Worrying About Monetising Your Music is Holding You Back

Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by Rich Huxley in MUSIC INDUSTRY

"Have fun, make art."

Art For Art’s Sake

The constant talk of the need to monetise music is somewhat confusing to me. Just because you make art, doesn’t mean that you deserve to make money out of it.

art –noun

1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. (Dictionary.com)

Re-read that again then just for yourself “… what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance”. That’s what should be both the motivation and the payoff for musicians, to make something beautiful and significant.

Whats more, great art is rarely spawned by the singular desire to make money. (I’m sure many would argue that the two things are mutually exclusive) why did Bowie make “Changes”? Why did Lennon and McCartney write “A Day In The Life”? For me, if you want to make money, become an accountant. If you want to make art and make music, then get on with it. Making art is not the precursor to making money from your art (if you make an axe, it doesn’t mean someone should by rights buy that axe from you).

Do you make and perform music? Why did you start to play? Why did you join a band or do your first performance? Think back, what was your motivation?

For me, I can trace my lineage directly back to seeing my Dad playing rock ‘n’ roll to friends and strangers at locked door/closed curtains drinking sessions held outside of licensed pub hours. He performing for the entertainment of others, for no charge. His payment; the lit up faces and smiles of people sharing in the experience. In essence, my Dad is a Fun-Pusher.

This is why I’m proud to say, “I’m in Hope and Social, and I sell fun“. Now while it may not be the trendiest or coolest product (it’s not sex, it’s not good looks, the right hair or skinny jeans), it is a currency all of our own. We have our own particular brand of fun – it involves fans and new friends alike, and it goes with us to every show. We create an experience and something different happens at each and every show. What’s more, unlike a CD/a record/an mp3, it’s not copyable; you can’t put it on a disc or a hard-drive and play it on your mp3 player.

Why we don’t deserve to earn from music

Firstly, your art may not be to the liking of many people; hell, it could be rubbish. Furthermore, people may not want to give their money to you. That’s right, people may be making their decisions based not on how good your stuff/product/music/package is, but on how much they want you to have their money. There are many and varied reasons why people may choose not to buy your wares, what we can do however is give people good reasons to buy (On a similar subject and for some further reading, here’s a great post by John Sheldrick on Music Think Tank about the many reasons Why You Should Pay For Music).

While I don’t think anyone deserves to make money from their music by right, I do believe that artists deserve the opportunity to make their music making sustainable, and then hopefully profitable. Part of that is minimising costs; making sure it’s not costing you to say put on a show , or perhaps press your CDs, taking advantage of social media, digital distribution and the new, free ways of connecting with people. This is why I urge people daily to sell their music as a PayWhatYouWant download (and physical CD if you’ve got the stones to do so). PWYW gives people the opportunity to not only pay what they want, but also who they want. It is with this in mind that musicians need to push forward now, with a desire to make art, to do great things and to move people to want to part with their money, and put it into your bank account.

So, Why Make Music? Why Make Art?

I am driven to make music, I’m in part defined by it. I must do this, I cannot function without music being a central and vital part of my life. If you don’t feel that way, then maybe its’ worth thinking about other ways of making your living? Music is such a powerful and attractive force that non-musicians also seek to work in music; PR’s for example will work, often for far less money than they would in say retail PR just because they want top work in music, the same must surely go double for the musician.

I remember when I first started writing music, it was my hope that one day someone would come up to me and tell me that something I’d made had moved them, in the same way that music has moved me. If someone tells you that your music is the soundtrack to their getting ready for a Friday night, that it helped them through a difficult time, or that it’s inspired them to make art, then there’s your musician’s wage right there. I believe, should be the pre-cursor to your musical career; this has to be the drive that makes you write, rehearse and perform.

The “hopefully inspirational”, but probably actually just a little bit self congratulatory bit

Through PWYW, through special events and through peddling fun like I saw my Dad do for free twenty years ago I’m now in the band I’ve always wanted to be in. Hope and Social have grown into an old-style, good-time show band. Like a Yorkshire E-Street Band, we’re a spectacle, an event. We’re certainly not just a gig (though if that was the case, we’d be a damn good gig). What we do is economically sustainable, it pays for itself and sometimes a bit extra for us all to live on, but mostly, it is the reward in itself. Furthermore, by adopting and embracing new opportunities to connect and share with people, we’re now at a point when we’re far more viable than anytime when we’ve invested thousands of pounds on advertising, PR, pluggers. Sustainability first, then profitability.

