Although there are many aspects of the arts, and particularly the music industry, which have become easier thanks to technology, there is one which will never be replaced by it. The online world might mean that you can promote and sell your music without leaving the comforts of home, but by far the best promotional tool is the live gig. A live performance has the ability to excite the existing fan, persuade those sitting on the fence and even turn the heads of the most ardent doubter in a way that virtual mediums cannot. And that means that even in the modern age, the musician has to tour.
And whilst any musician will tell your that the excitement of the job never goes away, as you get older the logistics and emotional ties get harder. Rather than being the free-wheeling young buck, later in life you have to consider leaving your family for extended lengths of time and grassroots musicians may also have to combine touring with running the business that they have built around them. Everything from selling merchandise, answering e-mails, arranging future dates, booking support bands, hiring equipment, refunding tickets whilst, of course, spending as much time as is available checking in with loved ones. Rock and roll isn’t all rock and roll, any touring musician will tell you that.
Of course one of the advantages of the modern, internet age is the ability to have a mobile business, one that can be run from a phone or laptop, not only does it put the artist at the heart of their own business, it means that such responsibilities aren’t left in the hands of your partner, leaving them with the mundane tasks whilst you are off, supposedly, living the high life. That gets old very fast! Having such a business is fairly easy to set up and companies such as Ignite Digital, one of the best SEO Toronto companies, provide a one-stop shop for creating a successful on-line business around your artistic endeavours.
One of the often overlooked advantages of such a lifestyle is the flexibility of where you chose to live. Without the ties to anyone place, musicians often turn slightly nomadic but even if you are the breadwinner for the whole family, this untethered approach to work means that your family base can be almost anywhere you chose it to be. A musician never lives “close to work” in the normal sense so the world is your oyster when it comes to settling down. And if you can’t spot the next cultural hot spot or the perfect place to raise the family, reviewing here now will certainly give you a few ideas as to where the next cultural bloom will happen.
And although such times might seem a long way away, such decisions regarding where to call home need to also look to the future or perhaps the needs of the extended family which may include elderly parents or relatives. There are many things to consider in this area alone, either regarding the latter part of your own life or the care a loved one might receive when you can’t be there on a regular basis. It is worth reading up on this website to fully understand all the considerations and concerns.
But for now you are off playing your music to the masses, it might seem a young persons game but with the right logistics in place, the right care and considerations accounted for, the right business acumen employed, there is no reason why you can’t continue touring for as long as you are able to create music.
