simisker Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 5 hours ago, Doctor J said: Interesting perspective from the bassist of the Metal band Exodus who, for those who don't know of them, have been going since the mid-80's, have a record deal, regularly do world tours, regularly feature on big festival lineups, etc, a not-unsuccessful outfit https://blabbermouth.net/news/exodus-bassist-jack-gibson-im-a-t-shirt-salesman-im-not-a-musician Wow, that reads less like "an interesting perspective" and more like "a crushing reality bulldozer". He does sail close to the "all you need to do these days is press a button on a computer" wind, but yeah - I don't blame him for being a smidge jaded. Though I would like to add that as a member of an 80s metal band, he was ALWAYS selling T-shirts more than other professional musicians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 7 hours ago, Burns-bass said: The guys from indie rock band Embrace used to sell double glazing between albums and tours apparently. My brother used to work with Roni Size’s bass player (he was a film editor as well - what a career!) Nothing but respect for people who take this path. I can well believe it - I know a couple of the Embrace guys, and I've toured with other bands who came up around that scene/that time who are all working other jobs and fit occasional bursts of recording and touring in around it. One frontman from a successful/recognisable UK indie band I've worked with runs an asbestos removal company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 I left this comment on the video - hopefully it will encourage an alternative viewpoint: "You could have made all your points in 1968 when the Beatles were replacing string sections with Mellotron samples. Exactly the same as your example of drummers being replaced with drum machines - nearly 60 years later. The 1940s Big Band swing musicians HATED the Beatles for this very reason. Music moves on man, and if you aren't supportive of change then you are against it. If you work hard enough you will be a success. To criticise the current musical climate or social media just makes you sound like a dinosaur and automatically consigns you to the scrapheap. Also, if you are relying on God to give you gigs - good luck." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petebassist Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 (edited) It's way easier to get into the 'music business' these days - anyone can do it from a laptop without any record companies, promoters, or studios. Maybe that's partly why music streams have been devalued. That's not to say that it's easy to make a living from music. When AI takes over the world, I'm sure live performance will still be valued, even more so (at least that's what I hope!). Having said that, I'm going with my sisters to see Abba Voyage hologram show this Autumn, which is supposed to be brilliant. Edited July 25 by petebassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 On 24/07/2024 at 08:15, Doctor J said: Interesting perspective from the bassist of the Metal band Exodus who, for those who don't know of them, have been going since the mid-80's, have a record deal, regularly do world tours, regularly feature on big festival lineups, etc, a not-unsuccessful outfit https://blabbermouth.net/news/exodus-bassist-jack-gibson-im-a-t-shirt-salesman-im-not-a-musician It's a sad fact that most bands should find it fairly simple to sell a single colour print T-shirt for £10 where at the very worst they should be making 100% profit, whereas their audience is becoming ever more reluctant to pay the same price for their album which has probably cost more to produce than they could ever hope to make back through sales alone. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 On 24/07/2024 at 13:59, simisker said: Wow, that reads less like "an interesting perspective" and more like "a crushing reality bulldozer". He does sail close to the "all you need to do these days is press a button on a computer" wind, but yeah - I don't blame him for being a smidge jaded. Though I would like to add that as a member of an 80s metal band, he was ALWAYS selling T-shirts more than other professional musicians. And what's this 'there used to be a path...' At this point I should link to the celebrated Steve Albini piece but we've all read it. (in case you haven't) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskwave Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 (edited) On 25/07/2024 at 15:39, petebassist said: It's way easier to get into the 'music business' these days - anyone can do it from a laptop without any record companies, promoters, or studios And there it is, exactly the reason its all gone to pot. Back in the day you had to prove to an established old school producer/publisher you had something special. I was in a prog rock band back in the late 70's and we had some really nice tunes.. demos the works but could we get a deal.. nope... Truth was we just weren't quite good enough, couldnt quite write the catchy single they all wanted. So, all that work, expense... 1000's of gigs and it all added up to zilch cause we just didn't have it. Yet nowdays as you say anyone can "launch" an excuse for a tune.. Trouble is "anyone" ...........aint got it either. Edited July 27 by diskwave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 On 24/07/2024 at 21:13, mike257 said: I can well believe it - I know a couple of the Embrace guys, and I've toured with other bands who came up around that scene/that time who are all working other jobs and fit occasional bursts of recording and touring in around it. One frontman from a successful/recognisable UK indie band I've worked with runs an asbestos removal company! I saw Embrace at some 90s Butlins weekender. They weren’t really a favourite band of mine (ok, I actively disliked them at the time) but they were absolutely fantastic. The show was excellent, the frontman was a consummate professional and they got the whole place up and jumping around. Much better than the critically lauded Lightning Seeds who really didn’t want to be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 On 25/07/2024 at 01:30, acidbass said: I left this comment on the video - hopefully it will encourage an alternative viewpoint: "You could have made all your points in 1968 when the Beatles were replacing string sections with Mellotron samples. Exactly the same as your example of drummers being replaced with drum machines - nearly 60 years later. The 1940s Big Band swing musicians HATED the Beatles for this very reason. Music moves on man, and if you aren't supportive of change then you are against it. If you work hard enough you will be a success. To criticise the current musical climate or social media just makes you sound like a dinosaur and automatically consigns you to the scrapheap. Also, if you are relying on God to give you gigs - good luck." (Citation required for the following) I believe record companies initially resisted having their product played on the radio "if they can hear it for free on the wireless they're not going to buy the discs" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertect Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 On 28/07/2024 at 08:19, bremen said: I believe record companies initially resisted having their product played on the radio "if they can hear it for free on the wireless they're not going to buy the discs" https://medium.com/@Vinylmint/history-of-the-record-industry-1920-1950s-6d491d7cb606 Quote When radio began growing in 1921, early stations found that live musicians sounded much clearer over the air than record players did, so few if any played records. The record industry and musicians’ unions were still nervous enough to encourage US President Herbert Hoover to outlaw the playing of records on air, which he did in 1922. Hoover’s reasoning was that the public airwaves should be used for the public good, which included creating jobs for musicians. However, the record industry still had serious fears that people would just sit at home listening to music for free without ever buying a record again. Concert promoters had similar fears: in Boston in 1924, a famous violinist sold 3000 tickets for a huge concert which a radio station later announced would be aired live. When ticketholders heard this, more than half asked for their money back. 20 years before Quote In the early 1900s, only the biggest stars received royalties from record or sheet music sales. Most artists got a flat fee for recording sessions and songwriters were paid per song by sheet music publishers. John Philip Sousa, one of the biggest names at the turn of the century, demanded royalties of 15% of sheet music sales, and was among the first to get royalties from records. Despite making tons of money from it, he disliked the record industry and was convinced it would threaten the livelihoods of musicians in the long term. In 1906 he remarked that “canned music is as incongruous around the campfire as canned salmon by a trout stream.” 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 2 hours ago, cybertect said: "Canned music is as incongruous around the campfire as canned salmon by a trout stream.” This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 10 minutes ago, bremen said: This. On the other hand, a string quartet in the back seat of your car could be awkward, or even dangerous. There's maybe a time and place for stuff, no..? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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