It's a big problem, really, how to allocate what little money you've got sa band. In my band's case, whatever money we get sa gigs, goes straight to gas money and a bank account for us to produce the next album. it's not a perfect setup - since all of us have to get our maintenance budget from our dayjobs. but that's the reality. the market for independent bands that play original music is still really small here - and given the percentage of the population willing to support good music, it's not going to get better anytime soon.
It's a matter of economy of scale. My cousin, who is a keyboardist for a band in the states (Crown City Rockers), makes a good living because "indie" there means being able to tour the whole state and maybe other neighboring states. that means they tour a couple of cities, and a LOT of local concerts and bars. Here, that's a major label band! And they have their own gear, all the way to amps, and I think a PA system. How many indie bands here can do that? it's because of the scale at which they operate. I did tell her that we had problems with bar owners and all, and she said that it was pretty much analogous to what they had there, but it's just that the size of their market is so much bigger.
Here, we have what, 12 million people in Manila alone. of that 12 million, let's say 3 million have the resources to go out and have fun listening to bands. of that 3 million, you will get...let's say 500,000 who are into original music. of that 500,000, you divide it into the different genres that people like listening to. Let's say you've got around 100,000 (that's generous) people who like OPM enough to buy stuff. divide that even further into the subgenres and the bands themselves. you'll be lucky if your band has about 3,000 people willing to buy your stuff. and then factor in piracy and the pinoy mindset that music is a service, not intellectual property. if you get 1,000 people to buy your album, and you're not in a "popular" style, then you're damn good, or you have good PR, media mileage and a good manager. And then you factor in our wonderful music shops, where the attendants don't know crap, and there is a "system" of sorts for putting your albums in key locations...and you get where I'm coming from.
In the live scene, we have only so many bars in a city that can support rock bands. we only have so many cities in our country. we only have so many organizers who are willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to rock events. add to that how a good portion of the rock fans are destructive or violent in nature (not saying there's a lot of them, but that they are a very visible component of events). and then, add to that how many bar owners and producers simply tow the bottom line of having to turn in a profit (seriously, ilan lang ba dito ang ala owner ng CBGB's?). We're getting killed by economies of scale, with the problems inherent in our local scene and culture.
Marami pa ang kailangan mangyari to make music a "paying proposition" for indie bands. But we should never let that get us down. We have to keep on going and show all the naysayers that music is important. If you want to make money off music, then be prepared to pay the accompanying price. if you want to make music because you love music, then you must accept that you will have to do what you must to keep on playing music that you love. Even if you're a rich kid, there are pressures that are inherent to doing this.
What is important, at the end of the day, is that in spite of all these things, you can go up on stage, and play something you and your bandmates have created. And then you work hard to play that music, even if it means it will be our spiritual successors - the incoming bands and bands not yet formed - who will reap the benefits of our hard work. because, in the end, you must love music, not just yours, but music in all that it was, is, and will be.
Sorry, medyo naging idealistic ata ako, LOL!
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