🎸 Broke on the Road: The Brutal Truth About $300 Gigs in Nashville 🎸 

The problem is gigs in 2024 paying same as 1987

I've had 2 guitar instructors that could play the strings off anything that I would never come close to. Both of them were starving on the road, and started doing lessons so they could starve at home. I got over my desire to be a great guitar player and settled for being an "advanced beginner" and had a great career in the shoe biz. Now I'm retired very comfortably and play bass and acoustic guitar with my buddies in my home studio I bought with my shoe money. Lesson I learned was the that music business is like buying lottery tickets; only the lucky win. Unless you're lucky, playing music is for fun.

99 percent of musicians work a day job five days a week and play mostly on Friday and Saturday nights. We're usually happy to make a hundred dollars a man, sometimes less, but a three hundred dollar night is really rare. When we open a show for someone the fee goes down. Only way to make good money opening a show for someone is if the promoter wants to rent your gear for the backline. We once made decent money providing the back line for an Edgar Winter show. When we make a CD we have to finance the thing ourselves and usually we only make enough money off of it to finance some of the next one. The music is usually better than the stuff that is coming out of Nashville though, so that's worth something. Most of us have spent some time playing six nights a week and living in a motel, when we were much younger. If you play for a living and don't have to work a day job it's your choice. My advise though, get a day job. Time flies. When time catches up with you, and it will, you will be sorry unless your mom and dad have provided for your old age. Btw, hardly noboby in any market buys a house if they make 30K a year.

the "economics of nashville just don't work"

UK based semi-pro drummer here. The economics of running small to medium sized venues is also an issue, the fees paid to acts has also declined and has become almost impossible to make a professional living doing it. (Exceptions obviously are the big acts who will power on regardless as the ticket prices will rise accordingly). Luckily I don't have to rely on it to make a living, but I know a few pro players and it can be hard even for them, so they go back to teaching and drum clinics etc. One said to me "The happiest drummers I know are the ones who don't do it professionally" Thanks for the honest post.

The music industry is over. Honestly, I think for 99.9999% of us watching this video, our best option is to just go to church whether or not we make it in the band 😂. When the people who get played on the radio or play on stage in support of the artist on the radio, can’t make an honest living anymore… it’s time to shovel some dirt on this horse cuz it’s dead… even the artists who actually make some money usually get screwed out of it anyways… thanks for the insight and best of luck.

We made a lot more money in 1987 then they’re paying now. The advent of DJs ruined it for musicians.

You speak the truth man. I stop playing guitar to become a harmonica player, that way I can still play on stage and also be the bartender.

this is why I stopped playing the bass guitar in my early 20s. I could not see any consistent income and have a family. I had enough to be out on weekends. This is short term as a young musician to just have fun. I have now two bass guitars, I enjoy them once in a while in my free time, but not for living anymore. I love the sound of any music and the energy it comes from. It is addictive

Our society is running on fumes. Doesn't matter what you do, nothing is sustainable. Music is a free commodity to most people. We have to live with these facts, and play the music that is in our hearts anyway. Good luck everyone.

Boy oh boy, do I feel good about my life now. I toil away in obscurity 3 times a week, 300 per night, 15 minutes from home, play whatever I want, come home to my sweetie every night . Life’s good.

I did music to age 35, then went into tech and made a good living, retired early age 57. Had I stayed in music, I would be in the poor house right now most likely... or gigging my butt off to make ends meet. I know so many musicians from my old days that stayed in the game, and still playing gigs that would bore the socks off me.

Great video. Should be an eye-opener for the young, starry-eyed musicians.

We opened for Napalm Death at a small club in Columbus, OH almost 20 years ago. Barney (their vocalist) and I were sitting in a booth chatting while he was enjoying a sandwich. He said that the RV that they rented for this tour was $1000/wk. Gas was cheaper back then but was still a significant chunk of change. He told me that they were only averaging around $3k week for the entire band. I couldn't believe it. He said he owned a pizza joint back home (overseas) and he works there when not touring. It really opened my eyes at how tough the band life can be.

When playing music is about getting laid, musicians get paid...when it's about getting paid musicians are F#$%@'d. Music income is more related to branding, T-shirt and merch sales than music sales these days so the economics are bound to get wonky. Good stuff Brad!

