Exploring Careers In Music

The Lounge General Discussion
#41

After 20 years of performing I can say a few things and I’ll keep it simple.

First, I don’t make music for a living but I do make music to stay alive.

Second, really think about the lifestyle that comes with it.

You will be providing entertainment for a bunch of drunk and/or drugged out people as your job(assuming music performance is the choice).

You’ll most likely not make much money and be tired all the time.

People won’t pay you sometimes

You’ll hang out in hot smoke filled environments a mostly.

You probably won’t be able to afford fancy new gear or have a music studio or own a house.

It’s possible that it won’t be the case but this is the most likely result.

Third,

If it grabs you, tears at your heart, and moves you like nothing else, then nothing I said above matters.

When those things start to matter, take a side route to make life easier but always keep the main path in sight. Your dreams morph and change as you get older and one of those side routes might help you to adapt to your ever changing dreams down the road.

Never stop growing and learning everything you can about everything that has a connection to your deepest heart path.

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#42

Beautifully said!

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#43

I work as a game designer and producer on casual games and as much as I love music, I wouldn’t ever want to work on games, unless it’s a “hey we like your sound, can you make us a few tracks” scenario.

As @re5et has mentioned, the sound people are at the end of the line and tinker more with sound triggers, special effects and slicing dialogue lines, with the music taking a back seat. There are some situations that give me hope, for example games like the Ruiner, Sword and Sworcery, Hotline Miami and The Last Night, which have either bought tracks or contacted the artists to create original works.

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#44

@mnroe I’ve known a few people that have done what Cenk has done. Rep for a company to get a base salary and then do your thing as an artist. I did it for awhile myself and it was a cool way to meet some of my musical heroes. This may be something for you to consider. Unfortunately, those jobs are very competitive so you’ll probably need to know someone to get in. I’ve seen others get in by way of befriending wholesalers and other reps by working for the big retailers.

#45

You’re not suppose to pay the headlines to open for them, but pay to play is definitely a real thing and it’s a scam shyster promoters put onto naive artists. My advice if you ever get an opportunity to play somewhere, but the man is telling you to pay or sell your tickets, abort immediately cuz it’s a scam. You and your talent are the one that’s suppose to bring the venue money.

#46

The dream of the 90s is alive in Portland

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#47

brilliant! :smiley:

#48

Word.

What is left of your ‘art’ if others decide on what goes and what stays. That scenario died together with the business.

If you go for a career then it’s business talks, self expression is irrelevant.

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#49

Alot of replys here are mostly talking about the artist/ musician route. But I also wanna know about other things that are involved in this industry that relate to music, like management, running a label, promo… etc. Because that seems like a smart thing what cenk did. Have a artist career and also do more of a marketing job with a music related company

#50

I have a “career” in music but I refuse to consider it that word. my friends have ‘careers’ and i’m the crazy guy, i guess.

i studied bass performance in college and started gigging right when I finished my time in school. That was 8 years ago.

Like @Airyck said above:

there’s a lot of work and I’m usually quite tired… leads to vegging out on forums and whatnot.

The lifestyle can wear you out, too, with regard to all of the free drinking. I’m currently on a hiatus from drinking. 5 weeks deep. In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, “It was too much too often.” I’m currently trying to find more time in a day, and the morning hangovers seemed to be eating that time.

If I’d been trying to figure out how to drink the most beer (or shots or cocktails) possible for the lowest cost possible, I succeeded. However, that is not my aim, so I’m steering the ship elsewhere for now.

I am our booking agent, promoter, and bassist. I run The Cropdusters. I have 5 guitar playing buddies and we rotate them per gig or weekend if it’s out of town.
( www.facebook.com/thecropdusters )

We play 3-5 nights a week, and I teach bass lessons weekly.

I also host an open mic every Monday, which is now a paid gig. It was volunteer for a year and a half.

Must be present to win.

I’ve thrown/hosted a few Haus Parties/Techno parties (there’s not much money there in my neck of the woods) and done some DJ gigs for a few bars. I’ll basically do anything involving music for money.

