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Me and my partner recorded an album at home, pressed 1000 up as a CD in a very nice sleeve and gave them all away for free! But we had a friend with an amazing address book of music/tv/film type people. After about two years we'd made a load of money off syncs (getting it on music to picture).
It worked really well - but you have to be able to survive the months when nothing happens at all and you feel like a total idiot!

You got to have a large number of instrumental (or less verse/chorus) tracks - maybe kind of quirky - and you've got to put money into the packaging (cardboard, gatefold, pantone colours, designers etc?).

You've also got to be good at the music (which I'm sure you are), be up for some cold-calling, and push yourself as 'the underdog' - so people can champion you...

This was about 8 years ago. I think there's still money in film/tv/games soundtrack licensing though (especially compared to what your local gig promoter pays!).

It's something to be going on in the background while your band tours supporting Nine Inch Nails or whatever.

Yeah, if you're working it seriously, there does seem to be money in tv/movies/games - I have a friend who's had songs in some popular tv shows, and he said that he got a pretty nice check from it. Not enough to quit his day job, but if they were coming through all the time, that might be another story. Another friend runs a label, and one of their acts randomly got a song placed in a movie - they were able to negotiate their price with the studio, and because it was a major movie at the time, they got a pretty sick check out of it. Again, it was a one-time thing, but if you could make those happen with any frequency, it would add up.

Also, in the words of the Minutemen, jam econo. If you're not playing, you're paying.

Everyone I know who isn't a rock star or somewhere on that spectrum who makes all their money from playing music long into adulthood does corporate gigs. Bassus' covers/party band thing is generally the way into that if you're not milking some minor hit that you had earlier in your career.

Gone Fission wrote:Everyone I know who isn't a rock star or somewhere on that spectrum who makes all their money from playing music long into adulthood does corporate gigs. Bassus' covers/party band thing is generally the way into that if you're not milking some minor hit that you had earlier in your career.

This is totally true. Just don't underestimate the time it takes to be a good cover band. I was in one for years, and it was honestly more/harder work than my "regular" band, especially when we first got started. You need a TON of music in your pocket, as many cover band are expected to play 3 - 4 sets ranging from 45 minutes to an hour each. And at least around here, many of the venues that book cover bands don't have their own PA (or an adequate one), so you also need to bring, set up and run the sound system.

I'm not saying don't do it, just be aware that the cover band route can be hard work as well. I know that Decibill and bigchiefbc can speak to this aspect - Decibill's my bandmate (both in the old cover band and in our regular band), and bigchief is in a cover band that gigs out pretty regularly.

Gone Fission wrote:Everyone I know who isn't a rock star or somewhere on that spectrum who makes all their money from playing music long into adulthood does corporate gigs. Bassus' covers/party band thing is generally the way into that if you're not milking some minor hit that you had earlier in your career.

+1 - This as well. My covers band makes pretty damned good money. If we busted our butt and booked up every Friday and Saturday night, I could make some pretty decent bank. The guitarist in my covers band is in 4 bands, and plays 3ish gigs a week, almost all covers, and he hasn't had a dayjob in 2 years. He still pays his rent and gets gear.

Since loosing my job and having no desire to re-enter the food service workforce. I'd be willing to get into a cover band to help contribute to the household. Even if it was only a couple of $100 a month.

How do I make this happen?

Sure, being good at anything takes either hard work, cover bands are not a picnic either if You want to stand up in comparison to others. Hard work and/ or mad luck with crazy talented and experienced people in the band. I was lucky to have absolutely ridiculously good musicians that all were in it for the money AND still motivated enough to practice between the gigs to keep the edge though we lived nowhere nearby each other.

And Jrmy's right, Your cover band guys better be fast learners and able to play along by ear in case of forgetting a part of a song. If You want to offer two sets a night or more, and be able to pull aces from the sleeve when needed/asked, You have to have a ton of songs You're familiar. Some of which You might actually hate Yourself, which You must NOT let the audience notice.

warwick.hoy wrote:Since loosing my job and having no desire to re-enter the food service workforce. I'd be willing to get into a cover band to help contribute to the household. Even if it was only a couple of $100 a month.

How do I make this happen?

Oof, that's a loaded question. Obviously, just like any other band, you gotta find the right guys. I was brought into an existing band that needed a new bassist, I was friends with the singer. They're all real good guys, but we did have to move on from our previous guitarist because he just wasn't motivated enough to keep learning new songs.

