Discuss Music

Last week my band made $33 for a gig we played. There are four of us, plus we had driven three hours from Portland to Seattle to make the show (oh yeah, and three hours back!). I probably don’t have to tell you that we lost a bit of money by playing there. I had been thinking about this for most of the week. Then yesterday, after the band’s gig at the White Eagle Saloon in Portland, we had an interesting conversation with a man from Vancouver, B.C. Back in the 1970s he was a full-time musician himself, touring and playing bars. He said he spent years on the road, sleeping on friends’ couches and “living off of love,” but when he turned 33, he couldn’t take it anymore. He just wasn’t earning enough to make a good living. He began his own business and is doing quite well now, still gigging every weekend with his current band as a hobby.

Now, we’ve heard a lot of people say this to us before, and it’s usually not a comment on our music, but rather a warning from one musician to another. After all, we completely understand…our band isn’t earning enough for it to be our only job, and we know how hard it is to consistently find work. But here’s the thing – he said that back then, making at or above $300 was considered an excellent gig. However today, it’s the same expectation. And $300 went a much longer way in the ‘70s than it does today. As a matter of fact, $300 in 1975 is approximately equal to $1100 today. Find me a bar today that will pay that much!

Now, look at someone as popular as, say, John Mayer . I have no idea how much money he makes, but I can guarantee he’s living rather comfortably. After all, he’s produced, booked, and signed to the teeth. There is a huge disparity between musicians like Mayer and the man from Vancouver – and there really aren’t too many in the middle. It seems like either you don’t make anywhere near enough to live (awful), or you’re completely saturated with money (even more awful).

So what happened? How did the performing arts industry get to this point? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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