Getting too old to make it?

[BlueStrat]

Yah, I hear what you're saying -- things are definitely not the same. And it may have been frivolous of me to compare this time with any other time, because like you said, I wasn't here. Or I should've said that the current time is better FOR ME. I myself tried more traditional approach to making a living with music, playing in bars and parties. Well, at first it was fun playing covers in parties -- I did that all throughout college -- but outside school in a regular bar scene, I just didn't fit. Socially. I am just not the kind of person who goes and hangs out in bars, so playing there, I felt out of element -- couldn't really connect with patrons, really couldn't foster any relations with owners and booking agents, none of my friends came to see me because they weren't bar-goers either. Soon I got burned out. I love music, but playing bars and coffeehouses, I didn't. On the other hand, internet has been tremendously successful to me. I produced albums and scored indie films thanks to my net savvyness. And I'm just starting a new phase, now finally back to promoting my own original music -- and I'm very hopeful that in time I can carve out a niche for my music. Hopefully if I do it long and persistent enough, it'll be enough to make a living. So this new world of internet and digital music is absolutely crucial to me. Perhaps if I was born in another time, I would have figured out another way to do it. But I manage to take advantage of what the current time offers, so I'm happy to be doing this now, as opposed to other times I hear of. So you and I are coming from very different places -- perhaps we just have to agree to disagree. I do see where you're coming from -- and we simply have different perspective, different ways we'd like to go about it. The current time is good for one of us and not for the other. Who knows, tomorrow it may be the opposite. ari

 

That's a great post, and pretty much dead on.

 

The thing is, at this point in my life, it's not that I can't embrace new technology or methods. It's that I don't see the point. I'm not trying to be anything anymore, and to expend the time and energy it would require for less return than I used to get just doesn't seem worth it. I've spent 36 years, or over 70% of my life, learning how to do the music business a certain way. I'm sure if I really wanted to I could adapt to the new market, but the truth is, there are lots of other things I'd rather be doing with the 20 or so (hopefully) active years I have left. I've buried three close friends this year, one of them my best friend for 28 years, and another gal I've known for several years just died this morning after a sudden short illness. The reality is, my time in the music business has come and gone, and other than doing it for fun and to make some extra money for other things like motorcycle trips, home improvement or vacations, I'm not interested in it other than as an observer and the rare occaisions I'm able to pass on what I've learned wherever it might be applied.

 

Good luck!

[DevilRaysFan]

 

That's a great post, and pretty much dead on.

 

 

 

+1...Its also got me thinking and reevaluating myself as I am just a wee bit over the 40 Threshhold....Thanks Ari........

 

Somebody once said "After you die, you will become your website"...I Guess that may prove true in the long run.......

[cherri]

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Bluestrat. My condolences.

[BlueStrat]

 

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Bluestrat. My condolences.

 

 

Thanks, sis.

[swanusa]

As long as your music sounds young, who cares to know how old you are, right? People get big diseases at young age and die. Age would have made sense if everyone was supposed to live for a certain period. Anybody can make it big at any age, I think. They just need to keep themselves fit, keep the focus straight and work in the right direction. If you've got what it takes, it's going to happen one day. Some are just luckier than others.

[MadPsyance]

How old do you think this guy is?

 

 

They have a cult following of goth/emo teenagers..i went to a show of theirs a few months ago and the crowd was like 95% teenagers. Sure they've been around since '97 but they really didn't start getting popular until a few years ago..they had a single that went to no 1 on the dance charts..even though they're far from dance.

 

The frontman is 39. Never too old imo.

[buckyberg]

I gave up trying to hit it big at about 40. Ten years ago my band was offered a 2/yr 2/CD Mercury deal at $500,000. After we did the math (payouts to lawyers, producer, managers, expenses, recording budget on a string), my net pay share would have been about $10k per year, excluding union scale for touring and any royalties we may have generated. We turned it down and went with an indy label instead. Perhaps we were wrong, though, because we made one CD on the indy label that didn't move significant numbers. At least we would have made two CDs.

Most of us just couldn't afford the gamble at the time with NYC rents, bills, credit cards, etc.

But you're never too old. Being a sideman for a national act pays pretty decently and you don't have to be the second coming of Jesus to get a gig like that.

[BlueStrat]

 

At least we would have made two CDs.

 

 

Not necessarily.

[daddymack]

Not necessarily.

true, had the first one done no biz, the second one likely would not have been recorded.

[sabriel9v]

On the flip side of this argument...I'm a younger musician and not worried about the industry's perspective on my age. However, I've always wondered...will other musicians perceive me differently if I'm 21 and rip an amazing solo like Frank Zappa or 30 and rip an equally amazing solo? If I sound like John Mclaughlin did on Inner Mounting Flame now at 21, will people care any more than they would if I was 35?

[BlueStrat]

 

If I sound like John Mclaughlin did on Inner Mounting Flame now at 21, will people care any more than they would if I was 35?

 

 

They absolutely would, because youth is a marketable commodity all it's own.

 

I mean, really: Kenny Wayne Shepherd? Does anyone think he would have been signed if he didn't play like he did when he was 18? The fact is, bars are full of 35-50 year old guys who can play rings around him, but they aren't blonde, blue-eyed, skinny and 18 with a dad in the radio business.

 

Jonny Lang? Shannon Curfman? Same thing applies. Jonny Lang was big news when he broke, because he had a huge voice and guitar technique when he was 16. His problem now is that record company guys got ahold of him and tried to turn him into a pop singer instead of a guitar player. But his singing is still like it was at 16, where being over the top and too hysterical sounding could be forgiven then, but much less so at 29. Had he stuck to being a blues player and singer, he could likely have taken his place with Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Castro, Robert Cray, etc etc on the blues /crossover scene.

