If there are any bar owner/operators that hire live music on a regular basis, I'd like to know your opinions on the status of live music in bars.

Are people going out at all to hear live music? Does it make a difference if theres a band up on stage, or could a jutebox have the same results? Some people still dance, but it seems they're allfully drunk doing it. With all the smoking laws and the cops out in force, it hardly seems worth it to go out anymore. A lot of bars aren't paying a band what they used to. You haul in $10,000 worth of gear and put on a heck of a show for the $300 a bar might pay nowdays, if there are any people out front to play to. I know there are a lot of bands that are put together simply for the sake of making a few bucks on the side, but there are really good bands working their tails off trying to entertain people. Maybe it's the few bad bands out there that are making it tough for the ones who are really sincere about their craft. By the time you pay a $5.00 cover charge, one drink a set, you've spent $25 bucks just on yourself, even more with a date, or if you really like to drink. And if you don't have a following, or bring in a lot of people, the bar owners see that as a bad night for them.

Any thoughts or comments?

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Having been in bands on/off since I was 16 (now 45) I have some thoughts on this.

It's definitely tougher to find places around here to play, competing with DJ's and Crap-aoke and all that. The only thing that makes it possible for us to do what we do and play regularly once a month, which is our goal, is to not get too hung up on the $$. We get $400-$600 per night here in Central WI, is that enough? For us it is. Our posters "slogan" is "classic rock just for the fun of it." We all have jobs, global sales director/telecom tech/lawyer/dentist so the cash isn't our focus. The band is self supporting and fun so that's what we are all about. The Monday night practices are "boys night" rather than a bowling league or things like that.

I can certainly see how a young band who wants to make money would have a tough time though. There are certainly fewer people out in bars and they tend to go home earlier than the old days. Drunk driving laws and smoking bans and the economy, it would be a hard time to make money in music if you wanted to.

I consider myself very lucky to have 3 bandmates on the same page as far as schedule and expectations.

'Used to be a part-owner in a restaurant which had a small stage in the late 70s.

Venue was only about 80 seated, ethnic-ish German food and burgers, it was okay most weekends and open stage on Wednesday. For the most part, it was pass-the-tambourine for paying musicians, who tended to be folkies due to space / sound level constarints.

Worked fine for a few years, then tapered down. Musicians' pool "drained" and it got too hard to attract customers who wanted to spend enough to make it worthwhile keeping the doors open those nights.

In my area, I see a lot of bars changing owners every year or so, closing the doors after being open for just a few months, having live music one weekend, not the next, then kareoke the next, country one weekend, rock the next. It's tough for a band to make it like this. I just want to play!

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

masterhacker there is no way around it, bars never pay good money and it has been this way since the birth of rock. I would say that if you are looking to make some decent money you are going to have to play weddings and the likes which will pay a hell of a lot more. Well they do in NY any way as my Brother in law and cousin have been playing them over 30 years now and make great money on the weekends.

Then you can do your original stuff on nights you are not booked. But you are going to have to learn a lot of stuff you probably are not going to enjoy playing but the pay will be much more than bars. Kissfan does it out of the love of playing so the money means nothing he is just having fun giging. You are still young with dreams of making it so you are just paying your dues, but look at every avenue you can. Also try and get a following by putting flyers all over and hype yourself up as much as you can. If you can pack a bar you will be able to negotiate for more scratch.

i started playin in bands in 1966 at the age of 12. since we were underage, we played for a lot of private parties and weddings. that was great until the late 70's.

at that point disco came in. folks started having dj's for weddings, and a lot of the great live music clubs changed to disco. it was hard to find a good place to hear a band. at that point our band fell apart, and for the next 20 years i hardly picked up my guitar.

5 years ago a friend asked me to sit in with his band. i had a blast, and really starting practicing a lot. with my kids grown, i'd love to play live again. in talking to my musician friends, there's not a lot of places willing to pay.

i'm not looking to make a living at this, but nobody wants to pay much for live music anymore. it's sad- i'll take live music any day

I have to say in the three cities I've lived: Belfast, New York City and Glasgow there has always been a healthy music scene and I make a decent living playing original material to 400-700 people twice a week as well as festivals, biker rallies, playing in Dublin and the like. Its all still there if you want it and are 'good enough'.

What we do is promote bigger bands than ourselves and simply put us on the bill. It just depends where you live and whats goin on and how confident you are in what you do. Without sounding like an $@!&#*% I think it depends on how well you can handle goin pro. Its a business for not artists, not entertainers....but a healthy mix of both and goin pro and maintaining it aint for the weak either. Its been VERY hard but its what dreams are made of.

CC

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