r/nashville 2d ago

What are some realities about being a musician in nashville ? Help | Advice

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Hi all im from asia singapore and i have a dad that has been a musician all his life. He didnt make good financial decisions so he does not have any savings and has to work in his 70s partially disabled. A gig here you get around 150 to 200 dollars but the music scene is very small we dont have a strong arts scene and so i know people that are being paid 50 to 100 dollars for a gig sadly. It is very hard for artist to make it beyond my small country unless they go abroad

I have never been to the usa although i have family members who have moved there and i use to hear of nashville and texas being quite famous for country music . I like to listen to dolly parton, carrie underwood , ella langley , taylor swift although she is in pop now, pistol annies and for rock and pop three days grace , seether, Evanescence, fleetwoodmac, alice in chains, skillet and a lot of others which is too long to list.

  1. What are some realities you can tell me about the music scene in nashville ?
  2. How much do musicians get paid whether its for gigs, touring and being able to make a living out of music.
  3. What is talent pool like - do you get musicians from all over the world trying to make it or mostly americans? How talented are they ?
  4. Is everyone hoping to get noticed by a record label or a publisher ?
  5. Are those guitarist or sound engineers hired to work for major label or big tour musicians more talented or knowledgeable vs those who work for independant artist ?
  6. Is the music dream still alive ?

Sorry for so many questions im just really curious about the music scene and i hope to visit some cities in the usa and nashvile someday .

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u/PyramidSchemePA 2d ago

well that's depressing to hear because the singer-songwriters that I sometimes hear at BNA are horrible usually

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u/Mydogfartsconstantly West Meade 2d ago

Ya ive seen the same guy twice at the tootsies and could hear his guitar was plenty out of tune

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u/jbizzle_mynizzl 2d ago

I can assure you his guitar was in tune. He probably just wasn’t good.

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u/BrainPhD 2d ago

Hey, I was trying my best!

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u/Full-Commission4643 2d ago

Lol country radio isn't much better. They just have better technology.

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u/DraculaPoob01 2d ago

Afuckingmen lol

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u/Quagmire_gigity 2d ago

Same! I fly a fair amount, and it's never good there.