DonovanB
Is it me or is there a genuine lack of interest in music performance in the general public.
Maybe its the new digital age that makes recorded music so easily reproducable that you can have it with you wherever you go. Previously we had to chuck on an LP which was cumbersome to carry around and definitely not portable while playing....
What makes it more popular to hire a DJ than a band? Is it money? DJ's are definitely cheaper per person, a big band would cost a fortune. Maybe we would charge less if we had more work.
Or is it that people feel they can get away without having to emotionally connect to the musician when it is just a cd playing?
inflames
I think we live in a digital world. mp3's made life allot easier.
Think back at the days we had tape decks (walkman) then came the portable cd player.
It was a huge difference in the amount of music you could carry with you on a trip.
Today with mp3's it is allot more convenient to have 1 cd with 10 bands on in your car than have 10 cd's.
DJ or band? I would say band, but the big issue is "a band is loud"
In todays society houses yards is smaller and a band would upset most of your neighbors.
Another thing is that you need too book a good band months in advanced.
My wife is a huge AKING fan, so I phoned up Hunter (2 months before wedding) and asked if they can play 5 songs at our wedding.
They already had a gig for that evening. ☹
Bob-Dubery
Professional DJs are good for corporate parties because they can carry such a wide range of material with them (it's even easier now with a notebook computer and MP3s). So if he's belting out the latest kwaito hits and somebody comes along and asks for Abba or Smokie then he can accomodate that.
So you can argue that you get more music for your money than if you hired a bunch of musicians who say things like "well if you whistle it I'll try to play it."
Plus we get to one of the pet bees in my bonnet which is what people want music for in the first place. I think in a lot of cases it's just wanted as a background to the dancing, squealing and celebrating.
Keira-WitherKay
interesting post Donovan......... and one i do feel strongly about ....... so it's up on the soap box.....
well i find that as for people booking bands........... in south africa more so than in 1st world countries where music is seen as a profession and not as a part time hobby the musicians are truly not up to par ... then want to charge a fortune........
and people are responding to the lack of professionalism in the local music market by just not booking bands ....and let me distinguish between the original music market and the cover/function band market ........ those are 2 different worlds......... and we talking the cover /show tribute bands here
however the proof of this is that all the truly professional cover /function bands i know are constantly working ......and booked way in advance.... which is fact
and by professional i mean professional by attitude and complete performance package ...not by just charging a fee....
these pro bands that work so much ...don't drink/drug at shows anymore... and i know the casino gigs even in this country forbid drinking during a show...on risk of immeadiate dismissal...these bands arrive ontime...the show starts at the advertised time..... set up gear well before any event..no noisy soundcheck for an hour ....they carry the full package of good sound rig /lights/and prepare music for breaks...... they think of staging and dress the part for the function/event ........... and never have to be told to turn down......... and of course they are all musicians who are talented enough not to play badly ....ever .. so even if a show is not the best they ever done as a band it's still way up there....
i think the rot set in in the 90's when cover/function bands were musicians who had talent but also thought it was a "personal party" .... and excuse to get drunk and drugged by the end of 1st set....... i was working the holiday inn circuit with many bands at that time ...then i went oversea's and played the europe /dubai /far east circuit and got an extreme wake up call to how professional even a cover band in the better venues needs to be.......
only to return to find the level of cover music in this country still at the "pi##cat" level ....with the solo act with the backtracks still getting drunk onstage.....endless guitar solos for the sake of musical masturbation and then playing at very mediocre levels too........
yet thankfully the original music is improving to international standard .which is promising ............and young bands now thankfully seem to rather want to be in an original band than play covers........... and they working damn hard at it too......
so yeah donovan i think the public have after years of not caring realised that a professional music act needs to be just that ....at a professional standard .....
and yes there'll always be the pub band
but it seems that when someone books a band these days they would rather have a dj than a duo/trio that'll be for lack of a better word "not up to par" and as i said all the really hot pro muso's work consistantly even in show/event/tribute bands.......... just see the shows at barnyard ect ect... thats the level that will always be in work....
it's not a nice time to be in the music industry because of the sudden public awareness that many bands are not up to par ..... but i think the dinasours who still think pro music is like it was in 90's pub bands will slowly disapear and the new age of really talented musicians actually delivering a top class show will be the end result.......
so as pieter dirk uys said ..."Adapt or die" ...... and i'm seeing this in that i have a quite a few pro muso's who come to me for lessons to fill in the blanks in their music education and realise that even if they in a band who's touring the country playing big festivals .... they need to work at being even better musicians to keep the edge in an ever evolving SA music industry ........ where even the level of the cover bands need to be of a 1st rate pro level
music is now becoming a profession where no longer is music education and overall professionlism ignored .......... and this is a good thing .......
