Yes, we all do need to get paid for our work. The problem is when you expect that payment or have to invest to get out something later.

If you open up a business you have to market it. So we go back to my restaurant that I always talk about that I should open if I wasn’t in the music industry. Of course, no one will know my restaurant if just open it. I need to advertise. Part of that advertising is probably to invite some food critics to a free meal. Yes, i will lose on that. I won’t get paid for these free meals. In the end, though I will faster get people who are paying to my restaurant through their reviews. So I have to take a choice here start making money direct and take a long time before I have a sufficient customer base to get the money out. Or a faster way to give something away for free to bring in the money. Both ways have their faults. Give away food and I might recoupe it, but aren’t sure. The long way the fault it might take so much time that I never get any salary to it.

Of course, I can’t run the restaurant by my self. I need waiting staff and chefs. Of course, I need to pay these. If I do it the long run I really can’t bay the full. The shorter way I can ask them to stay to hang on to my idea to get better pay if the diners come.

Imagine then that I will have a chef that suddenly one day just go over to Mc Donalds and work there for a day flipping burgers, claiming yes I need the money. I don’t think flipping burgers is fun, your restaurant is better but I need the money.

Do you really keep that chef? Okay, he contributes to your restaurant but is not willing to sacrifice something to get something bigger.

This dilemma I see a lot of solo artists going on showcases. Suddenly they have to pay for the musicians because they are professionals to pay a free gig at a showcase festival. Problem is usually that if they would do it for free they rather take a boring gig on a cover band just because it brings money to the table. At the same time doing one showcase festival won’t work, you have to do several.

The main thing is that these artists actually never make it. They expect payment to early. Usually, they try to get paid gigs to meet up for the free festival. Problem is that most of the money still even with paid gigs go to the pros and they just go where the money is. And you can’t get good paid gigs until you have a name that draws an audience. In the end, it’s a losing game.

Yes, you have a  really good band. But they cost too much and that is stopping you to advertise your product. On the other hand you pay what you get. If you have pro people they can charge money for their work. With less good people your product might not shine that much.

The thing here is usually that the solo artist wants themselves to shine and hiring well-paid musicians is mainly to cover up for their own mistakes musically. so the question comes down to do you really have to have these good people or can you build something up with rehearsal more?