Just as important as taking advantage of all the new opportunities we have today though, let’s not waste our lives, time and energy complaining that everyone gets their music for free and start giving people damn good reasons to put their money where your singer’s mouth is.

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Tags: business models, gigging, hope and social, monetization

18 Responses to “Worrying About Monetising Your Music is Holding You Back”

John Popham

19. Jul, 2010

Good one, Rich. I like this a lot.

Do we assume that Simon Cowell is just in it to move people too?
Rich Huxley

19. Jul, 2010

Ha! Thanks John.
Well, I do suppose there are different motivations, but give me John Peel, Alan Raw and Tom Robinson any day over the high-waisted evil-monger that is flat-top Cowell.
xR
Izzi

19. Jul, 2010

Good blog however not sure I fully agree with you and I’ll get to why not in the end…

Cowell isn’t an artist(e), he’s a parasite who makes money from others art. Anyway, slight digression there…

I, and the band I am in, do it for the pleasure. Yes, it would be nice to be able to play “professionally” but after 30 years of doing this without making a large pile of cash I’ve sort of gotten used to the fact that I’m not selling millions of copies of everything I do – often for the reasons cited above but also given that in an age of wall to wall 24/7 “entertainment” people just aren’t motivated to go out and seek new experiences in the same way we did when I was growing up.

Ironically a board we occasionally frequent is full of the animated juke box types (cover and tribute bands) who complain that they aren’t making enough money and these are perhaps the sort of folk this blog is really for – those who along the way have switched from (I’m assuming and that may be a big leap here) artistic creativity to faithful copyist on the grounds that it will make them some money whilst they’re doing something they enjoy. A venue near us will only put such bands on as “people want to hear what they know” and this is becoming more the norm in my experience even though the audiences they attract are usually quite pitiful and unlikely to raise the fee the licensee pays. BUT nearly every original music band I meet, no matter how good, no matter how “successful” share a single driving factor and that is to play even if we have to finance it by working, fraudulent benefit related activity or simple larceny I say nearly, there are of course the teenage laptoperists who believe that putting a bass line and a few synth licks over someone elses music and chatting a bit of bollocks about how hard they are, how many women they’ve shagged today or an imagined drug intake merits the lifestyle and income of a traditional superstar
roocifer

19. Jul, 2010

Nice touch Mr Hux,

For me it’s about the long term, the connection with the fan, and the art being something I want. Perfect point that people will work in the industry for less, just to be in it.
This is an industry driven by reaction to emotion. Am I going to put my hand in my pocket to support this thing? Well, does it do something for me? Move me in some way? Make me laugh? It’s an easy relationship from thereon.

Find the right fans for your art and they will support you. THEY will monetise the project/band/performance/installation – but it’s got to come in that direction. capture them. rapture them.

roo
Will

19. Jul, 2010

Musicians who have a good product (ie. their music/show) need to talk MORE about making money, not less. Most are too chickenshit to ask for money or have other hangups, don’t want or know how to market, instead choosing to play for peanuts at a local bar or on the street.

Just because you are passionate about something and would do it for free doesn’t mean you can’t make money at it. But you have to put an effort into marketing your product or service.

Many musicians think if they put out good music and a donate button people will find it automatically and keep them afloat, but like anything these things need to be marketed.
Lynn

19. Jul, 2010

I don’t entirely agree with you. I’ve been involved in the music business in one way or another for nearly 40 years. A lot has changed, but unfortunately not for the better.

Original “artists” have always had to accept that their music activity (no matter how many hours they put into it) was going to be deemed a “hobby” rather than a “job”. This meant that most gigs didn’t pay the band anything at all, or at least nothing like a living wage. In fact most gigs didn’t even cover their travelling expenses. However, in the 1970′s-80′s it was at least enjoyable to go out and gig at venues that were usually at least half full of music lovers. This made the expense worthwhile, and gave the musicians the satisfaction of entertaining new people at each gig, and the ability to build their fan base.