I left Nashville for THIS reason. Moved back to Colorado and started playing corporate/wedding gigs. Colorado is extremely expensive, but the wedding work was $450-$1200 a show averaging $600. I did that for 8 years. But, still no health insurance and my wife and I struggled. I was never home on the weekend and she still had to work weekdays. Additionally, that gig beat me up physically, every gig was 4 hours of dance music, 2-3 hours of jazz standards and typically an hour of solo guitar for the cocktail hour. Plus often to save money there were no accommodations, we’d finish at 1am and drive home sometime 3 hours thru mountain passes all in your own car. Talk about wear and tear. I found my happy place now playing in an original band in the red dirt scene. I’ve switched to pedal steel for three reasons. One, it’s a blast and I love the texture. 2: I get to sit down saving my back and legs, 3: it’s not an essential instrument. If I can’t make a gig, the band can still play without me. Obviously this is a rare gig and the guys in the band are the coolest dudes I’ve ever worked with to allow me that kind of flexibility. That gig doesn’t pay, we do make money but it all goes back into the pot for studio time and travel expenses. Everyone has a day job.

Unfortunately this is the sad reality of post Covid economics. I retired seven years ago. When I stopped working I could live, albeit very modestly, on my retirement income. Since Covid, grocery prices have doubled in my area and rental prices have quadrupled. As far as buying a house, there is nothing livable under $450k. A tiny wood frame house across the street from me just listed at $550k. The 94 yo woman who lived in it had been there since the 50s and had done zero upgrades since moving in. It is almost inevitable that I will have to rejoin the workforce.

Good advice. Respect. My Dad was a musician and he always lectured me that ‘ being a musician is the best SECOND job you can have’.

I decided not to be a professional guitar player when I was young because I didn't want my favorite thing to do, play guitar, become a job. Im glad I didn't for several reasons but number 1 I didn't want to lose that love that I still have for music.

Young musicians need to hear this BEFORE they load up their vans and head to Nashville. If nothing else - this video should allow them to reset their expectations and better prepare (and budget) for the realities of the game. Nicely done! Thanks for sharing that

This occurred to me after watching your video - some really great and successful artists couldn't make it work in Nashville, like Willie Nelson for one. And he had songs done by big recording artists (Patsy Cline!), even his own TV show for a while. But he got to the end of his rope in Nashville. There's a lot to be said for moving on to "plan B." Willie's was moving back to Texas. Probably the smartest move he ever made.

I put music on the back burner in the late eighties, and started my own finish carpentry business. less than 2k was a bad week, home every night!

Bro I’ve been talking about this for a while. Thank you for your wisdom and transparency.

Howdy neighbor! I moved to nearby Old Hickory back in March after 12 years in NYC. As a multi-instrumentalist and composer, it's comforting to hear your perspective on the Nashville scene and making a living in Music City. I subbed to your channel probably a month ago after watching some of your amp sim pedal reviews. Keep the videos coming!

I’ve been playing professionally since the mid 90s - I remember when I started, the older cats said they were making the same money then that they were making in the 1970s. How do you make a living or I dare say, get ahead as a working artist when the average person believes that what you do should be free by definition? Gigs paid better when I was a kid starting out than they do nowadays. I feel Ike I was among the last generation of working musicians that could actually make a living playing an instrument. A real drag.

Great insight on the reality of life in Nashville as a working musician. I’ve been in town since 2015. I have a college degree from MTSU where I studied in the Recording Industry Management department. I have a bachelors of science in Commercial Songwriting. For those unfamiliar, MTSU and Belmont are the universities that more or less feed into the entire Nashville music industry. After a couple years of job hopping post-graduation (wasn’t able to find a job with my degree because I worked through college, rather than being an unpaid intern - thus not having the “required experience” for industry jobs come time to enter the workforce), I went full time with music in 2022. The only reason it’s been a possibility is because of consistent Broadway gigs. Not ideal as someone who aspires to be a recording artist to be playing covers full time, but it feeds my family. I’m a songwriter so my experience is different than the sidemen in town because I now make money through publishing, but even with a publishing deal I have to play cover gigs just to make enough money. Luckily I married a local - my family of 4 is currently living at my mother-in-law’s house because rent is too expensive everywhere else in town. If it weren’t for that, I’d have to choose between going back to work full time or forcing my family into homelessness because I have this silly dream that I can’t stop chasing. For shits and giggles - I played a standard 4 hour shift today on Broadway and I made $175 to sing my ass off and front a band on the hottest day of the year (nonetheless, Father’s Day), and get this: I was excited about making *that much*. Would love to hear more about your experience. Awesome video.

