Before I get emails, direct messages, comments on social media posts, and/or phone calls, let me be clear that this week’s blog is not intended to upset Nashvillians. As much as the tourism bureau there might feel the need to defend Music City, I’m not taking aim in that manner.
Rather, as I pointed out here two weeks ago, I am here to help. You should benefit from my travels and all my years of experience in the business.
So it is the case that I speak to those of you who hear on “Now Hear This Entertainment” or in your own conversations elsewhere about those singers, songwriters, artists, etc. who pick up and move to Nashville to further their careers. It sounds glamorous but you need to understand what’s behind the curtain.
I’ve always known that folks who perform there aren’t getting paid much (at all) to do such – heck, many times it’s no pay – but this latest trip of mine there only shone an even brighter light on it.
One venue that I visited had four different performers over the course of the night, each getting their own almost 60 minutes to perform (solo). Their pay for the gig? Audience tips. Yup, that’s all. The host went out of his way to repeatedly state such on the mic so that those who were there knew that these folks were, “Working for your tips.” In some cases they were getting requests for songs they’d never performed before (scrambling to Google the chords on their phone), all for the hope of getting a few bucks from the patron who’d asked for it.
At another venue I went to, a writers’ night was taking place. Having myself placed a client there before – into that very same host’s event – I know first-hand that there is no pay, including no tips. At best you might have a listener approach afterwards to buy a CD. (That could be a blog for another time, meaning, why it’s not bad to still have physical CDs instead of going all-digital.)
Then there was a singer/songwriter I know who I sat and visited with elsewhere on another day and proceeded to tell me what they were getting paid for a three-hour gig at a nearby venue. Let’s just say that it was so low (and said to be what most performers were getting at most venues in Nashville) that I almost had to wonder why someone would endure such. It also put things in a different perspective as it relates to what I know is considered standard (but “low”) pay here in the greater Tampa Bay area.
The point of it all is that the folks in Nashville are plying their trade there because of what it can do for them elsewhere. You just hear that a performer is from Nashville and you have a higher expectation. It’s like a potential employer hearing that someone went to, say, an Ivy League school, right? The songwriting bar is set high in Nashville, so that craft is honed there and those songs (presumably) stand a better chance of ending up on an album and/or the radio. If you were a venue owner, would you take a chance on someone you’ve never met/booked before who was from Nashville or from a small town that doesn’t equate to music mecca? Similarly, if you were going on vacation and were considering Nashville as a destination, wouldn’t it in part be because you’d know you’ll hear great live music there, again as opposed to someplace that’s not known for that?
Don’t be surprised when I tell you that a lot of these folks in Music City are doing something else too (real estate, Lyft or Uber driver, serving at a restaurant, etc.). They’re not paying the rent on money earned from performing around town.
When you visit there and go downtown, don’t be fooled by the big crowds as tourists converge for live music. Those performers aren’t making much – at all. Marc-Alan Barnette talked way back on popular NHTE Episode 12 about the number of people that move to and then move out of Nashville, as well as how long they end up staying there. Go to Nashville with the right perspective so that you don’t end up as a statistic.
Have you been to Nashville before? What has your experience been like there? Talk about it in our Facebook group!