? Sue Geffen's ass, for the publishing. Which Geffen never returned. Even though he gave Jackson Browne his publishing back.
And you've got to know something. It's just business.
Then again, you play at this level and you've got no friends. You sleep with one eye open. Geffen says he had no paper with his acts, they could leave whenever they wanted to, but no one never did. You may tire of screwing the most beautiful person on earth, but you never tire of having a cunning Rottweiler in your corner.
And the arc of the show is a bit too simplistic. Kind of like Jonah Lehrer, making the facts, in his case the facts he made up, fit the story. You see life is messy. California is messy. For every surfer there's a drug addict. For every sophisticate there's an Okie. But in the late sixties that's where you went, to feel free, to realize your dreams.
L.A.
What I love about it is most people don't get it. They see the smog and the traffic and the lack of a downtown and mutter that New York is the greatest city in the land. That's right. But if you're not about the hustle and bustle, if you're about feeling more than thinking, if you want to actually live your life while it's going by, L.A.'s the place.
L.A. is where it doesn't matter where you went to school, if you even did at all, who your parents are is irrelevant. You make it up in L.A. as you go. Your wits are your greatest asset. Your CV is almost meaningless. Can you hang, can you inspire, can you deliver?
A whole host of musicians did.
Sure, a lot of them lived in Laurel Canyon. But not all. Because the specific location was irrelevant, Los Angeles, California was a state of mind. It's where it all began. It drove the culture. And as you watch these images go by, you'll get that.
Oh, you can beat up the Eagles for being mercenary. Then again, he who succeeds is always subject to naysayers and abuse.
But this is how it worked back then. We followed the music. Business was one step behind. Listen to Geffen go on about it. And you can tell, he's not lying.
Music just does not have that power today. The California sound put so much money in the system, everybody wanted in. Hell, that company known as Time Warner? Its main asset is its cable system. You know what paid for that? The profits from the record companies!
Hell, in the seventies there was more money in music than movies.
Because of the honesty.
See Carole King at the piano and you'll marvel that she was ever that age, with so many hits under her belt already, starting over.
James Taylor... The junkie poet. Waddy Wachtel says if he was in a rock band, he'd be dead, he couldn't get away with that lifestyle.
And be sure to stay in to hear the story of "Tonight's The Night", told so eloquently by Ron Stone. People forget that at the peak of his career, Neil Young intentionally destroyed it. No one else has done that since. They don't have the balls.
If you lived through the era, your eyes will mist over and your heart will break at the same time you self-satisfiedly pat yourself on the back for being there.
If you weren't alive back then, even if you favor hip-hop, country or electronic music, watch the entire thing. You'll learn a few lessons. How a bunch of people who didn't come from rich families, who in most cases had never graduated from college, invented an art form so powerful that it truly moved people. Yes, there was no more powerful person in the late sixties and early seventies than a musician.
Imagine that.
Start here: http://bit.ly/QyoKgV
And at the end of the clip, click on the right to see the ensuing segment, there are seven in all.
This will make your day.
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Gary Clark, Jr.
He should never put out an album.
I've seen him twice. Once at a private party put on by his record label, the other time at Coachella. I didn't get it in the private club, I didn't think his original material was that good, but I did love his cover of "Third Stone From The Sun". But at Coachella, Clark killed. It was all about energy and sound and a connection with the audience, without pandering to it. Like a rock star of yore, Clark wasn't raising his fists, imploring attendees to cheer, building fake energy, it was the sound itself that levitated the audience. And this is the essence of a great show.
And everywhere Clark plays he gets great reviews. He just lit up the stage at the Newport Folk Festival, even the "New York Times" featured him in their review, the paper said "and the young blues phenom Gary Clark Jr., whose laid-back virtuosity as a guitarist was one of the festival’s forthright astonishments." (http://nyti.ms/MY6KY1) And I bring up the "Times" because every week they review records and every week I skim the words and scratch my head...who are these written for? Overanalyses of complete albums that appeal to very few. You see, not only have record sales declined, it's become about the live show, and when you tell me someone is astonishing, my curiosity is piqued. I don't want your analysis, but your emotion.
And now Clark is bringing this astonishment across the continent. And you've got to be there to get it. Sure, there are YouTube clips, but there's not a soul alive who believes these videos substitute for the real thing. They're shot from afar, the sound sucks, they're souvenirs at best. You've got to go.
In other words, everything that once was is back, with a twist.
Mystery. It's very easy to achieve. Just never put out a record! Everybody's trying to short-cut the process, all the while bitching that nobody is purchasing their opus. But if you're truly good, someone has to see you live. The buzz passes and we all want to go. You become an underground hero, and that's everything today, being owned by your fans as opposed to the media. Those playing to the media are evanescent, fame-whores who get a meager paycheck and soon disappear. Those who earn their stripes on the boards, building audience via word of mouth, last. Hell, look at Phish, have they ever had a hit single?
Albums are kind of like Facebook. Facebook was all cool with amazing buzz until it went public. I'm not sure the social networking company will ever recover. Its cred was shredded instantly, the stock is now trading at half the price of its introduction, everybody's abandoning ship, there's bad news every day, when do people wake up and give up, because no one wants to be where it's not cool.
We don't want to be at the show of the fake artist, the sell out, the one doing it the way everybody else does. We want to be at the show where life is created every single night. Kind of like Skrillex. Read the portrait of EDM in "Forbes": http://onforb.es/N3Eh34
But focus on this:
"One thing he hasn’t done yet: a product endorsement. It’s not for lack of opportunity. (One top DJ, Diplo, is now a ubiquitous television presence shilling BlackBerry.) 'We turn s--t down every day,' says Tim Smith, Skrillex’s manager since his screamo days.
Indeed, keeping those $15 million takes coming ultimately means protecting the brand. 'I don’t care if someone offers me half a million dollars,†says Skrillex. “I’m not going to do a cellphone thing.'"
In other words, everything you're being told is wrong. Not only by the labels, agents and managers, but the acts themselves. Agents and managers are on a percentage, they only get paid when you do. Which is why they implore you to make the deal, so they can get paid! They've been around long enough to know that you're probably not gonna last, they're more interested in their wallet than your longevity.
And other artists are whiners. They complain about being ripped off by everybody, instead of working hard to gain success and be in control. Yup, with success comes control. Can you use it?
As for labels... They only get paid when you sell a record. Or else they've got a 360 deal, and you're giving them a piece of everything.
If suddenly it's about live performance, if you want no record, no endorsements, no synchs, no placements, do you really need a label? Then again, if this is so it all comes down to you. Not only on a business level, but a musical level. Are you such a good performer that you can sell yourself?
Gary Clark, Jr. is.
Then again, it was the record company that truly got me interested. Ha!
P.S. If you go back in history, Clark did put out some independent albums, with limited distribution and traction. But Warner Brothers has so far only released an EP. It's the live show that's driving this, not recorded music.
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I've seen him twice. Once at a private party put on by his record label, the other time at Coachella. I didn't get it in the private club, I didn't think his original material was that good, but I did love his cover of "Third Stone From The Sun". But at Coachella, Clark killed. It was all about energy and sound and a connection with the audience, without pandering to it. Like a rock star of yore, Clark wasn't raising his fists, imploring attendees to cheer, building fake energy, it was the sound itself that levitated the audience. And this is the essence of a great show.
And everywhere Clark plays he gets great reviews. He just lit up the stage at the Newport Folk Festival, even the "New York Times" featured him in their review, the paper said "and the young blues phenom Gary Clark Jr., whose laid-back virtuosity as a guitarist was one of the festival’s forthright astonishments." (http://nyti.ms/MY6KY1) And I bring up the "Times" because every week they review records and every week I skim the words and scratch my head...who are these written for? Overanalyses of complete albums that appeal to very few. You see, not only have record sales declined, it's become about the live show, and when you tell me someone is astonishing, my curiosity is piqued. I don't want your analysis, but your emotion.
And now Clark is bringing this astonishment across the continent. And you've got to be there to get it. Sure, there are YouTube clips, but there's not a soul alive who believes these videos substitute for the real thing. They're shot from afar, the sound sucks, they're souvenirs at best. You've got to go.
In other words, everything that once was is back, with a twist.
Mystery. It's very easy to achieve. Just never put out a record! Everybody's trying to short-cut the process, all the while bitching that nobody is purchasing their opus. But if you're truly good, someone has to see you live. The buzz passes and we all want to go. You become an underground hero, and that's everything today, being owned by your fans as opposed to the media. Those playing to the media are evanescent, fame-whores who get a meager paycheck and soon disappear. Those who earn their stripes on the boards, building audience via word of mouth, last. Hell, look at Phish, have they ever had a hit single?
Albums are kind of like Facebook. Facebook was all cool with amazing buzz until it went public. I'm not sure the social networking company will ever recover. Its cred was shredded instantly, the stock is now trading at half the price of its introduction, everybody's abandoning ship, there's bad news every day, when do people wake up and give up, because no one wants to be where it's not cool.
We don't want to be at the show of the fake artist, the sell out, the one doing it the way everybody else does. We want to be at the show where life is created every single night. Kind of like Skrillex. Read the portrait of EDM in "Forbes": http://onforb.es/N3Eh34
But focus on this:
"One thing he hasn’t done yet: a product endorsement. It’s not for lack of opportunity. (One top DJ, Diplo, is now a ubiquitous television presence shilling BlackBerry.) 'We turn s--t down every day,' says Tim Smith, Skrillex’s manager since his screamo days.
Indeed, keeping those $15 million takes coming ultimately means protecting the brand. 'I don’t care if someone offers me half a million dollars,†says Skrillex. “I’m not going to do a cellphone thing.'"
In other words, everything you're being told is wrong. Not only by the labels, agents and managers, but the acts themselves. Agents and managers are on a percentage, they only get paid when you do. Which is why they implore you to make the deal, so they can get paid! They've been around long enough to know that you're probably not gonna last, they're more interested in their wallet than your longevity.
And other artists are whiners. They complain about being ripped off by everybody, instead of working hard to gain success and be in control. Yup, with success comes control. Can you use it?
As for labels... They only get paid when you sell a record. Or else they've got a 360 deal, and you're giving them a piece of everything.
If suddenly it's about live performance, if you want no record, no endorsements, no synchs, no placements, do you really need a label? Then again, if this is so it all comes down to you. Not only on a business level, but a musical level. Are you such a good performer that you can sell yourself?
Gary Clark, Jr. is.
Then again, it was the record company that truly got me interested. Ha!
P.S. If you go back in history, Clark did put out some independent albums, with limited distribution and traction. But Warner Brothers has so far only released an EP. It's the live show that's driving this, not recorded music.
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Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Final Bonnie Hayes
I was not going to print any more e-mail on this subject, but I believe Bonnie Hayes is entitled to respond. And since I'm cluttering up your inbox, I'm including some more correspondence on the topic.
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From: Bonnie Hayes
To all the Berklee bashers: did it ever occur to you that maybe if you'd learned how to score a movie and write a string arrangement instead of dropping out of school to play shit gigs, right now you might be scoring movies and writing string arrangements instead of playing shit gigs? Nobody gave me sh*t; I make my living playing, writing, producing, teaching. But if I could go to Berklee today as a student today, I would. Maybe that makes me stupid, but I doubt it.
Sure: some Berklee kids are spoiled brats, some people should definitely give up on NYC and move to philly or nashville or austin or athens to start their bands and conquer their local markets. Some people should quit (and believe me, they will). duh.
It's easy to miss the point when you're stuck in your own little 30 second rant/loop, It's not that musicians shouldn't have to work, or get straight jobs, or live in basements, or ride around the country stuffed into vans, love it, live for it, fight for it. blah blah blah. all of which any real musician is delighted to do, whether they're making money or not.
My points, again: one, accusing young musicians of only being in it for the money is a generalization and inaccurate, and secondly, the problem is socio-economic, not generational. Once upon a time, America offered more options for life possibilities for artists and others who don't want to bow down to the money god. That's all I'm sayin'....
And lastly, I'd observe that it's sad how joyless some of these lifer musicians are, isn't it? Really kind of making my point for me, in some ways.
Keep on posting, Bob---we are reading.
xobh
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The irony is y'all have made Bonnie Hayes a household word now.
btw Berklee is spelled thusly for the name of the founder's son - Lee Berk
Al Kooper
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EVERYBODY PLEASE STOP SHITTING ON BERKLEE! The vast majority of the faculty and administration work hard to provide one of the best music educations you can get, and the majority of students work hard to succeed. I can't stand these anecdotes I hear: "I worked with a Berklee graduate and it was all scales and trainin' and no soul," so now the WHOLE SCHOOL sucks, never mind that the "hundreds of cookie cutter demos" one of these gripers got from Berklee grads are certainly similar to hundreds of other cookie cutter demos. There are problems with the school as with any institute of higher learning, and it is expensive, but there are many, many benefits to going there: a clear, codified core curriculum, the availability of great connections within the industry via the faculty and guest artists and internship hookups, some of the best musicians in the world as your peers (present and future, meaning the people you meet and play with here can be your musical partners for life if you want), some of the greatest music faculty anywhere (Bonnie Hayes, and one of the great gurus of songwriting, Pat Pattison, among them, not even mentioning the hundreds of great faculty in other departments). Music school is not for everyone, and for some it is part of the path that leads one to other disciplines. And graduating from Berklee is no GUARANTEE that you're going to be a great purveyor of music. Name ANY great teacher and you will find many great artists and professionals that learned from them and also many terrible ones. But I find that most of the negative comments here (it's fun and easy to dogpile on Berklee) come from people who most likely haven't spent any time here, or definitely not lately. It's not perfect, and it's not for everyone, but if you come here and work hard and seek out those faculty and students with whom you're most compatible (again, like ANYPLACE, be it a music scene or institution of higher learning) it will be worth your time and money, and your artistry and potential earning power will improve.
-Mark Shilansky, Berklee Faculty
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Man it sucks to read so many people shitting on Berklee but come to think of it most of them are right. I was in the first class of "music business" graduates and the only thing at the time they were teaching was how to be a major label yes man.
I learned more about the music business from interning for Morphines manager Deb Klein, gigging in my three bands and working at Aerosmith's old rock club than I did at Berklee.
If I had it all to do over again I would have dropped out of BERKLEE after two years and finished my degree at Northeastern or some other real business school. I was considering doing that but just stuck it out.
But in spite of all the Berklee pooping I will say one thing. When I got there I could play the guitar ok. When I left I could (and still can) play the fuck out of the guitar. And I'm not sure I would have applied myself without a few of the amazing teachers I had and kept me from being a one trick pony metal head, introduced me to Zappa, jam bands and folk singers and taught me the value of nuance and great songwriting. So I chose to go into business instead of playing but my command of music informs everything I do today and allows me to hang out with musicians on their terms (and my own of course) and offer developing acts real constructive criticism. I'm not sure I would have that if it weren't for my Berklee years.
Oh, and as someone still living in Boston I am frequently invited to speak in entrepreneurship classes and booking clinics and I always tell it like it is. If you are REALLY GOOD AND REALLY MOTIVATED you will get breaks.
And conversely of course if you suck? Too bad.
Peace and Love!
Dan Millen
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I think it's important not to overthink this. You do the best you can, and hope it's enough. Sometimes it is...sometimes it isn't.
But there's a bigger picture. It's only in the last century that music could be time-shifted, and was no longer the exclusive domain of live performance to relatively small groups of people. This change allowed some musicians to get very rich, but is anomalous compared to how music was done for millennia. All the arts have undergone a similar change from limited market to mass market: Plays became movies, paintings became reproducible, hardcover books became paperbacks, and paperbacks ended up on iPads.
I'd like to think that one reason why people aren't buying as much music, going to as many movies, or buying as many books is that the arts have become sufficiently democratized that people are creating more than they are consuming - whether they're putting their own movies on YouTube, writing blogs instead of buying books, or making music with a laptop and a guitar.
If I have a spare couple hours, I'm not going to put on headphones and listen to music. I'm going to make some :)
Craig Anderton
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The great Jazz drummer Dick Berk summed it all up:
"I'm making six bills a week: a 20 a 10 two fives and two ones" .
Regards to Bonnie Hayes.
Nic. tenBroek
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Hey Bob.
Love you.
I went to Berklee.
Everything your readers have said about it is true. Good and bad.
But ain't that life, Bob?
Perception is reality.
I will say this- the anonymous graduate who had the shitty bitter attitude? He is not going anywhere. And the alum who spoke of gratitude and self-acceptance sure sounded happy. Isn't that what we are talking about? Being happy? Not making it or fame or any guarantees of employment. "Does making music make you happy" is the question. My thought today as I looked at the photos of the tragic blackout in India, a year after my band returned from an all-expenses paid trip to play some festivals in Goa and Delhi (which is more of a shithole clusterfuck than the music biz) was this: why are so many of them smiling? Clearly they aren't Americans.
Some facts:
You have never heard of me.
I have been signed. And dropped. 5 times. dreamworks, lava atlantic, lost highway, most recently uni republic.
I have toured the world.
I have been a nashville staff writer.
I have sold shoes.
I have waited tables.
I have written with some of my idols.
I have a dinky home studio.
I have had songs featured on too many tv shows and films to mention.
You have never heard of me.
I have had 2 songs stolen that sold millions.
I have had songs cut by Legends and and a bunch of pop no-hit wonders.
I play sessions on drums and guitar and bass and piano.
I sing jingles
I produce other artists.
You have never heard of me.
I am finishing up a killer album I wrote and recorded with my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame friend and bandmate - his first true rock record since 1983.
I write for anyone and everyone because I love writing.
I have lived in my car with my dog.
You have never heard of me.
I have gold and platinum records from other countries in a closet somewhere.
I went to Berklee.
They teach some of my songs in songwriting classes alongside Gillian Welch and John Mayer.
I learned things at Berklee I use daily, some of which have to do with music.
You have never heard of me.
And yet I am happy.
I "made it" many times.
Then again, I worked my ass off to get happy FIRST, then I got busy.
It never works the other way around.
Rob Giles
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Basically, anyone who wants to do something badly enough will gladly crawl through broken glass to be able to do it whether it's getting laid or painting or selling houses or making music. And, anyone who has enough excuses to not do something will guarantee that they won't do it.
This has no bearing on being 'successful', it just means that if you want to do something then do it and don't bitch about how difficult it is. No one asked you to do it. And, by the way, being 'successful' is honestly measured by your own yardstick, no one else's.
"Never retract, never retreat, never apologize. Just get the thing done and let them howl."
Nellie McClung
Matt Wallace
Husband, Father, Carpenter, Writer, Record Producer, Gardener, etc.
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I've been following this very interesting conversation, and I'd like to add something from the perspective of a guy who started his professional music career at 18 in 1965. I applaud the young artists who said "quit whining" and "work as a dishwasher 80 hours a week, then practice..."but, the reality is -- and I don't care how young and energetic you are -- you don't have that much good energy to create after working a shit job for 60 or 80 hours a week. And by "create" I mean create work that stands out in the throng, work that will hold up and still sound relevant 50, 100 years from now. The Beatles worked hard -- playing 10 hrs a night at the Star Cub in Hamburg. Bach and Mozart never washed dishes, but they worked damn hard. So I join Bonnie in lamenting the loss of a time when young musicians -- such as I -- could really spend their best energy at their craft, doing the thing they did best. I lived through that time, and I can tell you it was great!
