How Bad Are We Hurting?

[Bluewine]

With 5 months of gigs cancelled for many of us with no end in sight, what is the reality and future for working musicians professional and amateur.

I have a buddy who's 55 years old. All of his gigs are cancelled and he's looking for a regular job. He told me how hard it is filling out employment applications;

" I haven't held a regular job since I was 14 years old"

Please share other stories and thoughts.

Blue

[dmccombe7]

I don't know many guys these days that do it full time like yourself Blue.

I have one mate who is a driving instructor mid week but weekends he boosts his income with couple of gigs on Fri / Sat / Sun. He was furloughed and because its based on tax for past 3 years his previous driving school was taking so much back in costs for the car etc his tax was minimal so he ended up with £188 / month to live on. Luckily his wife is working from home to support him.

He's a kept man.

Dave 

[Bluewine]

9 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I don't know many guys these days that do it full time like yourself Blue.

I have one mate who is a driving instructor mid week but weekends he boosts his income with couple of gigs on Fri / Sat / Sun. He was furloughed and because its based on tax for past 3 years his previous driving school was taking so much back in costs for the car etc his tax was minimal so he ended up with £188 / month to live on. Luckily his wife is working from home to support him.

He's a kept man.

Dave 

Hi Dave,

I hope most of the folks here know I have a small pension I collect monthly. So, I'm not sure I would classify as a full time musician.

Blue

[Bluewine]

Here in the States most guys that had full time Gigs and are union members are collecting. 1k per week. However, I understand that will end on July 31st. unless they extend the benefit.

Blue

[Nail Soup]

I'm a hobbyist who only gigs a few times per year, enjoys home recording and has a full time job.

So I'm not too greatly affected by lack of gigs, but feel for those who are.

Would love to get back into the rehearsal room though.

[bassbiscuits]

I’ve always had a full-time job alongside my playing, and while I’m gutted not to be gigging I’m very glad of my desk job keeping things afloat.

I always used to worry that meant I wasn’t a proper musician cos I had a job, but it’s been keeping my little family going since everything went pear-shaped in March.

That said, I’ve lost thousands of pounds worth of work this year, as well as most of my social life! But it’s not forever y’know. 

 

[Stingray64]

11 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

 

I always used to worry that meant I wasn’t a proper musician cos I had a job, but it’s been keeping my little family going since everything went pear-shaped in March.

Man I'm doing a degree in bass and my dream is just to make some of my living doing music. I don't really expect too much more in the current music industry. Being a musician is about enjoying yourself playing music, that's all that matters. 

[Stingray64]

Not to make you all feel jealous, but I'm an introvert and I just finished my first year at a music degree that kept the standard of education the same despite lockdown so I've been loving the endless time to practice for a hopefully career in a few years time. 

[Bluewine]

I'm curious. I understand the days of the big royalty checks for pro hit makers ended with US FCC law years ago. Many artists had to make the lions share of their income from touring. This can't be good for those folks.

Blue

[dudewheresmybass]

I’m a full time musician and have been for the last 17 years 

I teach in schools during the week and gig when ever I can. 
since lockdown- no gigs and no schools (and very little chance of getting back in this side of Christmas)

I have had to teach via zoom to try and cover my outgoings. i received £1700 via seiss last time and will receive something in the next round in August. 
I am also going to have to look into a mainstream job, if things don’t pick up. 😢

Edited July 20, 2020 by dudewheresmybass

[Reggaebass]

All my playing was mainly through the 80s and early 90s , I just do a few private reggae parties now and play at home, I’ve always worked so I never really relied on the money,   but I really feel for those who rely on the money from playing to pay their bills, it must be tough going, I hope things pick up soon 🙂

[gjones]

11 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I'm curious. I understand the days of the big royalty checks for pro hit makers ended with US FCC law years ago. Many artists had to make the lions share of their income from touring. This can't be good for those folks.

Blue

I know a few artists who are signed to record companies but make the lion's share of their income gigging. Some are setting up patreon accounts and reaching out to their fanbase to give them an income stream.

The longer this goes on, the more difficult making a living will be.

Edited July 21, 2020 by gjones

[Jus Lukin]

I set out to play music as much as possible while still at school, knowing full well that to do so as much as I wanted would require working out how to make it pay- it's not about being a 'breadhead', but that to play as much as I wanted, it could only be done if there were enough proper payers to sort the bills.

It was quite a few years back that I was able to stop 'working' and could 'play' as my work. It has never been easy, and I don't expect it to ever result in a gold watch and a party, but 2020 was looking like breaking the back of the setup of one band in particular, so the real kick in the balls has been the stalling of progress on that. That said, we've done some solid leg-work and have enough traction from previous musical careers (HA! Careers... jeez) that the momentum feels backed up and ready to burst back into action. If anything, it feels that the wheat has been separated from the chaff over this time. Not a nice process, but ultimately valuable. There's probably some trite thing I could spout about learning who your real friends are in a crisis but, well, no-one like hearing that stuff.

[Old Horse Murphy]

I don't earn my keep from gigging as I have a full-time job but will have lost around £5-6k this year if all our gigs are cancelled. 

[machinehead]

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Hi Dave,

I hope most of the folks here know I have a small pension I collect monthly. So, I'm not sure I would classify as a full time musician.

Blue

I also have a small pension, but my only earned income comes from gigging, so this pandemic has been as disaster for me, and many like me.  All pub/party/wedding gigs cancelled, just like everyone else.

