Sam Kuhns
\nSpecial to In Motion<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a story that everyone\u2019s heard before: a bunch of kids with stars in their eyes and less-than-impressive instruments get together in a garage and make noise. Eventually, after years of practice, more practice, and failure, they might carve out some modicum of success in the music industry.<\/p>\n
A common dream among musicians everywhere, it\u2019s also one that for many seems uniquely in-reach. But this age-old ambition is becoming less accessible to up-and-coming musicians as everything in our society, the music industry included, becomes increasingly dependent on the Internet.<\/p>\n
While file sharing has technically been a problem for the music industry since the \u201890s, advances in technology make it much easier to pirate and download music in mass quantities. Streaming services like Spotify, though great for music fans and those who insist on being able to listen to every possible piece of music an artist has ever released, have decimated the practice of spending money on music at all, let alone buying entire albums. All of these things combined have made making a living playing more difficult for young musicians.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a double-edged sword,\u201d says local musician\/producer Evan Blaine, guitarist of Daytona Beach\u2019s Bad Luck and owner\/operator of World Championship Studios (https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WorldChampionshipStudios<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cOn one hand, the Internet and all its resources make things like getting your stuff out there and booking tours way easier, you know? And that\u2019s great because in a way there aren\u2019t any gatekeepers anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n These positives seem like to benefit musicians, but the lack of people willing to pay for music overwhelms the amount of musicians willing to make music solely for exposure.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone can be a musician now, but on the other hand,\u201d Blaine continues, \u201cbecause of things like file sharing, people don\u2019t value music nearly as much. Bands are a dime a dozen and because you can find pretty much anything online for free, no one wants to pay for music. In a lot of ways the odds of \u2018making it\u2019 are even slimmer today.\u201d<\/p>\n Lack of gatekeepers might be one benefit of the music industry in the Internet age, as far as recording and releasing music, but it\u2019s not enough to outweigh the negative aspects, according to Jake Kneer, promoter for local booking agency Daytona Shows.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I obviously love shows, I\u2019m a promoter,\u201d says Kneer. \u201cAnd yes, the Internet has made booking tours easier. Much, much easier. And that\u2019s great. Sometimes bands can make that work, they can live off of going on tour and selling merchandise and all that. But the lack of people buying records is hurting everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Kneer went on to lament the days of music past and musicians who were able to make a living at their craft.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen bands that tour year-round and make literally only enough money to keep doing that. It\u2019s sad because these are bands that deserve to make a living at what they\u2019re doing and they just can\u2019t. It didn\u2019t used to be this way. I understand that not everyone\u2019s Nirvana, but if you worked hard enough this used to be something you could carve a life out of, and it\u2019s sad that it doesn\u2019t seem to be that way anymore. Unless you\u2019re extremely lucky, it\u2019s really hard to get anywhere financially in this business these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Although things may seem dark for aspiring musicians, Blaine remains optimistic about the future of music.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, we can sit here all day and talk all day about how the Internet is ruining the music business,\u201d he says, \u201cbut the ones who are going to succeed are the same as they\u2019ve always been: the ones who pick up their guitars and do it. And that\u2019s what we plan on doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sam Kuhns Special to In Motion It\u2019s a story that everyone\u2019s heard before: a bunch of kids with stars in their eyes and less-than-impressive instruments get together in a garage and make noise. Eventually, after years of practice, more practice, and failure, they might carve out some modicum of success Continue reading Aspiring musicians find making a living elusive<\/span>