From: david@roth-music.com (David A. Roth)
Newsgroups: rec.music.funky,rec.music.makers,rec.music.synth,alt.rap,alt.rave
Subject: Re: Tha Bizness.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 03:24:14 EST
Organization: DAVID A. ROTH MUSIC
Reply-To: david@roth-music.com (David A. Roth)
X-Mailer: uAccess - Macintosh Release: 1.5v4


In article <1992Dec15.073306.10371@cs.ucla.edu> (rec.music.funky,rec.music.makers,rec.music.synth,alt.rap,alt.rave), gds@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Greg Skinner) writes:
> 
> 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.

I think you should get your head out of your income.  Why not just
sell drugs and make more money than anyone on the block?  If you are
happy with what you are doing with your life, that's fine.  Telling
people not to do something because you don't think you could hack it is
foolish.  I've never been into sports but I am not going to tell someone
they shouldn't try to play football for a living because it's risky
and a short-lived career and that they could also fail.  No one knows
a person better than they known themself and you couldn't possibly
peer into another person's soul and suggest what is best for them.
It sounds like you are projecting your fears about yourself on to
others.

>  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. 

Are you making millions of dollars in software?  Since Bill Gates
is and he is successful than you must be a failure.  Of course, you
are not but if someone goes into entertainment and is not making millions
of dollars doesn't make them a failure either.  This comes back to your lack
of understanding of exactly what types of work is out there in the
entertainment field.  This would be like me talking to software programmers
at a party and say that it must be tough out there because I don't
se their picture on the cover of Byte or Newsweek.  I guess I shouldn't
want to talk to them because they must be an out of work starving
software slug. After all, if they were succesful I would have seen
them on the cover of a magazine. :-)  You don't have be Tom Cruise
to make a living as an actor.

> 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

...and how many years does it take to become a Doctor again?

Oh, that's right...this is entertainment.  It doesn't take time or work
you just have to be "lucky".

> supporting him for the most part), he would not be able to support
> himself.

Of course, it would be more noble if he got this huge bank loan and
borrowed $150k to open yet another special ice cream store that is
deeply in the red.  Then he would be a "business man" trying to become
successful.

If your friend is considering giving it up to do something else it's
because he doesn't have the belief in himself and doesn't want it
bad enough.  The people on their way in a journey who make it are
the ones who were happy just to be out there doing what they love
and a chance to do it and to continue doing it.
> 
> That is the reality for most musicians (or other entertainers) who are
> trying to make a living strictly, or mostly, from their music, etc.

This is the reality for most people who go through life operating
without a clue.
> 
> 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.

Open the Yellow Pages and turn to the section for attorneys.  There
are more than there is enough work for them.  Notice the big full
pages ads in the Yellow Pages and the paid Ads on TV.  They are not
doing that for fun.  It costs big bucks and they spend it because
they have to compete for clients.  When was the last time after a
hard day you placed a cassette tape in your car of your favorite attorney
speaking?  When was the last time anyone stood in line all night just
to get tickets to see -- an attorney!
> 
> >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.

What difference does it make how he got it?  When
I was attending public schools the kids that couldn't afford their
own instruments got them free from the school.  His talents and future
success is now suddenly going to amount to nothing because he didn't
obtain all the money singing on street corners.  That's like saying
that if you didn't raise all the money yourself to go to college than
any success you may have amounts to nothing because you didn't obtain
your college funds by living in a shoe box while you were selling
newspapers on a street corner in the snow.
> 
> I could go on here, but I think you're getting the point. 

I'm sure you could but there is better fiction being written by the
future screenplay writers on the net.  The point you are getting across
is that it is better to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy
much nor suffer much, and to live in that gray twilight that knows neither 
victory nor defeat.

> 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.

Too bad their aren't enough jobs in the software industry to accomodate
all of the "quiet desperate" computer hobbists who would love to get
their picture on the coverage of magazines and fly in the corporate
jet like Bill Gates.  It is sad to think about all the starving computer
programmers out there since there can only be a handful of people
like Bill Gates. :-)
> 
> 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. :-) 

That's the key word.  If you are content with what you are doing I'm
happy for you.  But don't assume that your version of being content
is right for all.

>  However, I think they'd sing a
> different tune if we all showed up at their office looking for jobs.
> :-)

Likewise, you'd sing a different tune if all the artists showed up at your
office looking for a job too.


David
david@roth-music.com