this is how I make money making music- I clean toilets for a wage in the morning. then I go home and between chores and general life tasks, I play and get my serotonin.

@jessicamoore9422

Жыл бұрын

I'm right with you there.Minumum wage cleaning job to get by and bass as much as possible.Raised in a poor family in a poor area with no opportunities you have to get what you can.

Your transparency into the financials of your life and career is likely the most open I've ever seen. If more working musicians took this approach we'd be doing everyone of us a favor. Thank you!

@micheleazzu

Жыл бұрын

amen

“If you’re passive about this process, it will shrivel up and die just as fast as it arrived.” This is absolute gold 14:42

Janek, that was an absolutely uplifting video. Thank you. ❤

Back in the 80s I used to make great money running from session to session in LA for tv, radio etc. Those days are gone and honestly studio work was not musically satisfying. I went to law school and became an entertainment attorney representing some of the biggest names in music and made my money while also playing and touring - last tour occupying James Jamerson’s chair with the Motown group The Miracles. Touring is a grind and the pay is lousy. Now I’m happily retired in Hua Hin Thailand playing in my own band almost every night playing music I love with people I really enjoy. It’s all about the music now and it’s great! I do not miss the American music business one single bit. It can actually be quite soul crushing at times. I experienced this as a player and also as a lawyer seeing how the business treats its talent. Nice to see you younger guys have all these online options and such to live your dream. Seems like a better way in my mind. I even tried my hand at with with a small channel I did for fun posting my covers of Jamerson and other great players of old. It was fun and maybe I’ll pick it up again in the future. But man I need help figuring out all this pedal business! Lol

Hello Janek, I really appreciate your videos, I think they're a huge resource for all musicians. As your books and your podcast are. Every time you release some new content I feel motivated to go on and beyond. Always. Thank You for your amazing job. Hope to see you soon playing some gig in Italy.

Thank Janek! Your books are a treasure trove of ideas. Grateful to have a few physical copies and a few digital. For over a decade my main income has been in person lessons. It keeps me connected to local musicians. Started with bass, then picked up teaching guitar and piano. Now I’m doing group classes for kids under 5 and their parents. We all have our unique journey in music. Thanks for sharing your story!! Bill

Excellent video Janek. This video is great even for those of us who are strictly amateurs.

Thanks so much Janek for sharing all your expertise. All of us who are part of the professional music community really appreciate this great video

Appreciate the transparence! After trying different jobs, I realized I truly want to make a living in music, and am just figuring out how to do that best, so this was very helpful to hear! Cheers from Czech Republic, and my apologies for our airlines 😃

Definitely love helping a bass player in any way! So here to like and leave the comment

This is really refreshing how honest you were with really personal stuff!

Thanks for the candid insight. Cant wait for the new album!

This was great Janek! We appreciate your honesty!

Awesome content as always! Ive grown more as a player thanks to your books and doing the work than when I first started playing in my teens. Thank you

Always admired your transparency! Good luck with your future

Really interesting and inspiring, love these videos, especially ones that talk about touring. Your daily vlogs during the "last minute world tour" are some of my favourite videos on youtube.

Thanks Janek. I got loads out of your book mentioned ‘you’re a musician now what’ and still have ‘wrote and publish a bass book’ on my list of things to do. Would love to see a breakdown of how you go about designing books, the format, software, printing costs, publishers etc

I watched a video of you and Chelsea, a while back, you were doing a gig at the Hug n Pint in Glasgow (5 minutes away from where I live). Chelsea was doing the blog, and spoke about your work ethic. You’re an inspiration for us mere mortals. The hardest-working man in Bass 👍

Thank you ,Janek. Hopefully your outspokenness Honesty and the high Level of Integrity, what all goes Hand in Hand opens many Hearts and Minds to actually speak about in such an open way of our daily Struggles as Musicians. I feel you getting the Ball rolling. As always , wishing you much Love and Success. Love your wonderful bass playing. i think it would be great for you to describe a little bit about the Vital Information Tour with two of my favorite Musicians. All the Best , Janek.