Ted Myers
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Good to read 1 or 2 people that actually graduate Berklee. Anyone can get in period. It's the real that make it through. Most who enroll expect the name of the school to carry their no talent bodies. They forget you need skill to survive. There's a little school cross town called New England Conservatory. How many could do that audition? A name is a name. If you buy a Les Paul and Marshall half stack does that mean you are Page? Berklee is a mediocre school and the same rules apply. If you can't play or write or bring it it does not matter at all. In the true professional music world Berklee is not on the list. Not dismissing the talented people that gained from the experience at all. Just making fun of those that think it can make you great because of its name.
Chris Apostle
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Pianist Dayramir Gonzalez. Current Berklee student. Cuban citizen - because of fucked up US laws it is ILLEGAL for him to get paid from doing gigs in the US. It doesn't matter. His band is being paid thousands but he is playing Carnegie Hall in November for FREE. Here is video of him playing music that is more interesting, challenging and emotionally moving than 99% of the shit you listen to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6eUSLzFlbE
GREAT musicians overcome ALL obstacles.
Larry Robinson
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I think Bonnie stated pretty clearly that most of her students are not looking to get rich, just make ends meet and were willing to work for that. And I'm sure lots of them have crappy or part time jobs.
And to all those bashing Berklee, I have met a lot of grads and everyone of them have been excellent players and willing to play anywhere, anytime. The environment seems to be a nurturing collaborative one. It's not for everyone and yes it is elitist purely because of expense. But then, so is Julliard. Some of the greatest musicians come out of those schools. And of course there are amazing musicians that are self taught, can't read a lick of music and play by sense and passion and become great by hard work. It works both ways. Why some people find it necessary to bash one or the other really perplexes and amazes me. There is a lot of hate in some of these responses and it is really disappointing to see that.
There are lots of opportunities out there to make a living in the music biz, but besides not having labels to provide funds to develop, I think the biggest issue is the amount of competition out there. It is greater than it has ever been. Everyone has YouTube videos, websites, free downloads, cheap shows that anyone can afford. And you know what, a lot of it is good, some even great. Of course there is a lot of crap out there, which makes it even harder to be seen just by pure volume. In the 60's and the There may have been a lot of musicians toiling away in their basements, but we never heard of them or their music unless they were our neighbour or our relative. Now, I can listen to some 14 year old shredder from Japan who makes videos in his bedroom and gets a million hits. This has NEVER been possible until now.
That’s what I tell every young artist that comes to see me for advice. And it is your message I quote the most. You have to be GREAT! This is probably one of the most globally competitive businesses in the world right now. If you aren’t GREAT, forget it or be content with playing in your local bar where most 70's, we only ever heard what the industry decided for us was the best. people don’t know the difference between Pavarotti and Tiny Tim.
I think it is the sheer numbers of great competition out there today that is the biggest factor in being able to make a living in the music business. And by making a living I mean paying a mortgage, putting your kids through school and buying groceries. All those things that "regular people" aspire to. And if you can, count your lucky stars. You have to work hard for it, but there is a ton of luck involved.
Rob Oakie
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i know you are inundated, but as a composer who has been very busy for over. 20 i have always had high regard for berklee grads, they were just better prepared with the skill set needed for my line of work: serious programming chops, good ear, playing and orchestration chops, knowledge of film scoring asthetic.
however, today the market is flooded with them and grads from other schools. i think they are over promising career placement when there are very few slots.
i ran an ad in craigslist looking for a new person and got over 200 resumes, yah, alot of them songwriters who think that they can score, but then many many people with composition degrees and chops and studios and even that knew my same area of preference, some with abilities to play rachmaninoff piano concertos and had perfect pitch, for 15 dollars an hour.
but it's all word. you cant lean what i do in school, you either have a facility for it or you dont. i did have a person with perfect pitch who played rachmaninoff and was a technical programming genius. but her personality held her back, and though she wrote good "music" she couldn't score a scene to save her life. writing good "music" is not the same thing.
Willheim
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I always heard the best thing you can do r/e Berklee was drop out.
John Mayer did.
Eli Chastain
Nashville
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While I was in school, I was helping to mentor some kids who I saw had potential. I organized gigs on campus, funded equipment (amps, mics, cables, etc.) available for them to use, directed them to local venues, directed them how to advertise themselves, and poured every ounce of knowledge I had into them. All of this while being a gigging musician and a full time engineering student, mind you.
The one who showed the most potential was this girl, Natalie. Her voice would melt you. She decided to take a semester off (+ the summer) in order to pursue music. Now, that's not enough time to do anything big, but it is enough time to get your foot in the door locally. Since then, she has taken more semesters off; effectively, she dropped out. What did she do with music? I don't think she has played a single gig since before she dropped out, when I was organizing gigs on campus. I don't even know if she has picked up her guitar lately. She works as a bank teller now.
Kids just don't want to hear that it will be hard and that it will take work outside of their comfort zone. Without that, you've got nothing. Sure, some will do everything right and get the short end of the stick, but that's part of the risk. If that's you, just get back up and try everything differently.
Alex Brubaker
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I bet Bonnie gets fired from Berklee for this. She's certainly screwed them out of future students, unintentionally I'm sure? Either way, she knows how to survive in the music business right? After all she teaches it to the kids.
Keith Walker
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re: the debate following Bonnie's email: One thing that needs to be acknowledged is that there REALLY HAS BEEN an overwhelming drop in opportunities from, say, 30 years ago when almost every bar had bands, most running six-nighters. The audience is not out there anymore. There used to be THREE tiers for rock rooms and three for country rooms. Agents booking A bands , B bands and C bands. Some hotels had an A rock room and a B country room. Even shit holes had bands.
And in truth, a large percentage of full-time working musicians were kinda mediocre and sometimes just plain terrible. But almost anybody had the opportunity (which is now a privilege) to play music for a living.
But the real oportunity for the serious players was that they got to hone their craft playing night after night. And many were plucked out of the A rooms and put in bigger touring bands. There was a ladder to success that you could climb. The A and R guys were in the rooms. And you didn't have to spend all your time promoting your gigs; the bars were already full of people who wanted - needed - live music, and the agents made all the calls. Musicians had the opportunity to spend your whole day practising.
But the reality is, whether or not the decline was spurred by greed and fear, the audience is not there anymore. Going to see a live band in a bar is not at the top of everyone's list these days. By now they've seen and heard it all on TV and Youtube. They've seen and heard every amazing thing that humans can do. Not until music becomes a much more endangered species will the tide turn.
G. Pretty
Edmonton, Canada
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I think that Jessica Bonnano's response was spot on. While everyone sits around and targets the art sector the rest of the country actually feels the same way. It's bizarre to hear your friends who work in construction or in the Finicial sector talk the same way as you do. Even though they may not be struggling as much they are feeling the effects of a crippling economy. The fight to survive has always been here but in the past I don't think it had an effect on as many people. There use to be a middle class and that has quickly vanished.
JULIAN TAYLOR
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Bonnie Hayes is a trooper, and if anyone has taken their lumps and liked it, it's Bonnie...in fact, it's her whole fam damily...her brothers, Chris and Kevin, are no strangers to hard work, long hours & low pay either.
Regarding the 'feast or famine' motif that's been struck here: there was a time, back in the 80's, when it was possible for an original rock band to make close to $1000 for a single 45 minute set, Thursday thru Saturday, night after night, week after week. It was at the Palms Cafe, on Polk Street in SF. Bonnie herself played there, with her band, the Punts. Her appearances there predate my tenure, so I'm not sure how much she pulled in, but a host of other acts, including Night Ranger, the Squares (feat. Joe Satriani), the Red Pencils (led by Grammy winner, Rick Nowels), Eye Protection (feat. Andy Prieboy, later of Wall of Voodoo), Tommy Tutone, Sylvester and His Hot Band, The Weather Girls and many, many more, always did very nearly that at each performance, and sometimes more. It was the Palms' policy, you see, to give all monies collected for admission, the cover charge, to the bands.
If club owners today would wise up and, follow suit, i.e., give 100% of the door to bands, instead of screwing them mercilessly, more clubs could pay $1000 a night (or the 21st Century equivalent thereof), and not only might starving musicians be able to put at least a little cheese on that tuna fish, maybe more clubs would have the stand out, sterling kind of roster that the Palms Cafe still has, nearly 30 years after closing its doors....
Ray Staar
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Bob: The great jazz musician Sam Rivers said: "Just because something is true doesn't necessarily mean that the opposite isn't also true". Both sides in this debate have valid points. In 1980 I moved to NYC with $200 in my pocket, got a rent free apartment for being a building super. I had no qualifications, the neighborhood was rough and they just needed someone right away. Most of my friends were able to make rent with a couple days of work a week (musical or otherwise.) It left a lot of time for making music and hanging out. Unlike the CT suburbs I grew up in, the bar scene in NY was full of wild, weird, and original music. That's why I moved to the city.
Today I might choose otherwise, but it made a ton of sense then. Pointing out the distortions in our current economy is not whining. It's also a fact that those chop building paying gigs that were available and plentiful to earlier generations (like the Beatles in Hamburg, or jazz musicians in the '20s, '30s, and 40's) are gone. Good sounding piped in music killed a lot of those gigs a long time ago.
It's never been easy being a musician, but just like the larger economy, it's the working class that's been hit the hardest, by technology and shrinking opportunity.
The flip side is, once you've acknowledged this, what are you going to do about it? Live music is still a transformative experience craved by many and the means of production are now in the hands of the artists. Rent is a problem, but I have faith in the eternal power of music. When you start saying the younger generation doesn't get it, you're officially an old fart. They don't give a shit what you think, and right now there is some great music being made by some of these youngsters that you might never hear, but it's not for lack of quality, passion and commitment.
P.S., I felt bad about passing up on going to Berklee for about five minutes, but touring on three continents with a great band cured me of that.
John Mulkerin
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Bonnie my father is a musician, went to Berkeley and worked as a professor of Jazz studies and performance at Michigan State. Growing up in Detroit we were very poor because this was before his teaching gig and we were living off his and my mothers musician earnings. It didn't bother me that we really had nothing that our neighbors had whose parents all worked at the Car factories in Detroit. Because when I went down to that wonderland of a basement where I could see posters of P Funk, Kiss and Miles Davis and instruments of all sorts, I felt rich in creativity and inspiration. I know it is hard in the age to not want and desire what is being fed to us through the media, TV and through reality TV but it is important that we try to tune these images out.
In my 18years of being a professional musician I have accepted that I may become discouraged and I allow myself to be discouraged but I don't allow myself to give up. As birds fly and migrate south for the winter, an artist creates because it is our nature, regardless if we earn money or not. Labour with Love and the benefits and financial rewards will come because staying true to your art is contributing to humanity. I can't tell you how many artists have saved my life. Bonnie if your students want it bad enough they will succeed. You are doing an amazing job by giving them the tools and trying to understand how best to encourage them and prepare them for life after college. We all find our own way of how to earn a living in this crazy profession that have no guarantees. That is why it is so important what you Bob are doing. Thank you for your constant efforts and staying true to real art.
Sincerely,
Ife Sanchez Mora
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Several years ago I decided to take an MBA with the intent of applying my studies to the Music Business. I live in Canada, so the cost of tuition was only a few thousand. I had been playing in bands for several years and had long since accepted the new model of digital / web based distribution. I wanted to take an entrepreneurial approach to succeeding in music. I even had a professor mentor me through the process. Under the guise of a Masters thesis on behalf of the school's centre for entrepreneurship, I interviewed everyone I could - promoters, musicians, labels, agents, producers and media - with the intent of trying to figure out how to succeed in the new music economy.
Then I hit the road and toured. I slept in a van with my bandmates, ate crap food, survived on very little. It was both romantic and shitty. I did this for three years, but unfortunately during that time my older brother - also a musician - got sick, his heart stopped and the fall-out was a massive brain injury that left him virtually incapacitated. So then I was left trying to tour, trying to help with my brother's rehabilitation AND trying to make rent. My life imploded. After 3 years of trying to help in his recovery, with some success, my brother died. I was heart broken and somewhat relieved.
The fallout for me has been that music is, and always will be, an almost spiritual exploration. Trying to quantify or add value to the end product will change as technology and the general public's patterns of consumption alter and shift. I think it's an exciting time.
With respect to the struggling musicians of this era, I think the end goal should always be personal fullfillment: to write great songs, find a distinct and genuine sound and always, always try to capture the essence of that individual's life experience. That is ultimately what my research during my BUSINESS DEGREE taught me. After all, marketing 101 is differentiation and how better to differentiate yourself from the pack then to write about your genuine experience. By following the path of fulfillment, I think a musician is MOST likely to be successful in the business arena, and if not, that individual will always have his/art to keep him warm at night....
Steve Reble
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Hey Bob
I'm a new subscriber enjoying a lot your letter. I'm also a Berklee student, well online student, I didn't have the money to go there but I'm learning incredible stuff from my home.
I live in South America (no, we don't live on trees) and I'm not going to bitch about my beloved third world country. In regards to Bonnie's email I guess the two sides (pro/anti) are both right and wrong.
One thing my brothers in the U.S. must consider is that life there is still far better than life in underdevoloped countries. Think of this: according to your standard of living, the lowest level is to live in your car. Guess what: cars are insanely expensive around here....and still there are lots of us wanting to be creative. dreamers? stupid naive? who the fuck cares. we just do it.
I don't care that every moron with a pc calls itself musician/producer/sound engineer; I don't care the fact that all mediocre clowns can upload a zillion thrashy videos to youtube. ¿Music industry is dead? I certainly don't care.
at the end, only the good stuff stand out.
the only thing I care about is giving the maximum I can give creating my music, which is what I love and do best. and no: I'm not rich.
And another thing, enrolling for this Masters in Berklee is the best desition I have made in recent times. If things go out well or not will be my exclusive responsability, not the college', but I can assure my life is improving a lot because of the info/experience I'm getting.
That father who wrote about taking his 250k, and then went to an established songwriter to work with his son instead of paying Berklee's tuiton, was very clever. Very forward thinking. There is not a formula to life and what works for some does not necessarily work for others.
We live in a very complicated world right now and things seem to be harder as we "evolve" (I think we're really devolving) as species. Yes, life is more comfortable, funnier, faster, tastier... TO LESS AND LESS PEOPLE AND WORSE TO REST (THE MAJORITY) OF THE POPULATION. Fair? absolutely not, but this is how it is.
cheers
Juan Ospina
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I see quite a bit reverse snobbery there. I just managed to get into Indiana University School of Music after growing up in a little town in Tennessee outside of Nashville. I suppose some letter writers would have told me to "stay in Nashville", i.e., think small. I did not. I studied with the phenomenal David Baker and others, my first encounter with energetic, super-talented people. I became a percussionist as well as a drummer. Plus I got an education. The skills I got enabled me to later work in NYC wearing several hats, thanks to my reading, practice habits, percussion playing, etc. My friends and I used to laugh because I would get complimented on my triangle playing at sessions before my drum tracks did. Note: that's because I knew how to hit it -- people noticed. I never would have had the skills and confidence to do lots of gigs over the years by staying put. These comments about living cheap and being in a band are not addressing the professional side of the business. If you want to take the gamble to be in that space (and you are not naturally gifted, many are) you'd better take some music lessons, with students better than you are. Everybody studies, including the stars. And everybody needs an edge.
However, an I.U. degree didn't cost the equivalent of $200k in the 70s. Berklee started out as a place to teach kids high-level fundamentals by pros. They probably still do. The only issue is the money. The division of wealth in this country is growing at a blistering pace. Most Americans seem to be so brainwashed into thinking about how fantastic and glamorous everything is in their life (from football to Home Depot) that they just sleepwalk through it as they stare at the nearest TV. Most do not understand that their pensions have recently been stolen by Wall Street and thousands of retirees cannot survive on 1% interest rates. I wouldn't be surprised if this place looks like Blade Runner within 50 years. Berklee's fees are current US capitalism in action, i.e., Wall Street. They take what the accountants tell them they can get from "the brand". The sleepwalkers think they are upper class if they pay exorbitant fees for something, whatever the quality.
Listen to Niall Ferguson's 2012 Reith Lectures on the recent decline in the Rule of Law in our society for the food for thought on where this is heading. http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/reith
Thanks for everything,
Robert Bond
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I still come down on the idea that you've got to be good and your music has got to be good. Build strong artist/fan relations, play lots of shows, put in your 10,000 hours and don't worry about the money because if it's good people will come to see your shows, buy your merch, and yes, even pay for digital downloads, CDs, and vinyl if you offer it -- but only if you're good.
Sure the Internet destroyed the old paradigm. I'm okay with that. It created avenues I never would have had. Theft and "piracy?" Give me a break! I don't give a rodent's behind about "intellectual property" in the sense of a state-granted monopoly on who can sell or buy my stuff. If some guy can figure out how to make money from my stuff and I can't, power to him. As long as he's not claiming to be me, have at it! IP doesn't protect anyone against plagiarism. Protecting against plagiarism is, for the most part, a self-policing enterprise and works just fine without a need for IP laws. The fashion industry proves on a daily basis that you can make money without IP protection. Copying is NOT "theft". "Theft" is when you deprive someone of something that is rightfully theirs and no musician has a right to actually make money from their music. They only have the right to try -- and if they succeed -- YAY! And "piracy" is when you board a boat, steal most everything on it and destroy stuff, so Internet "piracy" is a myth.
I would argue that in fact, the Internet/file-sharing/P2P paradigm hasn't diminished the value of music as much as it has exposed the TRUE value of music. The copiers and "pirates" are simply showing WHICH music actually HAS value. It may be harder for the artist to make a buck, but at least it's not lining the pockets of some old fart at CBS whose ONLY care is how much money he gets as he parasitically sucks away the blood, sweat & tears of the artists, most of which get lost in the shuffle anyway. I'd much rather live in a world of "pirates" who all make very little than a world of monopolistic control where all the losses are socialized and all the gains are privatized to the benefit of a few well-connected individuals. People seem to think that IP must be "correct" because some old men in powdered wigs scribbled it on a piece of parchment 200+ years ago.
If what was right about the old paradigm was that there were "gatekeepers" and promoters who vetted the really good music for the rest of us, then I don't see why each and every one of us, individually, cannot be our own gatekeeper and promoter. If labels are mostly dead and "gatekeepers" are necessary, then maybe what the Internet needs are more sites that are better at finding and promoting the best stuff. I've seen a lot of excellent models come and go. We know this hangover is going to be harsh as we find new ways to operate in this new model, but I enjoy the Internet's sweet-water aquifier of deep and connected wells. Sure, the walls are lined with a lot of crust and mud and useless crap, but that makes finding the jewels that much more pleasant.
Kurt Tischer
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To all those lambasting Berklee, do they realise most top artists here in the UK went to an Arts college of some description? Adele, Amy Winehouse, Imogen Heap, Leona Lewis, Jessie J, Kate Nash, The Kooks, The Feeling all went to BRIT School. Radiohead went to Tech Music School. Freddie Mercury, Pete Townshend, Art and Ronnie Wood, Ray Davies, David Bowie all went to Ealing Art School (now the London College of Music).
These guys studied! Seems to me in this day and age anything that gives you an edge above the rest is almost a necessity.
Steve Marcus
Ghosts of December
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There are definitely two sides to this coin. On one hand, you don't deserve success, you have to earn it. On the other hand society does indeed seem to be moving towards a new feudalism, and it will be a return to the "patron of the arts model" from centuries ago.
