Learning From Our Past
Is it just me, or does it seem like recorded music doesn’t have the same value that it used to? I mean, albums still cost $10-15, and iTunes tells me that my songs are worth $1 to each of you (or hey! maybe $1.29!), but that’s not what I mean. It’s just that people aren’t impressed anymore. It used to be that someone would tell you that they had an album and you’d be like, “Wow! You made an album! I’m so impressed and excited that I’m going to pay money for it!”
But these days you have to beg someone to buy your album. Friends and relatives begrudgingly buy it as if they are doing you a favor. I feel like major labels are even trying to trick me into buying albums by including extra incentives that have nothing to do with music – behind-the-scenes materials, bonus videos, etc., etc.
Let’s face it, recorded music just isn’t as valuable as it used to be and as working musicians, we’re going to have to stop relying on recorded performances for our bread and butter.
Here’s the problem, though: we’ve been relying on recorded music as an income for nearly 100 years! Remember when musicians would retire from playing live and only record music for a living? The Beatles…Glenn Gould…Rubinstein – it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to do that anymore. Not, at least, as easily as they did.
Ok, but let’s not lose our heads here. “Professional musician” was not a career created by record labels and recording gear. Ours is a proud, ancient profession. There have always been working, professional musicians. In fact, for the majority of human history, professional musicians did not have the luxury of recorded audio and still made a living.
As we move forward into this new era of the musician industry, maybe we should look back. What did musicians do for a living 100 years ago? 300 years ago? Who hired them? How did they get gigs? What kind of money did they make? Which of their mistakes and triumphs can we learn from?
I believe that we are moving into a new musician industry that is a hybrid of the old world (pre-recording industry) and new world (post-recording industry). We still can sell recorded music – we shouldn’t abandon everything we’ve achieved in the past century – but we also have to relearn how to make a living as musicians did before the invention of audio recording.
What if we are able to create a new, more sustainable model for the musician career by combining all of the knowledge of the two traditions? Who knows. Maybe musicians are broke, have always been broke, and that’s just the way it is. I don’t know – I think it’s worth looking into.
And now you know my new project. I’m lucky enough to live near one of the largest and best supplied performing arts libraries in the world (The Lincoln Center Library) and I’ve started looking into it. I don’t pretend to be a qualified historian, I’m just a working musician – but I’ll let you know what I learn. I’ll write about it here on MusicianWages.com. Subscribe to our feed or email list, join our Facebook group, follow us on Twitter…or find us any of the other ga-billion ways that you can follow people these days.
More to come. Thanks.
About the author
Enticing. Can’t wait to hear more.
12/14/2009
Thanks David, I am looking forward to seeing what you find. My grandfather was a part time musician, wish he were around to talk about where he played.
12/14/2009
Very interesting thoughts, a compelling subject. I’m very much looking forward to hearing of your findings!
Another aspect to consider – the idea that scarce resources (oil/carbon fuels)and environmental ballast put a serious damper on extensive touring, music performance becomes a localized/community thing once again.
What kind of income did musicians earn from touring in the pre-industrialized world?
Did Paganini have a merch table?
12/15/2009
A friend recently shared this video with me and I think you and others interested in this topic will enjoy: “Before The Music Dies”. It is a great documentary about the music industry and how it has changed (for better or worse) over the years- http://www.beforethemusicdies.com/
I am also interested in reading about what you find!
Thanks for your work!
12/20/2009
I think this is a great topic, David. It’s apparent that, with the ever changing world of live and recorded music, we need to learn to think outside the box if we have any chance at staying afloat. I really look forward to what you find.
12/24/2009
Amen, David. Great to see that I am not alone in the fact that “Professional musician” was not a career created by record labels and recording gear.
I was fortunate enough to tour Asia with a Japanese/American metal band called Tyger Lilly for the better part of the 80s. We never cut an album, never approached a label with a demo (they were used for club bookers & loyal fans). However, we did tour extensively. We created a huge professional network and fan base (and reputation) by not just building contact lists, but by cultivating relationships. The result, plenty of paying gigs and merch sales.
Upon my return to The States in 1990, I was able to duplicate that success (to a lesser extent) for the next decade or so. At least not having to depend on a full time day job! I now attempt to pass on some of my experiences through my blog, hoping to put some of the younger musicians into the right mindset.
12/26/2009
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