The Real Cost?

A few days ago I read an article that a local music promoter had put up on her Facebook account entitled "Want to Be a Rock Star? You'll Need $100,000". All in all, I found it a pretty worthwhile read, especially for aspiring musicians.

If you don't want to read the whole thing, the gist of the article is that being a musician is expensive, and if you really want to devote yourself to chasing a dream, you had better be prepared to spend some cash in that pursuit. I fully agree. Lord knows I've spent a pretty insane amount of money on all the trappings: recording, CD duplication, making merch, van rentals for tours, etc. It's not easy and it's not for the faint of financial heart. If I sold off every last bit of gear that I own and gave up the rehearsal studio I love so dearly, for the year 2012 I could probably come close to putting myself through grad school again. Yeah, it's that bad. But I don't, because I love playing music, I love being in bands, and I love the friendships I have developed as a byproduct.

But back to the article. There are a few marked differences: first off, the authors, who are members of a band called Two Lights" are further along the musical journey than I have ever been, and they're significantly younger. They are legitimately up-and-coming, and I respect that. However, the management company they pay for and their booking agent don't come cheap at all. They record in high end studios that cost a lot of money, and despite tracking some stuff on their own, I'm sure they work with at least one, possibly more high-end producers who always fetch a pretty penny. Hello Monster is starting to go down that rabbit hole at the minute as we are finally starting to undertake some recording for our new album, so I am more than aware what the going rates for studios and producers can be. In the meantime, does anyone know how I can sell a kidney on the black market? That might help offset some of the pain.

However, in the article, and this is really the heart of what got me writing this blog tonight, the authors start lumping in some costs that I find much more suspect. They lump in a lifetime of music lessons, totaling about $30k. Yes, I took lessons too, but I did so when I was in grade school and a bit in high school. I learned a lot from instructors all along, but did I say to myself when I was in the 7th grade "Bill, you could keep on learning and possibly become a rock star, or would you rather bank some of that money and have an easier time paying your rent when you're 30?" Of course not, I said I wanted to learn guitar, and taking lessons helped. Having said that, ever since I started playing real shows at about 18 or so, I have never taken any additional training. I've bought books and studied some theory on my own and stuff, but that's it.

They also mention the cost of taking taxis to gigs, and paying a drummer to play with them. Both are absurd to me. Yes, I know, nobody owns a car in New York, and if they do, they never give up their parking spot, but you're in a band. They might as well count the money they spend on the subway to practice, or the electricity in their apartment while they are songwriting, since it's all the same. As far as paying a drummer, maybe they should do what so many other musicians have done with great success: find a drummer who wants to play in your band, not just some hired gun who you have to pay to play.

What's worse, is they talk about the exorbitant cost of living in New York, because being in NY is apparently tantamount to their success as musicians. This is absolute bull. Yes, I live in San Francisco, and yes, I am exposed to much more as a result. But look at a band like REM, at one point one of the most popular bands in rock, and they're from Athens, Georgia. Pavement, the gods of the indie rock scene, are from friggin' Stockton fer chrissakes. In short, if you are good, your music will be heard, and if people like it, it doesn't matter where you are. Your music will be heard and it can catch on anywhere, then you can relocate when a record label or management company is willing to pay for you to live where they want you to live.

Finally, they factor in "lost wages" - since they are spending so much time working on being in a band and making it, they aren't able to work full time, and the older brother apparently even has to turn down writing worth $400 a week. Unfortunately, the vast majority of bands I know don't have this luxury. If my bandmates don't work, we don't eat. We don't have somewhere to live. (yes, the irony of an unemployed man writing these words is not lost on me) I know of two different bands who are currently living in a space that is also their rehearsal space, one of which had it so bad that they all had to get memberships at 24 hour fitness so that they could shower. So don't get me started on wages or making sacrifices for your music.

Phew, now I feel a little better. Everyone who has legitimate aspirations of making it in music also doesn't have the delusions of what the cost of those aspirations are. You spend money on gear, promotion, recording, the whole shebang, and maybe some day you get big enough where you can play all that gear in a bigger room for more people, people who give a damn about your music and might actually be more receptive to buying your merch. But until then, the boxes of unsold CDs will continue to crowd our garages, the epic speaker cabinets will still only live up to part of their usefulness, and we'll all hope that the next person that comes to our show is that person who can finally help us get to a point where we don't have these worries anymore.