I’m the bassist and lead singer for Ponophobic, a bar band here in Wenatchee. I’m finally playing for money after years of not being in a band. And it’s getting really frustrating.
Back when I was in my early 20s, my city had a thriving live music industry. On any given weekend, you could find ten or more live bands, in a variety of styles, playing at different clubs around town. Although I wasn’t playing in a band back then, I was a regular performer at open-mics and jam sessions. And the clubs were always packed with people who wanted to hear good live music. People would even turn out to hear a band from Seattle, even if they’d never heard of them.
You could stop into one club, and hear an excellent house band playing country music. Same band every week, and there was always a crowd. Down the street, there would be a classic rock band playing to a full house. Yet another club would feature metal bands. Again, packed house.
This was all 10-15 years ago. It was great! Lots of fun and opportunity for local musicians.
Then karaoke came along. First it was just one or two clubs, featuring karaoke once or twice a week. There were still live music clubs everywhere.
Flash forward to today. If I open up my local newpaper’s weekly entertainment insert, and find the section listing the entertainment available at local clubs, here’s what I see:
Karaoke
Karaoke
Karaoke
Karaoke
DJ
Karaoke
Karaoke
DJ
.
And so on…
There is exactly ONE club in my town that still features live music! At that club, the dance floor is small, the acoustics are horrible, and the place is overcrowded and constantly getting in trouble for overserving. But the funny thing is that it isn’t the live music that’s attracting people to this club. It’s the fact that it’s a meat market. It’s because “that’s where everybody goes”. It gained its clientele by catering to the younger crowd - putting rock & roll on the karaoke machine when every other club in town had machines loaded with country music. Once they had the crowd, the crowd became self-perpetuating. It’s not the live music drawing them - I’ve seen people in there partying to bands that just plain suck. Most of the people aren’t paying the least bit of attention to the band.
Other clubs have attempted to have live music, and failed miserably. They’ll advertise live music, and nobody shows up. I’ve played to nearly-empty houses more times than I care to count. When my band takes a break, we’ll go outside and look in the window of the club next door or across the street, and see the place packed with karaoke singers. It’s very depressing.
My guitar player’s father played in a country band for many many years, and now he owns a bar. And even he has given up on live music and switched to karaoke and DJs! My band figured that we’d have an almost guaranteed gig, playing in that club at least once a month. But ol’ dad couldn’t get anybody to show up to hear the bands he booked. He switched to karaoke and DJs, and now he’s packing the place every night.
We got a good, regular gig at a club in the next town over. We played two full months there last year - October and December. We played for the bartender, most of the time, because nobody would show up. Meanwhile, a tiny bar down the street was filled to capacity with karaoke singers. We were booked for February also, but the club owner cancelled us an put in a karaoke machine. Now he’s packing the place every night.
Now, before you decide that my band simply sucks: We don’t. My 45-year-old drummer has played professionally for years, from Detroit to Seattle to L.A. to Vegas. My 33-year-old guitarist has played professionally since he was 15. He told me that he made almost $40,000 one year, just playing locally with his father’s band. And while I only started playing professionally a little more than a year ago, at age 36, I’ve been a very good musician and singer all my life, and have plenty of onstage experience. These other two guys wouldn’t be playing with me if I sucked. The few people who do actually listen to us are quick to compliment us. Other local musicians like us. The bartenders at the last place we were cancelled really liked us. The band that followed us after our first month there sucked, and when we came back the people expressed to us how happy they were that the other band was gone and we were back.
The fact is that no band around here can draw a crowd. Even at the one remaining live music club, it is the club itself drawing the crowd, not any particular band. Sure, some of the bands which have been around for years have a small crowd of fans, but still not enough to fill a club. And newer bands like mine simply cannot build a following because we have no place to play. The people around here would rather go sing along with a recording than listen to a good band.
I certainly can’t blame club owners for switching to karaoke. For one thing, it’s cheaper than paying a band. And a club owner can’t justify the expense of paying a band when the band isn’t attracting a crowd. Most of the club owners who have tried live music have lost money every night they’ve had a band. The band pay ends up being more than the night’s receipts.
I’ve also noticed that, since the advent of karaoke, there are a lot more audience members coming up to the band and asking, “Could you guys turn it down a little?” I never saw people doing that 10-15 years ago. Back then, people wanted it loud! Thanks to karaoke, people no longer seem to realize that the drummer has to hit the freakin’ drums! And the other musicians need to be loud enough to balance the sound between them and the drummer. Even to hear themselves over the drummer. (I even heard a club owner explaining this to some complainers, bless his heart.)
On top of everything else, pay rates for bands have not increased in about 20 years. According to other working musicians in other parts of the country, with whom I speak via Internet, they’re still getting paid around $100 per person per night. Pay hasn’t increased, because club owners can’t justify the expense. $100/night was good money 20 years ago. It’s barely enough to justify the band showing up today.
It comes down to the crowds. So my question boils down to this: Why is karaoke so much more appealing to people than a live band? Why do people seem so unappreciative of live bands now? According to other musicians around the country, this situation is about the same just about everywhere except in the major cities.
