Re: Sit-Ins (sessions)/MORE

[Kevin Patrick <kpatrick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 5 Sep 1994 G.Jackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> 	[SNIP]
> > 	
> > The idea of the Salon should be adapted for the musicians who are not 
> > skilled enough to draw a paycheck, who would like to play for 
> > audiences and who would like to work out the manners and stage nerves 
> > type of issues in a friendly ambience.  Wanna make music?  Invite 
> > your friends over for sessions/jams at your house or back yard or 
> > block party.
> > 
>  	I *STILL* get the feeling that the readers in the States do not
> quite understand the thing about our sessions.
> 
> Let me clear up a few things.
>
>  [chainsawed out a chunk]
> 
> Have we come so far that music has to be done for money if it's is in a
> public place?

I think this is the crux of the issue--why do people pick up an 
instrument today?  I believe with the huge expansion in the recording 
industry in the past thirty years (including the privatization of much of 
the recording tools:  i.e., portable home multi-track recorders, and so 
on), many more people today view music (or recorded sounds) to be a viable 
way of earning a living.  Thus, it could be argued that if one of these 
budding professionals is spending time jamming with people at the pub, s/he 
is not directing that energy into his/her "profession," or they might be 
revealing their musical "secrets" to the public before they have them 
copyrighted and recorded.  I am no saying this is how I view my music 
(and I use that term very loosely when I describe the sounds I create ;-), 
but I think we need to remember that making and recording music is becoming 
more accessible to the masses, and with that greater dispersion comes change.
And a not unrelated issue is the alteration in the economies of many of 
the industrialized nations.  In Japan, for example, lifetime commitments 
to employers, and the rarity of layoffs has fallen by the wayside as the 
Japanese economy has had to adjust to new conditions.  I feel this means 
that more people tend to look at ideas like making and recording music as a 
means of making money.  


BTW, it might be just you and me today.  Assuming you are writing from 
the UK, many people in the U.S. workforce are off work today--national 
holiday.  And I think most people on these groups have work links to the 
Internet.  I will think about you while I am sipping a cool drink on 
the beach today. :-)

Kevin
 > 
> How sad.
> Gordon
>