Wonderful video! Thanks Janek 🙏

Grew up with Coltrane in my household (born in '69, almost 10 years older than you). Despite marinating in Africa Brass and Giant Steps as a kid, I discovered prog as a teen and never looked back. Geddy Lee, Chris Squire... I devoured prog bass. Now that I'm older I can't *WAIT* to tackle your new book! Saw you w/ Steve at the MIM last month and it was awesome to meet you and get your book signed. Thank you for all you do, Janek!

Killin as always Janek! Loved the info!

Thank you! This is a great overview of the work needed to pull in money AND do your own music 🙂👍

Keep it up Janek, you have a plan!!

Thanks for your honesty. Cheers from Buenos Aires😊

Thank you for sharing. I find these details interesting and insightful

I have a couple of your books and love them. I also regularly listen to your music, the track 'Light Years' is beautiful, always feel very melancholy listening to it.

This video is great! So incredibly helpful for a young professional musician

Really appreciate the transparency!

Thanks for sharing these things!

So inspiring 🙌

This vid is a gold mine, kudos !!

Great video. Really interesting, especially to find out what you and others earn for playing live. Thanks for sharing.

Great video Janek!

I really appreciate this video. Talking about money isn't easy for a number of reasons... still, you did it and in a very transparent and objective way.

MY friend, THANK YOU for this very honest insight into your personal life. I am sure it opened the eyes and minds of a lot of musicians! 🙏❤🎵😊

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

hvala ti što si pogledao video moj brate!!

@VladaSamardzic

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala Sure my friend! Your content is one of a kind! Every time I find a time, I check some of your posts. 🏆😊

Great informative video! Thanks! 👌

Great video, honest about the hustle and hard work.

Thank you!!!

Great video! Janek!

A report was recently published demonstrating the average pay-per-gig in Austin in the 70s was $100. And more than 40 years later $100 is still the average pay per gig. Come to the Live Music Capital if you love to play music. Plenty of venues of all genres. But don’t come here to earn a living as a gigging musician. Multiple revenue streams or a decent day job will do the trick tho.

Your books are amazing! I'm happy to hear that you make good money from them, especially considering the books are super well priced.

When you started talking about merch, my first thought was, pedal. AND back in the day you wore like a tube beanie kind of a thing. I'd totally buy a JG tube beanie thing!

That was a great video!

great video, thanks!

🔥🔥🔥🔥

This is great, more about this please:)

Brilliant video

Thanks for sharing your experience and all those numbers. Standards are rather different for gigs up North, in Canada. I guess it has to do with the small population and overall jazz popularity. Great insights!

Thank you very much for this type of content Janek! Concerning the concert fees, this comes closest to what could be steps into a direction of organising a musicians Union, of which there are barely any in the field, causing the playing field to provide always people that will play for (much) less. But more importantly, we've been following you from your early days on your website and you have been one of the earliest and most inspiring musicians both in music you made AND the way you incorporated new ways to engage and monetize you craft. You've been certainly a huge factor of inspiration for our channel, thank you for that. I know we have partly similar audiences and we've been starting to do talks with guest in podcast form recently (we've had Brett Garsed and Bumblefoot so far). Would you also be interested to talk music, improvisation and perhaps all the skills a jazz musician anno 2023 (and in the future) should have? Anyhow, love this type of content and the way you're innovating the engagement and role of a (jazz)musician. Keep em comin'. you'll soon hit 100k I'm sure! /Jorre

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

100% in. Just shoot an email through the contact button here on KZread or on my website, and someone will be in touch to set it up. 👍

One of the biggest regrets in my life is that I was never able to make money out of being in my own originals band - managers, labels ect. all took a cut and there was nothing left for the the band. Nowadays I’m a side man, mix engineer and music teacher and I scrape by, but I do miss the days doing my own thing. It’s interesting to see your revenue streams - I wish I could charge more for what I do, but the reality is that the people I work with are all in the same boat and I try to put the art first which ends up meaning I earn less a lot of the time. I know I could earn way more from doing covers gigs every weekend, but I’d struggle mentally not to be doing more creative stuff.