Merch and taxes have never been cheaper. The problem is the promoters. They have no competition and can take what they want.

This is straight to the point advice of the reality of what it takes to make it in this town and music business.

High School bands, 4 years active duty Air Force and into my late 50’s playing in bar bands. It’s been a lot of fun, great nights and bad nights but the mantra for me was “ya gotta love it!” On some level it was selfish that I was doin it for me, no aspirations of being famous, grounded in the reality of it, I never considered giving up my day job. Early on I had the thought that on any Saturday night all across the country there were bands playin right then and I took some pride in being part of that. The pleasure of those nights when all the equipment is right, the bands feelin good and the crowd likes what your doing is pretty awesome and making that happen regularly is work. Over the years there were a few times we were approached by someone offering studio time or a few dates out of state but we never picked up on any of that. It was a professional hobby and I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything. Just last night I looked at my wife and said “I’m ready for bed”, she smiled and said “it’s 8:30, ya know, just five years ago I’d be puttin on makeup” lol, I guess we both kinda miss it but dang, I turn 63 this year, I don’t wanna stay up till 2am. Apologies for rambling, I have a lot of respect for the pros, determined, hard working folks that also get a bit of luck but I know there are great performers entertaining the crowd all across the country in almost every little town every weekend and the odds of making a good living and having a family doing it are slim at best but Ah,,,The Dream!

I’m a singer songwriter I haven’t played any live gigs since the Pandemic ! From what I’m hearing there are hardly any paying gigs !? People are saying you’re better off playing on the street for tips !

Finally someone being honest about this stuff.

At 25, I went back to school. Pro musicians, all better than me, were struggling. Thirty years later, I’ve got a home, a wife, a daughter and a career. Oh, I’ve got a local gig this weekend.

I’m am/was a gigging solo musician. …nowhere near the caliber of musician as you..Here in my town people expect me to play four hour gigs for $150. On top of that they expect me to know just about every genre of music. Omg a four hour gig with drive time is an eight hour day including setup/teardown time. Then they get mad when I don’t know any Taylor Swift or children’s music for their five year old snot Nosed brat.

I was the touring bassist for the Motown group The Miracles for several years. We got $500 a show. All sold out shows. We played a lot of shows. In the 80s I’d be making $900 a day doing 3 studio sessions a day in LA. It’s not like that anymore. There’s just no money for sidemen or touring musicians in the music business anymore. Musicians need multiple income streams these days to survive. Lucky I still get calls to play basically every day but at 64 I have no interest in touring. Nowadays I work on projects for clients who hire me remotely to send them tracks from my home studio in Thailand where I live now. I was also an entertainment lawyer so made my money doing that later in life which afforded me options.

I’ve had a full time job for nearly the last decade of me gigging on top of it. I know several full time musicians locally but all the money to be made is solo gigs where I’m at. It’s a vacation area so “in season” I play 3-4 nights a week now(I used to do a lot more and burned myself out). It probably averages out to $150 a gig, some more, some less and that doesn’t include tips we get. I’m pretty happy where I’m at now. I have a pretty simple job that gives me a lot of scheduling flexibility and some weeks are still pretty busy but overall I’m satisfied where my profession is these days.

I am 70, played private parties and clubs for years. Glad it over for me.

I moved to Nashville in 2017, my 1br Apt was $800/month. It’s around $1100 now. I moved w the intention of having fun as opposed to getting financial success. Mission accomplished

this is a great post the real deal, wealth inequality in the USA the greatest it has been in over 100 years, thank you for honesty

I saw the writing on the wall back in the 90s when we would tour and hope we would make enough for gas money to get to the next city. We all lived together in a little 3 bedroom house with two guys per room in a very bad part of Austin. Musicians can't even live in Austin anymore because it's way to expensive and now the little surrounding cities are becoming to expensive. I joined the Army and I am fixing to retire so I got a pension coming to me. Now I can afford to tour again.

me n my brother been in the music business since 1978, playing gigs, never could make a living, we worked construction during the week, giged on fri n sat, now were retired, still playing, but still not much money, you gota love it to stick with it