You gotta look at your area, see what's out there, see if there are any genres that aren't tapped yet, or that are underrepresented. We noticed that there were a shitload of classic rock and 80s cover bands in our area, but no one who played heavier covers, like 90s and 00s hard rock and metal. You also have to be willing to play stuff that isn't always your favorite music. My covers band plays quite a bit of nu metal, and I honestly hate a lot of that shit. But it's what the crowds who come to see us want to hear. And it's actually resulted in some of it growing on me. I've also steered the band towards doing a few Tool songs, just so I can have some fun up there.

Then you have to just buckle down and learn a metric ass-ton of songs. We had about 40 songs down before we ever played our first gig. The bars in New England want cover bands to play about 3 hours of music; usually we go on around 9:30 or 10, and we either play two long 90 minute sets with about a 20 minute break in between, or we play 3 1-hour sets with 10 minute breaks. That's a lot of damned songs. On a typical night, we'll probably play 35-40 songs. We have about 90 on our master list now, so we can switch songs in or out, and even take requests every now and then. And then on top of that, the crowd usually ends up yelling for a song or two encore at the end of the night, and you have to be ready for that too.

Also, as jrmy said, I've found that most bars don't have their own PA, so we had to take our first 4 or 5 gigs worth of money and dump it on a good PA. We ended up spending about 2 grand and bought monitors, mains, subs, mics and stands, and a rack for a mixer, limiter and 3 power amps. Our singer usually works the levels from on stage, and a few of our friends in the crowd give us signals if someone needs to go up or down in the mix.

I'd be looking into an already established band. I know they are out there.

warwick.hoy wrote:Since loosing my job and having no desire to re-enter the food service workforce. I'd be willing to get into a cover band to help contribute to the household. Even if it was only a couple of $100 a month.

How do I make this happen?

Start headhunting people in the internet and from among friends and associates. If You regularly visit the same gear shops and bars and the staff remembers You by name, tell them and leave Your contact information. I was headhunted this way, a clerk in a gear store said basically "Hey Mika - there's a new rock-pop cover band in making and they said they need a hard rocking guy that's good with bass in other styles, too."

Start learning some songs already and try to think what kind of music You'd play. Try to come up with something that is missing in the scene. You might want to check out a few cover bands playing in Your local bars. You'd also get a chance to ask them what ever comes to Your mind.

Thanks guys. I threw my hat into the ring with a CL ad and started putting the word out to friends. We'll see what develops.

I figure if I'm just gonna sit at home all day noodling,...I might as well do something productive.

May already have lead on something that is either already established or is at least serious about it. Prior to moving to Brozeman; another bassist that I know in town was in a Dad Rock Cover Band with a guitarist and drummer that have something going and he's putting in a word for me. Guitarist and Drummer vouched for as solid dudes. Current bassist isn't hacking it.

May not be ILF approved but I've reached the age where I don't really care if I'm playing to a room full of suits and geriatrics. I just want to make a little bit of money doing something I enjoy and a considering I learned how to play bass by playing along to records in my bedroom (when I should've been out getting laid) a cover band sounds like a lot of fun.

My wife is pretty much the bread winner at this point. I'd rather sell my soul to rock and roll as opposed to selling my soul to the glorified flipping of burgers.

Thanks for the inspiration Seizurama!!!

Possible? Yes.

Likely? No.

Teach.

warwick.hoy wrote:May already have lead on something that is either already established or is at least serious about it. Prior to moving to Brozeman; another bassist that I know in town was in a Dad Rock Cover Band with a guitarist and drummer that have something going and he's putting in a word for me. Guitarist and Drummer vouched for as solid dudes. Current bassist isn't hacking it.

May not be ILF approved but I've reached the age where I don't really care if I'm playing to a room full of suits and geriatrics. I just want to make a little bit of money doing something I enjoy and a considering I learned how to play bass by playing along to records in my bedroom (when I should've been out getting laid) a cover band sounds like a lot of fun.

My wife is pretty much the bread winner at this point. I'd rather sell my soul to rock and roll as opposed to selling my soul to the glorified flipping of burgers.

Thanks for the inspiration Seizurama!!!

No shame in playing dad rock man, I've played that stuff too. A gig is a gig, especially if it's a paid one. Give the people what they want to hear.