Bass Playing as an Occupation

[JFielden]

Now then, At this point in my life I know that I want my profession to be in music. But how on earth do you make a living in the music industry?

I know that it is a long road for most musicians but I am young and lack experience =(

So how does someone make a living with music?

Personally I enjoy sound tech and I am currently doing a two year course in Music Industry.

Please enlighten me my fellow Bass players.

Feel free to share your own personal stories and leave tips and advice for young ones like myself, who wish to enter the music industry!

Cheers!

[xilddx]

[quote name='JFielden' post='952012' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:06 PM']Now then, At this point in my life I know that I want my profession to be in music. But how on earth do you make a living in the music industry?

I know that it is a long road for most musicians but I am young and lack experience =(

So how does someone make a living with music?

Personally I enjoy sound tech and I am currently doing a two year course in Music Industry.

Please enlighten me my fellow Bass players.

Feel free to share your own personal stories and leave tips and advice for young ones like myself, who wish to enter the music industry!

Cheers![/quote]
Crikey, big question!

All I can say is I decided a long time ago I [b]never [/b]wanted to be a pro. Way too much hassle and dealing with disorganised idiots on a constant basis. I am very happy balancing my day job and being in a few excellent bands. And it works for me.

Making a living in music is difficult unless you are happy to be a mechanic, and a damn good, highly reliable one at that. The other route is to become part of a best selling band and ensure you get a cut of the songwriting credits. If you can write hit songs, get a publishing deal and make a fortune.

Good luck!

[ezbass]

Unfortunately it's more a case of who you know rather than what you can do (same can be said for many other professions too). It's all about starting small and networking, networking, networking. It's a tough road, but if that's what you really want to do then you should stay the course. Good luck.

[birdy]

[quote name='ezbass' post='952062' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:41 PM']Unfortunately it's more a case of who you know rather than what you can do (same can be said for many other professions too). It's all about starting small and networking, networking, networking. It's a tough road, but if that's what you really want to do then you should stay the course. Good luck.[/quote]

Although in the main I would agree with this I would also add that all the pro players that I know are *really* good and have obviously put the hours in.

[skej21]

[quote name='birdy' post='952074' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:48 PM']Although in the main I would agree with this I would also add that all the pro players that I know are *really* good and have obviously put the hours in.[/quote]

And while I agree with both, sometimes it doesn't matter how good YOU are, because it's other people that often let you down, cause problems or stress you out!

[Truckstop]

The problem with music as a career, is that you have to rely on other people to give you work and buy your 'product'.

Truckstop

[JFielden]

[quote name='skej21' post='952078' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:51 PM']And while I agree with both, sometimes it doesn't matter how good YOU are, because it's other people that often let you down, cause problems or stress you out![/quote]

Gosh! I'm all too familiar with this!

I guess once the door is slightly opened but wants to close I have to get an Iron Grip on it and keeping pushing through it!

Now where are those pesky drummers? =D

[Doddy]

[quote name='ezbass' post='952062' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:41 PM']Unfortunately it's more a case of who you know rather than what you can do (same can be said for many other professions too). It's all about starting small and networking, networking, networking. It's a tough road, but if that's what you really want to do then you should stay the course. Good luck.[/quote]

I think this is only partly true. While who you know is very important,you can network your arse off but if you can't handle the gig,for whatever reason, you won't get called for jobs. All of the guys that I know who are making a decent career out of playing are great players that get the calls because they can nail it with no hassle.
I've been doing a pretty decent job of making a living as a musician for the last few years and my dad has been doing it for about 35 years. In fact,right now I'm in Italy waiting to play a couple of gigs at the F1.

[pietruszka]

Some really good points here. Yes, I do agree with the 'its who you know' thing. But I feel alot of it is getting your name around.

I play for a girl named Anna Leigh, I recorded on her album and shes doing well in Newcastle. She used to sing for a club band and I have contacts with him now. Ive set up my own club band for weddings and such and we're starting to get work in. The line up is great we all have albums/singles out and 3 members of the band have been on world tours with big name artists. I now have contacts through them. And so it begins!

Alot of people I know did the club circuit like ski resorts (Dan Sells and his guitarist, Paul Sayer and many others), they're very well payed and has led them on to other jobs. On top of the club band I also play for 3 other people, one of which is my favourite band which I write for. So get your self about and network network network, as ezbass said!