No one is paying for art, they are downloading movies and music for free. There is no economic, or business model for profit off of music that still makes sense. Labels got out of the artist development game long ago, now it would be financial suicide. The cream will rise to the top as it always does but now it will be sponsored by the rich, and artists will be nothing more than show dogs for the bragging rights of the elite.
It is already happening. The new art patrons are the wealthy parents of teenage girls in Orange County who want their daughters to be rock stars. These parents are spending far more on their children in efforts to buy careers for their kids than a record label would ever dream of shelling out for the album for a highly seasoned but still unproven artist.
I am a musician, and as times are lean for us touring sidemen, this is where we have to go for work. I don't think that it is a coincidence that labels are signing thirteen year olds to record deals almost exclusively. From their point of view, the labels have others investing millions into artist development for them. Why wouldn't they put out a record that cost someone else a half a million dollars to make. Its a win win for them, low risk, they are essentially playing with house money. I have played and recorded for many of these trust fund kids. Some of them are actually talented, some not. I personally don't charge them any more than I would charge a girl waiting tables to fund her dream. Maybe that's wrong of me. I don't know, but it sort of sickens me to see producers and musicians who can't find work for real artists take advantage of a child's dream just because they were lucky enough to be born into a rich family.
The Internet has changed everything, and as you always say, the old guard no matter how they try can not put the lightning back into the bottle.
Shane Soloski
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The point I was trying to make in my first note re. Bonnie...a point that seems to have been completely overlooked by practically everyone...was that the ratio of expenses to income has been completely tilted in the past 50 years. I was able to live decently paying a tiny percentage of my income for housing; medical insurance expenses were practically nothing...hell, I paid out of pocket for the hospital birth of my first son...while being a hardly working musician and part time craftsman. We could afford to be musicians then because basic expenses were so much lower...and I mean relative to today's dollars. Using the consumer price index, my 13 Bleeker St. loft rent in 1968, which was $75.00 a month, would now be $485.00. Hah! No way... That place would now be at least $3,500.00 a month based on what I know is true of New York rents in 2012.
The real problem is that due to various bubbles...real estate, finance, and medical costs...the basic costs of just living suck up way more of anybody's income now than was true 30 to 50 years ago when many of the artists posting here were starting out. Bernie, Wendy, Bonnie, Tom, and I started at a much easier time. Now add to that the sudden loss of what used to be known as THE income stream...songwriting royalties...and the ground rules of the game have been completely changed...for the worse.
And this bullshit meme about live gigs? Yeah, try touring these days and see where the money goes. Or try to get the kinds of gigs we used to be able to get...like a full week or two at the Cafe Au Go Go or the Mooncusser or the Village Gate or Gerde's Folk City. The fact is that except for certain music hubs like Nashville, Austin, New York, Boston, or my town of Santa Cruz, gigs are really thin out there, and musicians are competing with sports, video games, and Netflix.
Does anybody think the Beatles would have been great if they'd not had steady gigs in Hamburg and Liverpool? There is nothing like playing five or six sets a night six nights a week for getting good. And that is gone...
This is not a golden age for pop music...
Rick Turner
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My story is probably semi-typical for a lot of folks.
I worked my way through college playing in bands. Clubs, parties, etc.
Got a manager. He booked us on weekends and we opened for folks like the Blues Project, Rascals, Smokey and the Miracles. It was great fun. We were sure we were gonna be stars.
Next, we got look-see's and "do a demo" stuff from RCA and other labels.
Pass.
At some point, I realized an important thing: I was probably not good enough to do anything very special in the music biz.
It was a sobering revelation.
So I got married and had two kids (well, my wife did) and started a small ad agency. I had a decent time at that and made decent money, and played some clubs on weekends for fun. I still do today in my dotage.
In the 60s and 70s, we made $30-40 a man in clubs. Today, we make $60-90. Not much difference.
Do I regret not staying in music? Sometimes.
But...I made a decision.
I can't blame anyone for that, and I applaud everyone who makes a living as a full time musician--I know several here in South Florida and it's very tough.
But as a tangent, I liked various illicit substances back in the day, and I'm guessing I might not be here if I had really been successful. So it probably all works out.
Anyway, thanks for the interesting reading. I wish that everyone struggling here gets exactly what they want.
I did, I suppose.
Rik Shafer
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I'm so glad Bonnie Hayes has stuck with it. She's impressive. When she's not on the road, she's teaching songwriting in the Bay area to up and coming artists. Her heartfelt letter to you hit truth all over the place. I had the opportunity to meet her and to hear her perform over a year ago at the Conclave in Minneapolis. Bonnie performed along with a new female artist the record company was showcasing. Bonnie sang back up (and I think she produced the album) for a young singer songwriter, (who was also a LAWYER). They wowed a room full of hardboiled broadcasters.
Valerie Geller
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From: Bonnie Hayes
To all the Berklee bashers: did it ever occur to you that maybe if you'd learned how to score a movie and write a string arrangement instead of dropping out of school to play shit gigs, right now you might be scoring movies and writing string arrangements instead of playing shit gigs? Nobody gave me sh*t; I make my living playing, writing, producing, teaching. But if I could go to Berklee today as a student today, I would. Maybe that makes me stupid, but I doubt it.
Sure: some Berklee kids are spoiled brats, some people should definitely give up on NYC and move to philly or nashville or austin or athens to start their bands and conquer their local markets. Some people should quit (and believe me, they will). duh.
It's easy to miss the point when you're stuck in your own little 30 second rant/loop, It's not that musicians shouldn't have to work, or get straight jobs, or live in basements, or ride around the country stuffed into vans, love it, live for it, fight for it. blah blah blah. all of which any real musician is delighted to do, whether they're making money or not.
My points, again: one, accusing young musicians of only being in it for the money is a generalization and inaccurate, and secondly, the problem is socio-economic, not generational. Once upon a time, America offered more options for life possibilities for artists and others who don't want to bow down to the money god. That's all I'm sayin'....
And lastly, I'd observe that it's sad how joyless some of these lifer musicians are, isn't it? Really kind of making my point for me, in some ways.
Keep on posting, Bob---we are reading.
xobh
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The irony is y'all have made Bonnie Hayes a household word now.
btw Berklee is spelled thusly for the name of the founder's son - Lee Berk
Al Kooper
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EVERYBODY PLEASE STOP SHITTING ON BERKLEE! The vast majority of the faculty and administration work hard to provide one of the best music educations you can get, and the majority of students work hard to succeed. I can't stand these anecdotes I hear: "I worked with a Berklee graduate and it was all scales and trainin' and no soul," so now the WHOLE SCHOOL sucks, never mind that the "hundreds of cookie cutter demos" one of these gripers got from Berklee grads are certainly similar to hundreds of other cookie cutter demos. There are problems with the school as with any institute of higher learning, and it is expensive, but there are many, many benefits to going there: a clear, codified core curriculum, the availability of great connections within the industry via the faculty and guest artists and internship hookups, some of the best musicians in the world as your peers (present and future, meaning the people you meet and play with here can be your musical partners for life if you want), some of the greatest music faculty anywhere (Bonnie Hayes, and one of the great gurus of songwriting, Pat Pattison, among them, not even mentioning the hundreds of great faculty in other departments). Music school is not for everyone, and for some it is part of the path that leads one to other disciplines. And graduating from Berklee is no GUARANTEE that you're going to be a great purveyor of music. Name ANY great teacher and you will find many great artists and professionals that learned from them and also many terrible ones. But I find that most of the negative comments here (it's fun and easy to dogpile on Berklee) come from people who most likely haven't spent any time here, or definitely not lately. It's not perfect, and it's not for everyone, but if you come here and work hard and seek out those faculty and students with whom you're most compatible (again, like ANYPLACE, be it a music scene or institution of higher learning) it will be worth your time and money, and your artistry and potential earning power will improve.
-Mark Shilansky, Berklee Faculty
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Man it sucks to read so many people shitting on Berklee but come to think of it most of them are right. I was in the first class of "music business" graduates and the only thing at the time they were teaching was how to be a major label yes man.
I learned more about the music business from interning for Morphines manager Deb Klein, gigging in my three bands and working at Aerosmith's old rock club than I did at Berklee.
If I had it all to do over again I would have dropped out of BERKLEE after two years and finished my degree at Northeastern or some other real business school. I was considering doing that but just stuck it out.
But in spite of all the Berklee pooping I will say one thing. When I got there I could play the guitar ok. When I left I could (and still can) play the fuck out of the guitar. And I'm not sure I would have applied myself without a few of the amazing teachers I had and kept me from being a one trick pony metal head, introduced me to Zappa, jam bands and folk singers and taught me the value of nuance and great songwriting. So I chose to go into business instead of playing but my command of music informs everything I do today and allows me to hang out with musicians on their terms (and my own of course) and offer developing acts real constructive criticism. I'm not sure I would have that if it weren't for my Berklee years.
Oh, and as someone still living in Boston I am frequently invited to speak in entrepreneurship classes and booking clinics and I always tell it like it is. If you are REALLY GOOD AND REALLY MOTIVATED you will get breaks.
And conversely of course if you suck? Too bad.
Peace and Love!
Dan Millen
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I think it's important not to overthink this. You do the best you can, and hope it's enough. Sometimes it is...sometimes it isn't.
But there's a bigger picture. It's only in the last century that music could be time-shifted, and was no longer the exclusive domain of live performance to relatively small groups of people. This change allowed some musicians to get very rich, but is anomalous compared to how music was done for millennia. All the arts have undergone a similar change from limited market to mass market: Plays became movies, paintings became reproducible, hardcover books became paperbacks, and paperbacks ended up on iPads.
I'd like to think that one reason why people aren't buying as much music, going to as many movies, or buying as many books is that the arts have become sufficiently democratized that people are creating more than they are consuming - whether they're putting their own movies on YouTube, writing blogs instead of buying books, or making music with a laptop and a guitar.
If I have a spare couple hours, I'm not going to put on headphones and listen to music. I'm going to make some :)
Craig Anderton
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The great Jazz drummer Dick Berk summed it all up:
"I'm making six bills a week: a 20 a 10 two fives and two ones" .
Regards to Bonnie Hayes.
Nic. tenBroek
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Hey Bob.
Love you.
I went to Berklee.
Everything your readers have said about it is true. Good and bad.
But ain't that life, Bob?
Perception is reality.
I will say this- the anonymous graduate who had the shitty bitter attitude? He is not going anywhere. And the alum who spoke of gratitude and self-acceptance sure sounded happy. Isn't that what we are talking about? Being happy? Not making it or fame or any guarantees of employment. "Does making music make you happy" is the question. My thought today as I looked at the photos of the tragic blackout in India, a year after my band returned from an all-expenses paid trip to play some festivals in Goa and Delhi (which is more of a shithole clusterfuck than the music biz) was this: why are so many of them smiling? Clearly they aren't Americans.
Some facts:
You have never heard of me.
I have been signed. And dropped. 5 times. dreamworks, lava atlantic, lost highway, most recently uni republic.
I have toured the world.
I have been a nashville staff writer.
I have sold shoes.
I have waited tables.
I have written with some of my idols.
I have a dinky home studio.
I have had songs featured on too many tv shows and films to mention.
You have never heard of me.
I have had 2 songs stolen that sold millions.
I have had songs cut by Legends and and a bunch of pop no-hit wonders.
I play sessions on drums and guitar and bass and piano.
I sing jingles
I produce other artists.
You have never heard of me.
I am finishing up a killer album I wrote and recorded with my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame friend and bandmate - his first true rock record since 1983.
I write for anyone and everyone because I love writing.
I have lived in my car with my dog.
You have never heard of me.
I have gold and platinum records from other countries in a closet somewhere.
I went to Berklee.
They teach some of my songs in songwriting classes alongside Gillian Welch and John Mayer.
I learned things at Berklee I use daily, some of which have to do with music.
You have never heard of me.
And yet I am happy.
I "made it" many times.
Then again, I worked my ass off to get happy FIRST, then I got busy.
It never works the other way around.
Rob Giles
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Basically, anyone who wants to do something badly enough will gladly crawl through broken glass to be able to do it whether it's getting laid or painting or selling houses or making music. And, anyone who has enough excuses to not do something will guarantee that they won't do it.
This has no bearing on being 'successful', it just means that if you want to do something then do it and don't bitch about how difficult it is. No one asked you to do it. And, by the way, being 'successful' is honestly measured by your own yardstick, no one else's.
"Never retract, never retreat, never apologize. Just get the thing done and let them howl."
Nellie McClung
Matt Wallace
Husband, Father, Carpenter, Writer, Record Producer, Gardener, etc.
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I've been following this very interesting conversation, and I'd like to add something from the perspective of a guy who started his professional music career at 18 in 1965. I applaud the young artists who said "quit whining" and "work as a dishwasher 80 hours a week, then practice..."but, the reality is -- and I don't care how young and energetic you are -- you don't have that much good energy to create after working a shit job for 60 or 80 hours a week. And by "create" I mean create work that stands out in the throng, work that will hold up and still sound relevant 50, 100 years from now. The Beatles worked hard -- playing 10 hrs a night at the Star Cub in Hamburg. Bach and Mozart never washed dishes, but they worked damn hard. So I join Bonnie in lamenting the loss of a time when young musicians -- such as I -- could really spend their best energy at their craft, doing the thing they did best. I lived through that time, and I can tell you it was great!
Ted Myers
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Good to read 1 or 2 people that actually graduate Berklee. Anyone can get in period. It's the real that make it through. Most who enroll expect the name of the school to carry their no talent bodies. They forget you need skill to survive. There's a little school cross town called New England Conservatory. How many could do that audition? A name is a name. If you buy a Les Paul and Marshall half stack does that mean you are Page? Berklee is a mediocre school and the same rules apply. If you can't play or write or bring it it does not matter at all. In the true professional music world Berklee is not on the list. Not dismissing the talented people that gained from the experience at all. Just making fun of those that think it can make you great because of its name.
Chris Apostle
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Pianist Dayramir Gonzalez. Current Berklee student. Cuban citizen - because of fucked up US laws it is ILLEGAL for him to get paid from doing gigs in the US. It doesn't matter. His band is being paid thousands but he is playing Carnegie Hall in November for FREE. Here is video of him playing music that is more interesting, challenging and emotionally moving than 99% of the shit you listen to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6eUSLzFlbE
GREAT musicians overcome ALL obstacles.
Larry Robinson
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I think Bonnie stated pretty clearly that most of her students are not looking to get rich, just make ends meet and were willing to work for that. And I'm sure lots of them have crappy or part time jobs.
And to all those bashing Berklee, I have met a lot of grads and everyone of them have been excellent players and willing to play anywhere, anytime. The environment seems to be a nurturing collaborative one. It's not for everyone and yes it is elitist purely because of expense. But then, so is Julliard. Some of the greatest musicians come out of those schools. And of course there are amazing musicians that are self taught, can't read a lick of music and play by sense and passion and become great by hard work. It works both ways. Why some people find it necessary to bash one or the other really perplexes and amazes me. There is a lot of hate in some of these responses and it is really disappointing to see that.
There are lots of opportunities out there to make a living in the music biz, but besides not having labels to provide funds to develop, I think the biggest issue is the amount of competition out there. It is greater than it has ever been. Everyone has YouTube videos, websites, free downloads, cheap shows that anyone can afford. And you know what, a lot of it is good, some even great. Of course there is a lot of crap out there, which makes it even harder to be seen just by pure volume. In the 60's and the There may have been a lot of musicians toiling away in their basements, but we never heard of them or their music unless they were our neighbour or our relative. Now, I can listen to some 14 year old shredder from Japan who makes videos in his bedroom and gets a million hits. This has NEVER been possible until now.
That’s what I tell every young artist that comes to see me for advice. And it is your message I quote the most. You have to be GREAT! This is probably one of the most globally competitive businesses in the world right now. If you aren’t GREAT, forget it or be content with playing in your local bar where most 70's, we only ever heard what the industry decided for us was the best. people don’t know the difference between Pavarotti and Tiny Tim.
I think it is the sheer numbers of great competition out there today that is the biggest factor in being able to make a living in the music business. And by making a living I mean paying a mortgage, putting your kids through school and buying groceries. All those things that "regular people" aspire to. And if you can, count your lucky stars. You have to work hard for it, but there is a ton of luck involved.
Rob Oakie
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i know you are inundated, but as a composer who has been very busy for over. 20 i have always had high regard for berklee grads, they were just better prepared with the skill set needed for my line of work: serious programming chops, good ear, playing and orchestration chops, knowledge of film scoring asthetic.
however, today the market is flooded with them and grads from other schools. i think they are over promising career placement when there are very few slots.
i ran an ad in craigslist looking for a new person and got over 200 resumes, yah, alot of them songwriters who think that they can score, but then many many people with composition degrees and chops and studios and even that knew my same area of preference, some with abilities to play rachmaninoff piano concertos and had perfect pitch, for 15 dollars an hour.
but it's all word. you cant lean what i do in school, you either have a facility for it or you dont. i did have a person with perfect pitch who played rachmaninoff and was a technical programming genius. but her personality held her back, and though she wrote good "music" she couldn't score a scene to save her life. writing good "music" is not the same thing.
Willheim
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I always heard the best thing you can do r/e Berklee was drop out.
John Mayer did.
Eli Chastain
Nashville
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While I was in school, I was helping to mentor some kids who I saw had potential. I organized gigs on campus, funded equipment (amps, mics, cables, etc.) available for them to use, directed them to local venues, directed them how to advertise themselves, and poured every ounce of knowledge I had into them. All of this while being a gigging musician and a full time engineering student, mind you.
The one who showed the most potential was this girl, Natalie. Her voice would melt you. She decided to take a semester off (+ the summer) in order to pursue music. Now, that's not enough time to do anything big, but it is enough time to get your foot in the door locally. Since then, she has taken more semesters off; effectively, she dropped out. What did she do with music? I don't think she has played a single gig since before she dropped out, when I was organizing gigs on campus. I don't even know if she has picked up her guitar lately. She works as a bank teller now.
Kids just don't want to hear that it will be hard and that it will take work outside of their comfort zone. Without that, you've got nothing. Sure, some will do everything right and get the short end of the stick, but that's part of the risk. If that's you, just get back up and try everything differently.
Alex Brubaker
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I bet Bonnie gets fired from Berklee for this. She's certainly screwed them out of future students, unintentionally I'm sure? Either way, she knows how to survive in the music business right? After all she teaches it to the kids.
Keith Walker
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re: the debate following Bonnie's email: One thing that needs to be acknowledged is that there REALLY HAS BEEN an overwhelming drop in opportunities from, say, 30 years ago when almost every bar had bands, most running six-nighters. The audience is not out there anymore. There used to be THREE tiers for rock rooms and three for country rooms. Agents booking A bands , B bands and C bands. Some hotels had an A rock room and a B country room. Even shit holes had bands.
And in truth, a large percentage of full-time working musicians were kinda mediocre and sometimes just plain terrible. But almost anybody had the opportunity (which is now a privilege) to play music for a living.
But the real oportunity for the serious players was that they got to hone their craft playing night after night. And many were plucked out of the A rooms and put in bigger touring bands. There was a ladder to success that you could climb. The A and R guys were in the rooms. And you didn't have to spend all your time promoting your gigs; the bars were already full of people who wanted - needed - live music, and the agents made all the calls. Musicians had the opportunity to spend your whole day practising.
