Are they making a living

[warrensutherland]

Hi, Have followed the band for a couple of years now and have bought ep's, singles and the albums and have been to a couple of shows. However I was shocked that the Glasgow gig was only charging £6 p/head and I was wondering how are the band actually managing to survive? I mean your average gig is usually £20 and i accept they are not major artisits in a commercial sense yet, but i would have been happy to pay £15 at least to see the band. Given that there could not have been more than 120 at King Tuts, at £6 p/head plus merchandise sales that is not a big turnover. The point that I am making suppose is that there is a lot of chat on the forum about the next album, tour etc and I am just wondering if we will get that far. At some point they will want to make a breakthrough commercially if they are going to make any money or am I mising something? I hope so.

[Lawrie]

Er, don't know but hope so is my rather pithy answer to that: apologies, because it's a good point and well raised.

The band seem perfectly happy doing what they're doing at the moment, and they seem to have an excellent relationship with their bosses (harsh term, but describes the reality of the situation) at Superball, so touch wood they can continue as they are at the moment going forward. The band themselves aren't going to be the ones deciding the pricing of their records, their gig tickets or their merchandise, and you just have to hope (and assume, being an optimist) that Superball or whoever else calls the commercial shots for them knows what they're doing and are happy with the level of revenue they're bringing in in exchange for the financial support they give the band.

It's a very valid discussion to bring up, but I don't think there can be any definitive answers to be had or conclusions to be drawn unless someone really in the know chips in here, which I'd imagine is highly unlikely given the sensitive nature of financial information.

[murphymurphy]

I sure would like to see PRR do a little more advertising, etc.


...maybe even a little merchandise?

[Neillwith2Ls]

I'm pretty sure some of them work don't they? Or used to...

It's an interesting point, and sort of related to what I was thinking about after the Brighton gig. When you really like a 'new' band, and go to a lot of their gigs at small venues... I think you should savour that time. If and when PRR take a step up in venue size/commercial success, you'll be reminiscing about those 'amazing early gigs in tiny venues' when stuck in a crowd at The Shepherds Bush Empire.

Reminds me a lot of how much effort and faith Steven Wilson must've put in Porcupine Tree, before they had a major breakthrough with In Absentia.

[ryan]

Mar 18, 2009 19:39:43 GMT warrensutherland said:

I mean your average gig is usually £20

Well. I don't really think that's the case. It depends on who you're seeing, but I've not paid more than £15 for quite a long time, and even then it's been a while.

The simple answer is we don't know.

The speculative answer is that I very much doubt they make a living from just doing music.

[simon]

As far as I know some of them have day jobs.

[jamesa]

On the average gig price point, I would not be expecting to pay more than £10 for a band at this level, regardless of how good they are - which is different to how much I would be willing to pay.

I would be surprised if they are making a living out of this, not least because they do not seem to have enough merchandise available. And at the Reading gig they had to make an announcement that some of the limited edition cd singles were still available...which would make me think they had not immediately sold 25 copies of the album that night.

I was talking to someone who has been heavily involved in a band and other aspects of the music business for over 20 years, and he says that you can expect to sell cds to 10% of an audience on any given night - now, I suspect that rises because it is a new album in this instance, but if you are playing to just 60 people that is not a lot of disposable income to take off them ;D

But I think the Porcupine Tree analogy is a good one - it is all steps towards a successful end - what becomes important (especially in today's music market) is how quickly you can take those steps and how well you can sustain them. Judging by the numbers at Dingwalls, it's looking good, and it will be interesting to see the reaction they get as a support for The Boxer Rebellion.

[ripley]

I have not been around much lately and totally missed this thread.

I just wanted to point out that at the Swedish gig last year (2009), I doubt that there was even 10 paying (and the tickets were cheap) people in the audience - the rest were there to see another band on another stage and just popped by while they were waiting...... And it actually looked like we were only 3 there that wanted to see just PRR; me, my 'man' and another bloke. Even if we bought 2 t-shirts each (yay) - and they did sell some stuff to other people liking what they had heard - I can't see that gig bringing in as much as it must have cost.... And this was less than a year after playing in the same town with Porcupine Tree. Sad! Luckily all other gigs on that tour must have been better.... Being in a band, trying to make a living out of it is real hard work. On the other hand - many of you did mention PT and they look like they are doing 'quite' well now, so I just hope PRR are going the same way!!!

[gilthar]

as i was talking with Chloe after Aschatffenburg show she said that actually they live totally on PRR so they need no to take additional jobs.
so cheer up with it guys:]

[ryan]

Although she does DJ sets as well.

I expect their advance is better for having their own studio and producing themselves as well though.

[sticky]

They really don't live off PRR full time!

Chloe works as a web designer, Paul is a drum teacher, and Jamie works at a bar/venue.

[blondeambassador]

I'm still not entirely convinced it's anyone's business but their own to be honest.

I can understand an interest in their level of success etc but like any artist (or in fact other types of workers) I'm sure some months bring in more money than others etc. They're all fully committed to any PRR activity and thats all that matters.

[sticky]

I don't know, everyone on here talks about the bands members like they're bessie mates so i guess people on here think it's their business. i just happen to know what they do for a living because i asked!

[gilthar]

Jun 16, 2010 15:06:52 GMT sticky said:

I don't know, everyone on here talks about the bands members like they're bessie mates so i guess people on here think it's their business. i just happen to know what they do for a living because i asked!

what a silly answer.
i won't reveal any more stuff that i get from the band members because of people like you.
agree with that it's not our business so let's cut the talk.
cheers

[Lawrie]

We're going slightly off the point here, so to drag things back on track, I agree with BA - any careers the band have outside of PRR aren't really our business to be concerned with.

There is a valid discussion to be had on whether the band members receive enough financial support from their PRR activities to ensure that the band keeps making music going forward - which, by the very fact that Album 3 is now confirmed, seems to be the case for at least the near future - but I don't think that there's anything to be gained by discussing any careers the band have outside of PRR. Just as it would be a tad impolitic to have a thread on what the members of these forums do for a living without those members being involved in the thread and having an intention to talk about it themselves.

Cheers all.