[Orlando Enrique Fiol]

In article ,
wrote:
The market for live music is probably bigger and better paying now than
it ever has been.

From my vantage point, it doesn't seem that way. There is certainly money to be
made if one is absurdly famous and deriving merchandising royalties. But most
musicians performing original music do so for door percentages rather than flat
fees, depending on their own mailing lists to bring a consistent fan base to
each gig.

There are also many more chances than there used to be
for a good artiste to get known and build a following, and many people
are willing to sift through the bad ones to find the odd gold nugget.

Can you back up this claim with even informal statistical data? How many
musicians actively making a comfortable living have gotten their starts by
being discovered on Youtube?

If you put up a song on Youtube and it goes viral, then people in the
industry will listen, and you may end up on a catalogue, or more likely,
on the playlist of a site that charges by the play.

You include this going viral criterion as though it were simple to achieve.
Most Youtube videos initially go viral via word of mouth on social media such
as Facebook and Twitter. Most viral videos possess some appealing
characteristic besides artistic talent. I've heard of viral videos being funny,
disgusting, appalling, angry or provocative. But I've never heard of a viral
video of some nerd playing an instrument incredibly well or singing with
breathtaking emotion.

If you're popular enough and good enough, then it's possible to make a
reasonable living at it.

Again, I'd love even some anecdotal evidence of this.

It's certainly easier to get in than it was in the days of 45's
and A&R men at whatever gig felt "cool" to be at that night, and the
band ended up buying the A&R man drinks or whatever... Can you say "Payola"?


As flawed as the former system may have been, it often rewarded talent that
goes unnoticed today. I'm totally blind from birth, incapable of shooting my
own Youtube videos or monitoring their hits, which means I need either helpful
friends or paid assistants that I cannot afford. Even playing gigs is
challenging as a keyboardist because I'm obviously not independently mobile and
therefore cannot afford transportation to unpaying gigs. Blind and other
disabled musicians don't have the luxury of being able to go with the flow,
play for free or hang out all night at jam sessions. Back in the day, industry
people would hear blind genius musicians and help steer us to appropriate
patronage. Today, it's assumed that we'll find our own way. If my life and that
of many colleagues is any indication, that simply is not happening.
Orlando