Very interesting video. Thanks. I'm glad I enjoy playing the guitar and other instruments for the pleasure of it and not have to depend it on it for a living, especially aged 67! Good luck

I see I'm not the only one who noticed this. Only way to play music is to have a good job, and play music on the weekends

Love the honesty. Looking forward to watching more. Great info. Thank you

I seriously considered a career in music in the mid 1980s. Friends of mine in national touring bands were going through the same things then, though the economics were less at that time. I realized that the decision to do music was either for the pure love of music or for a shot at stardom, which was one in a million. The math simply didn’t add up do I pursued a career in banking with a credit union and now I pull in a great income, have a nice home and a wonderful wife. Now I know people in Nashville just scraping out a living with no insurance, no retirement and their family and relationships are in the past and broken. Their children are estranged and their health is poor and they live a life of regret. While I have admired their choices and secretly wish I was doing what they do, I’m incredibly grateful that I had the foresight to look at the choices without stars in my eyes. I have really nice gear and play out locally when I want to with people I enjoy. No regrets.

One of the many reasons Nashville is soon to be a ghost town. When no service industry people, not just musicians, from servers to retail workers can afford to live in a city, those businesses go away and the business owners go Brooke and the town/City dies

Played drums and fiddle from age 6 to age 20. Saw the light. Went to med school. Sad. Still love it. Play in the living room. Rather be a musician than a doc. Heroes are still jon bonham, tommy jackson, jeff porcaro, ralph mooney.

It’s happening everywhere, here in Germany too.

I was the lead singer in a band. We were pretty good (pretty good ain’t perfect) we were invited to be on a Dick Clark TV show back in 1969. Long story short we broke up before we were scheduled to fly to California and appear. Lots of people often said over the years that I should’ve stuck with it. (They were sure I was destined to make it!) I wasn’t that interested in show business because my gut told me it wasn’t a good life. I instead used my natural talent and became a salesman, manager, director etc in a long successful career that allowed me to perform in a manner that was much more valuable to society, my family and myself. I never regretted my decision to take a different path and the more I hear, read and see, the more I’m sure I was right! For every Taylor Swift, Elvis, George Strait, etc there are 10 million stranded, lonely, depressed wannabes or never beens out there! No thanks!

I’m not a professional musician but I thoroughly enjoyed your insight. My wife and I had a small restaurant (1998-2002) where we did a few small Jazz festivals and booked in Jazz musicians on the weekends so I am somewhat familiar with the fact that making a living as a musician can be very difficult. Much respect to you! Cheers from California 🍻Subscribed

I tell all my comrades in arms, welcome to the business!!

That video you ran on your intro is Jamboree In The Hills. That show started in 1977 and at that time it was biggest country music festival in the country. I worked at every one of those events. I managed that stage for about 25 years.

The pay issue stems from the fact that there are too many guitarists in Nashville. There is too much “supply”, not enough “demand”.

$300 bucks for a gig is simply not worth it. Truth is that bars, clubs, and venues pay the same money we made in the 70's and 80's. I'm glad I became an engineer and kept up guitar playing and singing as a side gig.

Thanks for the insight Brad.

Awesome video man!!! Just like the lowdown and the honesty. So good!

A lot of truth for free. This message is from experience.

The reality is pay rates are determined by supply and demand. As long as qualified musicians are willing to take gigs at that rate, the rate will be the normal. If they can't find a willing musician at $300-500, they will pay more and raise ticket prices or not tour. Sadly the live music scene at local clubs died in the early 2000s. Used to play clubs in the middle of nowhere in Maine in the late 90's and get $300 plus the $5 a person at the door. We'd load in Thursday afternoon, play Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the same club, then load out Saturday night or early Sunday. Then host a Sunday Jam night at our local club. We'd pull $4k in 3 days for us plus $500 for the jam night (no door) which we donated to the bank to pay for the truck, gas and new pa and lighting equipment. $4000 divided by 4 people was good money for a part time job in the late 90's. Could never make it on that today. Even back then we all had day jobs at Daddy's Junky Music or Guitar Center.

