Monday, January 31, 2011

On being a musician

To begin, it seems both logical practical to write about something that has been central in my life recently.

For the past 5 years, I have supported myself by performing for weddings, corporate and other private events. In the process, I have learned many, many lessons that I otherwise might not have learned when I did. I have also been able to employ some hard working musicians that have learned the tunes I play. I believe in paying people well, so I strongly support musicians charging a price that rewards other musicians in a group for their effort.

I thought I would begin by sharing a bit about some of the problems I have faced, hoping that I can help other musicians who would like to perform and be paid for it. One thing I suggest to anyone considering a musical career, know as much about yourself as possible. Self knowledge will help you make good decisions.

An excellent book for any musician, regardless of instrument is "How to Make a Million Dollars Playing the Guitar", by Douglas Niedt. Again, this book is worth every penny you pay for it.

Assuming you know how to play your instrument and have suitable repertoire to perform, here are some important considerations in following your dream.

There are 4 central concerns I want to address, we can call them the 4 Ps of being a musician:

1. Pricing

2. Promoting

3. Professionalism

4. Preparing

1. Pricing:

First off, I would like to discourage most free performing. In my opinion, there should be few exceptions. Every artist will need to decide for themselves what those exceptions will be. The reason I want to address this is because performing for free destroys the notion that there is value in live music and and it passes real costs associated with providing it to the musicians who need income from their work to survive. Most everyone likes live music, but it takes income from any performance to pay for all the items necessary to provide the service.

Musicians buy not only their instruments, and those are often major investments, but also they have to buy things like amplifiers, processors and effects, cables, speakers, microphones, mixers, stands, cases, hand trucks/carts as well as consumables like tape (to tape cables down so people don't trip), strings and drum heads, business cards and advertising, proper clothing and dry-cleaning, and other things like sheet music, lessons, DVDs and more. There's also the transportation, gas, travel time, as well as the office work, software, and printer that are critical to providing the service. Often, musicians themselves overlook these details and end up paying for those things themselves because they don't know how much they really need to charge in order to cover all the costs.

It is a good idea to work with an entertainment agent who can write contracts, accept deposits, and provide insurance. Many venues now require insurance and will ask for a certificate. If you get your own policy, it's an added cost that must be considered in setting your pricing. Using an agent's policy, which is shared with others the agent represents is a great way to reduce cost yet remain insured.

Also, don't borrow or go into debt buying equipment. If you can't afford something you want or think you need, earn the money first then decide if you really need the new item(s). Music is never a secure form of income, don't gamble on getting enough gigs. If you have to work another job to earn the money to buy what you want or need, that's better than creating debt and trying to repay it with future gigs.

2. Promoting:

A truly great book on how to get gigs, is Peter Spellman's The Self-Promoting Musician. As Director of Career Development at Berklee, he clearly has the credentials to give solid advice. I strongly recommend that you take a look. It's worth every penny.

Another area musicians must look at is marketing and promotion. Marketing a musical service is easily one of the hardest and most time consuming elements to having a successful career. If you want to perform regularly for local events, you have to know the people in your city who can refer you. The way to do that is to go out and meet them, win their trust, and stay in communication with them or you will be forgotten. Professionalism and integrity are key.

Some ways to promote that pay off are contacting and meeting the following professionals:

1. Sales and catering professionals at hotels and resorts,
2. Wedding and event coordinators,
3. Corporate event planners, often they have a suffix like CMP, or DCMP
4. Destination management companies, or DMCs,
5. marketing to professional associations that have meetings,
6. Representatives at other venues like golf and country clubs, restaurant owners and managers.

Provide them with references, reviews, pricing and other marketing materials that they can use with clients. Face to face meetings that you have prepared for and in which you can show your friendliness and professionalism are one of the best ways to get gigs.

Also, join local event related associations where event industry people congregate. It's a great way to network and establish contacts. Some excellent ones are NACE, ABC, HSMAI, MPI and ISES. These are national and international associations where you can make solid contacts. There are also smaller local ones that can pay off with effort.

Have your clients write reviews and recommendations on-line, preferably an independent website, which you can share with potential clients. Reviews are excellent ways to document your professionalism and they give potential clients confidence that you will come through for them.

Promotional packets or kits are also excellent and should be well thought out to present the service well. Printing and packaging is expensive, but worth it if you can afford it. Home made packages can suffice if done with a decent printer and materials that look nice.

3. Professionalism:

In no way is professionalism less important than pricing and promoting. Being on time, being dressed appropriately, flexibility, grooming, showing concern for the client's needs and requests are all elements that need to be part of how you handle yourself while working, often they are more important than how well you play your instrument. It is important to clients how you look and how you interact with other event professionals as well as with guests. Take care with your language and tone. Always speak gently and respectfully, even if you are worried a catastrophe is coming or you have been frustrated by anything at all.

You must be on time, you must dress well, you must speak clearly and you must not make up excuses for anything. Being responsible for everything regarding your service is of paramount importance - be prepared for things you never knew could happen.

