i'm a musician thinking of quitting please help

don't quit YOUTUBE it

Here Here

This thread has lots of good thoughts for you, OP.

Music has taken me places I thought I'd never go:
- Performances across the US, Caribbean, and Europe
- My own group that performed throughout the southwest US
- Performance for the president of the united states
- BBC and Radio Netherlands
- Some local TV across the US

But more importantly, music has given me skills and outlooks that would have been hard to have obtained otherwise:
- Impromptu, extemporaneous speaking
- Audience rapport
- Holistic view of technical work
- Running my own business
- Ability to communicate complex ideas

Other than some honoraria for volunteer work I do in the public schools and an occasional wedding or funeral, I haven't been paid a dime for music in years. But what I gained from music has been invaluable in all walks of my life. It gave me things that cannot be purchased.

So here's the thought: If you had good intuition as to when to start a musical activity, you have just as good intuition as to when to stop that musical activity. We have this strange notion that everything we begin will last until the end of time, when in reality everything is seasonal: planting, nurturing, growing, harvesting, and then decaying.

If you decide to give up some part of your musical life, look carefully for the things that will propel you along in you next task.

Best wishes!

i just play in a local small town punk band i really dont make any money at all but we put stuff up on youtube and play for friends and love it just live your life and play if you have the misic in ya do what you love man find other ways to make moneyif thats what you need to do but i know you ll never be able to quite playin music is way to much fun and it keep you young in sperit ....peace man if you wanna cheak out my band youtube search kitimat punk and just click on the page if not its a good do you have any youtube songs posted i d be intrested in seeing what you play man

Art=soul, forever

Art=external, collapse

Its inside of you.

the fact that you want to be paid for something that you claim to love already makes you a sell-out WHORE.

you SHOULD quit. spare us, please.

you, just like everybody else only becomes an "artist" because you and them think they have found the LOOPHOLE in working for a living. nobody wants to work, you are no exception.

in fact, it's even more of a disgrace you want to charge people to be a lazy piece of shit with zero taste that probably rips off everybody else's ideas because you have no original thoughts of your own.

you're an attention whore. get back to your local coffee shop and order your fucking cafe latte, you pretentious, fake piece of shit. with your non-prescription glasses and 90s-wannabe flannel shirt.

you are a dime a dozen. stop seeking attention and flattery from other people. nobody is going to save you from the mess you have created for yourself just so you can continue to feel sorry for yourself and continue to have excuses to be a complete fuck-up drunk. now, go cry about it in your rolling rock or pabst blue ribbon. yuppy.

As a semi-professional musician who works a day job (I've released albums/CDs on "proper" labels and played lots of shows, never toured though), I am sorry to say: It is next to impossible to make ANY money making music anymore, let alone a LIVING.

I have studied this in depth, and there have been many articles written about these issues in the past few years. Essentially, there is almost no money to be made from releasing albums any more; it is largely considered something to be done to PROMOTE a band so that people will be interested enough to see the band LIVE when they go on tour. But then, many bands report that they barely make any money from touring either! A lot of bands just barely break even! Many bands only source of reliable income is from selling shirts at their live shows... try to make a living from that! Going on tour requires gas, lodging, food expenses, taking time off work if you have a day job... so what happens if you play on the same night as some other big-name band, and you only get 30 people at your show? And none of them buy a shirt or a CD? You lose money and time... this happens a LOT.

A big problem is that pretty much every genre of music has become WAY over-saturated. There are approximately 100,000 ALBUMS released every year (this does not include singles or 12" records, btw, just ALBUMS!). Of these, about 70% of them sell less than 100 copies. Something like 1% of them break the 10,000 copies sold mark. You do the math, and calculate the odds... it's pretty bad. Commercial success in music is almost totally based on LUCK and CONNECTIONS... with an emphasis on LUCK.

I continue to make music because I love to do it, it is my creative outlet, and I enjoy sharing my music with people. I am definitely very frustrated that I cannot do it full-time, instead of working an office job that I don't feel much passion for. Unfortunately it is just another symptom of our world out of balance that places almost no monetary value in the arts, especially music.

hang in there, OP..

For sure you're doing the right thing...let me help you. Send me all your gear, and enjoy your new life!

:)

Your post really made me think. I'm going through the same thing. I took the gamble 8 years ago thinking that the internet would in effect act as the record company. That method of distribution hasn't worked at all and I don't see that changing.

Like many of the other posters, I think the answer is in using my skill set to make a living and making music for the artistic love of it. Ive taken a couple of months off from making music after having a summer filled with creating. It was a huge let down at the point hat I realized that all my work wouldn't be appreciated. Trying to find a bridge is proving the difficult part, but im missing music and will find a way to make it, but I have to take care of my family now and not be so selfish.

I wish you every good thing on your journey. Consider posting an update every now and again.

maybe all those 100,000 artist who release music every year should quit and let the ones with real talent make music . yes i think this is problem . we are saturated with suck ass candy coated bubblegum bullshit.I'm a amateur musician and plan on recording music just to see if I can do it well. I don't expect to ever make a income with it . not with all the schiester money grubbers there are in the bizz.In the 70s and 80s the pariah in music was payola . now the top heavy labels did themselves in . blatant discrimination against certain idioms created a homogenized pop music culture in present day and no amount of lip gloss on this pig will fix it . Rap killed good music . so did simon cowballs with his fake ass talent shows. pop artist are lazy . they dont want to learn how to play a instrument cause they got some jerk with a computer program and a workstation laying down "beats" . Yah Beats thats the way to go ! fucking losers !

Really? I thought all you had to do these days is write the perfect song, record it and make a YouTube video? I feel like my time has come,... uh, I just don't want to be 'famous' anymore. Yuk, not in this day and age. They totally screwed the '70s dream...