But the reality is, whether or not the decline was spurred by greed and fear, the audience is not there anymore. Going to see a live band in a bar is not at the top of everyone's list these days. By now they've seen and heard it all on TV and Youtube. They've seen and heard every amazing thing that humans can do. Not until music becomes a much more endangered species will the tide turn.
G. Pretty
Edmonton, Canada
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I think that Jessica Bonnano's response was spot on. While everyone sits around and targets the art sector the rest of the country actually feels the same way. It's bizarre to hear your friends who work in construction or in the Finicial sector talk the same way as you do. Even though they may not be struggling as much they are feeling the effects of a crippling economy. The fight to survive has always been here but in the past I don't think it had an effect on as many people. There use to be a middle class and that has quickly vanished.
JULIAN TAYLOR
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Bonnie Hayes is a trooper, and if anyone has taken their lumps and liked it, it's Bonnie...in fact, it's her whole fam damily...her brothers, Chris and Kevin, are no strangers to hard work, long hours & low pay either.
Regarding the 'feast or famine' motif that's been struck here: there was a time, back in the 80's, when it was possible for an original rock band to make close to $1000 for a single 45 minute set, Thursday thru Saturday, night after night, week after week. It was at the Palms Cafe, on Polk Street in SF. Bonnie herself played there, with her band, the Punts. Her appearances there predate my tenure, so I'm not sure how much she pulled in, but a host of other acts, including Night Ranger, the Squares (feat. Joe Satriani), the Red Pencils (led by Grammy winner, Rick Nowels), Eye Protection (feat. Andy Prieboy, later of Wall of Voodoo), Tommy Tutone, Sylvester and His Hot Band, The Weather Girls and many, many more, always did very nearly that at each performance, and sometimes more. It was the Palms' policy, you see, to give all monies collected for admission, the cover charge, to the bands.
If club owners today would wise up and, follow suit, i.e., give 100% of the door to bands, instead of screwing them mercilessly, more clubs could pay $1000 a night (or the 21st Century equivalent thereof), and not only might starving musicians be able to put at least a little cheese on that tuna fish, maybe more clubs would have the stand out, sterling kind of roster that the Palms Cafe still has, nearly 30 years after closing its doors....
Ray Staar
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Bob: The great jazz musician Sam Rivers said: "Just because something is true doesn't necessarily mean that the opposite isn't also true". Both sides in this debate have valid points. In 1980 I moved to NYC with $200 in my pocket, got a rent free apartment for being a building super. I had no qualifications, the neighborhood was rough and they just needed someone right away. Most of my friends were able to make rent with a couple days of work a week (musical or otherwise.) It left a lot of time for making music and hanging out. Unlike the CT suburbs I grew up in, the bar scene in NY was full of wild, weird, and original music. That's why I moved to the city.
Today I might choose otherwise, but it made a ton of sense then. Pointing out the distortions in our current economy is not whining. It's also a fact that those chop building paying gigs that were available and plentiful to earlier generations (like the Beatles in Hamburg, or jazz musicians in the '20s, '30s, and 40's) are gone. Good sounding piped in music killed a lot of those gigs a long time ago.
It's never been easy being a musician, but just like the larger economy, it's the working class that's been hit the hardest, by technology and shrinking opportunity.
The flip side is, once you've acknowledged this, what are you going to do about it? Live music is still a transformative experience craved by many and the means of production are now in the hands of the artists. Rent is a problem, but I have faith in the eternal power of music. When you start saying the younger generation doesn't get it, you're officially an old fart. They don't give a shit what you think, and right now there is some great music being made by some of these youngsters that you might never hear, but it's not for lack of quality, passion and commitment.
P.S., I felt bad about passing up on going to Berklee for about five minutes, but touring on three continents with a great band cured me of that.
John Mulkerin
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Bonnie my father is a musician, went to Berkeley and worked as a professor of Jazz studies and performance at Michigan State. Growing up in Detroit we were very poor because this was before his teaching gig and we were living off his and my mothers musician earnings. It didn't bother me that we really had nothing that our neighbors had whose parents all worked at the Car factories in Detroit. Because when I went down to that wonderland of a basement where I could see posters of P Funk, Kiss and Miles Davis and instruments of all sorts, I felt rich in creativity and inspiration. I know it is hard in the age to not want and desire what is being fed to us through the media, TV and through reality TV but it is important that we try to tune these images out.
In my 18years of being a professional musician I have accepted that I may become discouraged and I allow myself to be discouraged but I don't allow myself to give up. As birds fly and migrate south for the winter, an artist creates because it is our nature, regardless if we earn money or not. Labour with Love and the benefits and financial rewards will come because staying true to your art is contributing to humanity. I can't tell you how many artists have saved my life. Bonnie if your students want it bad enough they will succeed. You are doing an amazing job by giving them the tools and trying to understand how best to encourage them and prepare them for life after college. We all find our own way of how to earn a living in this crazy profession that have no guarantees. That is why it is so important what you Bob are doing. Thank you for your constant efforts and staying true to real art.
Sincerely,
Ife Sanchez Mora
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Several years ago I decided to take an MBA with the intent of applying my studies to the Music Business. I live in Canada, so the cost of tuition was only a few thousand. I had been playing in bands for several years and had long since accepted the new model of digital / web based distribution. I wanted to take an entrepreneurial approach to succeeding in music. I even had a professor mentor me through the process. Under the guise of a Masters thesis on behalf of the school's centre for entrepreneurship, I interviewed everyone I could - promoters, musicians, labels, agents, producers and media - with the intent of trying to figure out how to succeed in the new music economy.
Then I hit the road and toured. I slept in a van with my bandmates, ate crap food, survived on very little. It was both romantic and shitty. I did this for three years, but unfortunately during that time my older brother - also a musician - got sick, his heart stopped and the fall-out was a massive brain injury that left him virtually incapacitated. So then I was left trying to tour, trying to help with my brother's rehabilitation AND trying to make rent. My life imploded. After 3 years of trying to help in his recovery, with some success, my brother died. I was heart broken and somewhat relieved.
The fallout for me has been that music is, and always will be, an almost spiritual exploration. Trying to quantify or add value to the end product will change as technology and the general public's patterns of consumption alter and shift. I think it's an exciting time.
With respect to the struggling musicians of this era, I think the end goal should always be personal fullfillment: to write great songs, find a distinct and genuine sound and always, always try to capture the essence of that individual's life experience. That is ultimately what my research during my BUSINESS DEGREE taught me. After all, marketing 101 is differentiation and how better to differentiate yourself from the pack then to write about your genuine experience. By following the path of fulfillment, I think a musician is MOST likely to be successful in the business arena, and if not, that individual will always have his/art to keep him warm at night....
Steve Reble
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Hey Bob
I'm a new subscriber enjoying a lot your letter. I'm also a Berklee student, well online student, I didn't have the money to go there but I'm learning incredible stuff from my home.
I live in South America (no, we don't live on trees) and I'm not going to bitch about my beloved third world country. In regards to Bonnie's email I guess the two sides (pro/anti) are both right and wrong.
One thing my brothers in the U.S. must consider is that life there is still far better than life in underdevoloped countries. Think of this: according to your standard of living, the lowest level is to live in your car. Guess what: cars are insanely expensive around here....and still there are lots of us wanting to be creative. dreamers? stupid naive? who the fuck cares. we just do it.
I don't care that every moron with a pc calls itself musician/producer/sound engineer; I don't care the fact that all mediocre clowns can upload a zillion thrashy videos to youtube. ¿Music industry is dead? I certainly don't care.
at the end, only the good stuff stand out.
the only thing I care about is giving the maximum I can give creating my music, which is what I love and do best. and no: I'm not rich.
And another thing, enrolling for this Masters in Berklee is the best desition I have made in recent times. If things go out well or not will be my exclusive responsability, not the college', but I can assure my life is improving a lot because of the info/experience I'm getting.
That father who wrote about taking his 250k, and then went to an established songwriter to work with his son instead of paying Berklee's tuiton, was very clever. Very forward thinking. There is not a formula to life and what works for some does not necessarily work for others.
We live in a very complicated world right now and things seem to be harder as we "evolve" (I think we're really devolving) as species. Yes, life is more comfortable, funnier, faster, tastier... TO LESS AND LESS PEOPLE AND WORSE TO REST (THE MAJORITY) OF THE POPULATION. Fair? absolutely not, but this is how it is.
cheers
Juan Ospina
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I see quite a bit reverse snobbery there. I just managed to get into Indiana University School of Music after growing up in a little town in Tennessee outside of Nashville. I suppose some letter writers would have told me to "stay in Nashville", i.e., think small. I did not. I studied with the phenomenal David Baker and others, my first encounter with energetic, super-talented people. I became a percussionist as well as a drummer. Plus I got an education. The skills I got enabled me to later work in NYC wearing several hats, thanks to my reading, practice habits, percussion playing, etc. My friends and I used to laugh because I would get complimented on my triangle playing at sessions before my drum tracks did. Note: that's because I knew how to hit it -- people noticed. I never would have had the skills and confidence to do lots of gigs over the years by staying put. These comments about living cheap and being in a band are not addressing the professional side of the business. If you want to take the gamble to be in that space (and you are not naturally gifted, many are) you'd better take some music lessons, with students better than you are. Everybody studies, including the stars. And everybody needs an edge.
However, an I.U. degree didn't cost the equivalent of $200k in the 70s. Berklee started out as a place to teach kids high-level fundamentals by pros. They probably still do. The only issue is the money. The division of wealth in this country is growing at a blistering pace. Most Americans seem to be so brainwashed into thinking about how fantastic and glamorous everything is in their life (from football to Home Depot) that they just sleepwalk through it as they stare at the nearest TV. Most do not understand that their pensions have recently been stolen by Wall Street and thousands of retirees cannot survive on 1% interest rates. I wouldn't be surprised if this place looks like Blade Runner within 50 years. Berklee's fees are current US capitalism in action, i.e., Wall Street. They take what the accountants tell them they can get from "the brand". The sleepwalkers think they are upper class if they pay exorbitant fees for something, whatever the quality.
Listen to Niall Ferguson's 2012 Reith Lectures on the recent decline in the Rule of Law in our society for the food for thought on where this is heading. http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/reith
Thanks for everything,
Robert Bond
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I still come down on the idea that you've got to be good and your music has got to be good. Build strong artist/fan relations, play lots of shows, put in your 10,000 hours and don't worry about the money because if it's good people will come to see your shows, buy your merch, and yes, even pay for digital downloads, CDs, and vinyl if you offer it -- but only if you're good.
Sure the Internet destroyed the old paradigm. I'm okay with that. It created avenues I never would have had. Theft and "piracy?" Give me a break! I don't give a rodent's behind about "intellectual property" in the sense of a state-granted monopoly on who can sell or buy my stuff. If some guy can figure out how to make money from my stuff and I can't, power to him. As long as he's not claiming to be me, have at it! IP doesn't protect anyone against plagiarism. Protecting against plagiarism is, for the most part, a self-policing enterprise and works just fine without a need for IP laws. The fashion industry proves on a daily basis that you can make money without IP protection. Copying is NOT "theft". "Theft" is when you deprive someone of something that is rightfully theirs and no musician has a right to actually make money from their music. They only have the right to try -- and if they succeed -- YAY! And "piracy" is when you board a boat, steal most everything on it and destroy stuff, so Internet "piracy" is a myth.
I would argue that in fact, the Internet/file-sharing/P2P paradigm hasn't diminished the value of music as much as it has exposed the TRUE value of music. The copiers and "pirates" are simply showing WHICH music actually HAS value. It may be harder for the artist to make a buck, but at least it's not lining the pockets of some old fart at CBS whose ONLY care is how much money he gets as he parasitically sucks away the blood, sweat & tears of the artists, most of which get lost in the shuffle anyway. I'd much rather live in a world of "pirates" who all make very little than a world of monopolistic control where all the losses are socialized and all the gains are privatized to the benefit of a few well-connected individuals. People seem to think that IP must be "correct" because some old men in powdered wigs scribbled it on a piece of parchment 200+ years ago.
If what was right about the old paradigm was that there were "gatekeepers" and promoters who vetted the really good music for the rest of us, then I don't see why each and every one of us, individually, cannot be our own gatekeeper and promoter. If labels are mostly dead and "gatekeepers" are necessary, then maybe what the Internet needs are more sites that are better at finding and promoting the best stuff. I've seen a lot of excellent models come and go. We know this hangover is going to be harsh as we find new ways to operate in this new model, but I enjoy the Internet's sweet-water aquifier of deep and connected wells. Sure, the walls are lined with a lot of crust and mud and useless crap, but that makes finding the jewels that much more pleasant.
Kurt Tischer
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To all those lambasting Berklee, do they realise most top artists here in the UK went to an Arts college of some description? Adele, Amy Winehouse, Imogen Heap, Leona Lewis, Jessie J, Kate Nash, The Kooks, The Feeling all went to BRIT School. Radiohead went to Tech Music School. Freddie Mercury, Pete Townshend, Art and Ronnie Wood, Ray Davies, David Bowie all went to Ealing Art School (now the London College of Music).
These guys studied! Seems to me in this day and age anything that gives you an edge above the rest is almost a necessity.
Steve Marcus
Ghosts of December
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There are definitely two sides to this coin. On one hand, you don't deserve success, you have to earn it. On the other hand society does indeed seem to be moving towards a new feudalism, and it will be a return to the "patron of the arts model" from centuries ago.
No one is paying for art, they are downloading movies and music for free. There is no economic, or business model for profit off of music that still makes sense. Labels got out of the artist development game long ago, now it would be financial suicide. The cream will rise to the top as it always does but now it will be sponsored by the rich, and artists will be nothing more than show dogs for the bragging rights of the elite.
It is already happening. The new art patrons are the wealthy parents of teenage girls in Orange County who want their daughters to be rock stars. These parents are spending far more on their children in efforts to buy careers for their kids than a record label would ever dream of shelling out for the album for a highly seasoned but still unproven artist.
I am a musician, and as times are lean for us touring sidemen, this is where we have to go for work. I don't think that it is a coincidence that labels are signing thirteen year olds to record deals almost exclusively. From their point of view, the labels have others investing millions into artist development for them. Why wouldn't they put out a record that cost someone else a half a million dollars to make. Its a win win for them, low risk, they are essentially playing with house money. I have played and recorded for many of these trust fund kids. Some of them are actually talented, some not. I personally don't charge them any more than I would charge a girl waiting tables to fund her dream. Maybe that's wrong of me. I don't know, but it sort of sickens me to see producers and musicians who can't find work for real artists take advantage of a child's dream just because they were lucky enough to be born into a rich family.
The Internet has changed everything, and as you always say, the old guard no matter how they try can not put the lightning back into the bottle.
Shane Soloski
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The point I was trying to make in my first note re. Bonnie...a point that seems to have been completely overlooked by practically everyone...was that the ratio of expenses to income has been completely tilted in the past 50 years. I was able to live decently paying a tiny percentage of my income for housing; medical insurance expenses were practically nothing...hell, I paid out of pocket for the hospital birth of my first son...while being a hardly working musician and part time craftsman. We could afford to be musicians then because basic expenses were so much lower...and I mean relative to today's dollars. Using the consumer price index, my 13 Bleeker St. loft rent in 1968, which was $75.00 a month, would now be $485.00. Hah! No way... That place would now be at least $3,500.00 a month based on what I know is true of New York rents in 2012.
The real problem is that due to various bubbles...real estate, finance, and medical costs...the basic costs of just living suck up way more of anybody's income now than was true 30 to 50 years ago when many of the artists posting here were starting out. Bernie, Wendy, Bonnie, Tom, and I started at a much easier time. Now add to that the sudden loss of what used to be known as THE income stream...songwriting royalties...and the ground rules of the game have been completely changed...for the worse.
And this bullshit meme about live gigs? Yeah, try touring these days and see where the money goes. Or try to get the kinds of gigs we used to be able to get...like a full week or two at the Cafe Au Go Go or the Mooncusser or the Village Gate or Gerde's Folk City. The fact is that except for certain music hubs like Nashville, Austin, New York, Boston, or my town of Santa Cruz, gigs are really thin out there, and musicians are competing with sports, video games, and Netflix.
Does anybody think the Beatles would have been great if they'd not had steady gigs in Hamburg and Liverpool? There is nothing like playing five or six sets a night six nights a week for getting good. And that is gone...
This is not a golden age for pop music...
Rick Turner
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My story is probably semi-typical for a lot of folks.
I worked my way through college playing in bands. Clubs, parties, etc.
Got a manager. He booked us on weekends and we opened for folks like the Blues Project, Rascals, Smokey and the Miracles. It was great fun. We were sure we were gonna be stars.
Next, we got look-see's and "do a demo" stuff from RCA and other labels.
Pass.
At some point, I realized an important thing: I was probably not good enough to do anything very special in the music biz.
It was a sobering revelation.
So I got married and had two kids (well, my wife did) and started a small ad agency. I had a decent time at that and made decent money, and played some clubs on weekends for fun. I still do today in my dotage.
In the 60s and 70s, we made $30-40 a man in clubs. Today, we make $60-90. Not much difference.
Do I regret not staying in music? Sometimes.
But...I made a decision.
I can't blame anyone for that, and I applaud everyone who makes a living as a full time musician--I know several here in South Florida and it's very tough.
But as a tangent, I liked various illicit substances back in the day, and I'm guessing I might not be here if I had really been successful. So it probably all works out.
Anyway, thanks for the interesting reading. I wish that everyone struggling here gets exactly what they want.
I did, I suppose.
Rik Shafer
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I'm so glad Bonnie Hayes has stuck with it. She's impressive. When she's not on the road, she's teaching songwriting in the Bay area to up and coming artists. Her heartfelt letter to you hit truth all over the place. I had the opportunity to meet her and to hear her perform over a year ago at the Conclave in Minneapolis. Bonnie performed along with a new female artist the record company was showcasing. Bonnie sang back up (and I think she produced the album) for a young singer songwriter, (who was also a LAWYER). They wowed a room full of hardboiled broadcasters.
Valerie Geller
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Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Even More Bonnie Hayes
From: Chris Frantz
Regarding Bonnie Hayes' email, allow me to quote Kurt Vonnegut:
"If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts.
I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable.
Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake.
Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem.
Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward.
You will have created something."
"A Man Without a Country", 2005
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The responses to Bonnie's email seem pretty equally split between those who sympathize with the plight of struggling musicians, and those demanding they "stop whining" and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
This division doesn't surprise me one bit because these arguments simply echo our endless national argument where one side questions what kind of world will be left for our posterity and the other side yells about how hard they've worked, accuses everyone else of an entitlement complex, and demands they work harder and shut up.
But the arguments are no different, in this case, because the music industry is no different than every other industry in present day America: Less money in the coffers, more competition for the work, and no one can keep up with how technology is constantly changing all the rules. meanwhile, the fat cats suck the remaining profitability off the top and leave everyone else squabbling with one another over the scraps from their tables.
This is a working class issue, not just a musicians issue. And it's THE issue of our time.
But to all the sanctimonious writers warning everyone to quit complaining, I have a warning too: You may be scraping by on thrift and luck now, but you're not above the rest of your colleagues. In other words, it can happen to you too. And fundamental economic problems like this won't go away just because you convinced yourself that others misfortunes are merely a result of laziness.
