Food For Thought

So the following sentiment is spreading round Facebook like influenza in the over 70s ward of St. Georges:

Everyone please take time to read this if you like live music of any kind… Spare some thoughts for the costs of the labour of music… [1] sit on the door at a gig sometime and watch the surprise with which punters respond to being asked to pay a £5 per head entry fee [2] then sit at the bar for a while and watch the largesse with which those same people will shout all their mates beers at £3.50 a head [3] take a look at the gig poster. How many bands are on the bill? If it’s four bands, then do the maths and figure out that each band is going to get £1.25 from your entry fee, minus costs. And if that band has four members, each will get 31p, minus costs [4] while you’re admiring the poster, ask who designed it, and the flyers, who printed them, who distributed them and at what cost [5] ask the bar manager what the bar has charged the performers for venue hire - you may well find that amount to be hundreds of pounds [6] ask the bar manager what the bar returns to the performers from alcohol sales - you may well find that amount is exactly zero pounds [7] ask the sound operator and the lighting operator what they are charging the performers tonight [8] ask the band where they rehearse this music and what the rental cost on their practice space is [9] ask the band what time of the day/night do they compose, arrange and rehearse this music, and what impact does this have on their family life and their income earning potential from extra-musical jobs. By the way it’s far more than likely they will have day-jobs than not [10] ask the band if - given all the above - their labour is futile. They will tell you that, on the contrary, it is highly worthwhile. Happy Musicians’ Resilience Day!! Re-post if you’re a musician, or just like it that musicians exist.

Some of this is pretty fair - We are all broke and could do with a few extra pennies, (I would only spend them on effects pedals anyway) but ultimately money really is not important and is certainly not why we are all musicians. Its a cliche but it really is for the love of the music. As soon as you start seeking money, writing songs with bland euphoric choruses designed to be belted out by morons in stadia [cough, cough, Coldplay cough]), you’ve lost that bit of truth and soul that attracted people to you in the first place.

Jim x