This is only my experience and knowledge. Theres no right or wrong way really to go about it, just quicker or slower routes!

Hope music see's you well, and welcome to Basschat!


Dan

[lowdown]

[quote name='silddx' post='952019' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:12 PM']Way too much hassle and dealing with disorganised idiots on a constant basis.

Making a living in music is difficult unless you are happy to be a mechanic, and a damn good, highly reliable one at that.[/quote]

Funny thing on your first point - thats why i went full time, to get away from the hassle of dealing with
disorganised idiots on a constant basis.

Your second point is a bit more realistic though.

These days it easier to add a few more strings to your bow as well
Like teaching Bass students, production music for lib companies,Supplying midi files to companies.
Arrangements and music for education and schools and whatever.Teaching music tech etc.
Its all out there due to the ease of delivery over the internet.
But at the end of the day you still need to get your contacts together.But if you get involved with some of the other stuff i mentioned above - they can kinda go hand in hand.

As for just earning as a Bass player, apart from your chops and skill level i would defo get your reading chops together,
and it goes without saying about having good lugs, all those together make you more employable.Although there are none reading players out there, it just limits the work avaliable to you.

The rest is as any other job, being reliable etc.

Garry

[thisnameistaken]

1) Study really hard.
2) Be nice to everyone you meet.
3) Have some good fortune.
4) Be willing to play absolutely anything and smile while doing it.


I failed on all four counts.

Edited September 10, 2010 by thisnameistaken

[JFielden]

[quote name='lowdown' post='952230' date='Sep 10 2010, 08:32 PM']These days it easier to add a few more strings to your bow as well
Like teaching Bass students, production music for lib companies,Supplying midi files to companies.
Arrangements and music for education and schools and whatever.Teaching music tech etc.[/quote]

I'm all up for "adding more strings". Knowledge is Power.

Personally I'm at a loss at where to start and get onto the business, whatever faction of the business it may be. Music as an occupation just seems lost on me!
Apart from being in a successful band of course

[SteveK]

[quote name='ezbass' post='952062' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:41 PM']Unfortunately it's more a case of who you know rather than what you can do[/quote]
That old cliche!

Let me just rephrase that for you: [i]Fortunately, it's a case of what you can do more than who you know.[/i]

Friends in the business [i]can[/i] help, for sure, you can network all you like, but...

It doesn't matter who you know... if you can't deliver - you won't get the gig!

[BTS_Spacebass]

making money in music, as far as I can see, is easy as long as you don't hold any particular musical values dear.

i.e. if you are willing to play what you are told to play and don't care about the end product then yeah; a living off music is do-able.

If you hold any kind of artistic ideal close to your heart then it can be done but you will be lucky.

maybe i'm cynical as a "metal" player but I don't expect to ever make a living off playing music I love, if I do then its a bonus. Artistic license wins ever time.

Tx

[tino]

[quote name='JFielden' post='952012' date='Sep 10 2010, 05:06 PM']Now then, At this point in my life I know that I want my profession to be in music. But how on earth do you make a living in the music industry?

I know that it is a long road for most musicians but I am young and lack experience =(

So how does someone make a living with music?

Personally I enjoy sound tech and I am currently doing a two year course in Music Industry.

Please enlighten me my fellow Bass players.

Feel free to share your own personal stories and leave tips and advice for young ones like myself, who wish to enter the music industry!

Cheers![/quote]
Its 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% luck if your looking for the big bucks.
If on the other hand youre the techy type work hard in your chosen field and theres decent reward, and more....IF YOU WANT IT.
Always remembering its not ever going to be 9 to 5 with weekends free for family.
Good luck whatever path you choose
T....
If this makes any sense my dad was a pro in the 50,s and early 60's when times got hard he took a job as a dustman......later in his life when recalling his memories to the family and especially to my children he made a point of stating that the happiest time in the whole of his life was that time spent as a dustman.

[Cat Burrito]

Two guys in my band are full time musicians & it seems to involve giving a lot of lessons and playing in other bands for a quick buck. I'm occasionally tempted myself but my their own admissions they do a fair bit of rubbish. At least I play stuff I love

[wesfinn]

It all really depends what side of pro playing you want to get into...Don't think that being young and not an amazing player will hinder you massively in-fact you can use it to your advantage.

