Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More Bad News


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Posted by Matt G on March 17, 2004 at 11:22:47:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More Bad News posted by Bill Nazzaro on March 17, 2004 at 10:00:36:

Politics aside, it is fair that someone with the same aptitude level of business skills as a musician with high level music skills makes more money.

It is simple. Demand for people who are good at negotiating there way through commerce is substantially higher than those who are good at music. The price for their services is much more tangible to those writing the checks as well. A good businessman can more than likely add profits to a business, a good musician might make a difference to the vast majority of the public listening, but probably not. Unfortunately, people here in the US don't know the real difference between a good musician and a great one. Even worse, most don't know the difference between a mediocre musician and a great one. Because of that, people really don't see the need to pay for premium quality music all
of the time.

I have a music education degree. I am also working towards an MBA. I love music and can appreciate the differences between good players and great ones. I am one of those guys who has multiple recordings of certain pieces because I enjoy the nuances that each one brings, but the value of music is losing its place in the US.

We have been fairly poor as a society in promoting the arts. In general the failure of our "professional" music scene is due to poor promotion and awareness in general. Stuff like sports managed to become more essential in the average US household.

As far as the rich getting richer, that is not their problem. The general division of wealth is a bellweather of statistics and probably will remain so for many, many years to come. That concentration of wealth makes capitalism possible. It does pay for all of those people below it. If it weren't for the rich, there would be no capital investment and the ability to take risk in uncertain markets. If you want the government to do that for you, witness the former soviet union. Don't forget china, too, because they need help from the west and other capitalist-inspired countries to keep current with technology and business currents.

Changing presidents really doesn't help. Remember they are only the executive branch. If you want to make a difference, stay current on what your congressmen and senators do. Vote for the ones who you think will make a difference. They write all of those tax laws.

If you are concerned with closing your own personal gap between yourself and the rich, find where you can do that. It is possible given your own personal investment of time and willpower. If you are concerned about everyone else closing that gap, then become an educator and show them how to do that.

It seems like those musicians we all know of either have some business knowledge or hooked up with someone who does. Pat Sheridan has an MBA and I am pretty sure he thanks himself every day for getting it. Wynton Marsalis has someone who is very market savvy in his camp, because there are better players in many genres not doing as well as him.

In fact, think about all of those musicians who are household names. Even the "pop" ones. How many of them are that much better than everyone else? Are they really a member of the top one percent, or really the top five or even ten? Because music is an art and arts are an aesthetic, just because you are great doesn't mean you'll get paid great.





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