The UK wedding and function market for all intent and purposes has never been lucrative enough to justify the cost of running, managing and paying a band of professional musicians.

Like one musician brought up to me the other day. “It was never great during the good times, it certainly sucks now, we were working but after taking away the cost of maintaining a car to do these gigs, storage for the equipment and maintainance, rehearsal studio time, it never did add up”

Music agencies had a good run but with more bands being accessible via websites on the internet, the agencies have had less of a role to play. They have seen their advertising and marketing cost double but have seen their revenue half since the end of 2008 till now (2010 May).

Based on the current economic trend, 90% of professional performing musicians and bands generally need to start looking at music as a part time paying hobby. It can not longer be depended upon as a reliable source of income. 10% of professional and qualified muscians are with record companies and corporate events companies.

Recording Studios are charging what they used to charge in 70’s almost 40 years later.

The music industry is great, it is fun, you can travel the world as a giging musician, enjoy the perks when you are young and decent looking, but only get into it if you don’t mind worrying about your next months paychek for 30 – 40 years of your working life.  Teaching music has always been a good avenue but it remains a highly mundane profession and nine out of ten doing it because they have to and not because they want to.

Then off course if you get lucky and make it big and get to gig with the big names or are a techno trance DJ that plays to thousands you will be ok, but this happens to such a minute number of people, you need to ask yourself if you are likely to want to take that risk.

It is great to be your own boss, do what you really want, but is it really worth it in the long run?

I am not too sure at this juncture, I have been a self employed professional agent and musician for 20 years, since I left school, it has been great and wonderful ride.  I went om to finish my degree in music and Masters in Entertaiment Law. I have had a months where my income was nothing short of fantastic.

With a growing family for the next 20 years, with a steady source of income required,  it now seems rather daunting to be a professional musican as the main source of income based on the current economical trends.

An investigation into the death of the pop star Stephen Gately at his holiday apartment in Majorca will focus on a night out with his partner, Andrew Cowles. The police said that there was no suicide note or sign of violence when Gately was found by Mr Cowles on Saturday afternoon. A Bulgarian man who had been invited back to the couple’s £1 million apartment on Majorca early on Saturday is being sought by the police. A police source said: “We do not think this man is involved in any way in Stephen’s death but his testimony could prove vital.” Gately and Mr Cowles had spent Friday night out drinking before returning to their apartment in the upmarket resort of Port d’Andratx in the early hours of Saturday. The police were called at 1.45pm. A source who was called to the scene said: “There was no suicide note or evidence of any drug use or excessive drinking and the dead man’s friends were at a loss to explain what had happened. All we know is that they had gone out the night before till late and had quite a few drinks, and raised the alert when they found Stephen dead.”

The singer is reported to have been in his pyjamas. “He was in a strange position,” an investigator said. “He was squatting on the sofa, almost in a praying position.”

Pop stars and politicians joined in paying tribute yesterday to the singer, who was 33. The four remaining members of Boyzone flew to the island yesterday evening.

Bertie Ahern, the former Taoiseach, said: “He was 33 years of age, 15 years at the top, a fine musician, it’s just a huge tragedy to Irish entertainment, Irish music and further afield as well.”

Sir Elton John said that he and his partner, David Furnish, were stunned by the news. “Stephen was the kindest, gentlest soul,” he said. “We send our love and condolences to his partner Andy and to his friends everywhere.”

Lord Lloyd-Webber said that Gately’s death was a great loss to the musical world.

Gately, who had a civil union with Mr Cowles in 2006, sent ripples through the pop world ten years ago when he said he was gay, an announcement considered significant because most of the band’s fans were girls.

The couple are thought to have bought the three-bedroom property less than a year ago.

An investigating judge has been placed in charge of the inquiry. The post-mortem examination is expected to be delayed until tomorrow because today is a Bank Holiday in Spain. The results and a toxicology report are due by Wednesday.

A source said that investigators would try to establish from relatives whether there was anything in the singer’s medical history that might explain his death.

Gerald Kean, an Irish solicitor asked by Gately’s family to speak on their behalf, said: “There’s no foul play and it’s not suicide. It’s just a tragic accident is what we’ve been told and we’re happy that is correct information. There is nothing untoward, it’s not drugs, it’s not murder, it’s not a fight. That’s what we’ve been told.”