These days, with so few people going out on a regular basis to see live music in their local small venues, most new bands find themselves playing to no more than the bar staff and the sound engineer most nights. So where’s the enjoyment in that? More to the point, once a band does that a number of times, no only do they get despondent, but their costs become inhibitive. Artists who may already be on a low wage in their day job, are finding it hard to fund the “hobby”, and eventually may decide that it’s just not worth the effort, even though they love playing music. In fact this is probably why some may stop their creative process and join one of those cover bands mentioned by an earlier poster.

Things have been going steadily downhill since the 90′s. Now it is near impossible to even GIVE music away. Let alone sell it! Ridiculous you say? I run a small indie label dedicated to releasing music by mature independent artists. In 2004 I had a small mailing list of around 200 people and every time a birthday came around I offered them a free download from my record store as a birthday present. I did this for 4 years. So in that time I offered around 800 free downloads. So how many people do you think took the trouble to download their free record? … ZERO!!! Hence I don’t bother any more!

At this rate it wont be long before the only music you can hear in your local venue will be copies of those that made it to the charts in whatever era, and the only new music entering the charts will be “manufactured” by the likes of Cowell & co instead of by real “artists”.
Gayle

19. Jul, 2010

The difference between Art and Craft is huge…and poorly understood.

Most musicians don’t make real art, they’re making a craft.

That art deffinition was weak because…there’s a huge difference between “beautiful and “more than ordinary significance.”

You should make art for art’s sake, and you should make craft to sell. And you should keep the two seperate (unless you’re The Beatles).

http://www.myspace.com/FernwoodMusic
Bryan McGurn

19. Jul, 2010

Good points by all on both sides of the match. The thing that’s most key for me though, is that some of us are “musicians”. By this I mean that music is not a hobby to us. It’s in our blood, and it’s what we do.

We, as musicians, need to be able to have “careers” in music. The author talks about being able to “sustain” ourselves. To me this is the key. Most indie artists cannot “sustain” themselves on current models, and therefore cannot dedicate themselves and develop their art/craft.

This needs to be sorted out, or we stand to lose music as one of the pillars of our culture. I, personally, cannot live with that.

Bryan
Rich Huxley

19. Jul, 2010

I think I need to come clarify… I’m not saying that we shouldn’t make money out of music, on the contrary, I believe that there’s never been a better time to carve a path as an independent musician than now.

If people think that just because they’ve made music that money should flow to them, then that’s a massive misgiving, In my experience, artists whining about not getting enough money just aren’t going about doing the things that they need to generate:
- interest
- a connection with people
- things, music, videos, experiences and events that people want to pay for.

Absolutely let’s talk about making money, but to do that, we have to differentiate ourselves from the 15,000,000 shit bands on myspace. We have to offer people stuff they can’t get elsewhere, and give people value.

Go forth, make art, make it great, make connections with people and give them reasons to buy… and buy they will.
We did this:
http://www.creativedeconstruction.com/2010/05/music-is-not-our-currency/ and this…
http://www.hopeandsocial.com/2010/07/19/hope-and-social-in-topless-seaside-shocker/ … has 3/4 sold out within 7 hours.
izzi

19. Jul, 2010

Love the open top routemaster! But I think you’re missing something in that you have reached the sustainability point funded by a well deserved fanbase. Yeah, we will continue to play and yeah, we don’t give a monkeys that the only people who are in an ever decreasing number of venues these days are the bar staff so a punt on filling a vintage bus and arranging to feed x people is not likely to be a winner for every band. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve had a degree of success which allows you to stand above the parapet but I’m equally impressed with the free birthday MP£ idea of trying to give something back…

What can be done to resolve the money problem? Not how much the band can expect to get but the investment by venues and all the others who have tried to make finding good music a hell of a lot easier than winning euro-millions?
Ivo

19. Jul, 2010

Well written. I personally make music, because I make music and since it doesn’t really matter what happens after that I find this article really close to what I’m thinking and the way I’m doing things. Thanks for writing it
Rich Huxley

20. Jul, 2010

Thanks Ivo!

Izzi, I think there are ways and means of getting in front of new people and making things sustainable.
Sustainability is not something that’s come overnight for us… in fact, we’re in a much better position now than ever we were when going about things in an “Old Music Industry” kinda way.

I know that an open-top bus isn’t the right thing for everyone. But we’ve done gigs in our studio, we’ve done shows that we’ve made into events. Made giant glitter signs with the band name on, played at themed nights where all the bands cover a madonna song… all to varying degrees of success. It’s finding the things that work for you.

