To clarify my posts and discussions about whether you want to play music for the passion of it or to make money off of it, I think what I’m trying to discuss is the usual, “hobby vs. career” debates. You see, I look at music as a hobby. I never saw it as a professional career. There are some people out there that want to see me move forward in my music: play all kinds of gigs, get good opportunities playing the bigger stages, make lots of money, go to the next level, etc. However, I never really cared to get there at all. I just want to do what I love. Plain and simple. I don’t care to win a Battle of the Bands, opening for national acts or perform on huge festivals. All that stuff may seem nice but I’m not worried about getting there. It’s part of the reason why I don’t gig too much. I’m just the type of guy who doesn’t mind staying home, just writing songs… getting them out there for people to enjoy. If people don’t listen to my music at all, that’s fine.

I make music ’cause it’s what I love to do and what I was made for. Music is part of my life.

It’s just that musicians stopped seeing music as a hobby or just something passionate to do in life. There are too many out there who are pretty desperate in getting paid,  getting popularity or even trying to get fame. It used to be just a group of musicians to get together to show each others songs. Jam together just for the pure fun of it but nowadays everyone wants to get paid for playing music or to try and get famous.

Here is something to think about, just an observation between a hobbyist and a professional musician:

Hobbyist: “Here are some mp3’s for you all to download and enjoy. Let me know what you think of them.”

Professional musician: “Here’s our new album (on bandcamp/Itunes). Give our single a listen and if you like it, buy the album.”

Or

Hobbyist: “I think I’m gonna go to an open mic to play a few tunes.”

Professional musician: “I’d rather play a gig and get paid.”

You get the idea?

Another thing, when a musician wants to play music as a hobby and not as a career… it doesn’t mean that they suck. There ARE plenty of talented musicians out there who play their instruments amazingly well… they just don’t care to get big. They just play at home for fun. For example, if you look at youtube there are tons of excellent guitar players showing their stuff. There are talented young virtuosos and shredders in youtube… and they don’t even care about a big career. They just want to play for fun, ya know?

When musicians want to make a living for what they do, am I really putting down their way of life? No. I don’t see how I am. When the so called professional “career” musicians respond and become all defensive, you are actually putting down the people who just want to play music as a hobby. So watch what you say there. You’re not better than them.

If you want to make money, playing music… fine… go for it. If all you wanna do is get paid… it makes you look kind of desperate and greedy. You don’t really care about the fans or the music you play. All you care about is getting money in your pockets. You may have bills to pay and responsibilities but that’s what day jobs are for.

When I gig, I don’t really care to get paid gigging at all. I don’t have strict hourly rates. I don’t care to get paid $5, $10,  $15, or none at all. I just wanna be on that stage, performing. I don’t care about money when playing music. Period. End of story.

Kev