I saw the Best New Bands of 2005 at First Avenue a few weeks back. I got there a little late, so the first band I saw was the Birthday Suits. The band consists of a drummer and guitar player and they play fast punk rock, but they’re more dynamic than the usual three-chord punk band. They didn’t talk to the crowd, but their music spoke volumes, not to mention, they were energetic and entertaining.

After the Birthday Suits finished their impressive set, I wandered in to the Entry and was able to see about 15 minutes of Sparrows, which has three members: A drummer, bass player and an amplified cello player. Roughly 12 to 15 people watched their instrumental set; the music was interesting enough and the drummer was in some sort of robotic trance, making it even more fun to watch.

After watching both bands’ sets, I began to think about the process of recording and releasing a CD, playing live and the touring aspect of being a musician.

Can a band record great CDs, not tour and make money, or does a band need to tour to get where they need/want to be? To answer my own question, you need to do both. And I can think of bands I like more for their live show, rather than their recordings and vice versa.

During my time publishing Rift, I’ve heard from publicists, musicians and other music industry types who say playing live is the way musicians make money. Selling CDs is just a secondary source of income, but they sell the most CDs at their shows. Of course, there’s a big difference between playing an 800-seat theatre and playing at a bar for $100 or less.

Programs like Garageband and cheap digital multi-track recorders make creating music easier, but it seems to be getting harder to make money just by making music. You need to balance good recordings with good live performances. Being a great musician or songwriter doesn’t necessarily cut it anymore, unless your songs are recorded by other bigger, more established musicians.

This idea might be written off by the music purist who thinks it’s the music that matters, but if you look at who’s really making the money in the music industry, you can see how and why the idea’s somewhat flawed.

There’s a fine line between musician and rock star and the best part is, we get to decide who makes it and who doesn’t. Now that I think of it, the bad part is, we get to decide who makes it and who doesn’t.

Ironic, isn’t it?

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