I remember seeing Korn play in front of Pepsi signs or something. You know,... whatever happened to "hope I die before I get old" haha???

I mean, it's about time for an MC5 styled revolution band, but, since that crowd is in power now, if you say anything true, maybe the plane goes down? OR... maybe the libtard fans rip you limb from limb?


Excuse me, but what I hate about people is how music is just a tool to them, and they are a 'slave to the beat' or whatever. When you try to play something meaningful, they yell, Fag, like in Idiocracy, haha!!

wango tango indeed


I'm trying to get a lazy gig again. I've come full circle, and there's no smoking in the bars, sooooo, why not?

you pansy ass little bitch, stop whining, u obviously dont love music

If your talking rock, than your success is absolutely dependent on whether one of a handful of record executives
decide that your music will both, not make any waves, and 2, make them a lot of money. In effect, your musical/financial fate is in some wanker's hand, and that's assuming said record executive ever hears your music, which
is also unlikely. And even if you get a record contract, and put out an album, the odds of that providing any kind
of financial security are still extremely low.

Treat your music as painters used to treat their art, plan for the long term, get used to being solitary, develop your craft without worrying about it's commercial viability and see what develops. Most great artists, writers don't hit their stride till they're in their fifties. In commercial rock music, your usually burned out by your thirties, and if you arn't rich and have no backup plan, your screwed. If your ears are still intact, feel lucky that you didn't blow them out and can still play. Playing live rock will likely, eventually leave you with some horrendous ear issues. Find another way to make money, and approach your music like fine art and forget the flash in the pan commercialism.

OP, there may be a way. There are people who load up tunes to satellite play. Google around for people who do that - cost was about $400 a few years ago. Make sure you copyright your stuff first. Another $30.
Once your tune is loaded for satellite play - this is grocery store, mall songs, like that, there are 2000 spots on the chart. So, you can get your songs out there.
But, the problem with this chart and airplay is or any other is that the big labels pay for play.
We got all the way up to almost the 1000 spot, right between Neil Young and Bob Seger - I was ecstatic! But, to break into the top 1000 worldwide, it takes many thousands of dollars per week for air play. It's backwards from how it should be.
But, the only way to really get it out there is to make copies and get a list of every station in the country, small local best to get any play at all.

About the best outcome in this scenario is getting an other artist to pick up your song and record it, royalties.


Lifelong musician, just recently retired. So is my husband, who will still play if he has time off - he's 65, and still a kick ass drummer.
What friends of mine, and myself had to do, after 5 or 6 decades of life being all about the next time we played, quitting means Quitting. Putting it down long enough to get rid of the itchy fingers, and don't pick it up again until it doesn't matter anymore. Otherwise it's like poking a wound with a hot stick.

Good luck. Do what's right for you.

Teach a kid, inspire a generation. Me... guitar

[link to youtu.be]

the fact that you have felt the need to reach out to the masses via the internet in your plea for someone to encourage you to resist the thought of giving up on music purveys a profound insight into your true feelings on this matter as well as an obvious choice in which path to follow in approaching the decision whether to silence the conflicted artist within you. your having a passion for music is unequivocally illustrated by your request, and as following ones inspirations is most certainly one of the most pivotal components required to successfully navigate the proverbial road to happiness, continuing to create your music is irrefutably how you should proceed. when you find yourself enveloped in thoughts that try to persuade you to use your financial situation (present or future), the level of reason and wisdom anyone tries to assign to your art in relation to your career path, or their individual and subjective assessment of the ability ability and/or talent your creations project as the standard of measure to validate your creating them, i implore you to realize that when you finish a work, it is done. the task that you had desired to achieve (expressing yourself through music) has been completed successfully. whether or not any effort can be deemed successful is a moot point once the intended effort has been successfully completed. if i paint a blue flower and someone says, "you should have painted a red flower", has no bearing on whether or not i have created a successful interpretation of a blue flower. if you felt it, and expressed it, then how could it be anything less than the perfect representation and artistic interpretation of the thought that inspired it? if it out of your true heart, then not even you have any right to question it's quality or value. honest expression stands on its own with impunity. the more you can refrain from attaching any type of expected outcome to any effort you make in life, the more happiness, validation, and sense of worthiness you will find. or anything what i mean by this is that how many people like it, how much money it generates, how many other allegedly more beneficial and productive endeavors you could have used that time to undertake, or any similar reasoning warrants absolutely no consideration respective to the smallest amount of inner peace or joy you may have experienced while manifesting your art. it's your life, it's your time, you only get one, and every moment you question yourself is one more moment of happiness forever vanquished by doubt and fear. if i were you, i'd go write a song about this whole dilemma. (lol) i write and play all types of music, and would NEVER abandon that part of my life.

^^THIS^^

op...when music is in your blood..you can never quit :)

It is so strong..and wonderful




Dont give up op..keep dreaming

You Haven't a Clue and everything you have just said is wrong
the reason i asked this on glp is because i have doubts on wether or not to carry on playing in a band
as for sell out, i'd have to sell something for that to happen,
in previous bands i have make a fair bit but being left in debt with no more money i can no longer afford to keep this expensive hobby / Career up.
music can be a career or a hobby, you can make money or you can just play for fun, Nowadays how the hell are you expected to have fun when you can't even afford to practice let alone give up half a days paid work ,drive to a gig, play to people who aren't interested in any other band than the one their friends told them to see. and go home in more debt that when you went out with !
if i had a good paid job i probably wouldn't be complaining on here, but its hard keeping a job when you gig all the time.

i couldn't agree more with this statement, thanks for your time :)

i pursued music as a career and it nearly destroyed music for me.

i quit playing music for money but i still play because i love it.

dont seek money, ever if possible, but especially for things you love. [link to www.facebook.com]

Damn Right