Joe Bonamassa has explained the reason why bands and musicians can no longer make money.
It started when Palaye Royale guitarist Sebastian Danzig started the discussion on social media. “Since the topic is open… I am curious how much you think a band gets paid to play a show. 2000 people sold out – $40 tickets. I just want to see what you think it is,” he wrote on his X account.
“Depends on what side of the pond you are on,” Bonamassa responded. “Generally after agreed upon venue expenses, baked in promoter fee and catering are deducted and assuming your agent is worth his/her 10 percent and they got you back end points on the sold out show. My guess is you are walking out with 50 to 55 percent of gross doing it the traditional way.”
Danzig later mentioned a 2022 Palaye Royale show, revealing how much they grossed, and how much they paid out of their guarantee: “Out of our guarantee we paid for: Manager and agent fees. Paid tour manager, lighting designer, front of house engineer, tech, stage manager, hired musicians, bus, driver, photographer, production and merch seller who wasn’t even allowed to sell out merch and venue sold.”
Bonamassa chimed in with another tweet to mention the reason: “This is the reason bands can’t make money. But… There is solution to this problem.”
Last year, Bonamassa compared musicians to the Hollywood strike and said musicians have been struggling with the same problems for years: “Actors and writers in Hollywood just woke up this morning and fully realized what musicians have been living through and dealing with for the past 15 years.”
Later, the guitarist received a reply asking about ‘making a million dollars and living a privileged lifestyle.’ He responded with, “There is one in every crowd. Let me explain. TV and Movie syndication is equivalent to terrestrial radio play. It generates residuals that artist live on. Streaming pays a mere fraction of what it used to be. In our case .005 percent of a penny per stream.”
The same person who had replied earlier tweeted again, claiming that actors’ average salary ranges from $55,000 to $80,000.
“This, I agree with this. I am friends with actors who work very hard to pull that kind of money in per year. That does not go very far in the city of Los Angeles, Vancouver, Atlanta, New York or even Albuquerque. Les’s agents fees, taxes and you are waiting tables to supplement,” Bonamassa responded to the tweet.
In the recent tweet, along with Danzig, many other people asked Bonamassa for the solution he offered, but the guitar virtuoso did not respond.
