Cake singer: music will be "really great hobby in 5-10 yrs."

[SixStringGeek]

I got your point. I was just being difficult.

I know.

[Shooshie]

Classical music is suffering, too. The difference is that classical musicians put their entire lives into preparing for that career. Most of them are truly not suited for other employment when they finally realize that their career is never going to pay the rent. Recordings are becoming iffy propositions, and every Vladimir, Joshua, and Mikala is self producing albums of varying worth. Once upon a time, music students played senior recitals. They were usually very forgettable events. Now they put the album on iTunes and the video on YouTube. It's getting harder and harder to find GOOD recordings of anything.

I don't know what will shake out of all this, but one thing is for sure: every academic musician -- student or teacher -- will continue to record everything they play, and the ones with the most recordings will believe they are special. That is not good for the market, and it's not even good for the HOBBY!

And yet I believe that if there is to be a spring after this snow-bound winter, it will depend on those who do it for no other reason than because they just want to. It will survive based on love for the music. That, by the way, does not include the academic race to have the most recordings. It will have to travel by word of mouth. People will buy or download these top-desk amateurs or semi-pro's to test their audio systems and to sit back and enjoy. But I do wonder what's going to happen to our $200,000,000 shrines to classical music: the incredible concert halls that have been built in the past 25 years. Many orchestras and operas are going bankrupt. Principle Clarinet in the Dallas Opera pays $20,000 per season. (one season per year) Better live with your mom if you take that job. Yet I'd wager that at least 500 applied for it.

It's not all bad. There are some orchestras still thriving, and Europe seems to be doing better than we are, but it's probably time that somebody put a hold on the music schools out there, still enticing students to come learn to be "professionals." Professional janitors, perhaps; they never said "professional musicians!"

I wonder what's to become of it all. Was my generation the last who could expect to find a good living in music based on talent? I'd really like to see where it's going to go. I'd like to know why I can't figure out the next big thing. It seems like it would be so obvious. Yet… here we sit.

Shooshie

[tommymandel]

Anybody hear about this:
music will be a really great hobby in 5-10 years - the guy in Cake

I agree, and don't think it's a bad thing to not exploit our muse(s) to put bread on the table. And Lord knows, the world needs some good, intelligent fun people to be teachers, masseurs, etc....
I keep tellin people who winge about their job - I go 'That's why they freekin pay you to do it, brother (or sister...)
So for us to do music for fun (haha, just realized - that's what people keep telln me: "Well, you may not be a millionaire, but isn't it great to wake up and do something you love every day at work?" - and I just roll my eyes thinking of the Latest Clueless Client and the grief they may have put me through...!)

Well, James, I really came here just to thank you for this great resource that you father for us, so THANK YOU.

[Saintmatthew]

"Well, that's what keeps my company in business, but even we are concerned, as there aren't any up-and-coming artists of recent years who can really drive the tour circuit. You'll note that it's mostly older artists who are hitting the more prestigious venues, where the real money is."

Well, so long as older artists keep ramping up ticket costs to ridiculous levels there will be few promoters willing to involve themselves on "low" profit margin shows that people can afford to see more than one of a year. Seriously, U2 came through at $200+ a ticket. How many other shows you gonna check out after that kind of outlay. The fact that so many older musicians managed not to OD or crash into a house with an airplane has left no void for a new generation to fill.

[Saintmatthew]

What's absolutely crushed the live music scene for up and coming musicians are blanket smoking bans. People simply sit outside until the band they want to see is about to play cause that's what they've gotten used to now.

[mikehalloran]

What's absolutely crushed the live music scene for up and coming musicians are blanket smoking bans. People simply sit outside until the band they want to see is about to play cause that's what they've gotten used to now.

I'm not so sure about that but the fact that the live audience is aging and going home earlier certainly hurts the traditional bar business.

Principle Clarinet in the Dallas Opera pays $20,000 per season. (one season per year) Better live with your mom if you take that job. Yet I'd wager that at least 500 applied for it.

That is designed to supplement the real job which is teaching, preferably at a local university. For the section players, it is even worse:

In the San Francisco Bay area where I live, we have what is called the "Freeway Philharmonic". Many part time semi-pro orchestras including Sacramento, Stockton, Reno, Berkeley Monterey, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz, Mostly Mozart etc. all using the same musicians travelling in their cars trying to make a living (I'm certain I left many out). None are getting benefits except what they pay for through AFM.

[malditoyanki]

It's not just TV & film that is viable.

