original filipino music – Rock To Riches

I hear fellow musicians and artists say, “Okay lang walang bayad, basta maka-perform, basta may exposure” after performing in some big “benefit” concerts. Sounds cool. But not when you found out that the bouncers and even technical assistants got hefty “talent fees” and the musicians did not.

I’ve been to a lot of music festival and events, big and small. Paid and unpaid. And I saw a lot of homegrown talents from drummers to guitarists to bassists to keyboardists to wind instrumentalists to back-up singers to lead vocalists…to band managers and organizers.

Which makes me want to ask this question: Are talented musicians supposed to be asked to play for free or for a fee? Continue reading Music Is Your Talent. Ask For Payment.

“Most musicians remain poor. But the music that they make, even if it does not bring them millions, gives millions of people happiness.” ― Langston Hughes

Ain’t that sweet to hear? The last sentence from Mr. Hughes, I mean.

People and fans (groupies) adore you when you perform on stage. Or when they hear your song being played on the radio. Or when your painting is being exhibited in the hippest museums in town. Or when you finally got that acting part in the coolest indie movie of the year.

You feel like a temporary god for finally nailing that sweet dream of yours on a canvass of glorious euphoria after famished years of struggle and pay-for-play gigs.

But the first sentence can break a poor artist’s heart. Even the hardest and toughest hardcore metal screamer in the underground scene today will cry like a baby hungry for milk. Continue reading Why Most Filipino Musicians & Artists Remain Poor