Here's a news flash: everyone's working hard.
We're all in this together.
Jessica Bonanno
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The Beatles didn't waste their time & money on going to Berklee (or
any other music college) but instead played 7 days a week in crappy
smoke filled basement clubs for years.
B. Dutch Seyfarth
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Bruce Cockburn left Berklee after one term. jes sayin
a mea culpaws post
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I have to take issue with some of these email bashing this current generation of kids. I'm the technical manager for Interscope Studios and own Threshold Sound and Spin Move Records.
I employ and have employed young people for many years. I can tell you that this generation is hard working, considerate, passionate, and smart. The kids are all right in my world.
Peter A. Barker
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You don't have to move to NY or SF or Boston to make it. The guys in Rilo Kiley moved from LA to Omaha & started out on Saddle Creek, with Bright Eyes. And that scene in turn launched the Felice Brothers. And they might not be the biggest bands on earth, but all of those guys, & others, are making a living, & they're doing it their way &, in some cases, making some incredible music. Thanks to the internet, it's easier than ever to create your own "Laurel Canyon" anywhere in the country, you just have to find the right people & be willing to uproot yourself. That's how SF became SF in the 60's. No one moved out there because that's where you "make it." It's not where the industry was.
It's completely backwards... the industry should be pounding on the door of the artists, not the other way around. But most artists lack the confidence (or maybe it's the talent) to strike out on their own.
Jon Cole
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Bob,
I honestly think that musicians should never complain.
If you go to work and people clap you're fucking lucky.
Do covers gigs and get paid. Do functions, private parties and don't be a fucking snob about it.
Watch the episode of Louie where he meets Joan Rivers and she gives him a lecture about bitching and quitting.
Nick Hershman
London, UK
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when music is a calling, rent doesn't matter.
the shifting plates of business hardly matters,
not owning a car isn't even an issue.....food is boring...
you happily survive by your WITS...
to misquote jackson browne:
"when you know that you've a real reason somewhere, suddenly everything else is so much easier to bear"
mary cigarettes
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Bonnie I would tell those kids being a musician has always been a Feast or Famine gig. From the guys who jammed for kings of old to the cowboys rockin the honky-tonk, to the kid playing his local coffee shop it has never been about $. You play because you have too, it's part of you. If you stop playing you will seise to exist .
$ is a fringe benefit an if your lucky one day you'll be called to the Feast but odds are you will live a life of shitty jobs an famine.
You want to be a musician suck it up and roll the dice!
Kurt Ozdaglar
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Who wouldn't rather be a musician, or an artist, an actor, or a sports star? From the outside, these look like magical career choices, but it totally ignores the laws of supply and demand. If everyone wanted to make music, very few could make a living doing it. Nobody is owed a living in an overcrowded field. Get over it.
My older son is a pretty good musician. When he was a lot younger, I told him that he could either try to make a living in music, or he could choose a different career and love making music. Fortunately, he became a teacher and he still loves making mucic on the side.
Frank Wood
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What is Berklee good at?
Talking parents into believing that their kids will have a money making career if they just plunk down their $200K.
That's called marketing not music.
I've been a composer in NYC for 25 years and I can't tell you how many Berklee kids have sent me their god awful cookie cutter generic derivative demos.
Of course there are a few exceptions. But those with true talent/drive would have done well anywhere.
Berklee is a scam. Not everyone is meant to be a musician.
Michael Montes
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I gotta tell you Bob, speaking only from my personal experience, having played with Berklee grads and Guitar Institute grads and the like, I made much far more interesting music with dudes who were self taught. The highly trained players were so stiff and utterly soulless (tho flashy) whereas the untrained weren't reigned in by school rules.
$200Gs? Seriously? Bwahahaha!
Cheers,
Rick Saunders
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I only ever had one proper job in my life when I was 21 and I lasted 3 weeks...never had a regular wage since. I did nude modelling, bit part acting, worked as a relief roadsweeper, played any sort of music anywhere for forty quid and ate beans on toast for the best part of ten years....and then got a break.
Robin Millar
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We're slowing killing off the entrepreneurial class in this country (Chick Fil A? Obamacare? You didn't buld that!!!), kids are expecting easy street and insulation from reality. Reailty is as scary as it ever was.
My grandfather came here with shit in 1899 and couldn't speak a syllable of English. He had to change his name from the unpronounceable Italian to even begin to fit in. He was good with his hands and got a job working on the building of the Westinghouse bridge in Pittsburgh, extremely dangerous work then...guys falling into concrete pilings and that's all she wrote. No OSHA at all...
As a carpenter (no unions of course), he cut his fingers off with a circular saw. Kept on working.
Did he bitch that he wasn't getting a job out of a musician's mill?
No, he started his own company building houses and provided for my Nona, Mom and Uncle. That wasn't easy street either.
This country needs people like my Grandfather, not whiny weenies in Berklee trying to do stuff in music somehow, but not sure what or where, but hey it's great, check out my new jacket man, and look at these shoes...
If it doesn't matter enough to you to do it for free, than what the fuck are you doing it for??????
It's a trade school? I think these kids will eventually get it, and realize they were sold a bill of goods and maybe wasted a lot of time. Isn't Bonnie part of the problem, just trying to save herself, much like Jon Corzine or any number of evil corporate guys?
Where are our Frank Zappas? They're out there.
mvlang
P.S. Bob, you are concerned about Wall Street ripping the middle class off and selling lies...what about the musician mills?
It's just as bad.
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To: Patrick Donovan Mulroy
Hey asshole ! There's a fucking DEPRESSION going on. Over 8% unemployment for those who are still looking. Higher if you're an African American or a VETERAN.
Consider your young, ignorant ass LUCKY. But you do know about minimum wage. That's something.
I'm supposing you speak of "Mom and Dad" through experience. But I grew up without a dad. I'm sure there are those in YOUR generation who did, as well.
And Les Claypool couldn't find a job as a carpenter at much more than minimum wage in this economy.
Besides...who the fuck is Primus ?
Scott Sechman
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Bob, what I've noticed is that an awful lot of musicians, artists and other creative types from New York have moved here to Philadelphia, mostly to Fishtown and Kensington. Rent is cheap, eating out is cheap, lots of craft beer, a large and supportive music community with great venues, and NYC is a $10 bus ride away. WXPN, our well-known and influential college station, is aggressive about breaking local talent.
Honestly, I think some people are just in love with the idea of Living In New York. It's like living in a movie, and they think if they stay there, it'll all have a happy ending. At $1800 a month for a tiny place in Brooklyn, good luck with that.
Susan Madrak
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A drummer friend and I were frustrated with all these issues being discussed and decided to do something about it. We've been in bands for a few years, played bars, decent venues, small festivals, etc. But definitely no $ or major recognition.
So over the last year we've been dragging an upright piano and drum kit all around the Bay Area. We started playing on the streets for free, in winter, (with hand warmers!) and it has led to all kinds of gigs. We still play on the street often, but those initial gigs led to private parties, MLB baseball games, NPR recognition, and actual paid gigs. Our drummer quit his job a few months ago and has subsisted on playing gigs ever since. Granted, he does have some loans and grants for music school, but he makes more money playing music than in his previous jobs. His classmates can't believe how many gigs he plays. But they weren't handed to us. If you put yourself out there you never know what can happen.
http://music.clangnbang.com/
-Kirby Lee Hammel
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Bitch, bitch, bitch. I, like a thousand other working musicians who didn't have the support (financially or otherwise) to attend a school like Berklee, fund my lifestyle and original music the same way anyone with any ounce of talent or self-preservation does: i play in a cover band. Get the fuck over yourself and take responsibility for your life beyond your creative career. We all make sacrifices. Do you really think i want to play Brown Eyed Girl 3x a week? Hell no... But it's good practice and great money, and anyone can do it. I'm the Starbucks barista of the music industry-so what? I'm doing what i love, albeit with other people's music. If you're an aspiring painter, paint a house. If you're an aspiring architect, tuckpoint a building. It can only improve your skill set. Work for a living; it's really not that bad if you leave your ego at the door.
Ellie Maybe
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Bob, I love your blog and read it regularly. I would like to throw in my 45 cents. I have been married for 16 years, I have 3 kids that are not starving nor are they deprived of daddy time. My wife is satisfied and I pay my mortgage. I also happen to play and teach music full time without a degree and I am the sole bread winner in my family. I have known since I was 15 that the only thing I wanted to do for the rest of my life is drum. I decided 20 years ago to throw everything I had into one basket and practice my ass off so when the day came for me to get a gig, I would know what to do. The day I stopped playing video games was the day I started drumming. The only way I know to make it work is to keep practicing and keep hustling. The only thing that comes before drumming is my family. I keep them first and then spend the rest of my time working up gigs, practicing, teaching, and treating the people I work for/with like they are precious. You have to be a good person to make it work on the local scale, if you are a jerk, nobody calls. I know it is scary and daunting to think about trying to make it in this day and age, but it can be done. It is all about priorities and hard work.
Brandon Graves
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Bonnie's letter was a great conversation starter.
To those who don't think the situation is radically different than it was 25 years ago, to the detriment or our collective talent pool, I can only wonder if you have really looked at the numbers or actually talked with young musicians. Or, if you are a young musician, I wish you luck.
Most of us didn't learn half as much from school as we did from Little Richard. Where will the next Little Richard come from?
European orchestral music was largely payed for by kings. In the 20th century that role was played by labels etc. What's next? Nothing? Maybe music will go back to the essentially amateur pursuit it was before the 20th century. Maybe that's ok but it is and is going to be a major change affecting every once-marketable art.
Bruno Coon
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There is more opportunity now than there has ever been. More music genres. More clubs. More radio stations, terrestrial and internet... hell, you can make your own radio station, or stations, and post your own videos on a plethora of platforms. Volumes more content is being created than ever before! There was once only THREE TV channels... NOW, the demand for professional content to fill the tens of thousands of hours of television programming for the hundreds of channels is huge! And now for the first time in history.... EVERYONE has unlimited access to the public, to the world... from their bedroom. The tools to create content are nearly FREE! Charlie Chaplin became a legend using a fixed-lens hand-cranked camera... no sound. An HD camera at Best Buy is $250. Most of those incredible Motown hits from the 60s were recorded in a house on 4-track tape, now a digital recording studio comes with every Apple computer, along with your very own digital movie software. I can go on and on with the advantages this generation has... I would give anything to be 19 right now.
If you can't make success happen , you have no one to blame but yourself.
Frank A. Gagliano
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I read nearly every lefsetz email, but somehow missed Bonnie's.
Berklee grad, 1990 here. Damn proud of it. I worked my ass off while I was there. Incredible teaching staff. I wrote scores, played in jazz and rock combos, and practiced 6 to 8 hours every fricken day for 3 solid years. I finished early.
Amazing how much Berklee costs now. I had a partial scholarship, enough to make it possible to go. My parents could only help with boston living expenses, so I took student loans for the rest. Which, btw, at the end of my college career totaled a mere $12,000. I had them paid off in no time.
had a part time job too. Figured I'd rest when I was dead.
Upon graduation, i went into the world with not a shred of "placement help" from Berklee. I didn't need it. I was going to kick the world's ass on my own.
and I did.
But it took me working 10-14 hours a day, every day for the past 22 years. If I thought my schedule at Berklee was tough, that was cake compared to trying to break into the "real world" of music. I had no rich or famous relative inside the music biz to open doors... i was on my own.
I am most grateful to Berklee for my time there. Who I got to meet, the students I got to play with, the teachers I studied with, guest artists and concerts...
I use what I learned there every minute of every note I am a part of as a musician, producer, arranger or engineer.
if it bothers you how much Berklee costs, put together your own education and work your ass off.
You won't have the "Berklee" paper on the wall, but I'll let you in on a secret... people rarely hired me because of that paper. They hired me because i was 1. on time 2. highly skilled 3. not a pain in the ass to hang around with all day for weeks or months at a time.
That's what I look for when I hire people now. If you're late, i don't care how talented you are... go away. If you can't play or deliver the goods... go away. If you're an egomaniac, drug addict, personify a massive insecurity complex, or have the mental capacity of a 15 year old... go away.
it's amazing how many musicians and creative people can't meet the above standards.
Be great. Work your ass off. Look for opportunities everywhere. Never stop learning new skills. Move if you have to.
Most important... have fun, and you will attract many, many people to your art and craft.
you may stumble into the career of your dreams in the process.
Joe Hand
producer, writer, musician
www.joehand.com
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Uhhhh. Get fucked and get a job. I live in Nashville and I know plenty of kids here that work their asses off.
Isn't that called paying your dues?
Yeah it sucks to work and then try to be creative. However, because your busting your balls, your chops will get better and your songs will be smarter. I promise you. Now suck it up, bus your table, brew his coffee, and start kicking ass.
Jer Gregg
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Hey Bob,
I'm a musician from DC as well. This is advice is wrong. No musician wanting to be anything but a hobbyist should be playing in bars at all. I don't know what its like in other places, but in DC payment for playing in bars hasn't gone up since the 70s. There is a reason: NO ONE GIVES A SHIT. The bar owners don't care and the audience doesn't care. It's standard practice for venues to forbid bands from playing anywhere else within 30 miles for a month in exchange for a gig. The reason for this is they know that no one but your friends are going to come. If bars could make money off of a house band, they would have house bands, not DJs, and you could build an audience. They can't and you can't so don't do it. Don't spend your money and muscle on shelping expensive equipment around or moving to LA. Spend that money on Pro Tools, a Mac and a camera. The internet is the only place where an unknown (without an uncle in the business or a million dollars) can get an audience at all. Make a video a week, think of it as your gig. Do covers and originals.
Most important of all, interact with your audience. Think of it like your talking to fans after a show. We are a really small band, 2000 subscribers and over 200,000 plays on YouTube, and we were able to raise over $8000, via Kickstarter, to make a record and none of that money came from Mom and Dad. Here is an example of a conversation with one of our fans from Australia. In a casual message on facebook we told her we couldn't afford a new camera. She wrote this:
"Hard work deserves being rewarded. I have been very impressed with the effort you are putting into your career.
I am not rich, and I don't intend to be. I am comfortable and if my 'folly' is giving you guys help every once in a while... I see as rewarding!
I don't ever expect anything back long term out of you either. I see a life as 'being full of stories'. Basically this money I am giving you entitles me to tell my grandkids about the really cool band that I helped buy a camera for at the start of their career:)"
She then gave us an additional $500 to buy a new camera. This fan was out there for us. She was in Australia. GO FIND YOUR FANS, THEY AREN'T IN A BAR!!!!
Here is our latest video, it's a cover of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" played only with stuff we found in our kitchen... sounds like The Neptunes. http://youtu.be/9dmuZmo8R4o
Tristan Shields
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These letters are a wealth of insight and information.
Quickly...
When I was 17 I got a gig playing w Genya Raven in NYC.
My dad (a butcher), knowing my passion wanted to send me to Berkley...
I was not the most intelligent teen, my answer was "dad, this is Rock & Roll.
I'm already playing w stars".(a gig in central park was being talked about, promises of a European tour etc).
After we did all her pre-production she fired us and hired NY session guys to do the album. (my first dues paying experience)
My dad had watched my love affair w music & my guitar from age 5, never had to push me to practice...
He had little money but would get it if I wanted to go. I didn't!
Ironically many years later while performing w legendary guitarist Dick Wagner, the Berklee grads were flooding NY and taking all the rock gigs in NY, while also doing all the session work, jingles, etc. while the rest of the NYC musicians were relegated to waiting tables, construction etc. Message here? I really don't know!
I never left music, I am a fairly successful indy promoter in NY, not wealthy, just paying my bills. That road taken after I fought for and got my two daughters in my divorce, and had to get off the road.
A decision that I have never regretted for a minute.
One of my girls is now my partner.
So my shows have become the song I would have been writing.
The artists I book, the experience I create for my guests, is my song.
I try to balance the art of the fest, with trying to bring in enough money to go on.
Sometimes the gods are with you, sometimes not!
This year I had Levon Helm booked as one of the Friday night headliners, his passing was a sad day for the music world.
Then sunday we faced the largest lightening storm in the NE in years. I had to clear the fest. Promoters reading this know how that turned out for me.
But you go on.
And after two marriages, being broke and flush, thousands of concerts, and more incredible experiences than any one man should have, I'm happy just to continue my journey, and will never be comfortable in any other world.
jim faith
Producer,
Great S Bay Music Fest
Chairman,
LI Music Hall of Fame
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Hey Bob,
I know I'm late to respond to Bonnie's email, but I wanted to chime in. I went to school for music, never really figured out how to make a living at it, got various day jobs to get by, including a few years at a record label, and finally decided to put all of my hard work into my own career and not somebody else's. I don't make a ton of money, but I'm living in Brooklyn and working all the time. I'm no rockstar, but if a rockstar called and needed me for a tour, I could get the job done.
Along the way, I started a website with another musician friend of mine. We wanted to focus on musician careers. We talked to our friends and colleagues about their careers, and while it's tough, a lot of people are doing it. You've got to be an outstanding player, obviously, and music schools can help you with that. The rest, though, is all about learning professional behavior and experience. Be really good and don't be an asshole.
Here's one of our articles that explains how it's possible to put together something that resembles a living as a musician:
http://www.musicianwages.com/how-to-actually-make-50000-a-year-as-a-musician/
As a side note, some Berklee students have actually told me that some of my articles are used in their classes, printed off the web and sold to them in photocopied packets! The irony.
- Cameron Mizell
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Interesting emails for sure.
The only thing, for me, that need be said is that being a musician is a calling. We are lucky to have one. Remember all the people along the way we meet who may not have one, who were distracted from their internal compass? Working hard is a given, luck is not. Life as a musician is not about the biz, it comes as a result of us, or other people helping - being impassioned about what they get from us - and those who can exploiting it/us. Music is still art. I naively still believe the old adage "do what you love and the money will follow." The universe is very supportive. Remember each time you/we put out to the world that you wanted to do this or that and how doors that once never existed, appeared and some even opened?
Create, dedicate and live your life. Rumors of ways to 'make it' are just that.
Peace,
Joseph Parsons
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Hi Bob,
I've been reading your stuff for quite some time, and while I don't always agree with your viewpoint I do appreciate you getting people thinking about the problems today's musicians and the overall 'biz' face. That being said, I don't see anything wrong with "working shit jobs to do their life calling their spare time" as Bonnie puts it. I come from the punk rock scene, where every guy has a day job. Believe it or not some even have good ones (I'm one of the lucky ones). I've known hundreds of punk rockers in hundreds of bands on every level, and with the exception of a handful (Green Day, NOFX, Blink-182, Bad Religion, Rise Against) it's a given that after every tour they go back to their day jobs until the next tour comes around. And there's nothing wrong with that at all. Nobody in the punk scene spends a lot of time bitching about it. If you're really making music from the heart and for the right reasons, then it shouldn't matter whether you're a hobbyist or earning your living at music... the music itself is the reward. I came across a great old Tom Waits TV interview today and I think he said it best - "I don't worry about achievement. I worry primarily about whether there are night clubs in heaven."