My motto is kind of:" I’m not in music for the money, but now I’m so far into music that I need money."

I don’t own a house. BUT… i don’t have kids, so I do have a home studio. Diapers and baby formula money, etc, has all turned into quirky little synth boxes.

I’m working my grind as hard as I can think to. I will maybe someday get to where I want to be.

I also work at a pipe shop, but I would have quit long ago if I actually had to do any work here. It’s the place I’ve learned every synth I’ve ever bought. …on the clock. (at work now.)

Apparently, I would have it no other way.

I am happy.

6 Likes
#51
#52

Running a label, promo, management etc is a lot of the same without the shown appreciation the musicians get. You do have the potential to make more money but you also have the potential to lose a lot more money too.

You still have to go be I involved in the music scene (see above) to be constantly networking and getting a lot of people together and working together. They have to believe in your vision or you have to pay them or both.

All of those things require more of an investment to get off the ground. You need to pay for all that promo stuff, shows, label promotion, mixing, mastering, artists etc. After that money is invested (hopefully with a solid plan/knowing your market) you can start to hopefully see some returns. It will take a while though so you have to have a decent amount of money to invest and then wait until you start getting it back if at all.

This is all “after” A LOT of networking/making friends in the scene you want to be working in.

I know people who were made for this though and do okay at it. It’s much more extrovert and social oriented as well as a large sprinkling of showmanship. If you are quickly liked and make hundreds of friends in any environment then this route could be for you :slight_smile:

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#53

I’m leaning towards joining an already successful label. Meaning, not as a signed artist, (but would not say no to it though), But maybe working as their PR guy, Social Media, Marketer, content writer etc. Owning one would be hard.

#54

Go to their events and
meet somone who has a successfull label/promo company and just start helping them. Show them you believe in their vision and make yourself indespensible to them. Find some precise area you can fill for them and show them you can help them grow and make money and then they will have no choice but to put you on the payroll.

Edit: Of course this is after you connect and become friends and prove yourself with some pro-bono work.

You could make additional promo material for them on your own time and money and show them what you’re doing for example. Be careful not to come off as a suck up trying to get something from them but more showing them that you truly believe in what they are doing. It helps if this is actually genuinely how you feel too.

#55

Networking Networking Networking :slight_smile:

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#56

…and apparently I should be a music career life coach on the side lol

#57

I found that concert promotion/booking and running independent record labels was mostly a thankless effort that resulted in me burning through a bunch of money.

Hopefully your experience will be better but the economics haven’t changed materially for the better in recent years.

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#58

Those are the 3 most important things :wink:

#59

Your experience is the most common one I’ve seen my friends go through going down this route. You’re more unfortunate proof that this is the ugly truth most people go through. It takes passion and drive to keep going when you get no thanks and pay for everything too.

I don’t want to scare people away but be aware of what it takes and what it will look like in reality vs your head. Also have respect for those who are successful because they did all this to get where they are but they never gave up. Unless they are shady f**ks who can step on other people to get to the top. In that case sabatoge them and make them feel the pain they put others through so they stop doing it. My moral compass just wont let me hurt and take advantage fortunately (and unfortunately).

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#60

I make music as a hobby. A critically-acclaimed professional musician friend of mine (band was on Sire records in the 90s, was on Top of The Pops, etc. ) told me I would have more time to actually play music with a day job than being in a van 9 hours a day 200+ days a year. I think he was right.

My career is in embedded DSP. It is very audio and music related. I first got my degree in physics, then a masters and PhD in architectural acoustics. I networked early in my career. Getting the first job was hard but I was able to get one and finish my PhD while working (pretty awful experience, but I was willing to do anything to get my foot in the door). The second job was much, much easier to get.

If you are into electronics or electronic music I really think DSP is a great field to get exposed to, although these days the real $$$ is for guys who do DSP and machine learning (p.s. it’s pretty much impossible to find these guys, (more impossible to find ones who speak English with proficiency) but they do exist).

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