Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| StoreTags: IDM, art, money, diatribe
Author: vero on December 19 2007 Viewed 1538 times. 17 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
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i wrote this to a friend of mine, after he performed a local show with another friend of mine, and complained to her that they should strong-arm the promoters, since they were "only" paid $50 each as co-headliners..this for a roomful of twenty-five people..
he e-mailed that nite saying he was giving up "IDM" to pursue a meal-ticket as a duo, now joined by a female singer, sweetly too young to have heard of peaches 
the thing is, i haven't heard back from my friend since sending this, whereas he would usually i/m me twice a day..
in the words of walter in the big lebowski, "am i wrong?" see below:
"building a portfolio is the best way to go..
i started tracking this since the square root of evil & i went to the dedbeat festival in london, Feb/Mar 2002..
we saw aphex twin, luke vibert, cylob, ceephax, ed dmx, plaid, bogdan, andrew weatherall, and many many more..
it was spread over three days & nites @ this family recreation trailer park north of london..can you imagine that line-up? and since mike paradinas was reportedly in hospital, AFX took over all of his slots, and then some..
ceephax was i think performing live for one of his first times, and was playing amid all of that blonde hair, with his notes faithfully @ his side, ever-ready to be referenced..
all of this to say that they were playing a series of halls at a family recreation centre, and we were staying in frozen trailers scattered across the park grounds..this, at the peak of most of their veteran careers..
rephlex had a big part in hosting, and provided bonafide merch & releases..the artists were totally relaxed & accessible, and they probably didn't get paid all that much to perform, making more off their releases and individual products..
if you want to make any kind of money, on any aspect of what you're tirelessly & passionately creating, you need to develop your portfolio, and play live. a lot. everywhere. as i was telling my folks, a really shitty thing about being located in vancouver, is that if you want to play another major canadian city, your choices are: victoria, edmonton, calgary & winnipeg..with the exception of victoria, we're talking major f'in airfares..and if you want to play U.S. venues, your choices become seattle, portland, san diego..
in western canada, and particularly in the newly dubbed metro vancouver area, you're looking at 50-100 attendees max for an average show, and if you're headlining & are local, you'll maybe earn $40-$60..
if you're a laptop battle champ, and have a bit of a following in seattle and moving southward, one can maybe draw 100-300 attendees; more if it's a fest..and you'll earn an average of $100; again, more if it's a well-run fest..
if you'd be based in, or at least visiting montreal, you could play quebec city, montreal, hull/ottawa, toronto, new york, new jersey, boston, baltimore..all within 6-hour driving time..as for europe, it's half the distance from montreal than if you were flying from vancouver..and once you're there you have london, brighton, paris, berlin, madrid, etc, all at your doorstep, and it's quite manageable by train..
you want to make $, sustainable $ making art in vancouver? good luck..whether it's film, theatre, music, painting..anyone without money-lined pockets or endless amounts of time & resources, good luck..
it's not a matter of being a defeatist, it's just a reality-check based on our population density, and the average genuine interest in local art scenes..
where is the City interest in developing anything but the granville street business/entertainment district?!?
vancouver was damn lucky to have so many great live venues & clubs, and they died off through this slow & painful genocidal process, bleeding the life-blood out of the cultural dragon that could have supported something so much more..and not just the sugar refinery, the blinding light, and the starfish room..
one of our closet friends worked years at showcasing some of the best "IDM" the city & our confrères had to offer..he most definitely had the ego to match the intensity of what he wanted to pull off for all of us, but where was the DJ stardom that was to be borne out of that incredible phoenix? where was the press, indie or otherwise? where were the radio stations, internet, college or otherwise? where were the sponsors? the agents?
that's the missing puzzle piece for anyone who has tried to develop anything from a clothing line to a new hub in music production here..unless you have a commercial sponsor or it's mentioned on oprah, good luck..
vancouver is a major promoter of the mcjob industry..as long as it means tax credits, subsidies, development deals and interwoven partnerships, they're in!
so, bottom line: you wanna make $ and have a chance, a realistic chance @ someone supporting you, offering you one opportunity or another: travel, tour, play, network..
decide if you're ready to send a demo to a larger, more established label; a good example is rephlex, as they have the capacity to tour their artists, distribution channels, bonafide merch outlets, etc..
keep going with the music you've been making, and the artwork you've put together..
avoid the temptation of seeking a meal-ticket instead of creating a business plan for yourself..you have the drive to strike it hard, and can garner a lot of attention; you're awesome, and "so-and-so" has a strong & sexy voice..the key is intensity..every song is a 10 out of 10 on the intensity knob, and they don't always have the chance to build or land..
look at bogdan's 'renegade platinum mega dance attack party: don the plates', spark's 'super robot battle deluxe', and your own demo; even though the rpm's are sometimes reaching the roof, there's still movement, tempo, emotion, pulls & releases, take-offs and landings..