Good one dude.

I hope you feel better

This is such good content Janek

Good to know you'll be coming to Argentina! Hope you play live as well. can't help to wonder who you're recording with here.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I'll be recording with my own band. We'll play live in Buenos Aires on August 5th. I think the place is called Santos Dumont 4040? something like that. But I'll make a big announcement on the podcast and on youtube when I have all the dates confirmed and the details of the venues.

@ernestoamstein5419

Жыл бұрын

​@@janekgwizdalagreat venue! I'll save the date

great talk

I admire your work ethic bro, makes me thing about myself a lot. Just dont spend more than what you earn

Great video

Go on mate!!

This is gold data!

Go!

Cool Video

Dear Janek; thanks a lot for sharing this essentially sensitive information about your life. I really learned (and keep on learning) a lot from your books ; and now hearing that this is also an important source of income for you, may I ask about your biography project: are you planning to write a book on yourself; your life story , your principles, experiences, challenges? I think there is a lot of wisdom in modesty but unlike many public-figures you have a very interesting and inspiring story to tell. Many people (including myself) would much appreciate to read your biography to learn the links between your life and your principles, and your practice of these principles; thanks once again for all the inspiration....

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I have been writing a biography for a while now. I'm not sure when it'll be finished, but it is definitely in motion...

@rgkism

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala thanks a lot for your answer. Looking forward to reading the biography......

Thanks so much for your insight and information 😮❤️☮️✨………Lefuj

Thanks for the transparency, Janek! Super awesome info. If you are comfortable sharing, what is the approximate rate you charge for remote recording on sessions? And other than money, what is your criteria for deciding whether you will record on other people's projects?

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Recording is even tougher to gauge than playing live for me. There are so many elements to it including the fact that your performance is going to be around forever... My criteria includes who the producer is, who the artist is, who the other musicians on the recording are, whether there is a label behind the session, and of course what the budget looks like. To give you an idea of how things have changed over the years my rate for an in-person recording session as a bass player in New York for instance used to be $2,000 per day. That would typically include an 8-hour session, and involve no residuals or songwriting. What you might refer to as a "buy-out" rate. I would then have a sliding scale depending on who the artist was. My top rate would normally be possible when it was a session for a major label, an artist I didn't know, or simply a high-profile session for a bigger name jazz musician. But I would of course do special rates for friends or for artists I really wanted to work with who simply didn't have a big budget or a label behind them. My day-rate hasn't actually changed, but the number of people who can afford it definitely has. Then there are factors like there being a fraction of the studios now that there were 20 years ago, so most of the recording I do for other people ends up happening at home. My typical rate is now per song instead of per day, and starts at $500 a track. That can move a little bit depending on the frame work of the session. If someone has a lot of tracks for me to do on one project and I know I can get it done in a day, I'll do a package deal rather than charging per song, and that will give the artist a little break in the budget while still making sure I'm getting paid what I need for my time. The bottom line is that it's different for almost every session I do. I don't do union work like movies and TV shows, so there really isn't a "scale" that is being stuck to every time.

@nicktiberimusic

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala wow! Thank you for the super detailed reply! This is amazing info. Thank you sir! 🙏

Great overview of how you have figured out financial survival as a working musician. Certainly should broaden up and coming musicians concept of what a working musician can do and how different it might be than what you imagined during music school. That's pretty rough that Amazon takes 40% out. That's even more than Apple's 30% fee for apps. Is this negotiable based on volume or size of your business?

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

It's non negotiable. But having sold physical CD's a very long time ago straight from my website, I do understand what a pain in the ass it is to trek to the post office and go through all the issues of international shipping and customer service. So in order for my books to be in front of a global audience on the biggest online retail platform, I guess 40% is brutal but potentially justified when I think about the work it would take to make that happen on my own.

Please come to Malaysia !

Janek, what about the music scene in London? i`m guitar player and im considering to move to London or LA to try my music career. my focus is to play gigs as sideman, teaching and studio jobs.. are there as many opportunities in London as in LA ? what do you think? Thank you!

