Latch Music Blog

Starving Artists

by Dave Latchaw

Musicians have been plagued with this mentality since the need for money began. An artist puts all their heart and soul into their craft, and then has to try and make money from it. It’s distracting to the artist and can make them bitter about their craft. The more bitter an artist is the more they can put off their prospective audience because of their attitude. We can empower ourselves by getting rid of this attitude. If a musician doesn’t display the starving artist attitude, and comes across as positive and confident of what they are doing regardless of the financial outcome, the prospective audience is going to be more engaged. If your audience is engaged in what you do, you can demand more money for your work. It’s a given that we all want to make money, and making money making music is nothing more than simple supply and demand economics.

In a perfect world Miles, Zawinul, Zappa, Fripp and music with similar creative intentions would be the mainstream music of today. But that’s not reality. Playing your creative music for the sheer love of it is the only way to go. Chances are you won’t be able to make a great living playing only your interesting creative music, at best maybe a modest living. The sooner we realize that art may not pay the bills or bring the economic status we desire, the sooner we can make the appropriate mental adjustments and eliminate the downer attitude of the starving artist mentality. Respect the work that goes into your craft, but don’t expect more from it than the personal satisfaction it gives you, then you will never be disappointed.

The starving artist attitude also comes across as artistically righteous. Very often this type of artist will be anti-”any art form that has economic potential”. I used to have music snob tendencies, thinking commercial music was a waste of musical space. Once I joined the Scottish rock band “The Heat” and participated in writing tunes for the group, I realized it was way more challenging to write music for millions of people than it was to write for a handful of artsy fans. I still respect and enjoy creating music that has a small audience potential, but I also think there is a real art to creating something that will appeal to the masses. Both disciplines have interesting challenges. My experience in “The Heat” helped me gain respect for what goes into making all kinds of music.

The market for music like Britney Spears is huge. If you want to write music for Britney Spears you are going to have an amazing amount of competition. This could lead to endless hours of work for no money, so again, only do it if you dig it. Of course if she records one of your tunes you are into some big bucks, but the chances are similar to winning the lottery! If you love writing 12 tone row music, you will also undoubtedly be into endless hours of work for no money, because (last time I checked) the market for 12 tone row music is so small. If you don’t rely on your “art” for your living, it can take away a great deal of frustration, and allow you to take the pressure off your craft and enjoy it.

If one can be open to performing many styles of music, it will expand the economic potential of making music and the ability to create in many different environments. The player that can adapt to many styles and enjoys variety will have more fun and more opportunities to make music. If one can get into the spirit of the musical moment, they can find musical contentment. Being as open to “Old Time Rock And Roll” as to “Giant Steps” can be done, it’s about being aware of your attitude and keeping it positive. Nothing is more of a drag than working with or going to see a musician that is not digging what they are doing. If you are so miserable playing “The Girl From Impanema” for the millionth time at a wedding reception, then don’t do it! Either learn to enjoy the fact that you are making money making music, or find some alternative way to make a living.

Every musician would love to make a living with their art, but for most, there will be plenty of times that making music is a job. If you’re lucky enough to have music as your job, do good work and remember that there are many other jobs out there that could be much more of a drag!

Jazz Education
by Dave Latchaw

I recently spent an entire Saturday listening to and judging High School and Middle School jazz bands and combos. As I heard all of these groups perform, I began to think about just how much jazz education has changed in the last 25 years. There has been immense progress in the quality of the young groups. It is amazing that some schools have as many as three jazz bands and a couple of combos in their music program. Many of the “second” bands are starting to sound as good as the “first” bands did 10 years ago. It is also great to see enough interest from the students that they would take the extra time to play in a school combo. I had great fun hearing all the bands that day. At the end of the day I found out that a former student of mine won the over-all soloist award. What made me realize just how much the level of quality has improved was when it occured to me that my former student was not going to be there at the night show to pick up his award, because he was subbing a gig for me! He was totally ready to play it and
did a great job. I can’t believe he still isn’t old enough to drive!

As much as the overall scene has improved, there are some jazz programs that are in a bad way. Sometimes it’s the school that does not support the program, or the director is rather clueless, or there is a lack of interest from the kids. Still the majority of school programs are changing and improving for the better. There has been great improvement in the accessibility of information about jazz and jazz education. Organizations such as the International Association of Jazz Educators have provided a wonderful service in aiding the improvement of jazz education. The jazz information one can get from the IAJE website is great. A Jazz Improvisation Primer by Marc Sabatella is also great example of what one can find out there on the web. Another great resource is Jamey Aebersold, who provides not only a cool web presence, but also great opportunities for anyone to advance their jazz playing and knowledge with his camps and the products he makes available.

20 years ago, when I was attending a regional college, it was an all-out battle between me and the music faculty to get them to accept or give any validity to jazz. Fortunately I was able to gig a lot and play with great jazz players away from the school to aid in my jazz development while at college. I still find many entrenched University types that teach music education who still have a hard time with the concept of jazz. My theory is, it’s easier for them to dismiss the jazz art form than to fess up that they can’t do it, or that they don’t understand even where to begin! It is still slow going at the regional level of college jazz education. However, many regional college programs are trying to improve the availability of jazz education in their music programs. This is great, because it is these schools that are developing our next generation of high school and middle school music educators.