The guys in my band Margate and I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the subject, and we have a song called "Rock 'n Roll Reserve" which puts the modern day hobbyist musician in terms of being in the reserves - being called up for 8 days a month into weekend tours of active duty. The song has been a moderate hit in the world of punk rock, even currently getting some occasional spins on KROQ in LA, and oddly enough brought us to the attention of the small label we're now signed to. Since we got signed we made our first record we didn't have to pay for ourselves, toured Europe for a few weeks with NOFX, Less Than Jake and more... and kept our day jobs. Sure, we could all move in to one fleabag apartment and try to scrape by doing some teaching or odd jobs on the side, but we're in our mid 30's now and that's not the type of life any of us want at this age. And what's the point? Being a moderately successful musician and having a regular job are not mutually exclusive ideas.
One last note - I've known a lot of musicians who have turned to the cover band route to make a living making music. Many of them are successful, and I'm sure they're enjoying their day jobs more than the average barista or roofer. But for most as the years go by I can see their passion for music fade as playing their instrument just becomes what they do for a living rather than something they live to do.
Here's our DIY music video for the "Rock 'n Roll Reserve" tune... we made it for a few hundred bucks (which were left over from a kickstarter campaign we did for our previous EP, but that's another story) with some friends and had a great time doing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BQwElpozWo
The lyrics are below in case you want to check them out - they go by pretty quick. Thanks as always for raising a good debate.
Cheers,
Doug Mitchell & Margate
"Rock 'N Roll Reserve"
Lyrics by Alex Helbig
Music by Margate
We're in the Rock 'n Roll Reserve
Eight days a month is what I serve
No longer living for that dream, now I'm doing it just for me!
We're In The Rock 'n Roll Reserve!
I remember way back when, the dream was to get signed and then...
Become a band that changed the world
Toured the land and slept with all the girls
And topped all the charts and wrote all the songs that made the whole world sing but...
Life catches up with dreams fifteen years on down the line
Now working a job forty hours a week, trying to feel like I'm not doing time
This whole industry is upside down, trying to find a solid ground
A house, a wife and my bones ache
Believing that it's never too late
To pick up a guitar! To travel near and far!
And put the Rock in the Rock 'n Roll Reserve!
Eight days a month is what I serve
No longer living for that dream, now I'm doing it just for me!
We're In the Rock 'n Roll Reserve!
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Bob,
It's very interesting to me to hear people knock a school like Berklee. Why not knock USC or UCLA, or any other school known for being great, and also has that expensive price tag? Are they saying that every med student, football player or hell, even accountant leaving another school pays off their tuition in any reasonable amount of time? We all inherently treat college loans like a mortgage at this point. If you borrowed large sums of money to go to college, it doesn't go away quickly. How quickly depends on the student, whether or not they have that "entitled mentality" I hear people say so often. Some "entitled" students apply the hell out of themselves...
Berklee is my alma-mater and I'm happy to say so, even if I don't use it when introducing myself around town. It was a school run by musicians - sometimes that was great, sometimes it was laughable - and as a student, you had the opportunity to spend time with teachers who had spent a life around music. Some of them had great success, others had no success. Some had wild stories, others "ground-it-out". Some were even classically trained and laughed at the idea of becoming a rockstar. Most were still working outside of Berklee.
You also met other students, who (unless your ego got in the way) are the musicians that you would/should pursue your career with over the next decade or two. I can't tell you how many other students I still talk to today. If you don't take advantage of the student/teacher resources while you are there, you missed the boat. It's a place to learn and network.
Also, a 35% graduation rate is fitting for a school like this. The turnover rate in the dorms was quick. Many would come in thinking it was going to be a 24/7 rockstar party and would soon realize it wasn't just about banging on a guitar in a garage with others, while a cigarette was stuffed between your strings. Then they would be confronted with those not-at-all-rockstar stories of a gazillion hours practicing, getting signed and shelved, of having to give away your music until you had enough leverage, etc. and then they would just leave - mid-semester even. Of course there were some who were there because mommy and daddy paid for it, but for those who actually wanted to learn this was the perfect environment in which to do it. And one that you have to pay for. Who would you want to surround yourself with when you are learning?
And if you really do want to go there, practice enough to get damn scholarship. They offer those, you know.
Brad Crowell
www.amillionpiecesmusic.com
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I loved this email. If I look at all the successes in technology over the past few decades they didn't occur at Xerox PARC or Bell Labs. They occurred at Harvard and most importantly Stanford (http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html)
Why don't these kid have the opportunity to do this stuff at college? Why don't they spend 6 months writing and recording, with mentors and professors, and have Berkley issue a best of Berkeley compilation. Why don't Universities put out a tour of student bands? At least at the end of 4 years these kids will know whether they should ditch the instrument or not.
Great stuff used to happen at corporations. Now it happens at University because corporations can't lose money on something that might take 6 months. Incubation occurs in the University not at Xerox. Why not do the same for music. Berkley can even keep 20% of all furture artist revenues and publishing. There is no nuturing time. We have rapidly growing chicken and force feed cows and astro turf. Most people said a band wasn't a band until its 3rd album. If the "industry" won't nuture and let artist's develop, Berkely should.
Todd Lewis
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Hi, Bob...
Writing to you from my work email address, as I don't have the patience for long diatribes via my thumbs on the smartphone.
I'm surprised to find myself a little annoyed at the "stop whining and get a job" contingent that came out of the woodwork when you published Bonnie's email.
I work, have been working a day job of some sort for most of my professional career, and I've got something to pass along to those folks:
YOU ARE MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
I've been a "professional" musician for most of the 20 or so years that I've lived in the Philadelphia area - mostly as a sideman/session and touring musician, but I don't see my plight as being that different from a songwriter/performing artist, where working a day job is concerned. It's a perpetual balancing act to try and put in the necessary hours to make sure your rent is paid and to maintain a presence in your musical community...and I'm here to tell you firsthand:
If you're working during the day, YOU ARE MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
Sessions happen during the day. Writing appointments happen during the day. Meetings...phone calls...contact with booking agents, with tour managers, with other people who make things happen in this business (even on the lowest rungs of the food chain, where most of us reside) happen - yes, during the day. And if you're working during the day, YOU ARE MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
I've lost count of the gigs I haven't gotten, of the sessions I wasn't able to do, of the tours I haven't been able to accept because of complications around a day job. And, after a while, you will find that people's perception of you will shift...maybe gradually, maybe less so. But you'll become, as I have, somewhat distanced from your community. Taken less seriously, and perhaps even dismissed, because people will either think that your commitment to your craft is lacking, or that you're just not in it for the long haul.
Maybe the "buck up and get a job" crowd sees this, maybe they don't - but it's a fact, it's reality, and you dismiss it at your peril.
I'm not complaining about my lot in life - I'm generally well-respected by my peers, I get to work a lot, and I've gotten to collaborate and play alongside some of my heroes. I've had a good run. But I have a lot of respect for people who've managed to find ways to keep their bills paid and do this without the distraction of a day gig. Sadly, they're fewer and farther between...which, if I remember correctly, was Bonnie's original point.
Keep up the good fight, Bob.
Tom Hampton
Philadelphia, PA
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It is disheartening to think about this, yet we are left to reflect on the fact that Van Gogh could not earn a living wage as an artist, Charles Ives, the great and innovative classical composer, for many years ran one of the most successful New York Life insurance agencies in the country...in the 20's and 30's. JJ Johnson, legendary world-famous jazz trombonist, worked for the post office for most of his adult life while also working, performing and recording as a world-class jazz artist. The incredible jazz singer Sheila Jordan, who recorded the seminal record Portraits of Sheila in 1960, kept her day gig in New York City as an executive assistant until into her early 60's. Our colleges and universities and art schools have always been full of remarkable artists (think dance, pottery, painting, theater arts, writers...not just music) who have found rewards in sharing the knowledge of their respective art while also finding what was difficult to find solely as an artist...enough money to earn a good living. At Berklee specifically there was the great clarinetist/saxophonist John LaPorta, arranger Herb Pomeroy, saxophonist Charlie Mariano...in the 60's and 70's, and arguably for many years the world's great jazz vibes player, Gary Burton, who is now or until recently, was President of Berklee. My good friend and well known modernist painter, the late Richard Merkin (illustrated for New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ...as well as having his work in the collections of many of the most famous museums in the country) taught at Rhode Island School of design for his entire professional life. Writer Henry Miller went to live in France. Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Curtis Institute, Miami, have all had faculties for many years that are comprised of players, conductors and composers from the country's major symphonies. The music schools of Europe are and have been littered for decades with amazing musicians who have brought their skills and artistry to young minds in the environs of academia.
When I (we) was growing up our neighborhood and my friends dads, mostly, were auto mechanics, a home heating oil truck driver, a doctor who did house calls, a gas station operator who cleaned windshields and checked oil, a salesman (my dad), a school teacher...all economic spectrums in one neighborhood. Those days are and have been gone for many years. It is more expensive to live now, there is more disparity among economic classes, but many aspects of this argument are not new. If we distill this down we find that many artists, well-known or otherwise, have struggled for years to earn a living wage in societies (here and abroad) that did not look upon the arts in the same light as they viewed other aspects of capitalist society.
Feel free to share these thoughts.
Jimmy Masters
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Bob,
I always love reading your words. Very insightful and coming from your heart, seemingly with no agenda other than to make our world a better place. I thank you!
Re Ms Hayes letter,
A beautiful statement of a sad fact.
I have been a professional musician all my life and have done well. I grew up at a time when music was thriving and developed my craft mostly by learning from the older players I was blessed to work with. Recording, clubbing, playing in pit orchestras etc.
We all thought it would last forever but sequencers all but destroyed recording. Disc jockeys wiped out the jobbing scene (although they are suffering now because clients are just using their i-pods for their events), theatre work is diminishing because of tracks.
I see talented kids full of dreams coming out of music schools with nowhere to go. Recording is usually done on a freebie basis or on spec in a market that is saturated and defeated by free downloads.
Live gigs are either free, for peanuts, a portion of the door or just plain not paying.
It's not just the music business. Outsourcing and robots replacing people have brought people to their knees. The financial system is so top heavy - and becoming more so - , and the environment is becoming so stressed that one wonders if there is any hope.
I wonder if the concept put forth by the Zeitgeist movement - resource economy, no need for money, etc - is something that people should start pondering. Science and mechanization could serve us better if the bottom line wasn't based on obscene profiteering. Without the fearful wolf constantly at the door maybe creativity could blossom. Minds could grow. Life could be good. Potential could be realized without having to depend on support from some fat cat who only sees the dollar sign as a marker for success.
All the best to you and Ms Hayes.
Bill Bridges
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Hi Bob,
I started out writing songs and playing in garage bands in 1964 when I was 12 years old. I am now 60 years old, and 38 years later, I am finally having some success in music (not financially, though). I've put in at least 50,000 hours working on my songwriting (20 hrs/wk x 52 wks/yr x 48 yrs.)
I went to college for business, not music, so that I could get a job in the music business and get in a position to "sign" myself. I spent 4 years in college radio. I was at Woodstock, Fillmore East every weekend, coffee houses, blues clubs, etc.
After 100+ interviews with agents, managers, record labels, etc., I ended up in NJ at a "sounds a-like" mill - they had studio pros record note for note hits of the day and sold them on cassettes and 8-track. This was the armpit of the music business, but I was still paying my dues. I moved over to Sam Goody's as a management trainee to learn the retail music business - buying product, selling, merchandising, etc.
After a year, I went to Hong Kong for 2 years, writing/producing for local Asian bands in a state of the art studio. I had a hit song on the radio, and was on a local songwriting TV show in 1976.
By the time I was 24, I was in LA writing songs for Screen Gems., Back in NYC, I took songwriting courses, lyric writing courses, piano lessons, arranging lessons, etc. I was having songs recorded as disco tracks. The dollars earned couldn't pay my rent.
At 25, I got a sales job to support myself. I worked 10 hours a day, and spent every night and all weekends writing songs and recording demos in my $200/month studio apartment. I had no social life except for Sunday night song critique sessions with other songwriters.
At 35, I put music on hold to get married and raise a family. I still wrote late at night.
At 50, I became a piano tuner. Now 60, I tune for several top level recording studios in NYC. I am writing lyrics for beat tracks for some top producers, and have been in recording sessions for top acts, where as the oldest guy in the room, I was able to give input/advise/suggestions that were used in the final tracks, un-credited.
I'm "doing" music for the love of it. A track that I worked on (tuning the piano, co-producing) has just been released and is getting great reviews, radio play, streaming, etc. I'm not listed on the credits and I won't get paid (except for tuning the piano,) but that's okay - when I go to sleep at night, I am very, very happy.
Joe The Piano Tuner
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Hi Bob, thanks for sending these email replies through. I've been a professional musician for all of my working life, around 15 years to date.
But here's the thing, the majority of my income in that time has derived from private instrumental tuition (guitar) with gigs, book sales (I have 3 books) and album sales the "icing on the cake." These things are a bonus, a supplement to what you do, not the meat and potatoes. I recently bought my own home and I also have a family to support. So I'm not doing that bad, and in some ways I'm "successful" because I get to do what I love and at the end of the day, that's a great and rare gift to have.
The simple facts are that as a local gigging performer, you simply can't make enough coin to see you through the week, or the month. That's just how it is. Sure, if you can land a gig with a national touring artist, your income can skyrocket although that begs the question - how are you going to pay the bills when the tour winds up?
I recently made the switch into tertiary education and I see so many kids with stars in their eyes. I always make a point of asking them "what's the plan after you graduate from here - how are you going to make a living out of this?"
Most of them can't think further than the coming assessment task but I ask the question all the same. I strongly emphasise the teaching gig to them and make a point of stressing how difficult the industry is, that there are no free meal tickets, you have to create your own opportunities, any way that you can. It's really about being entrepreneurial in your work ethic, as much as it's about being good at what you do.
Cheers -
Bill Palmer
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Hi Bob -
Thanks for passing along the Bonnie Hayes e-mail. I graduated from Berklee 10 years ago and was faced with these same issues and concerns as her current students. Everything changed in the late 90s and there we all were hoping to simply stay afloat, degrees in hand. We knew things were in a serious state of flux, but we didn't exactly know just how bad it was.
The fact that the music industry was dying was the elephant in every Berklee classroom and recording studio and couldn't be and wouldn't be discussed by any of the staff. No one spoke of what was next after getting out of Berklee. We'd ask and all they told us were stories of when they got started in the 70s and how great it was to be alive and in the scene at the time. Fast forward 30 years and there we were, about to be released into a post-Napster, post-09/11, post home studio explosion world and yet there Berklee was, laughing all the way to the bank.
They have a dirty secret. They want 18 year old kids and parents to believe that they have the golden ticket. They want you to believe they are going to make your dreams come true. It's all bull shit. I never had my dreams (my realistic dreams anyway) set on being the next Beatles, but I did want to be a steady working professional. They get into your heads and toy with your emotions and when you're an 18 year old musician, that's all the armor you wear.
The fact of the matter is that Berklee is doing quite well. They have built a new campus in Spain AND are constructing a new, state of the art facility on Massachusetts Avenue across the street from the old 150 building. Not bad considering how horrible the music industry is doing. It makes me sick to my stomach every day.
I never expected to be given anything once I completed my degree at Berklee. I wanted to get out into the world, work hard, work my way up the proverbial ladder, and find a way to do the things I love to do while being able to survive in the world, putting a meal on my table every night and a roof over my head.
I worked hard and have managed to put a career together, but no thanks to Berklee. I read books. I met people. I did jobs I felt were below me knowing that it was just what I had to do to cut it. Berklee didn't help me and they aren't helping their kids now either. Ask any of the business students what they think of the Music Business program. It should be called "History of Music Business". If any of their staff had enough knowledge to teach kids how to work in the new music paradigm, don't you think they'd be out there doing it and making a fortune? They're not. They're teaching kids about radio programmers and having them do projects to put a band on the road with $1,000,000. What is this, 1986?
The recording program is just as bad being perpetually 5 years behind the curve. Everything is old from the gear right on down to the way they teach kids about how it's "really" done in the "biz". Kids STILL repeatedly talk about how they learn more from reading books not associated with the program than they did in most of their classes. You should get something from an education that expensive and the kids just aren't getting what they signed up for.
If I could tell current Berklee kids one thing or kids thinking about going I would say this: DON'T GO. Get out into the world and create and read and play and record and learn and do all the things you ever wanted to do because you have time on your side right now. You're young. You're hungry. You have a voice and you want it to be heard. You're not going to be heard sitting in a dorm room at an overpriced 4 year music camp where the mission is to simply attract new income, not turn out real musicians. Not anymore at least, but that's another discussion for another time. Berklee isn't going to get you a job or get you paid. You as a young musician, you're all about the desire and drive to make real, true music that speaks to a generation.
I'm 33 and still believe in song. I feel silly, but it's in me. What can I say?
Please don't publish my name if you want to post this.
Thanks for letting me vent Bob.
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Hey Bobby,
Love your stuff. Just thought I'd let you and your readers know that society is not just killing music it's killing all art including mine. I'm a painter. There were times like Renaissance Italy and turn of the century France where geniuses like me could make a living. But now I have the same forces conspiring against me as musicians do.
The consumer has completely devalued what I do. It used to be that people looked at paintings. Now they just hang them up and just have them hanging there in the background while their ADD selves go about doing other things like play video games go on Pinterest. And they think my stuff should be free! The same evil technology that hurts musicians is KILLING me. They can just download and print ANYTHING off the internet. Or if they have a friend who has one of my paintings they can just make copies. Dear God! If they can shut down Napster why isn't Shawn Kinko in jail!!!! And the technology has made it so that anybody can pick up a brush and paint. How is the consumer supposed to wade through all the garbage to find my masterpieces in one of those giant shows we book at the airport Holiday Inn?
I just can't afford to do this anymore. Everything costs so much. Remember when TV was free and the home phone was just a couple of bucks? Now those corporations are gauging me for over $300 a month!! Do you know how many "Dogs Playing Poker" I have to sell to make that! I know I could give up cable and my unlimited data plan, but have you ever tried to go a month without watching "Lingo" on the Game Show Network or tried driving around without being able to read Blake Shelton's latest tweet while you're stuck in traffic? Van Gogh would have cut off his ear first! (too soon?)
All of the old opportunities for making a living are gone. Back in the day, the church would have commissioned me to do some work because they appreciated art and wanted to support it. I contacted the Vatican and they said they finished decorating 400 years ago. Now what do I do? There also used to be rich people who would be patrons and sponsor great artists. But I've called everyone from the last two PowerBall winners to Scott Borchetta and nobody is willing to pony up. Damn 1%!!!!!!
Yeah, I couldn't agree more with Bonnie's letter and your and everyone else's take on these matters. I've had lots of advice like, "Use social media" "Paint because you love it" and "Take art lessons and practice because you suck" but I think I'm just going to give it up and maybe teach. And yet another genius will go unnoticed by the world....
Matthew O'Brien
Nashville
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When did the spelling of Berkley change?
Alberto Rivera
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Regarding Bonnie Hayes' email, allow me to quote Kurt Vonnegut:
"If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts.
I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable.
Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake.
Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem.
Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward.
You will have created something."
"A Man Without a Country", 2005
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The responses to Bonnie's email seem pretty equally split between those who sympathize with the plight of struggling musicians, and those demanding they "stop whining" and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
This division doesn't surprise me one bit because these arguments simply echo our endless national argument where one side questions what kind of world will be left for our posterity and the other side yells about how hard they've worked, accuses everyone else of an entitlement complex, and demands they work harder and shut up.
