Making a Living in the New Music Industry – Part 3

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OH MY GOD WE’RE ON DAY 112!!!!! 112!!!! That is MAD!!!!!! (And yes that is a lot of exclamation marks ) I can’t quite believe that we’ve nearly been away from the UK for a third of a year… it really doesn’t feel like it. And it’s been over 7 months now since we bought the van! And longer than that since we quit our jobs. [Bryn just realised it’s been over a year since he went to a job - lucky man!] Crazy. We have learned so much already! About so many things! Every week - every day in actual fact - we learn more about what works and what doesn’t, what our strengths and weaknesses are, and what still needs work. I tell you, there’s nothing like a hot van to make you focus on the essentials!!

We are on post number 3 about the book I wrote as part of my Uni degree, ‘How To Make A Living In The Music Industry: 10 Rules and 10 Revenue Streams’. Last week I shared with you the first ‘Revenue’ section of the book, all about music sales. This week, the section of the book I will be sharing is all about live music and events; how the money flows in this area of the industry and who can earn money from it.

Romantic notions

The world of live music is still a great way to earn money from music, and performing live as a musician is a great way to extend your reach as well. It’s something that we are still working on for sure. We had a romantic notion before we left that it would all be really free and easy we’d just ‘pick up gigs’ as we drove around. But in reality there’s a bit more to it than that!! It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation; you need to know people in the places you are going to in order to get gigs; but you need to stay in those places longer than a few days to get to know those people. It took us a little while to realise this!

Once we realised this we changed tack. We’ve identified in advance the places that we want to go to and we’re trying to make contacts online in those places before we actually get there. At least that way, once we actually arrive in that area we may have a couple of people whom we could meet up with and there may be more chances to actually perform live, either as The Love Tectonic or Bryn DJing under his Lamoux moniker, or both.

The magic of live

There’s something really special about seeing and hearing musicians live. Just last night we were taken to an open mic night in Murcia by my cousin who lives here, and it was great. The energy when someone shares a performance with you is very special I think. People put themselves on the line when they perform - whether it be music, dance, theatre, poetry - it’s very raw and vulnerable, and it creates a relationship between performer and audience that is unique and precious. Each performance only exists in that moment. I think when we can crack the code for getting performance opportunities as we go, it will be fantastic, and it will help take TLT to the next level.

Now that I have you lost in a reverie remembering all of the awesome live music experiences you’ve ever had, let’s go back to the real world and the book! Without further ado, here is your wonderful free download this week 'Revenue #2: Live Music & Events'. This chapter should give you an insight into the world of live music, who can make money from this revenue stream and how to go about getting into it if that is your goal. I hope you find it interesting and beneficial in some way!

Read on for the highlights of TLT travels!

Do you love live music? What has been your favourite gig of all time? Have a burning question about what we’re doing? Ask us anything, we’d love to hear from you

Day 106, Friday 22 June - Torrox Beach, Andalucia

Went out with my uncle in the evening to Nerja, which is quite a pretty place. We had dinner in a little cafe - loads of new things to try! I tried cuttlefish roe which was not what I expected at all! It looked like a compact little fish fillet in the shape of a teardrop and the texture was like very meaty fish. We also tried Tortitas de Camarones - shrimp cakes - which were similar to prawn crackers in flavour and shape. It was all very tasty!

Day 107 to 108 - Almerimar to Granada to Roquetas de Mar

On Saturday 23rd we travelled up to Granada to see my uncle and cousin. We love Granada, it’s such a beautiful city. We didn’t have loads of time there but we did go for lunch in the Albaicín (which was fantastic) and took a short walk to look at La Alhambra. So hot though! The signs outside the pharmacies said it was 40 degrees C… too hot to do anything! Fortunately the restaurant had very effective air conditioning!

After lunch in Granada we travelled to Roquetas de Mar to catch up with our music publisher, Nick. We had such a fun evening! It was the day of the San Juan festival which basically means, party on! Roquetas de Mar is essentially a strip of beach about 10km long with a town alongside it. There were loads of people on the beach, families and groups of friends, and there was a great atmosphere. Apparently the tradition on San Juan is that you have a bonfire and then at midnight you jump over the fire and then go straight in the sea! Those crazy Spanish!

[sidenote: this area is the ‘salad’ capital of Europe… From Motril to Almeria the whole area is covered in ‘Los Plasticos’ - huge tents where they grow peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers for half the year. We were told by Pedro of 'Pedro’s Parking in Almerimar that they supply 20% of the total amount consumed in Europe!! Increíble!!]

Day 108 to 112 - Murcia

Most of our time in Murcia has been working on the ‘essential but dull’ side of TLT - marketing and a new website. We have made bloody good progress on both though which is ace! The área we are staying on is quite unusual for us - it’s in a shopping centre car park! Not very glamorous! But hey, it’s free, and while we’re cracking on with ‘dull’ stuff it doesn’t really matter where we are. Somewhere beautiful might be too distracting

We went to our first Spanish open mic last night! It was really cool! One of my cousins lives in Murcia and he used to host the night at Itaca Bar, although he stopped because it was on a Wednesday and the free drinks he got while running it were starting to make work the next day a little too difficult It was really cool to hear some other musicians and poets in another language. It certainly gives you a different perspective on a place.

What would you do differently if you were in our shoes? Have a burning question about what we’re doing? Ask us anything, we’d love to hear from you

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