To all who moan about the price of musicians

[markophonic]

 

[Jon Silberman]

Cute but ridiculous. In a capitalistic system, the salary you command depends on how much you're needed and how easily you can be replaced, not how hard you prepared or how talented you (think) you are. There aren't multiple sets of other 6 plumbers waiting in the wings to fix your pipes for cheaper or free or DJs who can get your water running, too. Nevertheless, I do appreciate the chuckle.

 

[slippyknees]

That is pretty funny. $2K for a 6 piece wedding band is even funnier!

 

[Jon Silberman]

Thought I'd add, for my two kids' bar and bat mitzvah, I begged them to have live bands. Both refused - they wanted DJs with dancers like all of the rest of their friends and thought live music would be uncool. My wife back 'em and I folded. The point I'm trying to make is that we here think live music is the best and when I was a kid we darn well had a live band at my bar mitzvah but the younger generation as far as I can see doesn't care anymore about live music. These are the kids who will grow up, have their own weddings, and again hire DJs. Just noticing it.

 

[arthur rotfeld]

^^I've done bar mitzvah gigs, invariably it's for the parents/adult side of the event. Kids go nuts with the DJ in another room for much of the party.

 

[Fatboy666]

sadly the children of today know little and care less about live music

IMO that's quite a loss

Then again they only hafta walk 6 feet to their bus stops and no one loses in their baseball games.......

 

[markjsmith]

$2K for a 6 pc. wedding band is about average in my experience.

I'm still working, so I wouldn't say live music is dead (and I play for younger folks sometimes too).

I actually have a gig today!

 

[xjojox]

I was born in '60. At my Jr. High School (7-9th grade) in the early 70's we had live bands. They were the same bands that played local clubs. Saturday nights were all about gazing at the gear, soaking up the nuances of the playing, meeting older musicians, learning tricks, and mostly, being immersed in that big loud glorious noise.

Then Disco happened. Suddenly people were willing to pay good money to hear a record that they had at home. In my young musician's mind that made no sense, but it was apparent that most folks didn't care that it wasn't played live. They just wanted to boogie in a cool place with cool people and engage in mating rituals. I moved to Europe in high school, and Disco was in full swing a little earlier there. I remember being very frustrated that I danced to live bands in 7th-9th grade, but at high school dances and even in the clubs (I could go to clubs as a teen in Europe) I listened to records.

I was gigging by my teens so I wasn't as immersed in the high school scene, but it became apparent over time that there were fewer places to play rock. I ended up touring with a country band, those audiences still danced to live music (but in those days country was country, LOL, and I took some heat for my long hair and mutton chops).

There has been debate about this in the past, but I do recall the change of drinking age being pivotal as well. I returned to the states in '78, and there were huge live music clubs all over south Jersey across the river from Philly because PA was 21 and Jersey still 18. (One, the Penalty Box, had a dance floor that held 1600 people, the club held almost 6k and there were 27 bars). When the drinking age went to 21 in Jersey, most of those clubs dried up. I've heard similar stories from around the country. It was less dramatic in places where there wasn't an adjacent state with a different age, but as the age went up everywhere it became apparent that the 18-21 year olds were clearly a big chunk of the live music bar scene and things slowed down.

I think what happens at weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs with DJ's becoming more prevalent probably evolved along the same lines as society at large... the first chink in the armor was folks being willing to dance in public nightspots (as opposed to their basement) to records. DJ's became part of the entertainment. Live music clubs decreased in prevalence to the point where they became more alternative as opposed to standard. So in the mind of a younger person, a DJ is not perceived as in any way inferior to a live band, and in fact is seen as preferable because the music (much of it so processed nowadays) sounds "right" and the DJ can cover more bases correctly than most bands.

Sigh.

I had a great band at my wedding. Full horn section with dance moves, the works. My oldest daughter wanted a DJ.

Sigh.

 

[Gasp100]

"Live music clubs decreased in prevalence to the point where they became more alternative as opposed to standard. So in the mind of a younger person, a DJ is not perceived as in any way inferior to a live band, and in fact is seen as preferable because the music (much of it so processed nowadays) sounds "right" and the DJ can cover more bases correctly than most bands."
-- Agreed. The decline of live music has been going on for a LONG TIME. We complained about the same things when I was a teen in the 80's. Nothing has changed (including the amount per member from a cover gig lol!). I'm a "part time" musician and I had a DJ at my wedding. Bands were much more expensive, we didn't know what we were going to get, we had some rather obscure requests (made a CD to just hand to my DJ during the wedding) and a band seemed like a hassle.
Hey, if you have the money and are comfortable go with it -- some wedding bands are amazing. Hiring a DJ is simply playing it safe and saving some coin.
Let's not forget the new trend where the DJ IS the "artist" (Skrillex, etc...)

