Comments on: iCould.com Pt 2 – Careers In Music.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:44:16 +0000

Completely agree that the way forward is to do what you need to do to establish yourself. I have been learning that time management does needto be stressed. In the new “diy” verything philosophy, there comes a crux where it is more economical to pay for help. It allows musicians to continue to write better and better music, it allows someone with a web background to make a professional website, etc. Web skills are deffffffintely necessary, buy me for instance it would take me forever to design my company’s website and others can do it better faster, and I can focus more on my artists. It varies situation to situation. What is nice is that I am seeing the trend lean towards a more even playing field. Instead of 5 musicians being filthy rich and the rest starving, now we have most people having the ability to make at least 50 to 100% of their income on a creative field they enjoy. Not many rich people, bit I much prefer spreading the wealth. Very excited for the next year or two!

By: thatch

thatch — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:05:40 +0000

Following on from @Terence Eden’s thoughts, after a quick course in accounts.

Where do you go to figure out the trickier aspects of taking the $200 gig.

You may not make any money from it but does the exposure you get have a value? And if it does how do you calculate it?

It’s one of those questions that most people get confronted with probably weekly and I for one couldn’t articulate an answer if my life depended on it.

By: Steve Uccello

Steve Uccello — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:16:53 +0000

As usual, right on it, my brother! Nice post- Being a full time musician (it’s been my only career) since about twenty years of age has definitely been different than the image I held in my mind as a teenager. In our modern pop culture there’s this ‘all or nothing’ mentality that caused so many of my talented young friends to drop from the music path so quickly. We think we’re gonna ‘make it to the top’ in one fell swoop and that’s that. Yet the reality is, even the most amazing musicians still need a tremendous amount of luck (right place right time) to get anywhere. I believe, like you, that one must follow their bliss to be successful. Yet everyone must compromise to survive. Though I’ve always written my own music and played in bands where I believed in the musical vision, I’ve always had to do gigs that could be considered ‘paying dues’ type of engagements. After going through a period in my mid twenties, where I was somewhat disappointed by the reality of how difficult it was to really be a full time musician (cheesy lounge gigs, surgery kids stage musicals, ect) I am still lucky enough to find that I have a true passion for writing my own music and accompanying others, as well. Flexibility is the most valuable asset to anyone trying to survive as a musician. But, as you say, you MUST find the nitch you actually enjoy, that’s the only hope of really coming through it ‘non-jaded’ and if you can’t get the gigs you desire, practice more until you are able to handle the type of situations you aspire to play in.

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:16:21 +0000

I’d also add – basic understanding of mathematics and money. Obviously, those are important life skills, but if you can’t tell if you’re getting a good deal at 15% agency fees (plus VAT), you’ll find yourself hanging on to the penniless artiste lifestyle longer than you may want.

If you’re a small business (which is what an individual musician must be) can you tell if a £200 fee for a gig is worth it once you factor in travel, tax, equipment, insurance, etc?

It’s the boring, non-creative* side of any endeavour which often underpins success.

T
*Unless you employ Bialystok and Bloom!