[Dixielandjazz] Free Music/ Truly upsetting

[Jim Allen]

It's like baseball.  Tens of millions love it, millions play it, relatively
few earn money at it, still fewer make a living doing it, and only the very
top few make really big money.

I never understood why the very best bandsmen in the Longhorn Band play for
free for 4 years, then aren't drafted and forced to play for a few million
a year in the worst band in Kansas City.  The economics of it just doesn't
work as a business model, I guess.

You keep playing because you love it and are good at it, and if you can
earn money from it, so much the better.  If you end up in The Rolling
Stones, cool.

Best

Jim Allen



On Tue, Oct 29, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Kevin Yeates <kyeates at yahoo.com> wrote:

> At the risk of over-extending the life of this thread I dare to suggest
> the following.
>
> Comparing musicians to doctors or plumbers is not a valid comparison. When
> the pipes in your house are leaking, you NEED a plumber. When you have a
> broken leg, you NEED a doctor. When you have a social event you DON'T NEED
> musicians. We are the icing on the cake. It is simply supply and demand.
> There are a lot of people who are willing to play music, but not that much
> demand. We are not absolutely needed for life to go on, thus the price
> people are willing to pay us vs a doctor is quite understandable.
>
> The idea that we have to make a living so people should pay us well is
> also bogus. The customer does not owe us a living. We owe it to ourselves.
> If you aren't making enough money as a musician, you may have made a poor
> career choice.
>
> I can go on and on but I am trying to keep it succinct.
>
> Kevin Yeates
> Vancouver, Canada
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