Music Was My First Love
My entire life has been heavily influenced by music. From early education to the present day, I have always been involved in music in some way. This does not make me particularly special, as many others are in the same boat.
The wheels of the music industry grind on whatever challenges are thrown under them however, a musician's life has never been harder. The advent of streaming was seen as a chance to reboot, with untold millions waved under the noses of signed and unsigned bands. The reality of course, is that the royalties from streaming remain incredibly poor.
On the upside, live performance can still help artists earn enough to fill their weekly grocery shopping baskets and maybe even afford a small treat now and again. But even the once mighty are digging around for a few quid to put in their pockets.
I recently went to see an ancient band that I enjoyed in my youth, Gong. They were as much a cult as a band and I was thrilled to get to see them despite the fact that the vast majority of original members are now dead and the others doing other things. However, if you trace their family tree, a connection is there with the original band and the genre it spawned - psychedelic rock music.
The members of the band remain true to their hippy roots and joined the audience after their performance. They were all charming and down to earth people who were willing to speak to anyone who dared approach them.
The music itself is highly intricate and must take a good deal of effort to write and rehearse to the levels I witnessed it being played.
At the other end of the scale, I play in a covers band formed from musicians in our local village. We have become quite competent and have attracted the attention of local landlords and asked to play for them to help them earn more money. However, such are the times that they never, ever offer to pay us for our endeavours. We do lots of charity gigs which we are happy to play for nothing and will even agree to play at private parties for friends, but refuse to be exploited. Unfortunately, for many with aspirations to make music their careers, exploitation is still a daily occurrence. We are not that badly affected as it is a hobby and we are all otherwise employed, but the attitude to live music and musicians is deplorable at every level. Try asking the landlord of a pub to come and do a free bar for you!!
Do take care, listen hard and we will do another of these before Christmas!
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