I've liked and subbed to help your YT income kick in. Your knowledge is now your commodity brother!

good info, straight talking, One might even go as far as reconsidering going in debt for music school. I'm older now, done lots of touring, settled down to have a family, but somehow knowing this makes that decision easier. Being a muso is hard enough, but in todays climate, it is next level difficult. Thanks for this Badbrad

It’s like being a writer, poet, painter, journalist, historian, archeologist. You need to have outside/family income to even pursue those type fields, or a patronage like the ancient musicians had from Kings.

Great video. Very informative.👍

Great guitar playing in the beginning of this video! Thanks for this honest appraisal of the music situation in Nashville. I sure wonder what the future holds for music.

Going way back to the 70s, there were so many clubs around that you could make a living doing the circuit of the clubs just in your own city. Now, even the successful bands that are always booked all have day jobs. It's like a hobby with a bit of side money. And I'll say, there are very few younger musicians. They're all seasoned veterans.

A band can make great money at EVERY SINGLE GIG....by offering to wait tables,clean windows,mow the lawn...etc...

Excellent episode Brad... dishing out a raw slice of T. The music industry is exploitive, preying on the dreams of young folks with stars in their eyes; maybe you can get by in your 20s sleeping on a couch without health insurance, but what does it look like for guys in their 40s, 50s, and beyond? Not a sustainable lifestyle to say nothing of the high probability of alcoholism or other substance abuse issues. Thanks for keeping it real!

well said bro, it's like this everywhere, i'm up in british columbia canada and touring BC is always a money loser these days, gas is so expensive, everything is, i live in a turd town and rent is $1750 for a crappy 1 bedroom, double that for cities like vancouver. we're living in an unsustainable time.

As an artist nowadays, you’re in a ‘marketplace’ with much lower barriers to entry and much higher competition. This means you either have to be exceptional compared to all the talent around you and rely on art alone or be exceptional at business, marketing, etc. to propel your success that way. I am no business guru, but I see so many artists who lack even the most basic business knowledge. I think educating yourself on that front could help a lot more artists succeed. Like you said, hiring everything out is super expensive, but there’s a lot more you can do on your own nowadays than most people do (or are willing to do).

Great video. It's hard for sure man. I'm 31 and got here six years ago. Came to town recording for the first two years (mostly online) then an occasional bus gig. Bought my first house in 2020 (out towards Dickson) with overdub money. Then went on the road for two years and got away from it for all the reasons you mentioned. Now rent that house out and moved into Nashville which was a major investment in 2023 and not easy to make happen. No recording full-time at the house with some tracking sessions mixed in a few times a week. The price of Nashville definitely stacks the cards against cats that are trying to make a living on the road. I think it's crazy hard but doable for the cats with the skills, organization, and personality...definitely takes all three.

I'm a musician, but not for a living. Nashville cats -- "...thirteen-hundred sixty-two guitar pickers in Nashville,'' though I don't think that's the actual number in the lyric line. 😄I was in Nashville with my nephew just before Christmas of 2008. We were in Hendersonville, too. For no good reason I 'groomed' my moustache to resemble Hitler's, and we got some curious looks from the older local folks at the restaurant there when we went for breakfast. 🤨🙃I think I shaved it all off later that night. Ha! My nephew got a candid picture of me walking along the road in the rain, in front of Johnny Cash's old house. I 'titled' it "I Walk The Line". 😆 Music City is probably one of few towns where the number of players somewhat assures that you'll find a lot of decent live music. I'll go to shows and have a good vibe in anticipation of the gig, but I honestly don't go nuts over seeing live bands, unless I know how good they are, because so many are just 'okay'. On the club circuit, they fill a need. I say that as someone who appreciates what it takes to get out there and play, partly because I've done the set-up and load-out. Especially in light of the aesthetic changes in music that have rapidly appeared in recent years -- the Country genre, for a great example -- I really have limited interest in much modern output, and I have no abiding desire to ever set foot in Nashville again. The 'game' has just changed everywhere, as badbrad noted. I'm in semi-rural upstate New York, twenty-five minutes or so from Albany, and average rents in some areas aren't a lot lower than Nashville's. A fairly basic apartment in a cookie-cutter complex that looks like a hotel can easily hit $1,800. Mid-Covid, being relatively close to New York City, houses in my hometown area were actually renting for *_$15,000_* a month, and some even more. The sad fact is that people -- greedy landlords, essentially -- don't give a crap about your hardships. If you can't pay their price, they know that someone else not far down the line can and will. Not to be an ass, but if you're able to make due as a gigging musician, dong what you *_generally_* love, and not working a standard-type job that you hate, consider yourself lucky. Many people work crap jobs, pay as much for rent, and barely clear thirty grand a year, so... . Just sayin'. 🤔😛 As far as changes go, look at what Sweetwater and Guitar Canter have done to the 'Mom-and-Pop' musical instrument shops. They eat their own kind, as even venerated Sam Ash, with more than 100 years in business and many locations, is nailing the shutters closed. Different times, sadly, because I don't see the changes as being for the better. Look at the Van Halen poster of their first album cover. I was between 8th and 9th grade when that was released and slayed people. Gone are the days of major-label spending on studio time, gear, album promotion, tour travel and other support. Year-long or *_longer_* tours. Absurd contract riders. Joe Walsh's type of "I live in hotels, tear out the walls" existence. The superstar 'carte blanche' perks don't exist anymore, or at least not for many. As badbrad said in a comment reply, doing the music thing for the fun, artistic reasons is the right attitude to have. If you can keep the lights on by playing music, not by spending 40 or more hours a week immersed in pay-seeking drudgery, consider yourself blessed when you fork over that $1,740 for the luxury of having a roof and four walls, along with windows and doors that lock to keep out the dregs. 🤪