As a former jazz educator at one of those regional colleges, I find applicable theory knowledge generally lacking in the music education majors that I work with. So often when it comes to theory, the students learn only what they need to for the exam. After the exam, the student usually feels they do not need to be so on top of their theory knowledge, unless they are playing or studying jazz. Unless the college offers a jazz degree or has some evolved program, the jazz aspect of that school is usually a token gesture. To be a jazz player and educator you have to know your theory. No way of getting around it. As a school educator, you rarely work with a student who can improvise with a natural proficiency, so you must have knowledge of the harmonic information that goes along with teaching the student to improvise. A good musician who is an educator might be able to get the ensemble playing of his group to a high level of performance, but is usually caught out when members of that group go to improvise. You can tell whether a band director knows how to improvise by listening to his students solo. If the teacher is harmonically challenged, the student will be as well.

Over the last few years, school music educators have been doing a much better job of either learning more about teaching improvisation, or leading their students to people who can teach it. Not that I want to see jazz become a sport similar to marching band, but because of the competitive nature of the regional jazz festivals, the quality of jazz performance is growing rapidly. I fully recommend to anyone who is a jazz fan or musician to take some time and check out a school jazz festival in your area. It is very satisfying towatch so many young people go for it!

Contracting Musicians
by Dave Latchaw

The freelance musician in a local scene very often has to deal with musicians who contract other musicians for casual pick-up gigs. These gigs can be anything from weddings to corporate receptions and anything in between. Although many bands work through professional managers or agencies to acquire their work, it is not as often the case with the freelance musician. A musician who also books gigs should be as professional as any manager or agency. With a manager or agency one expects a straightforward business transaction, dealing with percentages or a straight fee for work rendered from the total of amount of money collected. However the money is worked out for a job between the client, contact person and the musicians, it should all be above board, with everyone satisfied. Most would think having all the business information available for all the parties would be sensible. But many times this is not the case with some “Contracting Musicians”.

Beware of the weaseling musician contractor who acts as part of the musical brotherhood but won’t be candid about the business side of their dealings. They are the ones who when contacting you, will ask how much you want for such and such a gig. Most musicians have their rates that they are willing to work for, and that is generally what they will quote. It should be expected the contracting musician should make money for their work. They are dealing with a client and have to spend time on the phone, and are responsible for collecting the money and paying the musicians. But there needs to be a balance or perspective between the musician’s time and years of preparation to do the appropriate musical work, and the hour or two the contractor spent setting up the gig and the responsibilities that go with it. It is understood that everyone has to look out for themselves, but there should be a balance, with everyone compensated appropriately.

To me, balance is not the soloist getting $150.00 for a job and the musician contractor getting $300.00 for doing the bizz side of the same job. That is just wrong! Yet this kind of thing happens. A musician who is contracted by another musician usually would find it hard to believe that another musician in the brotherhood would take such advantage. This contracting musician somehow has a clear conscience about the whole transaction because they were able to pay the musician what they asked for. This type of contracting musician has chosen money over what is ethical. They seem to be unwilling to say to the solo artist, “I can get $450.00 for this job, and I will take 20%”. This would give the solo artist $360.00, and the contractor $90.00. This seems like a much more reasonable transaction than the musician getting $150.00 and the contractor getting $300.00. The contracting musician who does something like this is taking advantage of the musician, the musical brotherhood, and also the client.

It’s hard at times for the freelance musician to avoid the weasel music contractor, because one wants to work. Freelance musicians should try to become more empowered, and take control instead of being taken advantage of. It takes time, but one needs to make a plan. One idea would be to start booking your own gigs so you are not as available for other gigs. When you book your own gigs, you can make some of the extra money from being the contractor. You could contract either by percentages of total monies, or just use a flat fee. When considering your contracting fee, factor in the time needed in securing the gig, hiring the musicians, collecting the money, and the stress of making sure the client and the musicians you hired are happy. I also find that it works well to book only the gigs you play on, so that makes you the musical leader of the gig also. When paying the band, I think it is a good practice to pay the musicians what you would be willing to do the job for if you were not the leader. The amount of compensation may be viewed differently by different people, but as long as it reasonable and justifiable it should be cool with everyone.

The other thing freelance musicians can do is keep raising their rates when dealing with the weasel contracting musician, or start working for a percentage of total money. I personally like the percentage idea. For example if the going rate for a job is $150.00 per musician, then if you have a quartet that’s $600.00 dollars. If the weasel contractor charges $1,000.00 for the band, that’s $400.00 for contracting one gig. That is just too much compared to the musicians! The contractor who also plays the gig, ends up making $550.00 for the entire job. If the musician worked for percentages it would increase their wages. If the contractor took 20% of the $1,000.00, then each musician in the quartet would make $200.00, and the musician contractor would make $400.00. I think $200 bucks for booking a casual gig is a bit steep, but using percentages does make things a bit more balanced.

We all want to be trusting of our fellow musicians and colleagues. But if something doesn’t seem right when it comes to the money, look into it. If you can’t get straight answers, you are probably being taken advantage of. Get the facts and do what you can to empower yourself and your musical brotherhood.