EFFECTS OF GLOBAL RECESSION ON MUSICIANS

[shyamwestwind]

Hi Everyone,
My partner and I had two firm contracts with two Restaurants, playing for them on Fridays and Saturdays.
Day before yesterday I was politely told by one of them that our duo wouldnt be required to play from December. The reason ? Loss of business due to drastic cuts in Corporate spending on entertainment.
I can sympathise with the owners of this restaurant because it is very true that the business has fallen sharply. The hordes of "techies" who used to party nearly every day, just aren't there.
Obviously the management had to cut down expenses and we were the first casuality ........ victims of the Global Recession ..... laid off !!!!
The Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations may not happen and the future looks bleak.
Fortunately, we have a few wedding receptions to play at in the next couple of months , to sustain us.
How are all of you fellow musicians faring in your parts of the world ?

[simmo123]

Hi folks,interesting comments Shyam has made about the downturn of opportunities in the entertainment game in India,because of the sort of places i play at in Australia eg nursing homes,hostels,senior groups also at some retirement villages which seem to be gaining in popularity in Perth for couples who in some cases are still working in some form or another but have not reached the age to draw an old age pension also fo the folks that are on the OAP, i find that there seems to be quite a lot of interest in the music from there era.I have been going around these sorts of places since retiring myself about 4 years ago & as someone who has had a very non musical background i found that by doing a few freebies( which i wouldn't have been worth paying for anyway) i managed to get rebooked at a couple (yeah ok so i played at the deaf society) & from there i seemed to get more jobs just from word of mouth.The sort of stuff i do is probably given away by my frequent reqests for oldie type stuff however with the age of a lot of the folks at these venues the days of the WW1 sort of stuff is just about gone so i am trying to move with the times & try any sort of song that has good entertainment value be it lively,funny or just good listening music plus i try & slip in a few saucy jokes as well, (courtesy of MM forum ), i must admit i enjoy going out there & making a fool of myself but because the little concerts are usually only around an hour long it stops me from making a complete idiot of myself,lol.Anyway i thought i would give you some idea of the sort of stuff there seems to be a big call for over here in fact our eldest son who is 45 years old ( God!!!!) came to see me perform one day & the next thing i know the little bugger has sent out some flyers to several other age care facilities & has had about an 80% success rate in getting gigs,he has been mucking around with music as a hobby for a few years but never been in a band at all,so he goes in there giving them all this stuff i've never heard of & they love him, so there are now two Simmo's loose out there now annoying everyone,he also doesn't have any problems getting out of the dementia wards like he's old man does sometimes, ;D. Well hope i haven't bored you with all these ramblings, the message i wanted to get across Re, downturn of work for muso's was that yes! things are getting tighter here for bands,i have a brother who plays bass in a country band & jobs in this area are getting a bit thin on the ground also they are getting a lot of competition,hence prices are dropping so i guess whats happening worldwide is pretty general.I have found that in my venues they are becoming more selective as funds available are getting less from Governments,but touch wood i'm still going ok,
Best wishes to all,Simmo

[musicman97]

I had an identical situation, a restaurant that had to cut me back. now, the gig is not only cut back, it is off until after the holiday season. The effect it had on me was that I was double checking everything to perform my best and keep the job. Had folks giving me input on how the sound was, do You understand the pronunciation of words, etc. 'Tell me if You think I'm expressing my political views too much while joking or in conversation.

Its something, You do everything you can do, but the bottom line is, the economy.

I buy some equipment and supplies from a dealer located in Kansas City, mid west, USA. I talked with some guys on the phone, the general answer was, 'Yes, the sales of music equipment has dropped and musicians everywhere are feeling the crunch.

Back in the Early 1980's a band i was with felt the same crunch under that recession. The reason I'm telling you guys all of this is I am for certain that even though you are well seasoned musicians, there will be times that You will want to hang it up out of discouragement. Tensions will get high among band members too, especially when you have the will to practice more, get more organized and compete with any music that might take a job from you.