 

[splatt]

These are the kids who will grow up, have their own weddings, and again hire DJs. Just noticing it.

no;
these may be the kids who will grow up
& have kids of their own who will want their events to feature live music.....
though, the parents will be surely feel dumbfounded by their desires.

we --- me, my son's g-dfather & my younger son --- played live music @ my son's wedding;
we also had a dj, when that was appropriate.

 

[Heinz57Pep]

sadly the children of today know little and care less about live music

Not here in the land of Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, etc. They just don't care for cover bands as much. They get their fill of other people's music from DJs and karaoke. They want originals from live bands.

 

[phil_m]

Sigh.

I had a great band at my wedding. Full horn section with dance moves, the works. My oldest daughter wanted a DJ.

Sigh.

Some of it probably has to do with the fact that many of the performers in these wedding bands is about 45-50... I don't think I've seen a wedding band where that hasn't been the case. I just think there's something of an inherent cheesiness in these types of groups, and I don't necessarily mean that in a negative way. But some people are put off by it and others aren't. I was at wedding at a nice country club a few years ago, and they hired a band. The band was very good and fit in very well in that environment. But the families in the wedding were both wealthy, and it was kind of a "blue-blood" crowd. A lot of people are put off by that sort of thing.

 

[coltranemi2012]

I think splatt may have a point...things go in circles...kids always want the opposite of their parents... Their may be a hippy time movement where kids will want a more "organic" lifestyle free of constant stimulation from little computers and may want live music...this is possible

 

[semi-hollowbody]

Total crap comparison

If I can't afford a band I plug an ipod into a boom box...everyone can dj

But if I have nowhere to poop...I'm screwed

 

[aliensporebomb]

Then again remember the time honored phrase if you're in a band from the audience to the band: "play something we know so we can see how good you are".

There's some terrific bands in town - some of them who play their cover of a particular song better than the original band who put it together.

But when the last gasp of MTV showed rappers with a DJ up there it became "this is what a music act should look like" in a lot of younger folks minds.

Rock bands were their parents or even grandparents entertainment. Luckily, things are changing around where you have bands with DJs and a mix of everything.

Choreographed dancers are a big plus too in the minds of a lot of kids. Why? Because it's "cool" I suppose.

I'd rather see a band. But I'm old - 5th decade club.

 

[paranoid70]

I'm 43 and I have never been to a wedding that had a band play at the reception.

 

[Nebakanezer]

When I got married a few years ago, we wanted a live band to play the reception. The 2 that I had in mind play in the area bars and I'd seen them a few times. Knowing the places they played, I had an idea of what they made at their gigs. But as soon as you say wedding, the prices went sky high (I learned this is true for anything wedding related). I mentioned that I assumed they would double their rate compared to a normal bar gig, but their prices did not fit our budget. We did have live music, a friend's wedding present was playing acoustic during the cocktail hour (while we were taking pics) and we hired a jazz trio to play during dinner. And had a DJ for the party. I've only played at a few receptions myself, but we've never charged more than our usual fee.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

The ideal wedding band has been the top 40 cover/show band for a long, long time.
The ideal wedding music has been provided by DJ's for maybe even longer.
Musicians who record are undercutting those who play live.
Maybe recording should be restricted/banned.
Do we really want to go there?
A plumber cannot send in a picture of his work to do the job for you.

 

[NoBrakes]

Throw an xbox or a ps4 in the other room and see if kids even remember there was a band there. It's a different world than when was young. It seems music is like everything else these days, cheap and disposable. Most adults I know would prefer a DJ, easier to control on many levels. Some will appreciate a band, most won't.

 

[madspirit]

Not here in the land of Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, etc. They just don't care for cover bands as much. They get their fill of other people's music from DJs and karaoke. They want originals from live bands.

Same here. Zero call for cover bands. At least not in bars/clubs. Not that original music bars are in high demand. But, there's a solid few. The rest are all DJ based or just background jams.