Quote:

I predict that the current availability of music software will lead to increased interest in music, which will in turn lead to the development of some serious human talent, which will lead to a resurgence in live music.



Of course it will but that doesn't mean anybody's going to be able to make a living at it except for the rare "winning the lottery" scenarios or the exceptional one man show person which is the point of this thread. Realize I've been making the same $100 more or less for a gig since 1980. There's been no overall increase in pay, why because as the years go on more and more good players are available chasing fewer gigs plus a good DJ can be hired for $3-500 so why would someone pay more than that for a 4 piece band, hence $100 a man. I just did a gig at the Manhattan Beach Country Club last Saturday. MB is millionaire central, Beverly Hills south, it costs $30,000 to join after you wait on the list for years. 5 piece jazz band, $75 each and the new Food and Beverage manager loved us. Great, try doubling the budget. At least it's only 5 miles up the road from me. Did another one earlier this year, West LA Sports Club, in Beverly Hills. They had to valet park my car after I unloaded my gear in front of literally a Ferrari, a huge black Rolls Royce and a whole platoon of Porsches. At least my old but nice Mercedes S class didn't look completely out of place. That one was a full $500 for the band so I made my $100 average. Wow. The appetizers were great though.
Three of those gigs per week is $1,200 a month and I haven't done that since the 70's. Double it, $2,400 a month that's still below the poverty line here.

Bob

Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.