[bigdaddydave]

However, I've always wondered...will other musicians perceive me differently if I'm 21 and rip an amazing solo like Frank Zappa or 30 and rip an equally amazing solo? If I sound like John Mclaughlin did on Inner Mounting Flame now at 21, will people care any more than they would if I was 35?

 

 

If you can play like that I'd say your age is the least of your concerns-go get a gig with Chick Corea.

[bigdaddydave]

They absolutely would, because youth is a marketable commodity all it's own. I mean, really: Kenny Wayne Shepherd? Does anyone think he would have been signed if he didn't play like he did when he was 18? The fact is, bars are full of 35-50 year old guys who can play rings around him, but they aren't blonde, blue-eyed, skinny and 18 with a dad in the radio business. Jonny Lang? Shannon Curfman? Same thing applies. Jonny Lang was big news when he broke, because he had a huge voice and guitar technique when he was 16. His problem now is that record company guys got ahold of him and tried to turn him into a pop singer instead of a guitar player. But his singing is still like it was at 16, where being over the top and too hysterical sounding could be forgiven then, but much less so at 29. Had he stuck to being a blues player and singer, he could likely have taken his place with Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Castro, Robert Cray, etc etc on the blues /crossover scene.

 

 

Amen. To all you "blues prodigies" out there-beware of becoming just another child star. Kenny Wayne is now being marketed as "rock star" and Jonny Lang is just another middle of the road artist on Adult Alternative radio (not such a bad thing, I guess, but a far cry from the excitement that surrounded him 10 or 12 years ago). The meat grinder of the music biz can be especially cruel to the young and talented.

[Poker99]

{censored} the music biz.

[ari]

If you can play like that I'd say your age is the least of your concerns-go get a gig with Chick Corea.

 

 

Agreed.

 

This may be a tangent, but I do believe that for men, sometimes being older has an advantage over young guys -- in some musical styles. I live in Austin, so there are plenty of 30, 40 and 50-year-olds playing country and blues, and that goes over perfectly well.

 

Plus, how old they ACT is more important -- Doug Pinnick from King's X is nearing 60, but he's still as cool as kids 40 years his junior, sporting blond dreadlocks and 6-pack on his abs, slapping on his bass and screaming like banshee at every gig. Nobody's calling him to retire when he looks and acts like that, although if you look at him closely, you can see he's got deep lines on his face.

 

Unfortunately, it's not the same for women, I'm afraid -- in rootsy circles age isn't such an issue, but it becomes so when the music is perceived as primarily for young people: pop, rock, whatever is hot on the radio at the time.

 

Anyway, I don't think there's any such thing as being too old (or too young) if your goal is to make a living performing and recording your own music. It does take time to develop such a career, so I suppose at some point you may think you don't have enough years/energy left, but that's really mostly in your mindset (I think -- I can't say for sure b/c I'm not that old yet myself). If your goal is to be a rock star, then some ages have more advantages than others.

 

ari

[sabriel9v]

Agreed. This may be a tangent, but I do believe that for men, sometimes being older has an advantage over young guys -- in some musical styles. I live in Austin, so there are plenty of 30, 40 and 50-year-olds playing country and blues, and that goes over perfectly well. Plus, how old they ACT is more important -- Doug Pinnick from King's X is nearing 60, but he's still as cool as kids 40 years his junior, sporting blond dreadlocks and 6-pack on his abs, slapping on his bass and screaming like banshee at every gig. Nobody's calling him to retire when he looks and acts like that, although if you look at him closely, you can see he's got deep lines on his face. Unfortunately, it's not the same for women, I'm afraid -- in rootsy circles age isn't such an issue, but it becomes so when the music is perceived as primarily for young people: pop, rock, whatever is hot on the radio at the time. Anyway, I don't think there's any such thing as being too old (or too young) if your goal is to make a living performing and recording your own music. It does take time to develop such a career, so I suppose at some point you may think you don't have enough years/energy left, but that's really mostly in your mindset (I think -- I can't say for sure b/c I'm not that old yet myself). If your goal is to be a rock star, then some ages have more advantages than others. ari

 

 

 

I would agree with your comment about women and age in the music industry. Age can be a serious crutch for women in the industry unless they figure out other ways to market themselves i.e. Madonna, Celine Dion.

[schmatass]

I am rapidly aproaching my 27th birthday and I have a question: Do I still have a chance to "make it" in music or am I getting too old? It always seems like the guys who actually does do so long before they're 25. At what age should I call it quits?

 

Your actually at an age where your more apt to have success given your life experience. Your obviously not a teenager, so it's safe to say your not trying to be the next teen idol right? So you can throw the age factor out of the window. Laugh and take a deep breath!

 

By "making it" I mean having a decent career that allows me to have a decent income by playing the music that I make and love. I'm not worried about being a gazillion-selling rock star. I would just really like if I could have some sort of real success, not just barely making a living like I do now. I know I have good music. People all over the world has responded in the coolest way whenever they have heard it.

 

I know a bunch of people in the music biz that are doing well, without being rockstars or selling boatloads of records. Some are involved in publishing deals, songwriting projects, being sideman and some play in wedding bands 2-3 days a week etc. What do all of those people have in common? Aside from the obvious things like having talent and skill on their instruments - they all have incredible business savvy, a strong work ethic, self-discipline, networking skills, ability to adapt in an ever-changing enviroment, a personality that others find enjoyable to be around and most importantly - they all figured out a way to earn a living doing something they love.

 

Be a constant student when it comes to learning, adapt newly acquired skills and seek every opportunity. You never know where it'll lead you to.

 

cheers!