This opened my eyes wide.

Such great Wisdom here - TY.

Sounds like Nashville's bubble has burst!

I remember going out to bar shows in the 90s to see rock bands and being shocked by how little they had. Bands that who i thought were already rich celebrities. I saw the band Korn in a bar, to me they were on MTV and all the cool kids at my school liked them so obviously they were rich. I watched the show then waited after to see if i could meet them and the guitarist immediately started asking me for cigarettes lol. Later they got even more famous and popular, hopefully they saw some good money.

Great video - look at it from the point of view of the consumer - transportation, parking, cover, $10 to $15 drinks, dangerous drive home…a night out for 2 is an expensive proposition Entertainment is probably the first thing to get red lined when the economy tanks, and it’s a damn shame as I’ve seen some phenomenal live shows in N’ville over the years

Some good an real info in here! Thanks man enjoyed it!

I've heard several successful artists say that the only reason to be a musician is because you're no good at anything else. Let's face it, we all do it because we love the music, not the money or the grind. I taught guitar lessons just before/during COVID and quickly realized that in a month I'd made as much or more than all my gigs put together with a fraction of the expenses, time, and effort. Still not a real income but getting close. I played at a little food court the other week for an hour and a half and made $54 in tips, and got 4 free meals from the food vendors -- that's about as good as it ever gets! Sure am glad that I realized I can be an electronics engineer for a day job. Crazy to imagine the level of success I'd have to have to earn as much as an EE.

Have a friend who makes a living playing covers in bands, solo, duos, and a Beatles/classic rock tribute. Basically, the whole spectrum outside of touring. He is fortunate that he is married to woman with a well paying corporate job with the steady paycheck and benefits. Sadly, it seems that’s what it takes to survive in the business as you get older.

Real talk.

Just discovered your channel , I live south of Nashville in Columbia, used to love going downtown for live music , now the crowds of tourist and parking problems hve made it a total nightmare, rarely go to live concerts at Bridgestone or The Ryman because honestly the ticket prices are too much after including parking. Im going to go back and check out all your videos, best of luck enjoy Florida.

Great honest explanation video! All pure TRUTH!! My singer and I a guitarist on the advise of a local big name Nashville producer..who we sent demos out to and who really liked our demos invited us out to said Nashville to record us…for a price of course..we both got the moneys together and we went from Oregon to Tennessee..once there I as the guitarist quickly saw what I was up against..in the local downtown bars the famous older bars was the talent I had always heard of..most seemed to be playing for tips.. earning dollars for studio time..which we knew in advance was no longer paid out by the producer unless you were a big name and then maybe..it cost the two of $16k for a three song major demo.. we met our producer and he took us out to the studio we paid him half before and the other half after completion..we had no clue just who the other studio musicians were going to be.. after introduction’s to the engineer and the two other players we started the demos..all went well as it was pretty amazing for an above average player..and then I found out why things cost so much.. during a break I was formally introduced to the drummer and bassist.. Craig Kramph and Gary W. Tallent from Springsteen’s E. Street Band.. good lord!! Well that was amazing ..we got our major demo ..but.. it’s as far as it went.. still have the songs they are still great..but we didn’t have the dollars to complete an LP…Nashville simply wasn’t for us.. period

That's why country music isn't on my play list.Everyone is a hired gun. There's no band loyalty. U2 , The Rolling Stones, etc grew up together. They suffered and grew up together. Same line up(mostly) for decades. That matters to me.

