With the lockdown there seems to be no end of Facebook musical broadcasts, the good the bad and the indifferent, seems if you can play a musical instrument or sing then broadcasting yourself on Facebook or putting up a musical video is the way to go.
Have you jumped on the bandwagon yet? I haven't (sigh of relief I can probably here you say) and I wouldn't blame you either.
Just thinking what is the overall motive that people who do take part have, do they feel they really are entertaining the masses, or is it something to do to entertain themselves, or maybe a bit of both?
I have watched a few where its very entertaining, more less so, but then again if the person who is doing it, feels they are contributing who am I to speak.
If you do decide to put yourself on Facebook, maybe you will put put up a link.
Oh I know there is a long standing User Showcase here but its Facebook I am talking about here.
One concern is the lack of quality: homemade videos, lack of good audio quality, latency in Zoom performances. I moderate a Facebook music group and I see some dreadful posts.
Another concern is that we are training the public to expect music for free. Will it be even further devalued once (if) we come out of the quarantine?
I have prepared a virtual chamber orchestra for use in a church service. We didn't use Facebook, we used Zoom. But I am careful to state in the video that people are listening to my arrangements of music using only the instrumentation that would have been played live. People seem to understand.
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Another concern is that we are training the public to expect music for free. Will it be even further devalued once (if) we come out of the quarantine?
I worry this may be the nail in the coffin for the music industry. Yeah, folks will come out to shows and restaurants again once this is all over a year or more from now but will they ever go back to doing everything at the levels they did before? Amazon and Zoom are training folks they can shop from home and visit/be entertained from there too!
Guys, once this is over, the streaming will stop, unless the artists really enjoy streaming for free. If the artists stop streaming, who are the people going to watch? Remember, if you are happy to give your product away for free, then you are stating when you think it is worth.
I remember when I was 8. A (GASP!) black family moved onto our street. My father, who FYI WAS Archie Bunker 15 years before All In The Family (yet taught me to accept everybody) actually held a meeting in our living room to discuss what the people should do now that "they" (Not the word he used) were moving in. Back and forth the discussion went for like 40 minutes. Finally I came out of my room and asked, and remember I was EIGHT) "If none of you sell your houses and move away, where are they going to move into?"
Similar in concept. This will not be a problem unless you make a conscious choice to make it one. I am enjoying all of the artists performing from home, but I am trying to imagine someone at the level of Mary Chapin Carpenter (who I watch every day) and Dave Matthews (who should do a few more) deciding to forever stream from home for free rather than go back to touring for large dollars once the corona-tine is over. This isn't their side hustle.
Amazon and Zoom are training folks they can shop from home and visit/be entertained from there too!
I shopped from home for the last 3 years before the bat stew virus hit. And I haven't been to a concert in a decade anyway, but that is me and I am pretty much Howard Hughes.
I think this is an interesting topic. I am starting to wonder if we will ever go back to the way things were before or even if we should.
I think, maybe, we will all think twice about jumping in a car or a plane to go and watch a live concert or go to a huge sporting event. And, if that does happen, perhaps that won’t be such a “bad” thing? Certainly, it wouldn’t be a bad thing from an environmental perspective but from an individual perspective too?
I admire all the artists that are jumping on Facebook. Who else enjoyed “One world: together at home” on YouTube? Some of my music mates thought it was terrible and that all these top artists were lost without all their producers etc. I thought it was great.
As with people posting music for free for the past twenty years, if it’s poor quality I move along. The fact of the matter is that the Facebook live methodology is easier for most without proper equipment to make and publish a recording. It’s the musical equivalent of a Polaroid camera.
Few will acknowledge this, but in my opinion, the music Industry itself is mostly to blame for its own downfall.
There aren’t that many who demand quality over convenience. This has been true for as long as music or photography has been recorded. Format has gravitated to smaller and more convenient means, almost always at the sacrifice of some quality, for over 150 years. Then technology comes along and resets the quality bar higher and the cycle begins anew.
FB live streams and similar streaming will continue to proliferate and the quality will get better by most as time moves along
I quit facebook when I found out their robot was reading our posts, logging our likes and dislikes, reading our private messages, registering what we clicked on, and logging our answers to quizzes. Then they used this data to decide which fraudulent* news stories to put in our timeline in order to rig a US presidential election. (* I don't call it fake news if it's intent is to defraud.)
I don't care if they were rigging an election for the candidate I voted for or the candidate I didn't like, rigging a US election using fraud is against my principles.
I decided that if I continued to let them use my personal data to make their profits, then I would be guilty of aiding and abetting the crime and contributing to the demise of our democratic republic.
First I found out how to delete my data, then I closed my account, and I haven't been back since.
Sure I am out some money in that I can't promote my band there anymore, but as a patriot I couldn't live with myself if I continued to become an accessory to the crime.
I quit facebook when I found out their robot was reading our posts, logging our likes and dislikes, reading our private messages, registering what we clicked on, and logging our answers to quizzes. Then they used this data to decide which fraudulent* news stories to put in our timeline in order to rig a US presidential election. (* I don't call it fake news if it's intent is to defraud.)
I don't care if they were rigging an election for the candidate I voted for or the candidate I didn't like, rigging a US election using fraud is against my principles.
I decided that if I continued to let them use my personal data to make their profits, then I would be guilty of aiding and abetting the crime and contributing to the demise of our democratic republic.
First I found out how to delete my data, then I closed my account, and I haven't been back since.
