(two musicians are standing in the unemployment line. It is some time in the future. In order to protect their identities, we will call them M1 and M2.)
M1: So, here we are again.
M2: Yeah, here we are. How long has it been since your last gig?
M1: Quite a while.
M2: Me too!
M1: You know, it's funny. The other day the plumber came by and fixed my toilet. He handed me his bill, and I mentioned that I thought he should do it for free, since I'm expected to give out my music for free. He just laughed. He said something about having gone to trade school, and I pointed out that I went to college to learn music. He didn't like that answer.
M2: Yeah, I'm sure he didn't.
M1: Yeah, I ended up dipping into my savings again so I could pay the bill.
M2: Oh, man. Speaking of giving out music, can you believe it's almost been 2 years since congress abolished the copyright act?
M1: No, it seems like yesterday. One day I was making a living, the next day I was looking in the want ads for day jobs.
M2: You know, my kid asked me the weirdest question the other day. He said "dad, what's an album?" I had to explain to him that people used to get songs in groups, rather than downloading random songs one at a time. He also couldn't understand that people used to pay for it.
M1: Speaking of downloads, how many people have downloaded your newest song?
M2: I think it's more than 500,000 now.
M1: Oh, man! In the old days that would have been a gold record. You wouldn't have been standing in this line!
M2: That's for sure! Here I've got over 500,000 fans on Mybandspacebook, and I had to sell a bunch of my gear to pay this month's rent. What's wrong with this picture?
Announcer: Next please.
M1: Oh, that's me. Well, good seeing you. Take it easy.
M2: Yeah, good luck.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
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4 comments:
Good heavens, we need to have coffee once I get off vacation. You down?
Wow....this is about right.... how prophetic.... and the sad reality is that I recently had a very similar conversation like this about a month ago....
I said "If I spent all this time trying to be a doctor or a lawyer and couldn't find a job people would say "aw that's so tragic", tell them you've spent this much trying to be a musician and the reply is "so why don't you finally get a real job?"
ugh....just ugh
#1 No one ever talks in line at the unemployment office.
#2 M1 should do more shows. Everyone knows you don't make much money from selling music, you make money from playing out. Right? But then again, I have never made much of any money from selling music or playing shows.
#3 I guess that's why I work in retail.
Ps. I have stood in the unemployment line before.
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