Being a successful musician is arguably the most glamorous job in the music industry. Take The Rolling Stones for example, their band name has become synonymous with living the high life, fame, wealth, drugs and partying. The success usually doesn't come easily and being in a very small time band can be extremely hard work with very little pay. Early on in his career, Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong lived in a slum. Lower Than Atlantis front man Mike Duce worked at Morrisons full time while playing in his band in the evenings.
How To Make It In The Music Business by Siân Pattenden states that being a "Pop Star" is a 24/7 job that has enormous health risk, pressure, constant travel but is extremely glamorous. "It's a rotten job, but lots of people want to do it."
There are vary clearly defined pros and cons with being an artist and I'll try and bullet point as many as I can think of. Often some things like fame can fall under both categories depending on who you are. It's often nice to be in the spotlight but if you make mistakes or do something embarrassing, it can be a curse as well as a blessing. Not to mention the paparazzi.
Pros:
There are vary clearly defined pros and cons with being an artist and I'll try and bullet point as many as I can think of. Often some things like fame can fall under both categories depending on who you are. It's often nice to be in the spotlight but if you make mistakes or do something embarrassing, it can be a curse as well as a blessing. Not to mention the paparazzi.
Pros:
- Fame
- Wealth (Paul McCartney is worth an estimated $800 million)
- Sense of achievement
- Having a loving, loyal fan-base
- The satisfaction that comes from giving enjoyment to others
- Job satisfaction (Ultimately making music is what a successful artist loves the most)
- Being in a band (Spending most your time with a group of your best friends)
- Making music, on your own or as a band
- Feedback from the audience (This little section from Bring Me The Horizon's set at Reading is the most recent thing I've seen showing what I mean)
Cons:
Other public appearances that an artist might have to make include live television performances and (if you're lucky) award ceremonies.
Not every part of the job is public though. After all, the music business is a business and there will definitely be meetings with record labels, publishing companies, lawyers, accountants and managers etc that the artist will have to attend.
Compared to other jobs involving live performance, being the performing artist that's the center of attention comes with increased rewards but the pressure might be too much for some. A session musician on that very same stage with the aforementioned artist may feel much less pressure. I'm probably correct in assuming that at least 75% of the audience don't know the names of the session musicians sharing the stage with the famous band they've gone to see. Session musicians will be paid less than the main act unfortunately but there are interesting differences between the two. A session musician might only be contracted short term (for say a tour) before going to work with a different band or artist. The change in scenery so to speak is probably very refreshing as sharing a tour bus with the same people for months on end can be pretty purgatorial. On the complete opposite end of the scale, there are guitarists like Jason White worked with Green Day as a session musician for 13 years before they actually made him a member of the band. A session musician might only perform live, or might only work in a studio. It could be said that they have more freedom over exactly what they want to do as musicians without gigantic record labels on their back steering them towards doing what will make the most money.
An important aspect of any job in the music business is contracts and artists will have to sign lots of different contracts throughout their career, including but not limited to:
Publishing Contracts (Anything from a single to a whole album)
Recording Contracts (Again, anything from a single to a whole album)
Record Label Deals (Signing to a label)
- Loss of freedom
- Loss of privacy
- Pressure (and similarly the pressure that deadlines create)
- The stress of performing
- Constant travelling
- Extreme tiredness
- Being tempted into a life style of drugs and alcohol (
and dying when you're 27) - Being away from family and friends for long periods of time
Artist/Performer is a very broad job role and there are many different settings that the artist will find themselves in. Performing at the O2 arena will perhaps require a tighter schedule and the artist may feel more pressured than if they recording at a studio. The artist will need to perform at rehearsals too and if they are a songwriter as well then that's another part of the job. At each setting, the artist is essentially just playing their instrument/singing, however, depending on what they're doing and where they are, the job can vary immensely. Performing a one off massive show is also very different to a long tour. Playing two sets at Reading and Leeds on two consecutive days is going to be very different to playing much smaller venues on a tour for two months. The stage at a festival is going to be much bigger and more elaborate, there will be more members of stage crew, more lights, a more complicated sound rig for instance. It will be louder and there will be a much bigger audience. Often, depending on whether you're headlining or not, you might be filmed live for a television channel. You will probably have a smaller setlist too (again depending on whether you're a headliner) which means giving a performance your all for say 45 minutes, rather than playing a 90 minute set where you can take short breaks or play slower, calmer songs.
After your wonderful performance at Reading, magazines, television channels, radio stations and newspapers are probably going to want to interview you. Public relations are very important and if you want people to buy your songs and listen to your music, you have to show the public what you're like. Having a fan base is incredibly important. Lots of artists have social media platforms such as twitter and reach out to the fans while they're on tour. It's really quite beneficial for fans to feel like the bands they listen to consist of real people just like them that they can connect with.
After your wonderful performance at Reading, magazines, television channels, radio stations and newspapers are probably going to want to interview you. Public relations are very important and if you want people to buy your songs and listen to your music, you have to show the public what you're like. Having a fan base is incredibly important. Lots of artists have social media platforms such as twitter and reach out to the fans while they're on tour. It's really quite beneficial for fans to feel like the bands they listen to consist of real people just like them that they can connect with.
Other public appearances that an artist might have to make include live television performances and (if you're lucky) award ceremonies.
Not every part of the job is public though. After all, the music business is a business and there will definitely be meetings with record labels, publishing companies, lawyers, accountants and managers etc that the artist will have to attend.
