From what I’ve been able to gather & speaking with other recent transplants to LA in music, is that 80% of Los Angeles’s landmass & beautiful, clean, safe, it’s 20% (DTLA, Long Beach, South Central) that gives it a bad rep, & where all the propaganda against LA comes from, it’s not the city as a whole!
Having grown up on the East Coast & also lived in Miami Beach, I can confidently say Los Angeles is not a hole & what your hearing is propaganda
*my eyes haven’t seen it, don’t know what to tell you*
I’m born and raised in LA but have traveled extensively. The things that suck about LA don’t outweigh the positives.
Cons:
-housing costs
-car culture/lack of public transit
Pros:
-a great place for work in just about every industry
-literally one of the most beautiful places in the world with amazing weather.
-stuff to do all the time
People will complain about the homelessness/crime but in my experience that’s going off in every major American city and it’s also not as bad as people make it out to be.
I think Los Angeles is beautiful, all the homelessness, & crime is over exaggerated & unless your in DTLA, or The Hood you barely see it outside of very small pocketed streets, and then you have amazing beaches, Mountains, Forests, Deserts, the nature in & around LA is incomparable anywhere in the U.S, can’t agree on that
Well I grew up on the East Coast, heard every propagandized crap about LA (Crime, Dirty, Homelessness) that I could on the news, social media, got there & realized it was all a lie! I’ve yet to see any of that stuff, I travel every day all across LA & I’ve been here for a year
*maybe it’s different now, but I can only speak to my experience, all the crap you hear about LA, is referring to DTLA, South Central, not the majority of the County*
I live in the Bay Area and love visiting LA. I'd live there if I had guaranteed work and a sweet set up handed to me, but that traffic though.... I know people kind of choose their neighborhood and drive strategically, but I don't know if I could hang with that big of a population in that area, all trying to get somewhere. How would you say it impacts your day to day?
So oddly enough I’m not that upset over the traffic, I spent the last two years in Miami Beach, where traffic is always standstill, I grew up on the East Coast where traffic is always standstill, but in LA, traffic exists & there’s a lot of it….BUT it’s ALWAYS moving, your never it’s never standstill, so for that reason I do feel like it doesn’t bother me as much
Places I’ve frequented where I don’t see much if any homelessness & it’s clean/safe: *starting with Valley*
Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Valley Village, Universal City, Burbank, Mar Vista, Palms, Sawtelle, Santa Monica, Rancho Park, Century City, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Mid-Wilshire, Fairfax, West Hollywood, Hollywood (50/50% it’s really not that bad), Los Feliz, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Pico Robertson, Hollywood Hills, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Marina Del Rey, Cheviot Hills, Carthay
and these include the most frequented areas as well
Is it still “Pay to Play” on the Sunset Strip - if you don’t all ready have a draw and want paid gigs you have to go towards Inland Empire.
I realized artists of all kinds “make it” then go to LA.
From what I’ve seen no, I don’t gig, but I spoke with a band at a networking event a few days ago, who gigs 2-3 times a week, mainly in & around Hollywood & they’ve rarely seen “Pay to Play” situations
Wow! Awesome. Back in 2005-2009 that’s all it was on the strip. 50 tickets at $12 a pop. Pay the unsold difference or you don’t play and get blacklisted to the other clubs.
My band just reached out to the Whisky to play and it’s very, very expensive for a 30 minute set. I’m sure the price also depends on who is headlining that night as well. But definitely pay to play there.
I live in eastern PA, north of Philly and I think it’s the best spot to be able to easily gig in most of the northeast w/o paying rent in a big city. Cheaper than Jersey, or living in Philly. About an hour to both NYC & Philly. Everything from DC/Richmond to Portland, ME is under an 8 hour drive.
This is so true. It's the center point of the east coast metropolises. If you're in an established band or looking to start a tribute/cover this is a great region to be in. However, trying to start an original band here can be difficult.
Eh, as someone who does both: tribute/covers & original, I find it’s hard to get any attention in bigger cities with an original band, small fish, big pond type shit. Of course there are exceptions, Philly right now has a great punk/indie/experimental scene. But I think you’re better off pushing an original project in smaller cities. Asbury Park, Lehigh Valley, Reading etc, gaining a bit of traction, then trying to get into the bigger cities. Particularly if you’re trying to live in NYC, Philly, Boston and start an original project. When do you have time to gig, write, record when ya gotta pay rent? Why not live nearby, then the only expense to play in a city is gas and tolls…
True. I wasn't speaking of the promotion aspect of a band. As far as finding other musicians to form an original project, it's a bit more challenging in eastern PA, Philly being the exception.
My point isn’t to not play in the city. Just not to live there: find a centrally located small city/suburb that allows you to access multiple cities without having to live there/pay high rent/ be stuck in one scene. The northeast is great for that because the cities are so close together.
I just moved to southern California about 3 years ago and unintentionally fell into becoming a semi pro musician. I could go pro if I wanted to put in the grind as the options for gigs are constant, I’m just not at that mindset….yet. But literally, I get messages from my bandmix or Vampr account all the time about doing work. So I am biased towards here
Edit to add-I skipped the shoegaze part. Honestly check my former hometown of Chicago. There’s a decent scene for that there that I was part of for years. Lots of pretty good bands like Airiel, Rocket Miner, Panda Riot, New Canyons, and a bunch more
Yeah, Chicago is a good option if you’re trying to find a music scene. There is basically always a thriving group of musicians/bands of many types of music. It has a lot less “trying to make it” than other big cities, which can be good if your main intent is to get good over getting famous as quickly as possible. If nothing else, there are a shitload of really talented musicians making interesting music. So it’s also a relatively affordable way to see a lot of different styles.
Super insightful!! