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| So you want to raise a rock star | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The chances are slim, the payoff is huge and getting there is half the fun -- and very, very expensive. By Bankrate.com So your kid wants to be a rock 'n' roll star? Great for him -- but what's it going to cost you? Poll America's preteen population, and a hefty number of them will say they want to be a rock star when they grow up. Insert here Mom's old punch line: "You're going to have to choose one" (either grow up or be a rock star). For good or ill, MTV, "American Idol," "Rock Star: INXS" and the advertising world have convinced even tone-deaf toddlers that becoming the next Britney Spears or Clay Aiken is not only possible, it's almost inevitable. Behind every Hilary Duff, Jason Mraz and Avril Lavigne you'll find relieved parents who've invested plenty to turn their adolescents into "fabulescents."
Naturally, as a loving parent, you want to do everything within your power to help your child achieve his dream. But as a responsible parent, it is also your duty to shine a little ray of reality into this imaginary music video. The fact is, the odds are astronomically against you having the next Elvis Presley living upstairs. Then again, Mr. and Mrs. Springsteen probably thought the same thing. Can you afford to raise a rock star? What's the likely price tag of fame? And how will you know when it's time to staunch the flow of dough and pack your mascaraed headbanger off to law school instead? Read on: Your mansion in the Hollywood Hills may depend on it. Related news and commentary on MSN Money
Like father, like son To explore this increasingly common parental dilemma, I called my brother Kent in Seattle, a hotbed of teen ambition if ever there was one. Kent spent the bulk of his 20s as a professional singer-songwriter, performing in clubs from coast to coast before settling down and raising a family. Now his 19-year-old son, Harry, drummer for an up-and-coming emo (short for emotional; see link on left) band called Daylight Breaks, is following in his footsteps. After years of drum lessons, home recording and banging out Green Day and Blink 182 covers at local talent shows, Daylight Breaks is looking forward to playing its own material soon as an opening band at El Corazon (previously called Graceland), the Seattle club where Death Cab for Cutie once performed. "I guess the leaf doesn't fall far from the tree," Kent says. "He definitely has the knack for it. He's drumming all the time. At the dinner table, the table is rocking. I have to tell him all the time, 'Harry, stop drumming.'" Kent has briefed Harry on the realities of the music business: "Oh yeah, he's heard lots of stories about the life of a traveling musician. He's aware of the downsides." Cue the cold shower: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, competition will remain keen and job growth will be slower than average, 3% to 9%, for self-employed musicians through 2012. Even if you land a steady gig, the median annual earnings of salaried musicians and singers remains in the mid-$30,000 range. Statistically, of the roughly 215,000 professional musicians out there, four in 10 will work day jobs to support themselves. Kent and wife, Jennifer, have encouraged Harry to pursue his dream. But until it happens, he's attending community college, where he's studying sound engineering. "An education is important and not just for the degree," Kent says. "There's a real learning aspect to just being in a college environment, so we're encouraging him to go on with college. If that doesn't happen, if he gets sidetracked by the opportunities in the music business, so be it. We're not going to deny him that." Music for moderns Peter Spellman, for one, believes your kid can be a star. As director of career development for Berklee College of Music in Boston, he spends his days helping budding musicians become better business people. The good news is, thanks to the Internet and affordable recording technologies, the balance of power has shifted toward the musician and away from the recording industry. The bad news is, as a result, there's more competition than ever. "I see a shift from the 'music' business to the 'musician' business," says Spellman. "We may not see a lot of millionaire artists in this new picture, but we'll be seeing more and more middle-class musicians making a sufficient living while still having full ownership rights to their creations." Harry's timing, it turns out, is pretty good: The so-called "echo boomers" are just entering their 20s, prime clubbing age, and they're going to want to dance, dance, dance. Clubs, especially in college towns, remain the incubator for breakout bands, although live performance is by no means the only route to stardom these days. "Today there are many artists who are creating success without doing any live performing at all," says Spellman. "Dance and electronica are huge, and they don't require any live performance whatsoever, just good production values, good mixing and arrangements, good desktop tools and connection to the distribution channels." Longevity in the music business today is a question of hats, says Spellman: The more you can don, the better your chances of survival. As a drummer, songwriter and self-taught recording engineer, Harry is on the right track. Other musical hats that can increase your income stream include arranger, sound designer, scorer, music editor, jingle producer, educator and even music therapist. Corporations are increasingly developing their own proprietary music divisions as well, where Dilbert, strangely, is meeting Mick Jagger. Spellman says the future for many original artists will lie outside the traditional music industry in niche markets, where the artist handles more of the tasks of promotion and distribution but keeps more of the profits as well. He says that by abandoning artist development in their rush to profits, the major record companies have overlooked the reason they were invented in the first place. "Structurally, they are set up to be anti-art," Spellman says. "They wear the 90-day glasses. They are totally dependent on the indie (independent) sector to deliver the talent, totally. We would never have heard Bruce Springsteen or Bob Marley if that had been the model in the 70s; these guys never turned any profit for three records and then, suddenly, things started blowing up. Record companies are good at pop pabulum, but they're not good at the niches, and that's where the riches lie now." The dream maker So how much money will you have to spend to make your kid a rock star in the new music business? "I get asked that a lot in workshops, and I don't mean to be facetious or joking but the answer is: as much as you've got," says Christopher Knab, music consultant and owner of FourFront Media & Music in Seattle. Knab is one of the dream makers, a 60-year-old music-industry veteran who prepares parents and would-be rock stars alike for the harsh realities of making it today. Repeat after him: Talent is never, never enough. If you don't have money, figure out a way to get some. If you don't know the business, learn it. And if you don't have the guts to stick with it, forget it. "Of the calls I get, 98 out of 100 are people who don't have any money, but they say, 'I've got some really good songs' or 'I've got really great music.' So what, you know? There are millions of great songs and talented artists. The industry won't pay attention these days because of the flood of music that's out there; everybody and their sister is recording. What will wake them up is when they start hearing over and over again, 'Have you heard this new record?'" Create the buzz How does a young rocker create the coveted buzz? Start small. Play locally. Develop an awesome Web site and fan database. Listen and make adjustments to your style and performance. Promote your songs at college radio stations. And learn as much as you can about the mechanics of the business by reading books and attending seminars such as CMJ conferences. (CMJ is the Rolling Stone of the echo boom.) "If you have a pool of water and you drop a pebble into it, the ripples move out," says Knab. "The first ripple of concentration should be your local scene. If it pays off, move to the next ripple out. Develop your mailing list, and stay in touch with your fan base with fliers for upcoming shows." Which brings us to that parental dilemma: How do you know when your star just isn't going to make it? "The live shows are always the litmus test," says Knab. "If fewer and fewer people show up at your gigs, take a hint. At some point, the audience determines it. They never lie." Spellman encourages parents to give their kids a shot at stardom. Even those who don't make it often find the experience great preparation for success in another field. "I'm very bullish on it; as long as they have the talent and drive, why not pour it into a career that has these tremendously open outlets now?" he says. "It's no more risky than working for a company today. Musicians are really sort of wired in a lot of ways to bring a lot of significant skills and talents to the new economy. Why not give them a shot at it? What's the worst that can happen? They're going to have to try something else and re-purpose. Who doesn't have to do that?"
By Jay MacDonald, Bankrate.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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