The Boyzone members Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham arrived at the apartment at 8.30pm local time, wearing dark clothes and sunglasses. They entered without saying anything.

Louis Walsh, the band’s manager and X Factor judge, pulled out of appearing on the hit ITV show last night. He was “very shocked and exceptionally upset” his spokeswoman said.

Simon Cowell paid tribute to the singer during the live broadcast of X Factor. He said that Gately’s death was “really, really, tragic” and sent his condolences to the singer’s family and Walsh, but added: “The show must go on.”

A message on Boyzone’s website read: “Stephen tragically died yesterday whilst on holiday with his partner Andrew in Majorca. The rest of the boyz will be flying out today.”

Wellwishers started to leave flowers outside the flat yesterday

WELCOME TO THE ……….DROPZONE

This brand-new, action-packed adventure series for BBC ONE will see eight teams of all ages battle it out to escape from six very different Drop Zones across the world…

To get to the next Drop Zone, each team will face a series of challenges inspired by each stunning location and designed to test their skills and ingenuity to the max…..

Who would you take?

Family, friends or work mates – whoever you chose you’ll need to be sure they won’t let you down. The only way to get out of the Drop Zone ahead of your rivals will be to work together. If you stay in the race and get to the sixth and final Drop Zone, you’ll be in with the chance of being crowned Drop Zone Champions…

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for teams of three from all walks of life.  Are you friends who work together – or maybe you know each other through your shared hobbies? Maybe you’re three generations of the same family…  What’s certain is that your team will have a selection of skills, experience and a determination to win. There’s no knowing what could give you the edge and get you out of the Drop Zone ahead of your competitors.

Get in touch!

If you think your team has what it takes to take part in this exciting adventure series, find out more and download an application form by visiting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/beonashow/dropzone.shtml

Alternatively, please email us for an application form at dropzone@bbc.co.uk

Filming will take place across a six week period in June and July 2009 so you will need to be free during this time.

GOOD LUCK!

According to its founder, Titus Raj “Most professional musicians are not recording artistes earning royalties or playing concerts with big names, they are musicians earning £10,000 – £20,000 from playing private parties and corporate events, they need the work in the function music industry to keep them going though many of them have second jobs within the music industry as teachers, sound technicians and various audio visual related jobs.  It’s been difficult for them since last October”.

He added “some green shoots have been appearing this last two weeks and we have started to see a gradual increase of bookings. This is a good sign, it means people are not feeling too threatened about loosing their jobs anymore. However, there is a new trend that we have not seen before, that is, a large amount of wedding couples making bookings for the following year (2010). There is a 50 percent ratio following this trend at the moment. The norm in the previous years was only 10% of bookings were for the next year and 90% of the booking were for the present year “

The Corporate Entertainment bookings for banks, multi national companies and large corporations have been down by 80% since November 2008 but the company is starting to get enquiries for Christmas Parties for 2009. A few traditional Music Agencies that have not evolved with the internet have seen their bookings drop too; however they still remain strong via their ‘ties’ as preferred suppliers with the Hotels and Public Museums in the West End and the Kensington area.  The ‘ties’ are almost cartel like with new companies finding it impossible to provide any kind of entertainment for the high profile events though having the goods at a much more competitive price and providing clients with far more variety.  The clients booking these London Venues are most often led to believe that they simply cannot book musicians other than those from their recommended supplier.

Music Agencies  that do most of their marketing via the internet have the edge in the Credit Crunch as they are able to provide higher discounts and preferred rates on top of the usual lower rates charged to their corporate customers, private clients celebrating their birthday parties with live music and wedding couples. The cost of advertising on the internet is increasing but still not as close to traditional advertising in magazines, corporate trade shows and wedding fares.

If you require any advice on booking musicians for events in London you can contact Music for London via their website or call them.

Contact Information

Music for London

131 – 151 Great Titchfield Street

London, W1U 3RX

0207 993 8007

www.musicforlondon.co.uk

Floor 3, Unicorn House, 221-222 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6PJ
[t] 020 7099 9050 [e] georgina@unlimitedmedia.co.uk 

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