Compared to other jobs involving live performance, being the performing artist that's the center of attention comes with increased rewards but the pressure might be too much for some. A session musician on that very same stage with the aforementioned artist may feel much less pressure. I'm probably correct in assuming that at least 75% of the audience don't know the names of the session musicians sharing the stage with the famous band they've gone to see. Session musicians will be paid less than the main act unfortunately but there are interesting differences between the two. A session musician might only be contracted short term (for say a tour) before going to work with a different band or artist. The change in scenery so to speak is probably very refreshing as sharing a tour bus with the same people for months on end can be pretty purgatorial. On the complete opposite end of the scale, there are guitarists like Jason White worked with Green Day as a session musician for 13 years before they actually made him a member of the band. A session musician might only perform live, or might only work in a studio. It could be said that they have more freedom over exactly what they want to do as musicians without gigantic record labels on their back steering them towards doing what will make the most money.
An important aspect of any job in the music business is contracts and artists will have to sign lots of different contracts throughout their career, including but not limited to:
Publishing Contracts (Anything from a single to a whole album)
Recording Contracts (Again, anything from a single to a whole album)
Record Label Deals (Signing to a label)
Artist Management Contracts
Artist Venue Agreement
The length of these contracts can vary from between one page for a simple agreement to perform at a venue to around 50 or more pages for a long-term Artist/Record Label deal.
This contract is an example of a short agreement given to an artist or his manager to sign for a specific booking or a series of bookings like a tour.
Clause 1 is very straightforward. It's just an agreement of where, when and for how much the artist will be playing.
Clause 2 goes into detail about timing. It outlines when the artist has to arrive, how long their setlist is and when it ends.
Clause 3 should really be watched out for. The normal radius in an agreement like this is about 15 miles and if you are a little known band playing lots of small local venues nearby, this is unreasonable for the venue to make you agree to this. As a small band or artist, you should definitely try and get this deleted before you agree to play. This normally only exists for gigs where a good turnout would be noticeably affected by you being billed to play another local venue around the same date.
Clause 4 lacks some detail that is worth asking about; ultimately you want the salary paid in cash on the night.
Clause 5 is also very straightforward.
This is an example of an incredibly unfair contract you should never ever sign. It is extremely exploitative and unfair. Technically you couldn't be held to it because it is so unfair and ambiguous but it's a good example.
Clause 1 metaphorically sells your soul to this company. It says that you are never allowed to "render your services to another party for any purpose whatsoever".
Clause 2 says the company can rename your band to anything they want at will and the artist is entirely responsible for any lawsuits that may ensue.
Clause 3 forces the artist to go anywhere the company wants within 30 minutes "reasonable" notice. If they don't attend the times and places the company decides the artist loses all their rights under this or any other agreement.
Clause 4 gives the artist a really low royalty rate for their songs. 1% or less because the company has the full decision to make any deductions they want.
The artist could be fooled by Clause 5 if it was glossed over. If the artist is a duo the entire royalty rate is halved first before being paid to the artist.
Clause 6 is obviously a way of denying the artist any access to their money.
Clause 7 says that the artist has to pay all of the expenses involved in production, manufacture, distribution and advertising of their records. If they are unable to pay due to bankruptcy then relatives and friends must pay.
Clause 8 is straightforward but extremely unfair as the artist has to go abroad to get money for the company.
Clause 9 makes the artist agree that they have had no legal advice on this contract and they are not allowed to discuss any terms of the contract with any other party.
The length of these contracts can vary from between one page for a simple agreement to perform at a venue to around 50 or more pages for a long-term Artist/Record Label deal.
The following contracts are scans from How To Succeed In The Music Business by Allan Dann and John Underwood:
Clause 1 is very straightforward. It's just an agreement of where, when and for how much the artist will be playing.
Clause 2 goes into detail about timing. It outlines when the artist has to arrive, how long their setlist is and when it ends.
Clause 3 should really be watched out for. The normal radius in an agreement like this is about 15 miles and if you are a little known band playing lots of small local venues nearby, this is unreasonable for the venue to make you agree to this. As a small band or artist, you should definitely try and get this deleted before you agree to play. This normally only exists for gigs where a good turnout would be noticeably affected by you being billed to play another local venue around the same date.
Clause 4 lacks some detail that is worth asking about; ultimately you want the salary paid in cash on the night.
Clause 5 is also very straightforward.
This is an example of an incredibly unfair contract you should never ever sign. It is extremely exploitative and unfair. Technically you couldn't be held to it because it is so unfair and ambiguous but it's a good example.
Clause 1 metaphorically sells your soul to this company. It says that you are never allowed to "render your services to another party for any purpose whatsoever".
Clause 2 says the company can rename your band to anything they want at will and the artist is entirely responsible for any lawsuits that may ensue.
Clause 3 forces the artist to go anywhere the company wants within 30 minutes "reasonable" notice. If they don't attend the times and places the company decides the artist loses all their rights under this or any other agreement.
Clause 4 gives the artist a really low royalty rate for their songs. 1% or less because the company has the full decision to make any deductions they want.
The artist could be fooled by Clause 5 if it was glossed over. If the artist is a duo the entire royalty rate is halved first before being paid to the artist.
Clause 6 is obviously a way of denying the artist any access to their money.
Clause 7 says that the artist has to pay all of the expenses involved in production, manufacture, distribution and advertising of their records. If they are unable to pay due to bankruptcy then relatives and friends must pay.
Clause 8 is straightforward but extremely unfair as the artist has to go abroad to get money for the company.
Clause 9 makes the artist agree that they have had no legal advice on this contract and they are not allowed to discuss any terms of the contract with any other party.
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