The music behind you- listed as Bladverk Band from Shazam… is that you and Bob on that?

❤

Great video!!!!! Did you mentioned Argentina or I missunderstood??

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Yes, I'll be in Argentina in the beginning of August both playing some shows, and recording a new album.

@nahuelgale282

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala we all be glad to receive such an artist like you and your band, I hope to have the opportunity to see you performing on August!💥🎸🎹🥁

Hey Janek. How's your daughter doing? ;-) I am - let's say - an audio producer. My wife and I have two sons. My income revolves around audio production (soundtracks, sounddesigns, audiopost, voiceovers) and education (lecturing about audio post production). Multible income streams. It's good, enriching, motivating, interessting to enjoy such an open yet highly informative video about a very important part: Money. And because I know you have a little human being at home counting on you and your wive, I feel you kneedeep ;-))). It's mindblowing to have kids (and to earn a living to keep the party going hahahaha). Anyway: Cheers Neil

Hey Janek are you coming to Buenos Aires to record? Let us know if you're going to do any gigs here!

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I'm going to be there in the first week of August. Our BA show is August 5th I believe. More details to come when I have the whole tour ready to announce.

oh dear

Ron Carter used to road manage and contract...the old joke about the bass player having to own the van and PA....

Janek, If you turn down most of the live and touring work and said you are content to just stay home with your family then how do you make enough to pay Los Angeles cost of living, health insurance etc..can just the teaching and website, books etc. bring in that much?

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I broke down all my income streams in some detail in this video. Yes, the online portions of my business do make a healthy income, and I literally don't have to play a single live show if I don't want to. And don't forget, just because I turn down so many offers, doesn't mean the offers I accept are low paying. As I laid out very specifically in the video there is a financial scale that I am prepared to work within. Over the course of a year, saying no to 50 gigs in town that pay $150 "loses" me $15,000. Compare that to saying yes to a two week tour in Asia that pays $1,000 a day, and you can see how the percentage of offers has little to do with the outcome when all is said and done. Despite turning down 80% of the offers, the things I say yes to are financially rewarding enough to justify both leaving town, and saying no to most of the things people ask me to do.

@lennyblandino

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala good points!

I'm honestly shocked at the $500 day rate figure, it seems low.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

It is the lowest end of my scale, and like I said in the video, I really have to want to work with the artist to go out as a sideman for this rate. It's also a US-only rate, and wouldn't work for any kind of travel overseas.

@janekgwizdala, I have got a question about money for you. I'm a pop session cat, usually playing for artists behind management/labels, which basically means they got the money. I do a show for one of them, a week passes, I ask for my money. Managements answer - we're not going to pay you for this particular gig, until WE receive the money from the event's promoter. Now this is where my question gets biased, but anyway - why should I care about management's arrangements and be dependent on their schedules, if that makes sense? I never come across these dynamics "we gonna pay you when we're getting paid" anywhere else in life or business, and I'm very frustrated about this situation. Bottom line, can you elaborate how do you go about being paid for doing your job - do you set any deadlines, or something like that? Thank you, all the bass, L

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

30 days is the absolute maximum to wait for payment, especially if I don't know the people I'm working for. The management waiting to get paid is a total bullshit scam. If they don't have the money to cover every musician they hire, even if they themselves don't get paid, they shouldn't be in business. I've been screwed over on gigs as a band leader before, and have never not paid the band. Even when it was huge amounts of money like $10k on a festival once for instance. I know that the second I commit to hiring someone, it's my full responsibility from the start to the finish, to make sure they get exactly what we agreed upon. You simply have to make all the negotiations ahead of time if you're ever in any doubt. And even if you're not in doubt, it makes sure everyone is on the same page if you verbalize exactly what you need in order to do the job. The best approach for me has been to be prepared to stay home if they don't meet your requirements. Most people aren't will to lose the gig, but you absolutely have to be if you don't want to be screwed over like this in the future. "You don't want to pay me what I'm worth? Great, more time at home with the family for me then". That's how I have to be. It'll lose you some gigs in the short term, cos there are some nickel and dime bullshitters running a lot of gigs. But in the long-term, you'll be the cat that doesn't take shit from anyone, and gets paid what you're worth.

