Economy Turns Musicians to Cruise Ships

The government may not acknowledge it, but it does seem like the U.S. is in an economic crisis. Mortgages are a mess, the U.S. dollar is weak, and oil prices are as unstable as oil supply. I’m not expert enough to know exactly how we got here, but I think it’s probably clear to everyone by now what’s going on.

As a musicians, I’m not sure whether to worry about this or not. For instance, I always think of the Great Depression, when jazzers were still thumping all over the country. Some jazzers even had the underground speak-easys and prohibition to bankroll their salaries. They seem to have gotten through the depression alright.  What about us?

I’ve written to my friends around the country and asked about the health of their music scenes. New York says the theatre scene is still fine. In L.A. they are worried more about actors strikes than the economy. I’ve heard rumor that the gigs in Texas and Arizona are slowing down, and I know that tours are having a very difficult time with the rising cost of transportation. One NY producer I know has decided to just not put anything on the road at all this year.

Instead – he’s moved his productions to cruise ships.

I like to check the stats of this website now and then. As I tell my girlfriend, boys like stats. One interesting thing I’ve noticed is a jump in the number of searches for the term “cruise ship musician” in the past few months. See the chart below.

It might be a seasonal trend, but if that were the case, I would expect it to be in the spring, as musicians and music teachers look for something to do with their summers.

It might be a stretch, but I tend to think that as the economy goes further and further into the tank, musicians are starting to look for more stable sources of gigs.

It’s no wonder more people are looking to cruise ship jobs. For the most part, cruise ship jobs are incredibly well insulated from economic hardship. You don’t have to pay for food, gas or rent – the three biggest sources of hardship in this economy.

Moreover, the cruise industry seems to be doing well despite the economic woes. There is some evidence that cruise lines are readjusting their marketing focus to countries with stronger currency than the U.S. – like sharks swimming toward a new school of fish. That’s good news for musicians, because, at least for now, they are still hiring English-speaking musicians to work on these ships.