When I was little, I often changed the lyrics and melodies of pop tunes and created my variations. It did not occur to me that I was improvising. In retrospect, I was practising without actually practising. I later enhanced the process when I bought a guitar. Although my first instrument was drum percussion, which I played at church services, boarding school and on the street growing up. Music has always been with me, and I see my participation in it as a gift.
We engage in artistic endeavours because we love to do them. Nowadays, the music industry is financially unrewarding for most but even dire for creative musicians. There are places to play, but fewer in number compared with the increasing number of qualified musicians. Music as a commodity is now mainly streamed with the demise of CDS and CD players. Perhaps, we are quietly witnessing the demise of the music business as we know it, since the commodity aspect is dwindling. Or maybe we are just reaching the end and the beginning of a new era of music. Only time will tell. Nowadays, we are doing it because of our love for it.
One major area of making a living doing music is recorded music. With the demise of the CD player and CDS, this aspect has completely dwindled and most music is consumed via streaming. This means that only those who make millions and billions of streams can make a living from streaming their music. The others have to make a living through other means, like touring/gigs, teaching or having a day job in combination with music.
Creating and performing original music at this point seems the only way to gain fulfilment from music for those who are marginal artists. I enjoy creating new music because, on its own, it is very empowering. You watch an idea grow into its final form when recorded and it is a very enriching experience. For me, whether I could make a living with music becomes secondary if I can succeed in bringing out original music. Nonetheless, we still need to survive, artists still need to be able to earn/make a living. Thanks to all those who still support the creative artists and music.
If you are around Hilversum on the 23rd of May, my trio of Lamin Kuyateh on kora and Kharifa Camara on percussion will be playing at the Afrika festival. Check my gig listings for more information. Hope to see you there.