tegs07

Sounds like you have honed your craft, found your sound and found an audience so will get paid and find venues that will pay you as you will bring in an audience. For every band or artist that can do that there are many more that can’t. They may be able to do so given time and opportunity. I hope you can see the dilemma both for a venue owner and a musician starting out. One thing I would note is when I was a teenager nobody I know formed a band with the aim of making money. They did it for kicks and hopefully to get the girls/boys. In time a few got pretty good and learned their craft enough to make a living. Playing their instrument well was only a small part of that learning curve.

(drawing) rings around the world - super furry animals

enjoy the silence - depeche mode

There have been a few discussions of this nature on BC sometimes a little heated. I only played live a couple of times in my teens and each time was for free. The fact was myself and the band I was in were not good enough to get paid. A few local pubs used to let bands play mid week. The best of the bunch got to play Saturday nights and got paid. Nothing massive but they had a good crowd. Several individuals from the best local bands went on to make a living playing music. Some were part time covers/function band/teaching/other sidelines. A couple even made some reasonable cash as solo artists and still earn good money solely from music a couple of decades down the road. We are talking a handful out of scores of people over several years that went on to make a living purely doing what they loved meaning full time with no other job to make ends meet. If I were to play live again, which would be nice I doubt if I would get paid beyond beer and petrol money. If I were to go to a Bristol venue like the Thekla or Fleece it would be to see bands I have bought tickets for as I seek them out when they play locally. I wouldn’t pay to see local bands I have never heard of. I have in the past, usually because a mate was in one of the bands on the bill. It was generally pretty cheap and rarely anything I would repeat. That’s the dilemma really. Are the venues opportunist snake exploiters or just caught in the same catch 22?

I do that when I put the wrong glasses on 🧐

Speaking of ladies, outfits and basses - Laura Lee (Khruangbin) excellent. Outfits and bass playing.

By route of average wage vs house prices and the difficulties faced by musicians I believe. One of the drawbacks of living in a country that has a core belief that house price inflation is sacrosanct and should be celebrated and promoted at all costs is that eventually wages can’t keep up with house prices. I grew up on an estate built for railway workers and their families. It was largely council, then became largely privately owned. Fast forward to 2022 and you would need a combined house-hold income of around £80K a year to live in an ex-council house. I doubt if there are that many railway workers or full time musicians living there now. Edit: In response to the confused emoji I have found as areas become gentrified much of the creative elements move out as the well heeled move in. The place I grew up in was a dump but the local music scene was excellent.

moped eyes- super furry animals

To be fair earning good money and being a professional kind of go together. The guys I know that earn a reasonable living in music would definitely be classed as being professional and at the top of their game. Not an easy path to take.

Patricia Morrison, purely for her bass playing ability (honest)

the beat(en) generation - the the

Pink Floyd, Queen? I know a few middle class musicians making decent money. One thing I would say is they are phenomenal. By contrast I know lots of fairly average middle class people and some outright incompetent ones making far better money in other industries.

I think I will call it a day with any further discussion as you are a bit all over the place with sources, references, time lines etc

I think a little consistency in thoughts and process would be advisable. You clearly have something to contribute but are a bit vague and sporadic in your presentation of ideas.

apples and oranges they are trying to control inflation without having to rapidly raise interest rates which would crush the indebted / hence plea for wage restraint. At the same time they are trying to stop contagion in many businesses as the cost of servicing debt is spiralling (due to gilt yields rising … arguably due to interest rates being so low). Hence “bailout” or more accurately lifeline. Monbiot’s writing dates back to Covid though not the BOE’s actions now. I actually agree with him. The zombies should have been put to rest. The article you have linked doesn’t address the situation we find ourselves in 2 years later though. Now pension funds (amongst others) are effectively being “bailed out” but workers told to be prudent. That’s what I have addressed with my response above.

I know what neoliberalism is. I would also argue that socialising banking failure was a distortion of free market capitalism as was much of the Covid response but that’s a digression. Not sure what the leap to Monbiot and bailing out carbon intensive industries has to do with the previous quote about the BOE, inflation and wages though?

The problem with trying to put everything and everyone into a nice neat box is that it never quite fits. The BOE are part of what exactly, a global neoliberal conspiracy? I see a long list of policy failures and fcuk ups, incompetence, complacency and short term thinking. It’s not a conspiracy just bad economics and poor planning. The result is an economy that can only function with sub 2% interest rates and low gilt yields. Bailey knew that rates hitting elevated levels would bring havoc which is why he has avoided raising them to the required level to stave of inflation and has tried to talk down any further inflationary factors and calm the markets. Wage inflation being a significant inflationary factor that investors in fixed income investments in particular look at. In other words the people that buy government debt and allow an economy to function. Investors have now lost faith in UK PLC’s economic prudence for a multitude of reasons, inflation is running riot and gilt yields are hitting new levels. Interest rates will have to rise and there will be all manner of unintended consequences, from margin calls whether from LDI issues as per the current pensions issues or Credit Default Swaps in investment banks. It may get messy but it’s not a conspiracy.

Carol Kaye, Kim Deal and Ida Nielsen definitely get my vote.

I’m always concerned about how difficult it is for people. Having secure shelter is a fundamental requirement. It shouldn’t be a luxury or a casino.

The former governor of the bank of England, Mervyn King once said “house prices are a matter of opinion, debt is real”. The debt is dependent upon affordability which is dependant upon interest rates. House prices are no longer tied to (sensible) salary (multiples) as the criteria for purchase IMO but are totally dependent upon access to cheap credit. Remove this from the equation and what houses are really “worth” will be revealed. My personal opinion is that two decades of ultra cheap credit has distorted the economy entirely, shifted asset ownership into the hands of people who can afford the risk of loading up on cheap credit and made the risks far higher for those on the first rungs of the ladder. This disproportionately affects the young.

MM Bongo??

sgt.peppers lonely hearts club band - beatles

dopes to infinity - monster magnet

sweet leaf - black sabbath

Dead cities - FSOL