From: gds@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Greg Skinner)
Subject: Re: Tha Bizness.
Originator: gds@oahu.cs.ucla.edu
Reply-To: gds@cs.ucla.edu (Greg Skinner)
Organization: in your face!
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 07:33:06 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.010134.19119@netcom.com> fiedler@netcom.com (Dragon (David Fiedler)) writes:
>gds@york.cs.ucla.edu (Greg Skinner) writes:
>>Equally, you may be a struggling musician, thinking on the quiet
>>evenings about your friends in other professions, who are making
>>decent incomes.  I have a friend who is an aspiring actor who is going
>>through this.  He is thinking about going back to law school.
>Sorry, I consider this excessivley negative. Your friend might just be on
>the verge of becoming the next Tom Cruise or something. The world really
>doesn't need another lawyer, you know, but a good actor, musician, or
>other creative person can brighten millions of lives.

Well, for argument's sake, let's assume my friend is as good as Tom
Cruise, or whoever your favorite actor is.  (My friend also sings and
does some stand up comedy.  I think he could combine the three.)  That
in and of itself is not enough for him to be paid as much as I am, let
alone as much as Tom Cruise is.  There are millions of people trying
to become the next Tom Cruise, etc., and only a few positions of that
type open.  There are not that many positions open that would pay my
friend as much as I make, either.  My friend is concerned because he's
only managed to get bit parts and other little things over the past
few years, and if he didn't live with his brother (who is financially
supporting him for the most part), he would not be able to support
himself.

That is the reality for most musicians (or other entertainers) who are
trying to make a living strictly, or mostly, from their music, etc.

I would argue on the basis of supply and demand that the world *does*
need another lawyer more than another actor.  There will be people who
need legal assistance for various reasons.  Not having it will have
much more immediate effects on their lives (like for example, going to
jail) than not having the opportunity to see my friend peform on the
screen for them.

>Personally, I have been playing guitar for 25 years, just screwing around
>on cheap equipment. Recently I invested in good equipment and almost
>overnight started playing better than ever. I couldn't help wondering what
>might have happened if I had done this long ago. OTOH, I see lots of blues
>artists who didn't really get their start till late in life, so I don't
>think it's too late for me yet. Luckily, I'm not trying to play
>Nirvana-style rock, since old farts aren't welcome in *that* scene...

Did you buy your good equipment with money derived from your music?
I know some musicians who have taken many years to really afford good
equipment, and basically their entire life savings are tied up in it.
I know others who had to take a steady non-music job for a while in
order to buy the good equipment.

I could go on here, but I think you're getting the point.  It would be
nice if there were enough decent paying music jobs to accomodate all
of us "quiet desperate" folks who love music and would like to perform
it for pay, but there aren't.  I have some opinions on why that is,
but I've already gone on too long about this.

ObFunk (IMHO):  Clivilles and Cole were interviewed for American Dance
Traxx, or some music program, about what they thought musicians needed
to do to become successful.  They said that they thought too many
musicians were unwilling to take chances and follow through with their
musical inclinations and were instead content to stay in their regular
paying jobs.  Well, they're right. :-)  However, I think they'd sing a
different tune if we all showed up at their office looking for jobs.
:-)

--gregbo
Newsgroups: rec.music.funky,rec.music.makers,rec.music.synth,alt.rap,alt.rave