In the old days we were going around singing the following lines that my Cousin wrote down.

I've been a pickin and a grinnin all over this fair land,
Tryin to make a livin with a little old five piece band.
Now I'm the only one thats left i rate among the champs,
The other four ain't pickin no more they signed up for food stamps.

So please buy my record and do Your fair share,
if you don't buy my record, I'm goin on welfare.

[shyamwestwind]

Talking of "welfare", we dont even have that here in India !!

[rosybud1956]

"Talking of "welfare", we dont even have that here in India !!"
That's interesting Shyam. How do the poorer people and unemployed etc manage? Is there any form of support system for them? Maybe food vouchers or something? Cheers Lyn

[musicman97]

Here in the states, they change the terminology every few years, so what once was called welfare, is now called, public assistance.

At times when i was down and out, I still held my head up, no matter what it was called, It was still bread and electricity. any way, I don't mean to ramble but just want to pass that on to You.

I hope all of You have a great week and the good prosperous times will surely come your way.

Regards

[JohnG]

Hi all,
Yes, the normal venues are certainly "feeling the pinch" which must translate to musicians feeling the same. Simmo's input I thought was very relevant here, it's time to be a bit more inventive. Whilst times are tough perhaps we should put our thinking caps on and try to find other venues maybe with different audiences and also possibly different musical tastes. With Christmas just around the corner time to brush off the holly and the mistletoe and put together a Christmas gig. Why don't we try to think of some new areas to explore? Any input?

JohnG.

[weegeo]

As someone that isnt really gigging a lot these days [health] i still book my band out i use a fill in when i cant do it. I must say that i have every Saturday and most Fridays booked for next year including New Years Eve, i think i have about 10 Fridays to fill and that would be my diary filled. It`s an interesting post and i do agree with John that if you are struggling to find work the xmas period is certainly the easiest time to find it. I would suggest that it is too late for this year but you should think about next year Tip1 Get in early approach the club early in the year try and foster some sort of rapport with the club committee Tip 2 Be persisent in your search check out venues that would only do xmas events present yourself in a prof:manner and you may be surprised with the result.
I`m sorry i can`t say too much about a recession because we don`t experience the same type of downfall that is Global.
Well these are the words of weegeo and his tuppence worth

weegeo

[shyamwestwind]

Yes, I agree with weegeo - We need to be professional about all this and just go about things forcefully. It looks like its working......... just might get two weekly dos shortly. Well I guess sometimes things happen for the best I l'm losing one and getting two.
All thats okay as far as the regular contracts go, but it is a fact that custom has fallen in nearly all the restaurants , pubs and lounges. There are no Corporate parties at all .I hope things will improve in the next six or seven months atleast.

[charlie]

Hey Guys,

I would like to chime in on this economy thing and how it's impacted my gigging schedule. First off, New Year's gig was cancelled at the Holiday Inn (I know...terrible tragedy, but it was going to pay pretty good..LOL). Then the Holiday Inn decides to cancel live entertainment all together about a month ago. Then, a strange thing happened. We had a previous gig lined up at a local country club, and we made sure all our loyal and devoted fans knew all about it. Well, that Friday night we played...it was packed. I'm guessing around 150 people...anyway, a lot more people than the country club had been experiencing. Remember, our fans (followers, whatever, dont want to sound like we're rock stars...lol) had not seen us play in over a month...so they were ready to dance. Well, as the night went on, one of our closest friends approached the country club owner and suggested we play New Years. Since they had not booked a band yet, and it was getting pretty late in the year to do so, and since the place was packed....well, the owner said yes...and so we got real lucky. I guess the morale to this story is never give up hope....cause sometimes there are forces at play that we dont know anything about.

Charlie

[musicman97]

These are great ideas and plans to stay in business, and, Go Charlie Go, There was a Southern comedian from Mississippi, named Jerry Clower, who used to say, 'He's got that hang in there, bull dog foreverishness'