But the arguments are no different, in this case, because the music industry is no different than every other industry in present day America: Less money in the coffers, more competition for the work, and no one can keep up with how technology is constantly changing all the rules. meanwhile, the fat cats suck the remaining profitability off the top and leave everyone else squabbling with one another over the scraps from their tables.
This is a working class issue, not just a musicians issue. And it's THE issue of our time.
But to all the sanctimonious writers warning everyone to quit complaining, I have a warning too: You may be scraping by on thrift and luck now, but you're not above the rest of your colleagues. In other words, it can happen to you too. And fundamental economic problems like this won't go away just because you convinced yourself that others misfortunes are merely a result of laziness.
Here's a news flash: everyone's working hard.
We're all in this together.
Jessica Bonanno
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The Beatles didn't waste their time & money on going to Berklee (or
any other music college) but instead played 7 days a week in crappy
smoke filled basement clubs for years.
B. Dutch Seyfarth
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Bruce Cockburn left Berklee after one term. jes sayin
a mea culpaws post
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I have to take issue with some of these email bashing this current generation of kids. I'm the technical manager for Interscope Studios and own Threshold Sound and Spin Move Records.
I employ and have employed young people for many years. I can tell you that this generation is hard working, considerate, passionate, and smart. The kids are all right in my world.
Peter A. Barker
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You don't have to move to NY or SF or Boston to make it. The guys in Rilo Kiley moved from LA to Omaha & started out on Saddle Creek, with Bright Eyes. And that scene in turn launched the Felice Brothers. And they might not be the biggest bands on earth, but all of those guys, & others, are making a living, & they're doing it their way &, in some cases, making some incredible music. Thanks to the internet, it's easier than ever to create your own "Laurel Canyon" anywhere in the country, you just have to find the right people & be willing to uproot yourself. That's how SF became SF in the 60's. No one moved out there because that's where you "make it." It's not where the industry was.
It's completely backwards... the industry should be pounding on the door of the artists, not the other way around. But most artists lack the confidence (or maybe it's the talent) to strike out on their own.
Jon Cole
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Bob,
I honestly think that musicians should never complain.
If you go to work and people clap you're fucking lucky.
Do covers gigs and get paid. Do functions, private parties and don't be a fucking snob about it.
Watch the episode of Louie where he meets Joan Rivers and she gives him a lecture about bitching and quitting.
Nick Hershman
London, UK
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when music is a calling, rent doesn't matter.
the shifting plates of business hardly matters,
not owning a car isn't even an issue.....food is boring...
you happily survive by your WITS...
to misquote jackson browne:
"when you know that you've a real reason somewhere, suddenly everything else is so much easier to bear"
mary cigarettes
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Bonnie I would tell those kids being a musician has always been a Feast or Famine gig. From the guys who jammed for kings of old to the cowboys rockin the honky-tonk, to the kid playing his local coffee shop it has never been about $. You play because you have too, it's part of you. If you stop playing you will seise to exist .
$ is a fringe benefit an if your lucky one day you'll be called to the Feast but odds are you will live a life of shitty jobs an famine.
You want to be a musician suck it up and roll the dice!
Kurt Ozdaglar
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Who wouldn't rather be a musician, or an artist, an actor, or a sports star? From the outside, these look like magical career choices, but it totally ignores the laws of supply and demand. If everyone wanted to make music, very few could make a living doing it. Nobody is owed a living in an overcrowded field. Get over it.
My older son is a pretty good musician. When he was a lot younger, I told him that he could either try to make a living in music, or he could choose a different career and love making music. Fortunately, he became a teacher and he still loves making mucic on the side.
Frank Wood
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What is Berklee good at?
Talking parents into believing that their kids will have a money making career if they just plunk down their $200K.
That's called marketing not music.
I've been a composer in NYC for 25 years and I can't tell you how many Berklee kids have sent me their god awful cookie cutter generic derivative demos.
Of course there are a few exceptions. But those with true talent/drive would have done well anywhere.
Berklee is a scam. Not everyone is meant to be a musician.
Michael Montes
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I gotta tell you Bob, speaking only from my personal experience, having played with Berklee grads and Guitar Institute grads and the like, I made much far more interesting music with dudes who were self taught. The highly trained players were so stiff and utterly soulless (tho flashy) whereas the untrained weren't reigned in by school rules.
$200Gs? Seriously? Bwahahaha!
Cheers,
Rick Saunders
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I only ever had one proper job in my life when I was 21 and I lasted 3 weeks...never had a regular wage since. I did nude modelling, bit part acting, worked as a relief roadsweeper, played any sort of music anywhere for forty quid and ate beans on toast for the best part of ten years....and then got a break.
Robin Millar
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We're slowing killing off the entrepreneurial class in this country (Chick Fil A? Obamacare? You didn't buld that!!!), kids are expecting easy street and insulation from reality. Reailty is as scary as it ever was.
My grandfather came here with shit in 1899 and couldn't speak a syllable of English. He had to change his name from the unpronounceable Italian to even begin to fit in. He was good with his hands and got a job working on the building of the Westinghouse bridge in Pittsburgh, extremely dangerous work then...guys falling into concrete pilings and that's all she wrote. No OSHA at all...
As a carpenter (no unions of course), he cut his fingers off with a circular saw. Kept on working.
Did he bitch that he wasn't getting a job out of a musician's mill?
No, he started his own company building houses and provided for my Nona, Mom and Uncle. That wasn't easy street either.
This country needs people like my Grandfather, not whiny weenies in Berklee trying to do stuff in music somehow, but not sure what or where, but hey it's great, check out my new jacket man, and look at these shoes...
If it doesn't matter enough to you to do it for free, than what the fuck are you doing it for??????
It's a trade school? I think these kids will eventually get it, and realize they were sold a bill of goods and maybe wasted a lot of time. Isn't Bonnie part of the problem, just trying to save herself, much like Jon Corzine or any number of evil corporate guys?
Where are our Frank Zappas? They're out there.
mvlang
P.S. Bob, you are concerned about Wall Street ripping the middle class off and selling lies...what about the musician mills?
It's just as bad.
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To: Patrick Donovan Mulroy
Hey asshole ! There's a fucking DEPRESSION going on. Over 8% unemployment for those who are still looking. Higher if you're an African American or a VETERAN.
Consider your young, ignorant ass LUCKY. But you do know about minimum wage. That's something.
I'm supposing you speak of "Mom and Dad" through experience. But I grew up without a dad. I'm sure there are those in YOUR generation who did, as well.
And Les Claypool couldn't find a job as a carpenter at much more than minimum wage in this economy.
Besides...who the fuck is Primus ?
Scott Sechman
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Bob, what I've noticed is that an awful lot of musicians, artists and other creative types from New York have moved here to Philadelphia, mostly to Fishtown and Kensington. Rent is cheap, eating out is cheap, lots of craft beer, a large and supportive music community with great venues, and NYC is a $10 bus ride away. WXPN, our well-known and influential college station, is aggressive about breaking local talent.
Honestly, I think some people are just in love with the idea of Living In New York. It's like living in a movie, and they think if they stay there, it'll all have a happy ending. At $1800 a month for a tiny place in Brooklyn, good luck with that.
Susan Madrak
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A drummer friend and I were frustrated with all these issues being discussed and decided to do something about it. We've been in bands for a few years, played bars, decent venues, small festivals, etc. But definitely no $ or major recognition.
So over the last year we've been dragging an upright piano and drum kit all around the Bay Area. We started playing on the streets for free, in winter, (with hand warmers!) and it has led to all kinds of gigs. We still play on the street often, but those initial gigs led to private parties, MLB baseball games, NPR recognition, and actual paid gigs. Our drummer quit his job a few months ago and has subsisted on playing gigs ever since. Granted, he does have some loans and grants for music school, but he makes more money playing music than in his previous jobs. His classmates can't believe how many gigs he plays. But they weren't handed to us. If you put yourself out there you never know what can happen.
http://music.clangnbang.com/
-Kirby Lee Hammel
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Bitch, bitch, bitch. I, like a thousand other working musicians who didn't have the support (financially or otherwise) to attend a school like Berklee, fund my lifestyle and original music the same way anyone with any ounce of talent or self-preservation does: i play in a cover band. Get the fuck over yourself and take responsibility for your life beyond your creative career. We all make sacrifices. Do you really think i want to play Brown Eyed Girl 3x a week? Hell no... But it's good practice and great money, and anyone can do it. I'm the Starbucks barista of the music industry-so what? I'm doing what i love, albeit with other people's music. If you're an aspiring painter, paint a house. If you're an aspiring architect, tuckpoint a building. It can only improve your skill set. Work for a living; it's really not that bad if you leave your ego at the door.
Ellie Maybe
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Bob, I love your blog and read it regularly. I would like to throw in my 45 cents. I have been married for 16 years, I have 3 kids that are not starving nor are they deprived of daddy time. My wife is satisfied and I pay my mortgage. I also happen to play and teach music full time without a degree and I am the sole bread winner in my family. I have known since I was 15 that the only thing I wanted to do for the rest of my life is drum. I decided 20 years ago to throw everything I had into one basket and practice my ass off so when the day came for me to get a gig, I would know what to do. The day I stopped playing video games was the day I started drumming. The only way I know to make it work is to keep practicing and keep hustling. The only thing that comes before drumming is my family. I keep them first and then spend the rest of my time working up gigs, practicing, teaching, and treating the people I work for/with like they are precious. You have to be a good person to make it work on the local scale, if you are a jerk, nobody calls. I know it is scary and daunting to think about trying to make it in this day and age, but it can be done. It is all about priorities and hard work.
Brandon Graves
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Bonnie's letter was a great conversation starter.
To those who don't think the situation is radically different than it was 25 years ago, to the detriment or our collective talent pool, I can only wonder if you have really looked at the numbers or actually talked with young musicians. Or, if you are a young musician, I wish you luck.
Most of us didn't learn half as much from school as we did from Little Richard. Where will the next Little Richard come from?
European orchestral music was largely payed for by kings. In the 20th century that role was played by labels etc. What's next? Nothing? Maybe music will go back to the essentially amateur pursuit it was before the 20th century. Maybe that's ok but it is and is going to be a major change affecting every once-marketable art.
Bruno Coon
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There is more opportunity now than there has ever been. More music genres. More clubs. More radio stations, terrestrial and internet... hell, you can make your own radio station, or stations, and post your own videos on a plethora of platforms. Volumes more content is being created than ever before! There was once only THREE TV channels... NOW, the demand for professional content to fill the tens of thousands of hours of television programming for the hundreds of channels is huge! And now for the first time in history.... EVERYONE has unlimited access to the public, to the world... from their bedroom. The tools to create content are nearly FREE! Charlie Chaplin became a legend using a fixed-lens hand-cranked camera... no sound. An HD camera at Best Buy is $250. Most of those incredible Motown hits from the 60s were recorded in a house on 4-track tape, now a digital recording studio comes with every Apple computer, along with your very own digital movie software. I can go on and on with the advantages this generation has... I would give anything to be 19 right now.
If you can't make success happen , you have no one to blame but yourself.
Frank A. Gagliano
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I read nearly every lefsetz email, but somehow missed Bonnie's.
Berklee grad, 1990 here. Damn proud of it. I worked my ass off while I was there. Incredible teaching staff. I wrote scores, played in jazz and rock combos, and practiced 6 to 8 hours every fricken day for 3 solid years. I finished early.
Amazing how much Berklee costs now. I had a partial scholarship, enough to make it possible to go. My parents could only help with boston living expenses, so I took student loans for the rest. Which, btw, at the end of my college career totaled a mere $12,000. I had them paid off in no time.
had a part time job too. Figured I'd rest when I was dead.
Upon graduation, i went into the world with not a shred of "placement help" from Berklee. I didn't need it. I was going to kick the world's ass on my own.
and I did.
But it took me working 10-14 hours a day, every day for the past 22 years. If I thought my schedule at Berklee was tough, that was cake compared to trying to break into the "real world" of music. I had no rich or famous relative inside the music biz to open doors... i was on my own.
I am most grateful to Berklee for my time there. Who I got to meet, the students I got to play with, the teachers I studied with, guest artists and concerts...
I use what I learned there every minute of every note I am a part of as a musician, producer, arranger or engineer.
if it bothers you how much Berklee costs, put together your own education and work your ass off.
You won't have the "Berklee" paper on the wall, but I'll let you in on a secret... people rarely hired me because of that paper. They hired me because i was 1. on time 2. highly skilled 3. not a pain in the ass to hang around with all day for weeks or months at a time.
That's what I look for when I hire people now. If you're late, i don't care how talented you are... go away. If you can't play or deliver the goods... go away. If you're an egomaniac, drug addict, personify a massive insecurity complex, or have the mental capacity of a 15 year old... go away.
it's amazing how many musicians and creative people can't meet the above standards.
Be great. Work your ass off. Look for opportunities everywhere. Never stop learning new skills. Move if you have to.
Most important... have fun, and you will attract many, many people to your art and craft.
you may stumble into the career of your dreams in the process.
Joe Hand
producer, writer, musician
www.joehand.com
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Uhhhh. Get fucked and get a job. I live in Nashville and I know plenty of kids here that work their asses off.
Isn't that called paying your dues?
Yeah it sucks to work and then try to be creative. However, because your busting your balls, your chops will get better and your songs will be smarter. I promise you. Now suck it up, bus your table, brew his coffee, and start kicking ass.
Jer Gregg
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Hey Bob,
I'm a musician from DC as well. This is advice is wrong. No musician wanting to be anything but a hobbyist should be playing in bars at all. I don't know what its like in other places, but in DC payment for playing in bars hasn't gone up since the 70s. There is a reason: NO ONE GIVES A SHIT. The bar owners don't care and the audience doesn't care. It's standard practice for venues to forbid bands from playing anywhere else within 30 miles for a month in exchange for a gig. The reason for this is they know that no one but your friends are going to come. If bars could make money off of a house band, they would have house bands, not DJs, and you could build an audience. They can't and you can't so don't do it. Don't spend your money and muscle on shelping expensive equipment around or moving to LA. Spend that money on Pro Tools, a Mac and a camera. The internet is the only place where an unknown (without an uncle in the business or a million dollars) can get an audience at all. Make a video a week, think of it as your gig. Do covers and originals.
Most important of all, interact with your audience. Think of it like your talking to fans after a show. We are a really small band, 2000 subscribers and over 200,000 plays on YouTube, and we were able to raise over $8000, via Kickstarter, to make a record and none of that money came from Mom and Dad. Here is an example of a conversation with one of our fans from Australia. In a casual message on facebook we told her we couldn't afford a new camera. She wrote this:
"Hard work deserves being rewarded. I have been very impressed with the effort you are putting into your career.
I am not rich, and I don't intend to be. I am comfortable and if my 'folly' is giving you guys help every once in a while... I see as rewarding!
I don't ever expect anything back long term out of you either. I see a life as 'being full of stories'. Basically this money I am giving you entitles me to tell my grandkids about the really cool band that I helped buy a camera for at the start of their career:)"
She then gave us an additional $500 to buy a new camera. This fan was out there for us. She was in Australia. GO FIND YOUR FANS, THEY AREN'T IN A BAR!!!!
Here is our latest video, it's a cover of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" played only with stuff we found in our kitchen... sounds like The Neptunes. http://youtu.be/9dmuZmo8R4o
Tristan Shields
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These letters are a wealth of insight and information.
Quickly...
When I was 17 I got a gig playing w Genya Raven in NYC.
My dad (a butcher), knowing my passion wanted to send me to Berkley...
I was not the most intelligent teen, my answer was "dad, this is Rock & Roll.
I'm already playing w stars".(a gig in central park was being talked about, promises of a European tour etc).
After we did all her pre-production she fired us and hired NY session guys to do the album. (my first dues paying experience)
My dad had watched my love affair w music & my guitar from age 5, never had to push me to practice...
He had little money but would get it if I wanted to go. I didn't!
Ironically many years later while performing w legendary guitarist Dick Wagner, the Berklee grads were flooding NY and taking all the rock gigs in NY, while also doing all the session work, jingles, etc. while the rest of the NYC musicians were relegated to waiting tables, construction etc. Message here? I really don't know!
I never left music, I am a fairly successful indy promoter in NY, not wealthy, just paying my bills. That road taken after I fought for and got my two daughters in my divorce, and had to get off the road.
A decision that I have never regretted for a minute.
One of my girls is now my partner.
So my shows have become the song I would have been writing.
The artists I book, the experience I create for my guests, is my song.
I try to balance the art of the fest, with trying to bring in enough money to go on.
Sometimes the gods are with you, sometimes not!
This year I had Levon Helm booked as one of the Friday night headliners, his passing was a sad day for the music world.
Then sunday we faced the largest lightening storm in the NE in years. I had to clear the fest. Promoters reading this know how that turned out for me.
But you go on.
And after two marriages, being broke and flush, thousands of concerts, and more incredible experiences than any one man should have, I'm happy just to continue my journey, and will never be comfortable in any other world.
jim faith
Producer,
Great S Bay Music Fest
Chairman,
LI Music Hall of Fame
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Hey Bob,
I know I'm late to respond to Bonnie's email, but I wanted to chime in. I went to school for music, never really figured out how to make a living at it, got various day jobs to get by, including a few years at a record label, and finally decided to put all of my hard work into my own career and not somebody else's. I don't make a ton of money, but I'm living in Brooklyn and working all the time. I'm no rockstar, but if a rockstar called and needed me for a tour, I could get the job done.
Along the way, I started a website with another musician friend of mine. We wanted to focus on musician careers. We talked to our friends and colleagues about their careers, and while it's tough, a lot of people are doing it. You've got to be an outstanding player, obviously, and music schools can help you with that. The rest, though, is all about learning professional behavior and experience. Be really good and don't be an asshole.
Here's one of our articles that explains how it's possible to put together something that resembles a living as a musician:
http://www.musicianwages.com/how-to-actually-make-50000-a-year-as-a-musician/
As a side note, some Berklee students have actually told me that some of my articles are used in their classes, printed off the web and sold to them in photocopied packets! The irony.
- Cameron Mizell
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Interesting emails for sure.
The only thing, for me, that need be said is that being a musician is a calling. We are lucky to have one. Remember all the people along the way we meet who may not have one, who were distracted from their internal compass? Working hard is a given, luck is not. Life as a musician is not about the biz, it comes as a result of us, or other people helping - being impassioned about what they get from us - and those who can exploiting it/us. Music is still art. I naively still believe the old adage "do what you love and the money will follow." The universe is very supportive. Remember each time you/we put out to the world that you wanted to do this or that and how doors that once never existed, appeared and some even opened?
Create, dedicate and live your life. Rumors of ways to 'make it' are just that.
Peace,
Joseph Parsons
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Hi Bob,
I've been reading your stuff for quite some time, and while I don't always agree with your viewpoint I do appreciate you getting people thinking about the problems today's musicians and the overall 'biz' face. That being said, I don't see anything wrong with "working shit jobs to do their life calling their spare time" as Bonnie puts it. I come from the punk rock scene, where every guy has a day job. Believe it or not some even have good ones (I'm one of the lucky ones). I've known hundreds of punk rockers in hundreds of bands on every level, and with the exception of a handful (Green Day, NOFX, Blink-182, Bad Religion, Rise Against) it's a given that after every tour they go back to their day jobs until the next tour comes around. And there's nothing wrong with that at all. Nobody in the punk scene spends a lot of time bitching about it. If you're really making music from the heart and for the right reasons, then it shouldn't matter whether you're a hobbyist or earning your living at music... the music itself is the reward. I came across a great old Tom Waits TV interview today and I think he said it best - "I don't worry about achievement. I worry primarily about whether there are night clubs in heaven."
