Playing for pennies
Addressing musicians' financial struggles. Locals share their struggles of being a musician.
The life of a musician isn't as glamorous as it may seem.
Only a small percentage are able to afford the rock star lifestyle. For the rest, it's a constant hustle to find the funds to create, tour and live their dreams — and in doing so creating songs we can't do without.
"Ninety percent of the work is not on the stage," said Clyde Hargrove, guitarist for local group Hydrogen Child. "A lot of people think touring is a lot of fun, but it's a gritty lifestyle. It's not a dreamworld of raspberries and chocolate."
Musicians are entrepreneurs and it'll take seeing them as a small business to give them their due. Without a change of perspective, the talents and skills of the independent artists will continue to fall through the cracks without the beauty of their work ever heard.
Fair pay for all
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There are three common pay structures for musicians performing live.
The first is a guarantee payment of an agree upon amount. The second is a promise the artist will receive money made at the door through admission charges. And some may make a deal of a combination payment of admission, bar or flat payment.
The problem is unless there's a flat rate the musician doesn't know what the payment will be until after the show. It's a bigger gamble if it's a poorly attended show.
It becomes more complicated when there’s a full band splitting the pay.
In the case of local country singer Daniel Smalley, the money just didn't add up for them when his band played a joint show with another five-piece band.
"We were guaranteed 100 percent of the door at $5 a head," Smalley said. "We did about $770. The first band had six members and our band had six members, so that's split 12 ways. We each made a whopping $60."
It costs Smalley $30 a week to keep his rehearsal space alone.
The admission is the musician's paycheck and the fans' way of supporting the talent and investing in their future.
"Fundamentally, there should be an overall change in how people show how they value art because a lot of people say they're willing to support artists but are hesitant to pay a nominal cover fee where they're willing to pay $40 plus on drinks," Haynes said. "That's a little difficult to watch."
The average pay for an independent artist may be about $100, according to Banks and some other performers in the area . Making $100 in an hour or two may seem like a pretty good deal, but musicians are working before ever hitting the stage.
It takes hours of rehearsing, writing, promoting and then loading and unloading heavy equipment and traveling. They are often their own booking managers, graphic designers for album art, to say the least.
It's barely enough to make ends meet, let alone allow them to put money aside to invest and save for the future.
The responsibility for ensuring fair pay belongs to the person booking the artist.
"If you're not getting paid enough maybe the demand isn't high enough," Hargrove said. "It's a black market that not regulated. It's a free market, supply and demand. There's plenty of times we didn't feel like we were paid enough, but that just meant we weren't doing our job and demanding it."
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Also, it's up to the musician to set a standard for what’s acceptable and fair.
"If you're not being offered a fair payment, don't take the gig," Haynes said. "And tell whoever is not offering you enough it's not fair."
Playing for pennies
Accessing music is as easy as clicking a button thanks to music streaming and downloading sites like Pandora, Spotify and YouTube.
But it's a double edge sword for artists.
It's great for introducing new listeners to music they might have never heard otherwise — there's millions of artists from all genres from around the world.
"There's a lot of debates about it but I'm on the side of what's giving us exposure? What's a band in Shreveport without Spotfiy?" Hargrove said. "We wouldn't have gotten all of the attraction and new contacts from when we went viral on."
Hydrogen Child peaked at No. 11 on a Spotify popular chart.
But the artists on sites like this are paid pennies for each song play — literally.
"We're paid per play," Hargrove said. "Way below a penny. About a fraction of a penny."
Investments and donations
Musicians usually end up putting up their personal money — made by working one or more jobs — to cover costs.
One option to getting funded by an outside source is to sign with a record label who will pay an advance to record, tour and supply merchandise. Labels also come with someone to take on the responsibility of promotion and booking — something independent artists do for themselves. It allows the musicians to focus on the craft while the label takes care of the business side.
The Seratones signed a record deal with Fat Possum Records this year that Haynes said opened doors the band before couldn't even knock on.
But many musicians aren't relying on a record label to pick them up and opting to record independently. This method comes with its perks, as the artist doesn't have to split income with book agents or rack up debts paying back the invested amount.
A growing trend is to host an online fundraiser — or crowdfunding campaign — to support the behind the scene expenses.
In a crowdfunding campaign, fans may pay for the song, album or music video to be made in promise of receiving the finished product and other perks. It’s an investment in the final product.
In certain campaigns, the money is refunded to the donor if the goal is not completed as a safeguard for people getting what they pay for.
Smalley, a Shreveport musician, is campaigning in hopes to raise $16,000 for his impending country album and music video.
A little goes a long way, but it take s Smalley to get the word out and convince the public his music is worth the support.
"It's giving the artist the ability to not only raise the money for their record, but also putting something tangible in the hands of donors," Smalley said. "You're not just handing me $30, you're going to get (the album) sent right to you as soon as it's done."
But even sites like those come with its costs.
Banks strayed away from crowdfunding because of the fees to host the campaign.
For Kickstarter, a five percent fee is take from the total donated amount with three to five percent deducted for processing. And if the goal is not met by the deadline the donor isn't charged but the artist doesn't receive any of the money.
Through Indiegogo, there's a five percent fee and offers a flexible funding permitting the artists to receive the donations no matter if the goal is met.
"I didn't want people to lose money paying the crowdfunding sites because there's a hefty percentage the crowdfunding site gets," Banks said. "And you pay if you go through PayPal, they take their cut. I know people don't have a lot of money so I made a way for people to just mail their checks to me, which a lot of people have done, and made it a blast on Facebook and sent letters to friends and supporters from over the years."
For her first CD 12 years ago, Banks sold her car when her financier backed out a week before she was to record to album.
"I don't let anything stop me," she said. "So if I don't get all the funds for the album through the pre-sales, I'll put it on my credit card. I'll do whatever it takes."
Music is entertainment, but it's also as much of a job as any other. Supporting local musicians is a way of investing in keeping the music alive.
"It's a dream," Smalley said. "Like anybody else fighting to make a dream come true, it's an extremely humbling experience to have people who have your back and to receive the support that I do right now."
Highland Jazz and Blues Festival rooted in tradition.
Resources for musicians
Musicians, know how to cut the costs and gain the knowledge by becoming familiar with resources.
Tipitina’s Music Office Co-Op offers:
- Internet, copying, faxing
- Editing programs Pro Tools LE,
- Complete Adobe Creative Suite (includes Photoshop and Premiere)
- Final Cut Pro
- PreSonus Studio One
- Rehearsal space (wait listed)
- Music business workshops and software tutorials
The Affordable Health Care Act - healthcare.gov
ASCAP - ascap.com
Grammy's MusiCares- grammy.org/musicares
Current music crowdfunding campaigns in Shreveport-Bossier City:
Juliann Banks pre-sale orders: julieannbanks.com