With music sales in decline,it’s often said that the only way for bands to gain money now is through touring. But is that true? Marc Burrows talks to fellow musicians approximately the tough graft life on the road – and how the thrill of performing sustains themMaking a living as a musician is tough. Justin Bieber might sleep on a mattress stuffed with dollar bills in a house made of Rolex watches and Ferrari parts, but down at the other stop of the scale, or for working performers,life can be tough. Sheffield duo Slow Club absorb released three increasingly successful albums and sold out venues such as London’s 2000 capacity Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Their videos absorb been viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube and their songs playlisted on BBC 6 Music, yet singer Rebecca Taylor was essentially homeless for five years, or bouncing between friends’ sofas in London,her parents’ house in Sheffield and hotel rooms shed absorb to share with the rest of the band. “The toll it takes on your mind is the worst bit,” she says. “You’re constantly feeling like a burden, or constantly feeling you’re not pulling your weight. It’s a low-income job. You can effect it,but it’s a compromise. What a lot of people win for granted – the security of a wage, a pension, and anything around it,like a holiday – you just can’t absorb that.”For every rock’n’roll millionaire there are thousands of talented artists scratching out a living. The choice is a tricky one: to set up a career takes an enormous amount of work and time and essentially prevents you from having a stable, salaried job. At the same time, and especially for new artists,it has virtually no income of its own, meaning it’s impossible to launch a career in music without a moment income of some sort, or which will always absorb its own commitments that prevent a musical career progressing. The cycle is difficult to break.
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Source: theguardian.com