But being honest, I miss the playing and my band mates at least as much as the money.

Frank.

[Bluewine]

38 minutes ago, machinehead said:

I also have a small pension, but my only earned income comes from gigging, so this pandemic has been as disaster for me, and many like me.  All pub/party/wedding gigs cancelled, just like everyone else.

But being honest, I miss the playing and my band mates at least as much as the money.

Frank.

I hear you, while my band is still gigging it's a small fraction of the business we were doing last year this time.

Blue

[Baxlin]

9 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I don't know many guys these days that do it full time like yourself Blue.

I have one mate who is a driving instructor mid week but weekends he boosts his income with couple of gigs on Fri / Sat / Sun. He was furloughed and because its based on tax for past 3 years his previous driving school was taking so much back in costs for the car etc his tax was minimal so he ended up with £188 / month to live on. Luckily his wife is working from home to support him.

He's a kept man.

Dave 

Forgive my cynicism, Dave, and I apologise if he’s squeaky clean, but you have to wonder how many students paid in cash......

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, Baxlin said:

Forgive my cynicism, Dave, and I apologise if he’s squeaky clean, but you have to wonder how many students paid in cash......

Wrong place. The idea that small business people are always on the take is cynical and offensive.

How many gigging musicians declare all of their income? 

[Leonard Smalls]

I think I'm a touch better off not gigging...

I no longer have to fill the car with diesel, drive 2 hours to play for 45 minutes to 20 people (it used to be 10 max!) then repack the motor and drive home all to put £50 (max!) In the band's coffers (unless it was a benefit, which they often were).

Since The (1st) End of the World we've had quite a lot of radio airplay without having moved from home, and we've started rehearsal without drummer (shielding) using EZ drummer and sequencers.

As a result we're in time, there's no interminable fills every 4 bars or cymbals drowning everything out, and will only need 1 car for future gigs!

[Woodinblack]

44 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Wrong place. The idea that small business people are always on the take is cynical and offensive.

Indeed it is. He still almost certainly paid more tax than amazon.

[danpb]

Music for me is a hobby which sometimes covers it's costs, sometimes gives me a little spending money.
Fortunately my main full time job has not being affected by COVID so at least it hasn't been a financial burden with live music effectively being cancelled lately.

For me, meeting with my band, playing shows and sometimes seeing our music being appreciated by others willing to part with money to watch us play, buy our music, buy our merch was still valuable as an emotional release and an escape from the daily grind at work and struggles with mental illness. Thats the part I miss the most right now, it's all just reality, my childhood rock star fantasy is on hold.

Anyone who also relies on their music as a main source of income has my sincere sympathy, I can only imagine how it would be if i'd been relying on it financially too.

[Bilbo]

Same here. I came to playing properly after I had started work and I have never had enough confidence in my music activities to consider going pro. I was primarily concerned about the lack of financial security that freelancing represented. Looks like I was right. 

For me, the downside of the lockdown is not financial but the lack of gigs has robbed me of a 'safe place' to spend time and to make my contribution. I have had to find other outlets for that but, no, there has been no hardship for me. My pay has gone up actually and my overheads down. I do feel guilty when I hear the stories. 

[uk_lefty]

Any money I earn from gigging goes in to savings for my kids, I have a full time job that has not directly been affected... Well, I was employed by a company that was already doing badly and will have to shed jobs soon but I was already in the process of jumping ship to a company that will be more secure in these times. Anyhow, my wife doesn't work for the time being and without childcare available for many months it's been hard. Aside from music life has just been tough, I know many have it worse so I'm not saying "poor little me" but managing working at home and keeping the family going has been emotionally hard and tiring. I've barely played my instruments, though while on the crapper I've picked up some new toys on ebay and BC by selling off toys I don't use. 

I was getting a it tired with the band, the drummer would only play gigs for people he knows and was really awkward if a random person made an enquiry to the band. I got us set up with a promotion company for gigs this summer to spread our wings and landed a dep spot in a similar band that plays in different towns to my band. Then lockdown hit. Now we are trying to get a rehearsal going and the drummer doesn't want to, no real explanation except the drum kits in the rehearsal rooms are crap. Usual complaint but he's refusing to play our rehearsal and it's too late to cancel the room booking. I've tried to rally the lads around to do some recording, everyone says "I'm keen" then doesn't do anything. It's my only real social activity, not having it has been quite tough. Also the kids savings pots aren't really going up by the gig money which used to be good over summer. 

[dudewheresmybass]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

Wrong place. The idea that small business people are always on the take is cynical and offensive.

How many gigging musicians declare all of their income? 

I do. 

[Silvia Bluejay]

This is an entirely different discussion, probably best tackled on a separate thread. I remember the Basschat Collective coming to the conclusion that, if you are a weekend warrior, you usually end up spending more than you earn, if you take into account buying equipment, maintenance, paying for travel etc. (which you have to do). So HMRC may allow you to self-assess your earnings and your expenses for a while, then it tells you you should consider your activity a hobby and stop wasting their time.

If you are a pro, that's a totally different matter.

Having been freelance all my life (not as a musician), I object to being thought as dishonest by default. Remember that the reason why we can detract all kinds of expenses from our income, so we end up paying less tax, is also to compensate for the lack of sick and holiday pay and lots of other benefits that employees have and we don't.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Silvia Bluejay