How do musicians get paid?

[Hello Goodbye]

Todd, the parochial elementary school I went to did not have instrumental music in its curriculum.  As a result, when I enrolled in the public school system in seventh grade I wasn't placed into instrumental music.  If I had the chance, I would have asked to study violin for orchestra and clarinet for band.  I self-taught myself guitar at age 14 and did join the Folk Music Club in high school.  I took lessons from Ian at age 22-24.  In my final year of lessons, he taught me how to read for guitar.

I missed out on a very important discipline during my early years in school.  I still regret that even today.

[Loco Mo]

Hello:

I missed out on a very important discipline during my early years in school.  I still regret that even today.

I missed out on very important discipline throughout my entire life!!

[Loco Mo]

Oh, for the good old days when all you needed was a no. 1 single and you could be rich as a result.

Now, you can have a song that millions of people love and make nothing but maybe pennies on it.

[Loco Mo]

I remember (maybe 20 years ago or more) when some bands were giving away CDs at concerts.  I think they were hoping fans would like them so much that the next time they'd put out a CD, they'd buy it.  I am pretty sure the logic wasn't valid for that premise.  I know several bands from whom I acquired several free CDs.  I think when people stopped buying records there was no meaningful way of recovering the lost income.  So bands started selling merch and some actually "paid?" a person to manage their merchandise.

I know one band that used to give away CDs and later switched to telling fans to purchase a song on iTunes.  I mean who wouldn't want to spend 99 cents for a single they really liked?  Answer:  hardly anybody.

I can't remember bands selling merch prior to that time.  Maybe they did but I didn't notice for some reason.

[Moogmodule]

I think merchandise has been a thing since the Beatles. Maybe before but they seemed to be the first to do it on a huge scale. it was one of Brian's worst decisions to sell off the rights to merchandise too cheaply because he didn't think it was that important and there wasn't the precedent for him to work from. Cost the Beatles tens of millions of dollars.

Going to concerts from the early 80s on, acts used to always sell tshirts and records and things. But they seemed to be more the cream for them. Now merchandise is one of the biggest income streams for all the reasons you say Loco. So bands sell everything from hats to branded coffins (No I'm
not joking)

[Loco Mo]

Maybe bands should try selling strands of their hair or fibers from their worn clothing.  I know fans wanted to snatch up things like that from the Beatles.

But I guess you'd have to be a living legend for fans to go that deep in order to own a piece of you, although inanimate.