@LaimisMatas

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala That's the thing - I know those guys, and while they're not trying to screw over anyone, their 'business model' involves paying everyone for the show after they get the money themselves. I mean, what the fuck is that - I have never ever came across anything like this "I will pay you once I get paid" attitude anywhere else in life.

Great Video Janek! Stay an artist and non ‘ content creator ‘ as long and asa much as possible. Art is, not isn’t …

Is there a goal in mind for how many books you would like to write? Or is it now similar to your album process and just trying to get your knowledge and understanding out as much as you possibly can?

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

There is definitely no numerical goal in terms of how many books I want to put out there. As and when ideas comes to mind, I audition them on paper to see if they would make an interesting learning tool for bass players. The most recent Giant Steps book is a perfect example of that. I was using the tune in my practice routine a lot, and started to come up with concepts, etudes, linear ideas, and walking bass exercises that I thought were worthy of sharing with the bass community.

@charlescremer2594

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala Well you were right, we all want the knowledge! SO thank you a million times over for the effort you put in to get US the content!

If someone calls you to Play One Concert….you have to self learn 25 songs for that gig. No charts available…. What do you charge for the gig and all that prep work?

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

Impossible to give an exact number because it would really depend on the situation. The task of learning 25 Periphery songs and dialing in the right sounds would be an immense amount of work vs. learning 25 Nora Jones songs that I probably already know half of them just from listening to the radio, and none of the 25 require any kind of sound design. The interesting thing about those two work-load comparisons though, is that Periphery (as mega as they are, and as incredible as that music is) probably have a tiny fraction of the budget Nora Jones does. So even though the task would be far more technically demanding, the amount of money I'd be able to charge them might not be close to what Nora Jones would be willing to pay for a completely generic bass sound and part for her concert. I of course don't know anyone in Periphery, nor am I pals with Nora Jones. I'm just picking two artists out of thin air and coming up with some hypotheticals I could see being somewhat realistic. Then you should have a think about all the massive bands out there that have at one time or another needed a last-minute sub for their bass player due to unforeseen circumstances such as injury or family commitments. U2, DMB, Foo Fighters, Dream Theater...? Any of those bands could need a replacement, and would have basically an unlimited budget to get the best of the best of the best, and create an environment conducive to the sub being able to have the best chance of success in filling in for one show. I know this doesn't exactly answer your question as to how much I would charge, but based on the few times I've been asked to do exactly this task at the very last minute, I'll give you an idea of what I might ask for. I would have to take into consideration the prep time I have. I've been asked to fill in for a show happening literally the next night and in a different city, so that meant not only learning all the music (I think it was 17 songs), but also burning a lot of that prep time on flying to the city the band was in. That was over 20 years ago now, and I think I charged double my day rate at the time which was maybe $600 a day total? That meant from the Friday morning I got the call, the Saturday I played the show in Atlanta, to the Sunday night I got back to NYC, I was charging them $600 a day for a total of $1,800. I was in my early 20's, I didn't have decades of experience behind me, and at the time that was a lot of money for a weekend's work. More recently I was asked by Steve Smith to learn an entire show of Vital Information music at the last minute. His bass player had a stroke on a Monday, and Steve was slated to play at the Drumeo drum festival in Vancouver on the Saturday. Steve called me early Tuesday morning to see if I was available to cover the drum festival, three nights in LA, and a tour of Australia, China and Japan. This was February 2020, and none of us really knew how the world was going to change just one month later. I already had a European tour in the books with Bob Reynolds for most of March, so the only date for Steve I could do was the drum festival. I learnt the entire show in two days, and flew up to Vancouver on the Thursday. I was already booked to play the festival with Benny Greb so that was great on the one hand as I was going to be there anyway, but it did take away another possible day of prep for Steve's music. I played the show with Benny on Friday, and came offstage and was driven straight to the studio where Steve was waiting to rehearse. We played through the set a couple of times, and then hit the show on Saturday. Not only was it a big festival but it was being filmed in great detail by 8 cameras, so the pressure was definitely on with that one. Steve takes care of his musicians very well, so the show paid great. But there was no special bonus for learning all the music at the last minute, and I wasn't looking for or expecting that either. It was a tragic circumstance that led us all to that position, and I was glad to help out a close friend in their hour of need. And fast forward to 2023 and I'm in Vital Information. I'm touring with Steve, playing shows all over the world, and cut the new Vital Information record back in December. Those situations aren't always about squeezing a ton of money out of the moment, but rather an investment in the future.

