Professional Musician

I don't tend to write much deep reflection or opinion in this forum. I've been burned in the past by being open on a blog and someone using it against me. This space I've hoped to keep clean of the nastiness.

I'm not sure if this topic falls in the nastiness or not...but it seems worth writing about here. It's something that I think about often. It's the whole concept of what makes a "professional musician" and what is the merit of performance music for fun.

Just got done reading this article that newlow linked to. I'm not sure why this brought me back to the topic at hand. Maybe because Black Flag is both a well known band...and obviously a band that was very DIY.

If you read the Craig's List ads for musicians long enough (not very long) you'll see a thread of "we're serious, we're not weekend warriors" attitude. In a related topic...you'll frequently hear some people complain about how little they get paid to play bars...or about playing charity gigs for free. There was a long thread on the forums at Isthmus about this recently.

Let me see if I can summarize the philosophy...REAL musicians are only people who ONLY play music (don't have day jobs) and who are (and should be) well compensated for their services. Anybody who plays music and plays shows "out" and doesn't fit this description is a hack who is diluting the market and hurting the REAL musicians. And perhaps related to this is the idea that a REAL musician settles into one project, focuses on it, and takes it to the top (i.e. record contract, tour, etc).

As little as 8 years ago I didn't know anybody who played in a band that played shows. I had been in a few groups that played open mics or weddings or community centers or retirement homes as early as 1995 (15 years ago)...but I didn't really know anyone "in the scene." The idea of being in a rock band that played in bars seemed like a fantasy.

But since December of 2006 I've been playing in a rock band and playing in bars about once a month. And after three and a half years of doing that, I know some folks "in the scene."

Most of these people...nearly all...have day jobs. The very few who don't have day jobs teach music lessons (which is kind of a day job too) at least to make ends meet...or they have a supportive spouse. Some play in one band...some play in several...three, four...six...more. Some have had a shot at "the big time"...even been on a major label. Of all the people that I know personally, only one has ever complained about pay/charity events. Most of the complaints that I hear about that comes from anonymous people on the internet. I HAVE been told twice in the last six months that I couldn't effectively split my time between multiple bands...in one case by someone who didn't have a problem with me until he found out I was in other bands (that is, he thought I was doing fine until he heard about it...even though nothing changed with me) and in the other case with someone who had never met me or heard me play.

I still think of myself as a beginner musician. I'm improving and I'm light years away from where I was just a few years ago, but I'm still at the start. I think I have a pretty solid musical background, though...I'm reliable and I dedicate myself to things...and I'm pretty good on the business/promo side too. As time moves along I realize that I am more like the average gigging musician in this town than I am different from them. I'd like to bring in more money for playing music...but that isn't a major consideration. I don't mind playing for free as long as people still show up to the gigs with a cover charge. I want bodies in the room...whether or not they are paying. Otherwise you just feel stupid playing to an empty room.

But I don't see how my enjoyable hobby has any effect at all on the REAL musicians. It's a market place out there...and if you're so great, you'll prove it and you'll bring in a following. And if you're willing to quit your day job and "go for it" than you'll find a way to make money playing music.

Charities and bars are struggling to stay open as far as I can tell...most can't afford to pay. Hopefully those that can do. But if they can't...they can keep it.

Is the work of musicians undervalued? Absolutely. And this has never been the case more than now...in the age of free downloads. Music takes years of training and practice and work to produce...and rarely is that compensated for. But frankly, society isn't fair. People get paid lots of money to do lame shit...or bad shit. People get paid to essentially do nothing. People who work hard and deserve more get screwed. If pay was equitable to effort...the entire economy would be turned on its ear.

A complicating factor...what value art? Why should those who produce easily digestable crap get more money than those creating important "art"? What IS important art? Who decides? It's an impossible question to answer. Is value proportional to how many people get enjoyment? Or are made to think?

Also...what I've learned from life is that...once you make something your job...you tend to start hating it. I don't know if I'm good enough to ever be a full time musician...but even if I was...I wouldn't. I don't want to hate it. I don't want to have to make compromises...which is what always happens at a job. Not that I'm some great artist with high ideals...but there are thousands of little deaths by compromise in life. There are probably people who can sustain the joy of a calling through a profession...but the situations where that is the case are few and far between. Everybody hates their job...at least sometimes.

In the end...I think the REAL musicians are full of shit. They are all talk. Big egos...fragile egos. If they were able to make a go of it...they would...and wouldn't complain about the little guys...the weekend warriors.