... I'll do a deal with you
I'll assemble a live gigging 5 piece prog band from the 100's of amateur (but pretty darn talented I assure you) musicians on this site. We'll turn up and play at least 100 gis in a year long period for you. At the end of which, we'll even pop into an analogue recording studio and cut a disc for you .... old school. I guarantee you'll like the result ... your very own kick ass live prog band.
For your part, you have to agree to pay the musicians the equivalent of their day-job wages for the year, arrange all the gigs, the recording studio, the travel, the food, and the accomodation. We'll let you pocket all the ticket receipts and all the sales from the album. I guarantee you'll hate the result ... your very own loss-making record label.
I do empathise with your frustration, I really do. The thing is, time has moved on. That strange aberration which was the 70's popularisation of explorative rock music has long since gone. All that money which fuelled the *scene* has gone. The audience just isn't there. For those of us that are left, and still feel the need to 'do music', we just have to adapt to the realities of the now. To some extent, the technology allows us to do this and, as I commented earlier, even expands on the possibilities open to us. If this leaves you feeling hollow, unfulfilled, and dissatisfied with the music of today, then I do feel for you and share this to some extent.... but honestly, it's nothing compared to the frustration felt by those 100's of amateur musicians I refer to who spend the requisite >10,000 hours of practice to be in a position to write and play this challenging stuff, only for someone to say "yeah, but you're cheating aren't you".
I'm not meaning to have a go, I'm really not. It's just that there's two sides to this story, and it's not the technology that's to blame here, it's just the business realities.
Phil.
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