Fair enough. But TV & film is about to become the refugee camp for people who are figuring out that the "pop music" industry (I actually think of it as the retail recorded music industry - the only sales channel where the recorded music itself is the product - I classify TV and film as a secondary market since the music is an embellishment to the main product and not sold directly to the consumer).

So the tide of noise will definitely rise and this field will get proportionately harder to work in as well. The second problem I see coming is the constant drive to get more for less. The business world calls this "productivity" and it has been steadily rising to the point that less than the entire population is require to do all the work that needs doing.

Everything about this is true and gets truer-er every day. Believe me...the state of composition in TV/film in terms of craftsmanship has reached a nadir. I used to offer up the excuses about deadlines, producers wanting the same old thing etc. Now, I think the primary driving force is simply a lack of skill/talent/craftsmanship on the part of the one doing the composing.

[malditoyanki]

As for the "music for picture industry" being a refuge for the pop industry - that's a pretty big leap. It's not like you wake up one day and say: Geez, this pop thing isn't working out, I think I'll write for TV and film. Doesn't really work like that.

That doesn't stop them from trying though. Older established artists with name recognition left over from the major label dominated days can still score plenty of gigs with that notoriety. It's not much different than former athletes grabbing up the television sports commentator jobs after retiring... not the guy with the communications degree and more qualified. They'll put an inarticulate jock on the air with a "name" sooner than one of those guys.

Oh you freakin' nailed it so good on this one James

This is PRECISELY the state of play today with disastrous results in both quality of product and working conditions for composers generally.

[ElmaH]

Music will definitely become a popular hobby in the future simply because modern technology allows literally anyone to make it. Several decades ago you were supposed to play some musical instrument and have good voice but nowadays you can just download some state-of-the-art software and voila! - you are a "musician".

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Oh, how I disagree. That's like saying painting by numbers will make fine art a hobby. There is a lot more than sequencing notes to making viable music. Sure, anyone can come up with a melody and um-pah bass, but CRAFTING a score ain't just pulling tunes out of your ass and isn't just about pleasing yourself in some musical masturbation exercise - not that there's anything wrong with that. .

I predict as more and more people have the ability to create recordings more or less at will, skilled composers will be even rarer and more in demand as the human spirit desires unique, finely crafted ART. Again, Photoshop isn't putting talented graphic artists and designers out of business. There's this little thing that doesn't come in any program. It's called imagination. Coming up with new, fresh ideas. Not available in stores, online, or at a university near you any time soon.

What a snob? Yeah, and damn proud of it in this context. The real "trick" is using music to put food on the table, gas in the car, and a roof over your head. Oh yeah, the business end of music. Which program do you use to build a network? How's that Facebook thing working out?

I thought so.

[FMiguelez]

You beat me to it again, Mike

Claudia Schiffer paints nice things by-the-numbers too, but that doesn't make her an artist painter (although she looks amazing and she can call herself anything she wants, as far as I'm concerned).

Quality and talent always shows when there is some, and the opposite when there's none. A monkey can write some melody, but there's much more to music than that and an "umpa-umpa" accompaniment or orchestration.
Amateur's compositions sound like Band-in-a-Box productions, with no nice counterpoint lines or anything like that. No artistry.

To be able to produce great music one needs to... well, not only be able to write and orchestrate great music, but also be able to make it sound musical and believable with great production chops, MIDI and otherwise. That takes full time and talent, separating the boys and wannabees from the men and professionals.

Some people may call this arrogance or snobbery, but some others call it reality.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

So I take it from your response that the earthquake didn't affect your studio... Was thinking about you, bro.

[FMiguelez]

So I take it from your response that the earthquake didn't affect your studio... Was thinking about you, bro.

Nice of you to think about your Mexican friend

This time we really felt it, even if here in the forest the ground is very rocky.
We were taking the car out of the garage when it started. My GF and I actually got "seasick" with our foot firmly on the ground (dizzy?). You could feel the circular motion. And the NOISE!!! You can hear/feel this very low rumble, like 10-20 Hz... this time it was scary because it didn't seem to stop. It's like Ok, that's enough!
So far we've had a few after-replicas, but hopefully that was it.

The weirdest thing is that we are moving back to the city within the next few days. We are moving to an 11th floor apartment building... I can only imagine what these quakes feel like there I guess we will find out soon enough!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

No! Move to somewhere safe... like Los Angeles... we're next!

[FMiguelez]

I hope L.A. is not next.
I actually heard there was also an earthquake somewhere in Indonesia almost at the same time we had it here.

Aaahhhhh... moving to LA or NY is my dream. I need to work very very hard for that to happen; hopefully not too far into the future. I actually have already a plan that would allow me to do that responsibly and realistically, but it will still take at least a few more years