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An Update from Dave and Cameron

By Musician Wages.com On September 13, 2012 · 3 Comments
Over the last year, MusicianWages.com has experienced rapid growth in our readership–something for which both Dave and I are very grateful to all of you. With the increased traffic, however, comes an increased risk of hackers and security concerns. Some of you may have seen a warning when visiting the site, or found the site to be loading too slow, or noticed the site was down all together. We received feedback from many of you and as always, have been addressing the issue. This past week our site was down for several hours during which a complete security overhaul was [...]
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Interview with Pianist Sonny Paladino

By David J. Hahn On September 4, 2012 · Add Comment
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This week’s Working Musician Interview is with pianist and music director Sonny Paladino. Sonny and I worked together on several Broadway shows and readings and he’s a fixture in the New York theatre scene. Lately, though, Sonny’s been finding more opportunities in both LA and NYC to music direct for big-name pop concerts. I wasn’t surprised, then, when I went on Facebook a few weeks ago and saw a photo of him playing a gig with Ke$ha. Here Sonny tells us a little bit about himself and how he got started. MW: When did you start playing music, and when [...]
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Interview with Guitarist Alec Berlin

By Cameron Mizell On August 28, 2012 · Add Comment
For this week’s working musician interview, I talked to guitarist Alec Berlin. I’ve gotten to know Alec while subbing for him on a show. He’s a fantastic guitarist and also a very humble and hardworking guy. I learned a lot from him through the show, so he was a natural choice for this interview series. MW: When did you start playing music, and when did you realize it was something you wanted to do professionally? AB: I started playing the guitar when I was 7. I didn’t really have a realization that I wanted to do it professionally – it [...]
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Why Are There Fewer Working Musicians in 2012 than 1999?

By Cameron Mizell On August 27, 2012 · 18 Comments
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Every day I receive a few email newsletters, including the Digital Music News. As I sipped on a fresh cup of coffee this morning, one of their articles titled “Recording Sales Declines & Musician Employment, 1999 – 2011…” caught my attention. It was published on Saturday by DMN editor Paul Resnikoff. I enjoy Paul’s insight on the music industry. Digital Music News does a great job covering the changes in the music industry and I recommend all of you subscribe to their newsletter. I was mostly interested in the article because of the “musician employment” part of the title–which [...]
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Interview with Drummer Travis Whitmore

By Cameron Mizell On August 21, 2012 · Add Comment
For this week’s installment of our working musician interview series, I spoke with drummer Travis Whitmore. Currently settled in Virginia, Travis thrives as a studio drummer through online collaboration, built upon his experience as a working drummer in Nashville. MW: When did you start playing music, and when did you realize it was something you wanted to do professionally? TW: I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by music at a very young age. Whether it was listening to mom play piano or just playing along to records, music has always been a big part of who I am. According [...]
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My Ever-Changing Career as a Musician

By Cameron Mizell On August 20, 2012 · 3 Comments
When I was in college, I held several part time jobs to make ends meet. One of those part time jobs was playing guitar at a few restaurants every month. Nothing glamorous, but I was happy to be playing guitar. I started keeping track of how much money I made on those gigs to see if I could justify quitting one of the other part time jobs. It turns out keeping a detailed list of my music income has served me well over the last 10 years. I was eventually able to justify quitting all of my day jobs and [...]
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Interview with Freelance Musician Tony Maceli

By Cameron Mizell On August 14, 2012 · 4 Comments
At Musician Wages, we’ve always believed there are as many ways to be a freelance musician as there are freelance musicians. Every musician we’ve talked to has their own combination of jobs that, combined, make up their career. We’d like to share the experiences and advice of more working musicians on our site through a series of interviews. Each musician will be asked the same questions, but their answers will reflect their unique career. Our first interview is with New York bassist (and multi-instrumentalist) Tony Maceli. You can often find Tony playing or hanging out in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, [...]
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Introducing the Working Musician Interview Series

By Cameron Mizell On August 13, 2012 · Add Comment
MusicianWages.com is dedicated to helping the musician industry thrive. We’ve offered advice and tips to help working musicians make the most of their careers. Along the way we’ve also spoken to many of our peers and learned about how they make their living. We really believe that there are as many ways to be a freelance musician as there are freelance musicians. To help illustrate that point, we’re going to start posting more interviews with working musicians. You may not recognize all of these musicians’ names, but you are probably familiar with their work, or can relate to the types of [...]
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Half a Million Downloads and 500,000 Dilemmas

By David J. Hahn On July 16, 2012 · 11 Comments
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Allow me to start at the end: And in the end, I feel conflicted about the project.  As I continue to build my songwriting career, I feel encouraged by the numbers.  500,000 people downloaded my music (and not the easy way – they had to create a profile on a single clunky website to get the songs).  400,000 people have watched my YouTube videos. I don’t care what anybody says – you don’t get those numbers with crappy music.  Someday, maybe, people will say, “Man, did you know that Dave Hahn had a million YouTube views before he ever had [...]
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Advice for New Army Musicians

By SFC Joshua DiStefano On July 9, 2012 · 12 Comments
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I recently attended 7 weeks of “senior leader” training at the illustrious Joint Base Little Creek Ft. Story in Va Beach.   Since I’m seasoned (old) and having been doing this job for a while, this was actually the third time I’ve been an extended guest. I did a lot of practicing, rehearsing, over-eating and binge drinking. But I’m not going to tell you about me.  Because by the time you civilians out there in cyberland attend this training (about 10-15 years from now, if you were to drop everything and enlist today) my experiences would be outdated, obsolete, and [...]
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How I’m Building a Career as a Songwriter

By David J. Hahn On July 1, 2012 · 3 Comments
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You know what I would have loved? I would have loved to have been part of the Brill Building history between the 1940s and the 1960s – where some of America’s most popular songs were written. If you don’t know the history, check it out on Wikipedia. Just a taste: By 1962 the Brill Building contained 165 music businesses: A musician could find a publisher and printer, cut a demo, promote the record and cut a deal with radio promoters, all within this one building. Or you know what also would be have great? Jingle writing between the 1940s [...]
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How can I learn how to be a Broadway conductor?

By David J. Hahn On June 19, 2012 · Add Comment
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I often have people email me who are interested in becoming Broadway conductors. It’s often musicians still in high school or college who have been bitten by the theatre bug and have developed a passion, but maybe not the skills, for the industry. They ask me, “How can I learn how to be a Broadway conductor?” The answer I send back is usually long. There’s no easy way in, really. I mean – I was 12 when I decided I wanted the job and it took me until I was 30 to actually get the job. There are very few [...]
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