we live in an age of [myspace] mediocrity:
everyone's an artist
everyone's a critic
everyone's a label
everyone's a movement
with everyone getting noticed, no one's getting noticed, and if they *are* getting noticed, they're not always getting celebrated & elevated.. they're sold off to ipod & whore their wares just in time for the holidays..who's making the money?
decide how *you* want to make your $:
do you want to be signed to an indie or large label?
how many times a year can you play live and/or tour?
how many releases would you like to put out a year? in what format?
would you like to sell your artwork and other skills?
would you do commercial work?
do you want radio play? on what stations?
do you want to register with SOCAN? apply for grants? become a resident artist/musician?
who would handle your press & promotion initially?
do you want a manager? what's a typical profit percentage split? are they really notorious in making you a commodity to serve their own interests?
answer these questions for yourself, and you'll have a good idea of what it'll take to get you to the starting gate..
in the words of dylan: you decide for yourself
i love you like a brother..
allo love & respect, veronique"
too harsh? or a point of view a 23 year old artist may need to hear at this point in his career?
hmmm.. | |
Comments
12/19/07
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astroid
i think it's good, timely advice.
this:
"decide how *you* want to make your $:
do you want to be signed to an indie or large label?
how many times a year can you play live and/or tour?
how many releases would you like to put out a year? in what format?
would you like to sell your artwork and other skills?
would you do commercial work?
do you want radio play? on what stations?
do you want to register with SOCAN? apply for grants? become a resident artist/musician?
who would handle your press & promotion initially?
do you want a manager? what's a typical profit percentage split? are they really notorious in making you a commodity to serve their own interests?"
is excellent.
artists have to learn the landscape and target what they want to become-it isn't magic.
12/19/07
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atum
based on the shows that i have played, getting $50 for playing in front of 25 people is more than enough. onece i got $50 for a concert with two other people and no audience( it was on voting day and no one came). bob dylan isn't all that, he just sang other peoples' song and collected money for it.taking advice from bob dylan is the worse thing a person could do. bob dylan made his money by stealing folk songs, taking credit for the electric guitar, and being a puppet for the political media. before one decides what route to take to make money with idm, you have to be honest with yourself and ask if you really are an artist or just another poser.
12/19/07
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sclr
yeah thats decent compared to what goes on here in portland. plus lots of people love just playing for free and are generally great people here. but i think its good advice, even if he decides to make a 'mealticket' band.
12/19/07
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atum
playing a venue free opens you open for invites back, and usually the dude will give you money sooner or later
12/19/07
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vero
"bob dylan isn't all that, he just sang other peoples' song and collected money for it": true! though he decided to do that *himself*, even appearing in victoria's secret ads later in his career to make his $..he never claimed to be about anything else
and yeah, building up a little following playing cabaret venues once/twice a month can totally lead you to more $ from the dudes, or even a residency..
i know two local artists that are *thrilled* to have the same 10-15-20 people, who aren't their friends & that they don't know, show up time after time at their shows..it's a matter of expectation..
12/19/07
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MonkeyPlus1
dude complaining about only making $50 = prima donna. reminds me why it's so hard to hang out with people in rock bands.
but why bust anyone's bubble? let the kid have his delusions
you're right, though, if you REALLY want it, you really got to work for it.
me? I'm happy to make music for my own enjoyment, free of money-anxieties, and stoked to get a couple drink tickets for a live show!
Recent blogs: MBM pictures
12/19/07
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Roshi
Thanks for posting this.
Momus riffed on andy warhol and said "in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 people". Which I think is true.
Reaching a larger audience is hard and takes a lot of work that isn't making music...so I'm happy with my 15 people.
12/19/07
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Roshi
Also, I think I love the collaboration aspect of music almost more than anything.
It's just fun to play with other people.
12/19/07
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ricemutt
yeah, I agree, that's good sober advice. Sounds like somebody wants to be a rock star, haha.
12/19/07
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celibacyclub
i make thousands of fun points every time i make music.
my plan for ever making money is making a product that has value no matter how one evaluates it.
make something entirely unique, in format and approach.
and if people still dont want to pay for it, ill still have fun making it.
12/19/07
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Spark
I posted something sorta like this a few months ago but everyone was all like
'BOOO You wanna make money with music.. you're the devil!!" and threw a bunch of stones..
But all I was trying to say was that, people make a business out of music everyday.. and like any other business it's boring and involves charts.
12/19/07
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vero
"BOOO You wanna make money with music.. you're the devil!!": that's 'cause you *are* the devil! or at least devilish in your, uhm, delivery ;)
12/20/07
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quip
your friend sounds like a winer, let them go and be a pop star if thats what they want.
i love the bit about the family recreation park and the freezing trailers.
some people are cut out to be poor, sleep on sofas, eat shit food and play electronic shows,
some people aren't.
your either with us or against us!
12/20/07
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vero
I don't think that "Hey, I'm elite because I'm poor and eat shit food and sleep on a sofa" is any kind of ideology to live by.
No one is handing out gold stars for 'most eviction notices' or 'largest unpaid debt'.. I'd be winning!!
12/20/07
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ricemutt
did someone actually say that vero?
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