The guys in my band Margate and I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the subject, and we have a song called "Rock 'n Roll Reserve" which puts the modern day hobbyist musician in terms of being in the reserves - being called up for 8 days a month into weekend tours of active duty. The song has been a moderate hit in the world of punk rock, even currently getting some occasional spins on KROQ in LA, and oddly enough brought us to the attention of the small label we're now signed to. Since we got signed we made our first record we didn't have to pay for ourselves, toured Europe for a few weeks with NOFX, Less Than Jake and more... and kept our day jobs. Sure, we could all move in to one fleabag apartment and try to scrape by doing some teaching or odd jobs on the side, but we're in our mid 30's now and that's not the type of life any of us want at this age. And what's the point? Being a moderately successful musician and having a regular job are not mutually exclusive ideas.
One last note - I've known a lot of musicians who have turned to the cover band route to make a living making music. Many of them are successful, and I'm sure they're enjoying their day jobs more than the average barista or roofer. But for most as the years go by I can see their passion for music fade as playing their instrument just becomes what they do for a living rather than something they live to do.
Here's our DIY music video for the "Rock 'n Roll Reserve" tune... we made it for a few hundred bucks (which were left over from a kickstarter campaign we did for our previous EP, but that's another story) with some friends and had a great time doing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BQwElpozWo
The lyrics are below in case you want to check them out - they go by pretty quick. Thanks as always for raising a good debate.
Cheers,
Doug Mitchell & Margate
"Rock 'N Roll Reserve"
Lyrics by Alex Helbig
Music by Margate
We're in the Rock 'n Roll Reserve
Eight days a month is what I serve
No longer living for that dream, now I'm doing it just for me!
We're In The Rock 'n Roll Reserve!
I remember way back when, the dream was to get signed and then...
Become a band that changed the world
Toured the land and slept with all the girls
And topped all the charts and wrote all the songs that made the whole world sing but...
Life catches up with dreams fifteen years on down the line
Now working a job forty hours a week, trying to feel like I'm not doing time
This whole industry is upside down, trying to find a solid ground
A house, a wife and my bones ache
Believing that it's never too late
To pick up a guitar! To travel near and far!
And put the Rock in the Rock 'n Roll Reserve!
Eight days a month is what I serve
No longer living for that dream, now I'm doing it just for me!
We're In the Rock 'n Roll Reserve!
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Bob,
It's very interesting to me to hear people knock a school like Berklee. Why not knock USC or UCLA, or any other school known for being great, and also has that expensive price tag? Are they saying that every med student, football player or hell, even accountant leaving another school pays off their tuition in any reasonable amount of time? We all inherently treat college loans like a mortgage at this point. If you borrowed large sums of money to go to college, it doesn't go away quickly. How quickly depends on the student, whether or not they have that "entitled mentality" I hear people say so often. Some "entitled" students apply the hell out of themselves...
Berklee is my alma-mater and I'm happy to say so, even if I don't use it when introducing myself around town. It was a school run by musicians - sometimes that was great, sometimes it was laughable - and as a student, you had the opportunity to spend time with teachers who had spent a life around music. Some of them had great success, others had no success. Some had wild stories, others "ground-it-out". Some were even classically trained and laughed at the idea of becoming a rockstar. Most were still working outside of Berklee.
You also met other students, who (unless your ego got in the way) are the musicians that you would/should pursue your career with over the next decade or two. I can't tell you how many other students I still talk to today. If you don't take advantage of the student/teacher resources while you are there, you missed the boat. It's a place to learn and network.
Also, a 35% graduation rate is fitting for a school like this. The turnover rate in the dorms was quick. Many would come in thinking it was going to be a 24/7 rockstar party and would soon realize it wasn't just about banging on a guitar in a garage with others, while a cigarette was stuffed between your strings. Then they would be confronted with those not-at-all-rockstar stories of a gazillion hours practicing, getting signed and shelved, of having to give away your music until you had enough leverage, etc. and then they would just leave - mid-semester even. Of course there were some who were there because mommy and daddy paid for it, but for those who actually wanted to learn this was the perfect environment in which to do it. And one that you have to pay for. Who would you want to surround yourself with when you are learning?
And if you really do want to go there, practice enough to get damn scholarship. They offer those, you know.
Brad Crowell
www.amillionpiecesmusic.com
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I loved this email. If I look at all the successes in technology over the past few decades they didn't occur at Xerox PARC or Bell Labs. They occurred at Harvard and most importantly Stanford (http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html)
Why don't these kid have the opportunity to do this stuff at college? Why don't they spend 6 months writing and recording, with mentors and professors, and have Berkley issue a best of Berkeley compilation. Why don't Universities put out a tour of student bands? At least at the end of 4 years these kids will know whether they should ditch the instrument or not.
Great stuff used to happen at corporations. Now it happens at University because corporations can't lose money on something that might take 6 months. Incubation occurs in the University not at Xerox. Why not do the same for music. Berkley can even keep 20% of all furture artist revenues and publishing. There is no nuturing time. We have rapidly growing chicken and force feed cows and astro turf. Most people said a band wasn't a band until its 3rd album. If the "industry" won't nuture and let artist's develop, Berkely should.
Todd Lewis
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Hi, Bob...
Writing to you from my work email address, as I don't have the patience for long diatribes via my thumbs on the smartphone.
I'm surprised to find myself a little annoyed at the "stop whining and get a job" contingent that came out of the woodwork when you published Bonnie's email.
I work, have been working a day job of some sort for most of my professional career, and I've got something to pass along to those folks:
YOU ARE MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
I've been a "professional" musician for most of the 20 or so years that I've lived in the Philadelphia area - mostly as a sideman/session and touring musician, but I don't see my plight as being that different from a songwriter/performing artist, where working a day job is concerned. It's a perpetual balancing act to try and put in the necessary hours to make sure your rent is paid and to maintain a presence in your musical community...and I'm here to tell you firsthand:
If you're working during the day, YOU ARE MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
Sessions happen during the day. Writing appointments happen during the day. Meetings...phone calls...contact with booking agents, with tour managers, with other people who make things happen in this business (even on the lowest rungs of the food chain, where most of us reside) happen - yes, during the day. And if you're working during the day, YOU ARE MISSING OPPORTUNITIES.
I've lost count of the gigs I haven't gotten, of the sessions I wasn't able to do, of the tours I haven't been able to accept because of complications around a day job. And, after a while, you will find that people's perception of you will shift...maybe gradually, maybe less so. But you'll become, as I have, somewhat distanced from your community. Taken less seriously, and perhaps even dismissed, because people will either think that your commitment to your craft is lacking, or that you're just not in it for the long haul.
Maybe the "buck up and get a job" crowd sees this, maybe they don't - but it's a fact, it's reality, and you dismiss it at your peril.
I'm not complaining about my lot in life - I'm generally well-respected by my peers, I get to work a lot, and I've gotten to collaborate and play alongside some of my heroes. I've had a good run. But I have a lot of respect for people who've managed to find ways to keep their bills paid and do this without the distraction of a day gig. Sadly, they're fewer and farther between...which, if I remember correctly, was Bonnie's original point.
Keep up the good fight, Bob.
Tom Hampton
Philadelphia, PA
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It is disheartening to think about this, yet we are left to reflect on the fact that Van Gogh could not earn a living wage as an artist, Charles Ives, the great and innovative classical composer, for many years ran one of the most successful New York Life insurance agencies in the country...in the 20's and 30's. JJ Johnson, legendary world-famous jazz trombonist, worked for the post office for most of his adult life while also working, performing and recording as a world-class jazz artist. The incredible jazz singer Sheila Jordan, who recorded the seminal record Portraits of Sheila in 1960, kept her day gig in New York City as an executive assistant until into her early 60's. Our colleges and universities and art schools have always been full of remarkable artists (think dance, pottery, painting, theater arts, writers...not just music) who have found rewards in sharing the knowledge of their respective art while also finding what was difficult to find solely as an artist...enough money to earn a good living. At Berklee specifically there was the great clarinetist/saxophonist John LaPorta, arranger Herb Pomeroy, saxophonist Charlie Mariano...in the 60's and 70's, and arguably for many years the world's great jazz vibes player, Gary Burton, who is now or until recently, was President of Berklee. My good friend and well known modernist painter, the late Richard Merkin (illustrated for New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ...as well as having his work in the collections of many of the most famous museums in the country) taught at Rhode Island School of design for his entire professional life. Writer Henry Miller went to live in France. Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Curtis Institute, Miami, have all had faculties for many years that are comprised of players, conductors and composers from the country's major symphonies. The music schools of Europe are and have been littered for decades with amazing musicians who have brought their skills and artistry to young minds in the environs of academia.
When I (we) was growing up our neighborhood and my friends dads, mostly, were auto mechanics, a home heating oil truck driver, a doctor who did house calls, a gas station operator who cleaned windshields and checked oil, a salesman (my dad), a school teacher...all economic spectrums in one neighborhood. Those days are and have been gone for many years. It is more expensive to live now, there is more disparity among economic classes, but many aspects of this argument are not new. If we distill this down we find that many artists, well-known or otherwise, have struggled for years to earn a living wage in societies (here and abroad) that did not look upon the arts in the same light as they viewed other aspects of capitalist society.
Feel free to share these thoughts.
Jimmy Masters
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Bob,
I always love reading your words. Very insightful and coming from your heart, seemingly with no agenda other than to make our world a better place. I thank you!
Re Ms Hayes letter,
A beautiful statement of a sad fact.
I have been a professional musician all my life and have done well. I grew up at a time when music was thriving and developed my craft mostly by learning from the older players I was blessed to work with. Recording, clubbing, playing in pit orchestras etc.
We all thought it would last forever but sequencers all but destroyed recording. Disc jockeys wiped out the jobbing scene (although they are suffering now because clients are just using their i-pods for their events), theatre work is diminishing because of tracks.
I see talented kids full of dreams coming out of music schools with nowhere to go. Recording is usually done on a freebie basis or on spec in a market that is saturated and defeated by free downloads.
Live gigs are either free, for peanuts, a portion of the door or just plain not paying.
It's not just the music business. Outsourcing and robots replacing people have brought people to their knees. The financial system is so top heavy - and becoming more so - , and the environment is becoming so stressed that one wonders if there is any hope.
I wonder if the concept put forth by the Zeitgeist movement - resource economy, no need for money, etc - is something that people should start pondering. Science and mechanization could serve us better if the bottom line wasn't based on obscene profiteering. Without the fearful wolf constantly at the door maybe creativity could blossom. Minds could grow. Life could be good. Potential could be realized without having to depend on support from some fat cat who only sees the dollar sign as a marker for success.
All the best to you and Ms Hayes.
Bill Bridges
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Hi Bob,
I started out writing songs and playing in garage bands in 1964 when I was 12 years old. I am now 60 years old, and 38 years later, I am finally having some success in music (not financially, though). I've put in at least 50,000 hours working on my songwriting (20 hrs/wk x 52 wks/yr x 48 yrs.)
I went to college for business, not music, so that I could get a job in the music business and get in a position to "sign" myself. I spent 4 years in college radio. I was at Woodstock, Fillmore East every weekend, coffee houses, blues clubs, etc.
After 100+ interviews with agents, managers, record labels, etc., I ended up in NJ at a "sounds a-like" mill - they had studio pros record note for note hits of the day and sold them on cassettes and 8-track. This was the armpit of the music business, but I was still paying my dues. I moved over to Sam Goody's as a management trainee to learn the retail music business - buying product, selling, merchandising, etc.
After a year, I went to Hong Kong for 2 years, writing/producing for local Asian bands in a state of the art studio. I had a hit song on the radio, and was on a local songwriting TV show in 1976.
By the time I was 24, I was in LA writing songs for Screen Gems., Back in NYC, I took songwriting courses, lyric writing courses, piano lessons, arranging lessons, etc. I was having songs recorded as disco tracks. The dollars earned couldn't pay my rent.
At 25, I got a sales job to support myself. I worked 10 hours a day, and spent every night and all weekends writing songs and recording demos in my $200/month studio apartment. I had no social life except for Sunday night song critique sessions with other songwriters.
At 35, I put music on hold to get married and raise a family. I still wrote late at night.
At 50, I became a piano tuner. Now 60, I tune for several top level recording studios in NYC. I am writing lyrics for beat tracks for some top producers, and have been in recording sessions for top acts, where as the oldest guy in the room, I was able to give input/advise/suggestions that were used in the final tracks, un-credited.
I'm "doing" music for the love of it. A track that I worked on (tuning the piano, co-producing) has just been released and is getting great reviews, radio play, streaming, etc. I'm not listed on the credits and I won't get paid (except for tuning the piano,) but that's okay - when I go to sleep at night, I am very, very happy.
Joe The Piano Tuner
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Hi Bob, thanks for sending these email replies through. I've been a professional musician for all of my working life, around 15 years to date.
But here's the thing, the majority of my income in that time has derived from private instrumental tuition (guitar) with gigs, book sales (I have 3 books) and album sales the "icing on the cake." These things are a bonus, a supplement to what you do, not the meat and potatoes. I recently bought my own home and I also have a family to support. So I'm not doing that bad, and in some ways I'm "successful" because I get to do what I love and at the end of the day, that's a great and rare gift to have.
The simple facts are that as a local gigging performer, you simply can't make enough coin to see you through the week, or the month. That's just how it is. Sure, if you can land a gig with a national touring artist, your income can skyrocket although that begs the question - how are you going to pay the bills when the tour winds up?
I recently made the switch into tertiary education and I see so many kids with stars in their eyes. I always make a point of asking them "what's the plan after you graduate from here - how are you going to make a living out of this?"
Most of them can't think further than the coming assessment task but I ask the question all the same. I strongly emphasise the teaching gig to them and make a point of stressing how difficult the industry is, that there are no free meal tickets, you have to create your own opportunities, any way that you can. It's really about being entrepreneurial in your work ethic, as much as it's about being good at what you do.
Cheers -
Bill Palmer
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Hi Bob -
Thanks for passing along the Bonnie Hayes e-mail. I graduated from Berklee 10 years ago and was faced with these same issues and concerns as her current students. Everything changed in the late 90s and there we all were hoping to simply stay afloat, degrees in hand. We knew things were in a serious state of flux, but we didn't exactly know just how bad it was.
The fact that the music industry was dying was the elephant in every Berklee classroom and recording studio and couldn't be and wouldn't be discussed by any of the staff. No one spoke of what was next after getting out of Berklee. We'd ask and all they told us were stories of when they got started in the 70s and how great it was to be alive and in the scene at the time. Fast forward 30 years and there we were, about to be released into a post-Napster, post-09/11, post home studio explosion world and yet there Berklee was, laughing all the way to the bank.
They have a dirty secret. They want 18 year old kids and parents to believe that they have the golden ticket. They want you to believe they are going to make your dreams come true. It's all bull shit. I never had my dreams (my realistic dreams anyway) set on being the next Beatles, but I did want to be a steady working professional. They get into your heads and toy with your emotions and when you're an 18 year old musician, that's all the armor you wear.
The fact of the matter is that Berklee is doing quite well. They have built a new campus in Spain AND are constructing a new, state of the art facility on Massachusetts Avenue across the street from the old 150 building. Not bad considering how horrible the music industry is doing. It makes me sick to my stomach every day.
I never expected to be given anything once I completed my degree at Berklee. I wanted to get out into the world, work hard, work my way up the proverbial ladder, and find a way to do the things I love to do while being able to survive in the world, putting a meal on my table every night and a roof over my head.
I worked hard and have managed to put a career together, but no thanks to Berklee. I read books. I met people. I did jobs I felt were below me knowing that it was just what I had to do to cut it. Berklee didn't help me and they aren't helping their kids now either. Ask any of the business students what they think of the Music Business program. It should be called "History of Music Business". If any of their staff had enough knowledge to teach kids how to work in the new music paradigm, don't you think they'd be out there doing it and making a fortune? They're not. They're teaching kids about radio programmers and having them do projects to put a band on the road with $1,000,000. What is this, 1986?
The recording program is just as bad being perpetually 5 years behind the curve. Everything is old from the gear right on down to the way they teach kids about how it's "really" done in the "biz". Kids STILL repeatedly talk about how they learn more from reading books not associated with the program than they did in most of their classes. You should get something from an education that expensive and the kids just aren't getting what they signed up for.
If I could tell current Berklee kids one thing or kids thinking about going I would say this: DON'T GO. Get out into the world and create and read and play and record and learn and do all the things you ever wanted to do because you have time on your side right now. You're young. You're hungry. You have a voice and you want it to be heard. You're not going to be heard sitting in a dorm room at an overpriced 4 year music camp where the mission is to simply attract new income, not turn out real musicians. Not anymore at least, but that's another discussion for another time. Berklee isn't going to get you a job or get you paid. You as a young musician, you're all about the desire and drive to make real, true music that speaks to a generation.
I'm 33 and still believe in song. I feel silly, but it's in me. What can I say?
Please don't publish my name if you want to post this.
Thanks for letting me vent Bob.
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Hey Bobby,
Love your stuff. Just thought I'd let you and your readers know that society is not just killing music it's killing all art including mine. I'm a painter. There were times like Renaissance Italy and turn of the century France where geniuses like me could make a living. But now I have the same forces conspiring against me as musicians do.
The consumer has completely devalued what I do. It used to be that people looked at paintings. Now they just hang them up and just have them hanging there in the background while their ADD selves go about doing other things like play video games go on Pinterest. And they think my stuff should be free! The same evil technology that hurts musicians is KILLING me. They can just download and print ANYTHING off the internet. Or if they have a friend who has one of my paintings they can just make copies. Dear God! If they can shut down Napster why isn't Shawn Kinko in jail!!!! And the technology has made it so that anybody can pick up a brush and paint. How is the consumer supposed to wade through all the garbage to find my masterpieces in one of those giant shows we book at the airport Holiday Inn?
I just can't afford to do this anymore. Everything costs so much. Remember when TV was free and the home phone was just a couple of bucks? Now those corporations are gauging me for over $300 a month!! Do you know how many "Dogs Playing Poker" I have to sell to make that! I know I could give up cable and my unlimited data plan, but have you ever tried to go a month without watching "Lingo" on the Game Show Network or tried driving around without being able to read Blake Shelton's latest tweet while you're stuck in traffic? Van Gogh would have cut off his ear first! (too soon?)
All of the old opportunities for making a living are gone. Back in the day, the church would have commissioned me to do some work because they appreciated art and wanted to support it. I contacted the Vatican and they said they finished decorating 400 years ago. Now what do I do? There also used to be rich people who would be patrons and sponsor great artists. But I've called everyone from the last two PowerBall winners to Scott Borchetta and nobody is willing to pony up. Damn 1%!!!!!!
Yeah, I couldn't agree more with Bonnie's letter and your and everyone else's take on these matters. I've had lots of advice like, "Use social media" "Paint because you love it" and "Take art lessons and practice because you suck" but I think I'm just going to give it up and maybe teach. And yet another genius will go unnoticed by the world....
Matthew O'Brien
Nashville
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When did the spelling of Berkley change?
Alberto Rivera
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