I was playing in a cover band in the 80s-90s to 2012, 5 - 6 nights a week. I bought a house in a fairly good neighbour hood in Sydney , Australia paid $126 thousand in 92, now its worth 2.1 million (insaine). I got out of the music business at the right time. a musician would be lucky to play 2 night a week today.

I feel ya brother it was bad in 06 so now it’s what it is ty for speaking up much respect🔥👍

Yup, I did nothing but music for 3 years. You have to love it. Now I use my art talent to make a living, and music to make fun:)

It's reaching the point where it makes more sense to put all your effort as a young musician into RU-vid and Instagram instead of playing live.

We figured out how to make 1500$ a gig by buddying up with promoter that sold pay to play gigs by renting sound system and chairs, we ended up take slices of all the bands ticket sales and a piece of our own ticket sales. If the bands knew we were partnership with promoters i know for a fact we would be dead😂. This works great becuase there are always bands that want to play at all costs.

My sons band is on the road( tour) for second time this year, playing 6 nights a week for the month, 4 piece, make 125-150$ each a gig, bus broke down in upstate New York two days ago, and stranded them, they still have the rest of the gig dates to fill this month, it’s a heat wave on the east coast, they started a go fund me and got over 5k, first day, enough to get finished and get ready to go back out in July for 20 days on a festival tour across Midwest. Ahhhh, to be young, bottom line, you got to love it, it’s a passion not a job, Blessup

First let me say that I really enjoyed this video; it is eye opening. I always thought that touring musicians made very good money. I played guitar at my church for a lot of years, none of the musicians got paid. But, I just enjoyed being able to play every Sunday with a great group of musicians. Thanks again for posting this video.

The music business is a rotten corpse that died in the 80's and was buried in the 90's in a shallow grave. I still emits a stench, that will make you mentally ill if exposed to it, leading to starvation and homelessness.

Australia has way over the top rents ..700 a week plus ..not to mention food ..fuel etc ..many homeless here .. From Australia...no longer the lucky country .

I was a truck driver and drove through all the states and there are hardly any clubs or bars for bands to play in, and the ones that are out there nobody goes to them.

I think this is really good advice. There is a harsh reality to music. Most people want to gloss over the negatives because it’s no fun to think about the those things when you’re in dream mode.

Musician and home ownership "normal life" are as far apart as mars and earth. Oh and a pension and benefits for your old age..... That's on another galaxy.

There's a touring musician in Nashville with a house who's recently been buying vintage guitars and amps, each worth tens of thousands of dollars. He recently started a RU-vid channel talking about it. No big name touring artists. I must be missing something.

You sound like a true honest man..telling it like it is.

If you can make a living at what you love doing (Music) you are truly fortunate. I’d be dead now if I’d of opted for the life of a road musician. 🎶

You seem like a real cool dude ...... Yeah man it ain't just music business we are all feeling it. I get it though everyone thinks your rich

I worked for decades with music being my only career and I learned pretty early on that you must know your worth as an artist and stick to your guns. With bands primarily (since the venue is paying several people), you will run into every possible scam to not pay or under pay you. Thats why you ONLY work for a flat rate. Anything less is an open opportunity for the venue to screw you after they have gotten the benefit of your performance. As a solo artist you can usually get more money per gig because you arent splitting the money with other band members. But you have to know what you are worth and what to ask for and just dont take any gigs under what you are willing to work for. If you are booking in a hostile environment its good to have a contract also, DJ's, Karaoke hosts etc use these for nearly every gig so it's amazing to me that most artists do not. People are way less likely to try and screw you when they are contractually obligated. When I had a band I did what we called paid practice gigs at times, where we tried out new songs in front of people etc, these gigs we intentionally took less money because we were trying out things etc.

Honest evaluation. Thanks.

Wow! I left music when I was 30. Never got out of the clubs but it was a decent run. Post music, I got super lucky and found my destiny. I wish the same for you and everyone else out there.