DrumEatDrum
Platinum Member
Any time art and commerce come together it can be tricky. Often I think music and money should not be tied together, but of course, it costs money to make music, so there is often no escaping that.
A while back I met a singer songwriter through my wife. I said I had a studio, and she should come by and record stuff and we could work on it together. She asked what I charged, because she didn't really have any money. I said upfront, I'm not a business, it's just fun. OK, so she came over, we recorded some of her just singing and playing piano. I took that and started adding bass lines, drums, other instruments, fleshing out her ideas into full fledged songs. It's cool. She's digging it, I'm digging it, it's just fun. Then she gets this idea she wants to hire some extra studio musicians, raise money on kickstarter, and sell CDs of the finished product. I'm like, ok, I highly doubt this will turn a profit, but in case it does, we should have something in place that says I get part of the money since I'm providing the studio, my time, labor, equipment, my playing etc.
She freaked out over this and the whole thing came to halt.
She got hurt feelings that I would want a cut any money from her songs, and I was hurt she expected me to do all this work and not get paid, partially when I specified I only expected to get paid on the off chance it would turn a profit. I was down for doing the whole thing "just for fun" with zero expectations, but she threw away the deal because she wanted me to be "unpaid employee" while I was trying to be "band member".
A mere mention of money torpedoed what should have just been art.
Back when I was younger, looking for bands, so many times I'd talk to a band. On the phone, they want "a band member" and someone who will "pull equal weight" but then you get into the rehearsal room, and it's clear they don't you to contribute, say anything, have an opinion or do anything out side exactly what you're told. I realize as the new guy, you have learn the existing songs, and respect the songwriters, and fall in line with the plan. But it's my life too. I'll happily be your hired gun if you want to pay me, but if I'm doing it for no pay, then I should be a band member with at least some say in how my life in the band is going to go.
I do get where Jonathan is coming from. I really do. But I can also relate to where the other guys are coming from, because I've been in similar situations many times.
A while back I met a singer songwriter through my wife. I said I had a studio, and she should come by and record stuff and we could work on it together. She asked what I charged, because she didn't really have any money. I said upfront, I'm not a business, it's just fun. OK, so she came over, we recorded some of her just singing and playing piano. I took that and started adding bass lines, drums, other instruments, fleshing out her ideas into full fledged songs. It's cool. She's digging it, I'm digging it, it's just fun. Then she gets this idea she wants to hire some extra studio musicians, raise money on kickstarter, and sell CDs of the finished product. I'm like, ok, I highly doubt this will turn a profit, but in case it does, we should have something in place that says I get part of the money since I'm providing the studio, my time, labor, equipment, my playing etc.
She freaked out over this and the whole thing came to halt.
She got hurt feelings that I would want a cut any money from her songs, and I was hurt she expected me to do all this work and not get paid, partially when I specified I only expected to get paid on the off chance it would turn a profit. I was down for doing the whole thing "just for fun" with zero expectations, but she threw away the deal because she wanted me to be "unpaid employee" while I was trying to be "band member".
A mere mention of money torpedoed what should have just been art.
Back when I was younger, looking for bands, so many times I'd talk to a band. On the phone, they want "a band member" and someone who will "pull equal weight" but then you get into the rehearsal room, and it's clear they don't you to contribute, say anything, have an opinion or do anything out side exactly what you're told. I realize as the new guy, you have learn the existing songs, and respect the songwriters, and fall in line with the plan. But it's my life too. I'll happily be your hired gun if you want to pay me, but if I'm doing it for no pay, then I should be a band member with at least some say in how my life in the band is going to go.
I do get where Jonathan is coming from. I really do. But I can also relate to where the other guys are coming from, because I've been in similar situations many times.