I heard a great story at Live At Leeds (http://www.liveatleeds.com/other_events.html#uncon) about a band who sounded a bit like Alabama 3. They found out about an Alabama 3 gig at Manchester Academy, went to the pub opposite and asked “Do you do gigs?”. “No” was the answer, so they asked again:
“If we can get 200 people in your pub at 10 o’clock on a Wednesday night, can we put a gig on?” “Yes” came the reply.

They designed a flyer that looked a bit like they were doing the after-party for the Alabama 3 gig (it was just an afterparty, not the after-party). They flyered before the gig, they went to the gig and flyered there, they waiterd outside and flyered and essentially frogmarched 200 people from The Academy to the makeshift venue where they’d installed PA, stage-lights, the works.

They played to 200 (potentially brand new) fans who are the right clan, the right tribe and had the opportunity to sell stuff directly to their new-found fans.

The person responsible for the “official” Alabama 3 afterparty got hold of one of the flyers and got wind of the gig… He brought Alabama 3 to the gig and they ended up on stage with the band, jamming and made a fantastic spectacle for all there. Seeing a new band jamming with one of their favourite bands in an intimate venue that they wouldn’t get the opportunity to see their heroes in.

Think outside the gig. There are ways and means.
It’s a bloggy old week « Rich Huxley AKA TheHuxCapacitor

20. Jul, 2010

[...] very own guest post went up here on CreativeDeconstruction.com yesterday. Lot’s of interesting comments. Don’t think I’ve fully made my point [...]
Susan

20. Jul, 2010

Rich – I love this post.

Music is lot like fire – right now anyone can either get ahold of it or make it. I’m sure the guy who invented fire was really popular for a bit, but once they invented matches, he was out of a job.

My take is this: You can obsess about marketing and monetizing your particular brand of matches, OR….

You can go forth and make fireworks.* If they’re awesome, they will absolutely draw a crowd. (In fact, fireworks that are mediocre draw a crowd too, just because they’re fun.) Dedicate yourself to making your art incredible and your delivery creative.

That’s a package everyone wants! And also, it’s the kind of band everyone wants to be around. In fact, it’s sort of like a singles ad. “Creative, passionate, fun, likes long gigs on the beach.” But as soon as you add, “Will sing to you for $10, and do something a little more fancy for $20″, it’s more like an ad for prostitution.

It’s a subtle difference – one perspective is rich (no pun intended), engaging, and art/relationship driven. That’s where people come in. People will want to be a part of that and help sustain it. That’s where money comes in.

The other perspective is money driven. It needs a product, a venue and people with cash. That’s where the facsimile of art comes in. It might make a quick buck, it might not. It is certainly not sustainable. That’s why the industry is tanking.

I think art is like a marriage. You dedicate yourself to it because you love it, and you’re committed “for richer or for poorer.” That doesn’t mean you don’t want to be well off! It just means it’s not the driving focus of your relationship. If money becomes the focus of your marriage, it’s going to be very pathetic and shallow, and you will be held back from ever having any depth or beauty in your relationship. And thus Rich’s title: “Worrying About Monetising Your Music is Holding You Back”

And here ends my slightly self-indulgent comment.

(*On an unrelated note, I ironically watched England’s New Year celebration (2009?) fireworks on YouTube this 4th of July when ours got rained out. They were incredible.)
- Rich Huxley
  
  20. Jul, 2010
  
  I have nothing to add to that Susan, apart from “awesome”.
  
  You’ve hit so many nails on the head there!
  xR
Nick Myers

23. Jul, 2010

Reading this made me smile, remembering some of your Dad’s lock-ins at the pub I worked with him at. Undeniably, a fun-pusher! Good luck with the band mate.
Oui à l’art, non au business – Romain Rivière

04. Sep, 2010

[...] salue ici la traduction d’OWNI de l’article original de Rich Huxley publié sur creative-deconstruction sur la question de l’argent et de l’art dans notre société moderne. J’en [...]
kz

08. Nov, 2010

I am living this right now. Trying to get my music off the ground and build a fan base and social network. Let me be the first one to tell you it is tough.

-kz-
http://www.iamthekz.com/
http://iamthekz.blogspot.com/