I've spent about 4 1/2 years playing for major label pop acts and I am no great player. I have been playing a fair while now but I have never wanted to be technically brilliant, I pretty much just play roots and chuck in 3rds, 5ths and octaves if asked to make it a bit more interesting. Just get loads of practice with a metronome and get your timing spot on.

Look out for auditions on sites such as starnow.co.uk and ukmusicjobs.co.uk as they appear on there for decent projects every now and then and try and meet as many people in the industry as possible. This was how I landed my gigs.

Just rememebr with this kind of thing that less is more so if they send you a track to play at the audition just learn it as you hear it and maybe work out a couple things to chuck in if they ask you to spice it up a little but generally stick to the simple stuff!

Also might want to note that chasing invoices can be a bit of a job in itself tho with the bigger labels so its always good to have a part time flexible job too alongside to cover yourself till the cheque finally comes!

[Dood]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='952244' date='Sep 10 2010, 08:54 PM']1) Study really hard.
2) Be nice to everyone you meet.
3) Have some good fortune.
4) Be willing to play absolutely anything and smile while doing it.[/quote]

5) Get some real business knowledge and support under your belt. For example - on going to just one 'starting up your own business' type course I learned a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't even think about at first. It IS very important because there is some very valuable advice to be had. This could also include taking advice from professional bodies such as the Musician's Union and Music Leader to name just two.
6) Always chase up leads and be contactable. If you don't take the bait, there 200 bass players who are chomping at the bit instead.
7) Be punctual if you are depping / doing session work. Infact - just make sure you stick to timescales and show that YOU are in control of your time.
8) Like any job C.V - You should be able to make examples of your playing available at a moments notice. That's up to you to decide how you do that - but there are plenty of online resources out there!

I'm gonna stop there - as I could list ideas for days!!

[ezbass]

[quote name='SteveK' post='952320' date='Sep 10 2010, 11:02 PM']That old cliche!

Let me just rephrase that for you: [i]Fortunately, it's a case of what you can do more than who you know.[/i]

Friends in the business [i]can[/i] help, for sure, you can network all you like, but...

It doesn't matter who you know... if you can't deliver - you won't get the gig![/quote]
Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Yes you have to have chops (my bad for not making that clear, but you don't have to be Stanley or Marcus), but all the chops in the world won't help if nobody knows you exist. You have to play with as many people as you can and build up a reputation, soon enough you'll become the people think of 1st for deps (providing you don't have a glut of talented bass players in your intended sphere) and from then on it's all gravy hopefully.

Hopefully that better explains my original reply. Phew!

Edited September 11, 2010 by ezbass

[stingrayPete1977]

Every post here is looking at it as a session pro and not made comments as a band member so I will add,Bullshit.We lost a couple of years of good London gigs because we had never played there before and no venues would give us a slot then we just lied and said we had and got in at the Bull and Gate after that first one it was no longer a lie and got more London gigs where it is all still at.The better gigs made us practice more and so on but by then we were too old for the indie market and we had still not done enough to be fair but maybe if we had got in earlier the rest would of followed?

Dont let anyone elses failures hold back your dreams and try to be as confident as possible but +1 if you cant play then your out of it either way!

[bassist_lewis]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='953352' date='Sep 12 2010, 09:45 AM']Every post here is looking at it as a session pro and not made comments as a band member so I will add,Bullshit.We lost a couple of years of good London gigs because we had never played there before and no venues would give us a slot then we just lied and said we had and got in at the Bull and Gate after that first one it was no longer a lie and got more London gigs where it is all still at.The better gigs made us practice more and so on but by then we were too old for the indie market and we had still not done enough to be fair but maybe if we had got in earlier the rest would of followed?

Dont let anyone elses failures hold back your dreams and try to be as confident as possible but +1 if you cant play then your out of it either way![/quote]

I agree that a one off lie with no repercussions is good if it gets your foot in the door but one of my band leaders (i won't say which one) tends to "omit and embellish" certain information, how much we're getting paid, what we're playing at a particular gig etc. and its VERY VERY ANNOYING.