Sure I am out some money in that I can't promote my band there anymore, but as a patriot I couldn't live with myself if I continued to become an accessory to the crime.
Sometimes you just have to take the high road.
Insights, incites and a minor rant by Notes
Well stated. I don’t disagree with your opinion on the potential negative outcomes of this and other social media, search engines, etc.
An even larger influence on our elections is the hand-picked little committees that decide which candidates get to be in televised debates and who gets center stage.
Back to FB live streaming. They have made it convenient. They, and every other past electronics and or media company that have made convenience a priority wins in this world.
When you say the "Facebook broadcast" I am assuming you mean the recent "A" list events. But I wanted to also share some experience I have been having via eConcerts for quite a few years now.
I have been playing online before FB offered the service. I play online is because I can reach a broad audience and also get paid, that's right get paid all without leaving the house if I choose. Now grant it not enough pay to keep me in my rock-star lifestyle but enough that I can write a check to my favorite charity every month. So my point is just because you are playing online does not mean you have to "play for nothing" . . . . which really gets me up on my soapbox!
You see I consider everything from open mics to playing in any venue "for the exposure" as playing for nothing. I often hear of musicians saying they are playing both open mics or other venues for a cut rate or no fee but "just for the exposure" and it drives me nuts. Again my opinion which does not mean I am right. I have friends who play these gigs and love them, obviously I feel differently.
Just last year I interviewed at a restaurant who said they were looking to change entertainers as the same cat had been playing their Jazz brunch for the last 5 years. They said they liked my music but asked me if I could beat his 75.00 for a 4 hour gig every Sunday price. My 1st response was, wow that is 1960 money, but then added, "you should have given him a raise 5 years ago" and there was no way I would ever consider under cutting a fellow musician.
However the fact remains that sadly some musicians will gladly play for nothing or next to it just to say they got the gig. My rule of thumb is that if the account has a register in it, they should pay their entertainment, my opinion others mileage may vary. And for the cats who have no issue playing these type gigs that is your decision, but please don't complain about the low or lack of fees musicians are getting today. You can't be part of the problem and the solution at the same time.
Please understand I have no issues with playing benefits or even for personal entertainment with fellow musicians. In fact 100% of tips I get from my online eConcerts goes to charity, but the money I get from my corporate or other venues throughout the year, goes to Old Danny.
Personally I think playing online is something (especially in these times) every performer should give a try, hey you might just enjoy it and even pick up a few bucks without leaving your room.
I'm with Notes and Rock_Star on this one. In spite of the cool things Facebook can do with no subscription fee, the downsides of user tracking and hidden persuasion are more than I'm comfortable with. Camfrog was off to a pretty good start with web rooms. There were some good music jams. It felt weird, so I bailed. The idea is out of this world, though, if the objections are taken to heart by the people running the show.
Danny, I hear ya about low fees BUT, was that guy playing for the restaurant for $75 getting tips or was he just sitting there like a lump just playing? A friend who passed some years ago was a real entertainer on piano, he could sing anything plus some comedy. He had a steady weekend gig at a restaurant in Newport Beach for years and routinely got $150-200 a night in tips plus a hundred from the venue.
Another friend is (was until this virus) doing the same thing at a marina bar in Long Beach. He has a Journey tribute band but when the band isn't playing he does a single and uses backing tracks for his Journey stuff. He's a pro, these are not cheesy tracks, they sound like a Journey concert. He does even better, he told me on a good night he gets $500, $100 from the bar and $400 in tips. You can imagine his voice if he can cover Steve Perry. He plays keys, guitar and trumpet.
Performers look at a place like that as a launching pad. They get paid enough by the venue to cover expenses but it gives them the opportunity to do their thing and collect tips. It's exactly the same thing as the wait staff. Their base pay is minimum wage which is roughly the same $75 to $100 but a good waiter/waitress cleans up in tips. They're climbing all over each other for the opportunity to work at a good restaurant because of that.
Years ago I read an article in Variety about the wannabe actors working as waiters in Hollywood. They have their own clique going on with all the top restaurants and a good waiter puts on their own version of a show too. They were making over $75,000 a year in the top places and this was 25-30 years ago I read this and it's as hard to land a gig at the Polo Lounge as a waiter as it is to get a part in a movie or TV production.
It's all up to the performer. If you're not an entertainer putting on a show as well as a player, forget it. It's a symbiotic relationship between the entertainer and the staff.
While I truly love a good waitstaff and proud to say I over tip accordingly I have to respectfully disagree with comparing the value (or pay plan) of a wait staff with that of a quality musician. Especially when you think of what a good performing musician has to do to keep themselves relevant at the top of their game. To mention a few, always striving to learn new material plus the hours away from the gig practicing, while not even factoring in the cost and maintenance of instruments and gear.
For these reasons alone I can't see how they should be hired on the same pay plan or scale. Pay the musician a decent wage for the gig upfront, not a promise of what they can make if they are special, because if they don't deliver they won't be there long anyway. In reverse try cutting a deal with the restaurant on the price of your meal being next to nothing, but if you really like it you will pay a higher price.
PS: The musician in my aforementioned example had worked that same gig for 5 years, so while I have never seen his show I am guessing the restaurant's clientele must have liked what he was doing to keep him there for that long.
Take Care and Keep Gigging (well when we can again)
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but enough that I can write a check to my favorite charity every month. So my point is just because you are playing online does not mean you have to "play for nothing" . . . . which really gets me up on my soapbox!
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