| Wow... what a great article. Mr. Plog is right on the money in so many aspects! I look forward to bringing it with me on the flight to England to digest more of it.
Coming from a totally free-lanced (i.e. BROKE and without work) I'm finding not so difficult to face the future trends. My new CD is entirely self-produced and will be released independently. You probably have read some of my posts online about if I should seek a label or not. I wanted greater rights on the digital side and other than facing my upfront costs I find it much easier this way to promote this venture.
Let's face it, instrumental music is a HARD sell to the commercial public.
"Hmm, a jazz duo album of trumpet/piano? ....who plays drums on the disc (one of the actual replies I received)"
Clark Terry was a firm believer in this phrase which I have adopted in this LONG process: "There's an ass for every seat." I'm 100% sure my venture will be succesful both commercially and musically. It's a great deal easier to "sell" a duo to a venue as the overhead is much lower and I can still pay my collaborator a great fee. Colleges and festivals can't always afford big fees and I feel I know have cut my "artist" fee in half while still being able to make a reasonable fee.
I am sure that once the disc is fully done and printed (EC has a copy of the "almost" master and I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts on it) I plan to make a "part-time job" as manager/booking agent/promoter/shameless plug man. The harsh reality in today's society is that people will just not come to your performances unless you are making them notice you as well as part of the experience. Free clinics/school visits/saturation of the local media and internet will always help. You can get the message out so much easier than even 5 years ago due to the WWW explosion.
I feel that as an artist I bring joy as well as passion to my audience members in a way that they might not have been given in the past. Perhaps that will bring me over the top to getting more venues.
Will I be as popular as Botti, Wynton, et al? No way. I can't compete with them and their marketing machines. I'm happy playing a few concerts every month for attentive audiences and presenting world class improvisations to them. I won't be a millionaire for sure but my days of playing $25 jazz gigs are probably over.
Sorry for my ramblings.... and yes, I'm available for concerts ;) hahah
-T
PS: If you're thinking about beginning to formulate a career as a solo artist I can't recommend "Making Music in Looking Glass Land" enough! It's a great book full of priceless information and while it's geared towards a classical musician it's easily applicable to jazz artists as well. |