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Hi!!!
PapaReubs here!!!

Question 1:
what is likely to happen to musicians during a credit crunch?
and,
Question 2:
how might a global economic depression affect the music we are listening to?

Answer 1:
I believe that--despite an impending credit crunch-, the lure of fame and fortune will always attract new musicians. Old/established musicians will try to re-invent themselves and there will always be a market for music that is considered 'good music' no matter what the genre.

Answer 2:
It is said that during economic crisis, luxury goods are the first to be discarded. Many people might regard music as a luxury. However, having been in economic crisis for several years and seen the fall in CD sales--largely due to free downloads and offers - both illegal or otherwise-, the music industry is already adjusting to the credit crunch by way of large companies engaging in necessary cost-cutting and restructuring strategies
to be in with a chance to surf the economic tidal wave.

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Blessings

I see musicians taking less for their work, but that's been happening for years.

I hope that ppl will be drawn to music & other forms of live entertainment like they were in the speakeasy days, but my hope is buffered by the knowledge that there is so much freely available on the internet.

I see a trend where ppl are removing themselves from costly ventures out into the real world more & more, & spending more "virtual" time than "actual," & I find this trend to be both annoying & frightening as fewer & fewer venues exist for ppl to gather & find common ground. Hell, I'm doing it myself, since I can't really afford to go out like I used to.

PapaReubs wrote:Question 1:
what is likely to happen to musicians during a credit crunch?

From a guitarist's point of view, probably instead of buying that new les paul custom, people will find that the used market is a buyers market, with more agreeable pricing because of other's selling their luxury items to make ends meet. Also some will buy the Epiphone instead of the Gibson, or even off brands like Xavier or Agile.

PapaReubs wrote:Question 2:
how might a global economic depression affect the music we are listening to?

Well we will definately see the rising success and acceptance of more bands like the Night Watchman, FCC, Rage, etc.. producing messages of political dissent and dis-satisfaction with the system as a whole.

I'm hoping that hard times will spur more creative growth in music.

PapaReubs wrote:Answer 1:
I believe that--despite an impending credit crunch-, the lure of fame and fortune will always attract new musicians. Old/established musicians will try to re-invent themselves and there will always be a market for music that is considered 'good music' no matter what the genre.

I think that the only people still sucked in by that lure are the american idol wannabe's who I'd hesitate to call 95% of them "musicians".. but personal feelings aside, I think that yes, as I mentioned above, new and creative forms of music will emerge as a result of these hard times.

PapaReubs wrote:Answer 2:
It is said that during economic crisis, luxury goods are the first to be discarded. Many people might regard music as a luxury. However, having been in economic crisis for several years and seen the fall in CD sales--largely due to free downloads and offers - both illegal or otherwise-, the music industry is already adjusting to the credit crunch by way of large companies engaging in necessary cost-cutting and restructuring strategies
to be in with a chance to surf the economic tidal wave.

You are most likely correct in that. The biz will survive, although probably in an even further weakened state. I expect even more Indie labels to emerge and have successes as the corporate giants consolidate and constrain themselves.

During bad economic times musicians usually have more opportunities for income because more people want to escape from their misery. During the Depression there were literally hundreds of places to play in most major metro areas. I'm not saying musicians made a lot of money, they didn't. But at least they made some and that was more than a lot of unemployed people were making. I believe that the conditions for us hard working musicians has hit rock bottom. There will be economic trends that will help us financially. I think the age of performers making little or no money will come to an end soon. There's only so much crap an industry can take. I'm going to be expecting significant legislation that will elevate the earning potential for us. Later...

It's already hitting us here in the great northwest. Boise alone has seen a couple clubs close and the ones left are "cutting back" on the amount of live music. Due to cost, the inevitable Karaoke DJ and iPod DJ are swooping in to take over that void in the market. I'll leave my personal opinion out of it for the sake of keeping this on topic...LoL...I'm hoping this is just a trend at the beginning like it has been in the past. Most of these clubs that are cutting the live entertainment have done so in the past and have always come back to the bands.

fisherman bob wrote:During bad economic times musicians usually have more opportunities for income because more people want to escape from their misery. During the Depression there were literally hundreds of places to play in most major metro areas. I'm not saying musicians made a lot of money, they didn't. But at least they made some and that was more than a lot of unemployed people were making. I believe that the conditions for us hard working musicians has hit rock bottom. There will be economic trends that will help us financially. I think the age of performers making little or no money will come to an end soon. There's only so much crap an industry can take. I'm going to be expecting significant legislation that will elevate the earning potential for us. Later...

I'm somewhat in agreement with you. However, I hope you're right about the age of performers making little or no money coming to an end soon. Also, I hope legislation will include a better way of policing illegal music downloads because musicians are losing out on hard-earned royalties because of it!!!!

Peace.

RJSingleton wrote:It's already hitting us here in the great northwest. Boise alone has seen a couple clubs close and the ones left are "cutting back" on the amount of live music. Due to cost, the inevitable Karaoke DJ and iPod DJ are swooping in to take over that void in the market. I'll leave my personal opinion out of it for the sake of keeping this on topic...LoL...I'm hoping this is just a trend at the beginning like it has been in the past. Most of these clubs that are cutting the live entertainment have done so in the past and have always come back to the bands.

You made an interesting observation about cost being the cause of Karaoke DJ and iPod DJ swooping in to take over that void in the market!!!

Peace.