The best things in life....

Way back when, I believed I could actually eek out a modest but sustainable living as a working musician. Times have changed. Fewer gigs, more entertainment options, an ageing audience all conspire to make a fallacy  of this. For a while I struggled to deal with this, but the reality would not go away. Anyone who thinks they can create music to achieve some economic master plan is either naive or a fool whose time has not yet come.

So what does a musician do? Musicians need to play. They need to test their talent continuously. They need the applause. But if nobody offers them gigs what do they do? Do they just not play? Do they stop practising and composing? How do they respond to their supporters when they are asked when is their next gig?

I think we need to look back to the very dawn of time for the answer. When humankind began to organise their tribes into villages, each member of the village took on the roles that combined to provide a sustainable community. Villagers of no particular skill needed to feel needed and wanted by the villages they lived in. In order to share the harvest these villagers took on new roles and established themselves as reliable providers of specific community services. Alongside the healers, the cooks, the midwifes, the teachers and the shop keepers were the musicians.
Musicians provided the village with the means to express and celebrate the important milestones that punctuated the history of the village.  Musicians were at the centre of the stage whenever marriages, funerals, births, deaths, good harvests, bad harvests and political gatherings were held. Musicians were often the people who expressed best the feelings of the community at these events. In return, the village provided food and shelter and embraced music as an essential part of village life.
In the 21st century, music has no economic power. Communities expect their musicians to play for free and published music has no worth because of the ease of digital download and duplication. However, communities still require the services of musicians to do the things they've always done. The spiritual rewards for musicians who perform and celebrate the life of their community still exist. The artistic challenges and triumphs that drive musicians to excel are still there. 
What has always been at issue is payment. What is a musical performance worth in dollars? Why do people sometimes pay hundreds of dollars to see an overseas act play in their community but at the same time are unaware of equally deserving musicians who live in the same street?
Should musicians be bitter that their performances are not respected and are measured against noise meters instead of cultural significance?
To me, the answer lies within each musician. Music can enrich a community but it can also enrich the life of musicians themselves. Exercising their talent in their own community allows them a thrilling way of interacting with their fellow humans, cultivating their art and often raising the money or awareness essential for progressing the integrity of the community. To me, these gifts more than compensate for side stepping the setting of a price for services, they compensate for travelling through cold nights to rehearse with similar musicians and (sometimes) they soften the harshness of indifferent audience reaction.