One last little piece of advise: Never book a gig, then take another for more money and ditch your first client. I have never ever done this, but I have seen it done and the consequences are not only directly negative for the person doing it, but it also reflects indirectly on other musicians in general. People don't forget when they are let down. It is truly shooting yourself in the foot.

Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Clients and guests can smell that stench from miles away and will warn others if you bring those problems to work. The only time it's appropriate to have a drink is if you play at a bar or restaurant and the owner or manager knows you'll drink responsibly and is OK with it. Never do it at a wedding, private or corporate event. Other vendors will not refer you for more events if they see you drinking on the job. Same goes for smoking. Also, be very careful eating at events. Make sure the event coordinator, hotel staff and the person who hired you are OK with you eating from the buffet or in front of guests. This can be a tricky thing to negotiate. Often, you can request to be fed in your contract, especially if the event is 3 hours or more. Never, ever go to a freshly set up buffet table and consume as if you are a guest. Prepare by eating or snacking before you arrive or bring an energy bar.

4. Preparing:

Preparing goes far beyond your dominance of the music and the instrument you play. Preparing starts days before a performance by making sure you have picked up your dry cleaning, making sure your car is clean and ready, has gas and that your insurance and registration aren't expired and that you don't have an outstanding ticket. How would you feel if you paid someone a deposit, then got a call from them saying their car (and the equipment in it) was towed because they failed to take care of an important detail? Being prepared in this practical sense is often more important than being prepared musically, especially if you are playing solo. Playing with others is more complicated, but is also more fun. Also, make sure your band/group mates are informed on all the important details well before a gig.

Carry extra cables, fuses, tools and backup equipment if you can afford it, make it a priority. This is what drives your need to charge enough for the service so you can guarantee success. Music is an important component of an event, and it's absence is prominent to the guests and downright infuriating to someone who hired you to perform.

A personal story:

I once booked an event for a local, prominent professional association. After loading the car, while getting ready, I placed my keys on my desk before jumping in the shower. After dressing I went to get my keys and absolutely could not find them.

My 3 year-old son and ex-wife were home and I could not figure out where my keys had disappeared to. Needless to say, I was stressed and frantically searching for them. I asked my son several times if he had seen them or put them anywhere. After searching for more than an hour, and after the event had begun, I found my keys in a little compartment in my son's little pedal car he was riding around the house. He had in fact taken them and put them in the compartment along with several other items which obscured them from view. If I had only placed them on a book shelf I could have avoided the whole thing. Take care when you prepare for a performance. Give yourself plenty of time and pay attention to what you do. It will pay off if you can follow that simple advice.

Each musician will face a unique set of problems and possible solutions. Some of the problems may stem from lack of knowledge about your instrument or may regard your level of musicianship, others may be related to your environment. If you have a problem you think I may be able to help you solve, feel free to post a question. I will give you the best answer I can or point you in the right direction.

Introductions

To begin, it seems appropriate to explain the origin of this new blog I have created.

The name, Hope, Progress and Change, are simple concepts which nearly anyone can latch onto and find something within them to resonate with. They are also broad and comprehensive enough to encompass nearly any topic, even disillusionment, regression and stagnation;)

I personally am in a place where healthy doses of these concepts are welcome. I have dedicated myself to being a full time musician these past 5 years and have finally accepted that change is in order, actually it's over due. This will be an ongoing thread among many that I hope will serve to build support for future musicians and change perceptions about how we judge and value music.

Secondly, my goal is to share products and ideas that can really make a difference in the lives of others who choose to participate and who want to learn more about the infinite expressions we have developed to meet our human needs.

My hope is that I can share things from my past, current, and future experiences that will inspire others to learn, grow, and change for the better. I believe everyone has internal resources that need to not only be recognized, but also need to be expressed appropriately. Finding ways of expressing those resources can be easy or be very hard. Often, I think it depends on the level of self knowledge one possesses.

There are essentially 2 domains where change is possible, internal and external. Internal change is a great place to focus, but external change is also important, however difficult it may be. Of the two, internal change provides the biggest, most lasting consequences.

I plan to use this simple set of concepts to look at many products, ideas and domains and I hope that this blog keeps readers interested and inspires others to do their own research and thinking.

I also would like to examine some things that may lie off the beaten path for some readers, but which provide ways of seeing things that may be new and which may inspire you to try something new. At the very least readers ca educate themselves in new areas which may they not have known a lot about.

The range of topics will include the sciences, culture, technology, business, arts, relationships, parenting, health and other elements of life in the new millennium. We are certainly in an interesting time and there is no shortage of things to discuss. I hope that this blog inspires readers to think about the topics and to make good decisions based on what is discussed.

If there was one statement that I thought was something I really focus on and that others might find helpful, it would be the following: "Know thyself".

It is attributed to Socrates among at least 5 other possible originators. The reason that it's so fundamental is that everyone has to make decisions all day long, and often the best decisions begin with self knowledge, then benefit from informing yourself in the appropriate domains of knowledge.

I look forward to your responses and hearing about your experiences.