We crave stability. If we can do the same routine each day, with enough variety to keep us entertained, we feel safe. How can we achieve this kind of lifestyle as a musician?
The Truth Is…
…You can’t.
At least not in my experience. Musicians are almost always freelancers, which is by definition a process of constant flux and change. You don’t sign long-term contracts, you agree to gigs and studio engagements, one or two at a time. It’s a miracle if your income stays the same two months in a row.
Furthermore, you can always smell the potential of the future.
The musician is always one phone call away from a huge life boost. You could make 10x more on your next gig if you were friends with the right person, or if you posted a song that went viral, etc.
There’s also the artistry of it all, where you might want to do something more passionate and genuine than whatever currently pays the bills. If your income comes from your paid gigs, there’s usually an idea that you would make something different if money was not involved.
All of that is why I think the musician life is a journey, not a destination. It is a fundamentally different way to live than the “normal” working class lifestyle.
Full Time Jobs are Fake Stable
The old idea of the 9-5 was once safe, sort of. The entire economic and social system was designed around full time jobs, to a much more severe degree than today.
Nowadays though it’s all changing, the nature of what work even is isn’t clear. A lot of today’s jobs are already 100% obsolete and it’s just a matter of logistics to eliminate the human. Cashiers, people in mailing rooms, truck drivers, these things are 75-90% obsolete. How long before Amazon, Tesla, and the rest solve these problems?
The whole idea of the full time job came out of the idea of stable work. Factory lines needed a lot of humans to do the menial work. Now the factory line is dead.
Freelance is a Journey Regardless of Your Vocation
Freelancing is an adventure. You learn skills from wherever you can - books, people, internet videos - and then you ask everybody you can for a gig.
If the first client is happy, they could refer you to client two. It’s a few months, maybe a few years, from that first gig until you have a full schedule of clients. Until you start turning clients down.
At that point, you’re on your own. The freelancer does not have the religion of a corporate culture to dictate their lifestyle. Your boss can’t explain your likely career path for the next 5-10 years. You can’t aim to make tenure in 7 years. None of that institutional lifestyle advice/guidance happens. You are on your own.
Instead of living the lifestyle that your manager Bob tells you about, you live your own lifestyle. There’s no specific set of hours you have to work. There’s no drug test. There’s no quarterly review, there’s not even a boss who can fire you.
To me, this is a dream. It’s the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book.
Life Has Always Been a Journey, 9-5 Jobs Were a Fluke
I honestly believe that the last one-to-two-hundred years of “full time jobs” and “9-to-5” were a fluke. That system made sense briefly, in the time where electricity existed but computers did not.
Who knows, maybe this is still an “in-between” step. If artificial intelligence revolutionizes all human life again, human work as we know it could become entirely meaningless. I have no idea about all that, but some smart people keep talking about it…
For now, it’s safe to assume that at the very least the “full time job” is an insane and archaic concept.
The only problem is… people of our time, especially if you are 50+ now, but even if you’re a teenager, aren’t necessarily in a position to catch the wave of freedom and abundance.
Will you be forced to live the archaic lifestyle? Will you be one of the last people to spend their life in a cubicle, before the working class of the world shifts to a more enjoyable freelance-oriented life?
I HOPE NOT.
I agree with you totally. As a young, aspiring musician, I only got a grasp of that few years ago when I started gigging around.
Now after a few years of gigging, I really dig that kind of lifestyle. I'd love to be a session artist, and I look forward to the network that blockchain will bring.
Great post mate, Cheers!
Good luck bass guy, Steem can be very helpful for that.
It's so true man, that never ending quest. It's like @steevc said, the tables have turned. With technology we all have new ways to reach the big crowds as well.
I've always loved to say it like this; consistency it's what wins at the end of the day. Doesn't matter if it's for a bad or a good cause, for what we apply consistency to, will prevail.
Cheers!
Totally agree with you @dexvid, consistency is highly underrated. I know a lotta successful musicians with credits on 20+ albums, but not many who just do a handful of records and find success.
Platforms like Steemit allow for new forms of career. Musicians have long been exploited by big businesses, but there are opportunities to earn directly from the fans now. This could totally change the game.
I see big things coming soon
Thank you brother, got a lot of good information from you, it is very nice, hopefully we will give you something like this, I will always be with you ....
I appreciate that. Your concept if awesome. thanks @heymattsokol