@drbassface

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala Hey Janek! Thanks so much for taking the time to write back. Yeah, Nora Jones vs Perifery. Yep, transcribing 25-30 pop and classic songs for a one off, or like I’ve transcribed 22 ABBA songs for one gig, 24 Prince Songs just now, (some I just needed to notate the form, while transcribing the more detailed…like the Fusioney Drum Solo on the live Sign Of The Times…prett hip ;-) ) or some classic acts like Jay and the Americans… and a Carole King and James Taylor Tribute.I don’t mind so much those hours put in when the gigs become repeat gigs….so I already have the homework done….just a review and I’m set. When it’s a one off….ugh….You’d think some of these classic acts would have good charts. But no…. Mary Wilson had pretty good charts. Great playing those Supremes songs with her. Sadly she passed away. Are you in LA? Donzell Davis and Mark Zier from her band are out there. Sounds like you can ask for a respectable rate. Musician wages haven’t gone up so much. Playing gigs with quasi name classic acts were paying $350-400 here in Florida about 5-10 years ago. Those acts still pay the same….so what seemed like a raise at one time has become passable. That sounds exciting to be with Vital Information. What’s the name of the album you recorded with them? Cheers to you and your career Janek! Dave Lowrey

Anyway, you could share your knowledge for free from time to time, for musicians who appreciate your work and cannot pay your prices for the currency exchange in their country or for any other reason. It would not be bad, also answer the questions. mails.Etc. is a suggestion, but obviously we do not think the same

After seeing that, the well paid day job isn't such a bad deal 😂

The Baked Potato REALLY Pays 400-500$ a night? Played there a long time ago…. That’s great if the wages went up.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

I don't think the wages have really changed at the Baked Potato. It has never been a case of "this is what the venue pays for you to play here". It's all about how many people you bring out, and what the agreed upon ticket price is. If you sell out two shows in one night, with a ticket price somewhere around $25, it's possible for the band's cut to be sufficient for each member of a quartet to make $400-$500. But don't get it twisted, if you play there with 6 people in the band, and only 15 people show up to see you, you're not covering your bar tab at the end of the night.

@drbassface

Жыл бұрын

@@janekgwizdala Glad you can get a good door charge and make good money…especially when you draw a full house! Excellent:)

Let's not distort the fact. Amazon has a history of going out of their way to destroy small business.

@janekgwizdala

4 ай бұрын

I think the reality is that the times have changed. Did amazon accelerate that change? for sure. But people have been on the path to being programmed to think they have way less time than they do for decades. When you look at some of the comments on my channel for instance that complain about the bit of the video they wanted to see not being delivered fast enough. "I had to bail after 3 mins because of...." That's where the world is at, and at some point you have to either adapt or die out. There are plenty of small businesses still thriving. I know because I'm one of them. But I don't try and do business like it's 1997 still. I leverage the tools available to me as best I can, and I worked insanely hard to retrain myself and learn modern day skill sets that are applicable in my field. Most people are not willing to let go of what they know and take the risk of learning something new. I'm here to encourage that the best I can by being as transparent as possible. Just this week I uploaded a video that is kind of an update to the one we're communicating below right now: kzread.info/dash/bejne/e6563K-zaMzYn7g.html I appreciate you taking the time to watch the video and leave a comment.

okay so to boil it down, you gotta become a living breathing ad, a sell out. gotcha.

@janekgwizdala

Жыл бұрын

It would be really useful to know exactly how you came to that conclusion from watching this video.