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Thanks Todd, Rick, David, and all the others who've contributed to
this
oh-so-very-interesting subject.
As Rick so succinctly pointed out, the musical world in the US has
changed dramatically over
the last few decades. Methinks that, on a commercial level at least, that
the Music Industry has
choked and crippled the life of the working musician. We all have heard
(or experienced)
countless sordid stories of manipulation and exploitation by record
labels, club owners, managers,
etc. An example via a friend of mine who has played in a steel drum band
in the streets of
Seattle and touring around the country since 1985, he has seen the band go
from a fairly
comfortable living (of course this means living frugally), to each band
member having to take on
various outside jobs just to make ends meet. He tells me that the post
9-11 world we live in has
tightened everyone's pocketbook.
I myself am a teacher of children. I work at a local Middle School
in the after-school
program teaching African Marimba Ensemble as well as marimba building in
the wood shop. And I
make a whopping $17/hour... less than most teachers. Fortunately, I make
quite a bit more than
that when I do my carpentry work. I don’t regret any of this. The poor
state of the Music
Industry, the low pay that teachers get, the lack of acknowledgement or
respect that our society
offers musicians, none of this.
In a twist on what has been said before, my favourite phrase is “I’ll
play for free but you
have to pay me to schlep…”, thus offering the innocent bystander a look
into the world of a
musician. The funny part about that is how much I really feel that
sentiment. I love playing for
other people. At the same time, it’s a lot of work to rehearse, schlep
instruments, organize
gigs, haggle for money, THAT’S what I feel I should be getting paid for.
And the next time anyone tells me how much great publicity I will get
for playing their gig
for free… I’m going to charge them $10 just for saying that. And if they
insist that it’s true,
I’ll charge them another $10. Then say that it’s probably the most money
I’ll ever make from
doing a free gig for them. :)
I have a 9 piece African marimba ensemble in Seattle. Some of my
band members live 90
minutes away, others live on various islands in the Puget Sound. We
totaled it up one day, it
takes about $125 for petrol and ferry tickets just for the whole band to
make it to one rehearsal.
Now, if you want me to play for free, are you willing to pay our
expenses? Like for two
rehearsals plus getting to the gig? $375 gets you a free gig. Anything
less comes directly out
of our pockets. That being said, nobody in this band is doing it for the
money. Neither do any
of us get paid. And oftentimes we all decide to do a gig for ‘free’,
meaning we’ll put up that
transport money ourselves. I build and maintain all the instruments, plus
arrange all the music
and run the rehearsals, load and unload the van, maintain the van, etc.
Whatever money we do
make, goes into a band fund to make CD’s, or purchase a few odd bits of
recording gear or
whatever. None of us ever get paid anything.
And I have absolutely no complaints. The music is so incredibly
satisfying to play, it gives
so much to all of us. I just feel so lucky to have found my way into this
particular world of
music.
I do still haggle for money when we do gigs. I’ve lost a few gigs
because we were too
expensive. Most of the time this is a good thing because when someone
takes us too much for
granted, the gig will turn out awful as well.
For anyone interested enough to look into my world of African
Marimba, our MySpace page is:
http://profile.myspace.com/nyamuziwamarimba
In the world of Looping, this is another story entirely for me as
I’ve yet to do a
significant looping gig, certainly not one I’ve gotten paid for. I play
keyboards and work
improvisationally with one or two other musicians at a time. The music I
play comes from a place
deep within. Or perhaps 'deep without'. Most of what we’ve done has
taken place in the studio.
This I enjoy immensely as well. Every once in a while, the studio tapes
will be edited down to a
CD release. I pass them out to friends as often as I can.
I’m not one to try and sell my music. I don’t have the heart for it.
Nor do I want to hire
someone to try and place my music in the commercial world. It just
doesn’t feel right. You know,
it’s funny, I’ve always heard the phrase “Property is Theft” and never
paid it much mind. The
older I get, the more I find myself agreeing with the statement. I’d even
take it one step
further and say “Intellectual Property is Theft”, perhaps what our friend
Mr. Von Vliet was trying
to say. I realize that this sentiment may put me at odds with many of my
peers. I’m not sure
what to say about that other than that’s the way it goes… I personally do
not believe in owning
any of the music that passes through me. That doesn’t mean that I won’t
sell CD’s, as I’m being
paid for all the hard work that goes into bringing that little piece of
plastic into this world,
not the summoning of the muse.
David Gans writes:
<<< Every one of us in this bidness watches in horror as profoundly
unworthy artists prosper
while genius and innovation go begging. There is no justice, and it's damn
hard to get any. I
don't see much point in raging about it.>>>
I don’t quite see things this way. I do not watch the above scenario
in horror, rather with
interest and compassion. This is after all, the way that the world IS.
In that sense, things are
already perfect as they currently sit. My own responsibility towards
above mentioned lack of
justice is to find a way to dance through it all, with my head above the
muck and a smile on my
face. In that sense, I agree with David, there is not much point in
raging about it. I don’t
suggest that anyone else hold the same things dearly, just that we all
find out for ourselves what
it is that IS dear to us, then follow that for the rest of our lives. How
could this make the
world anything but a better place?
Cheers,
Stephen
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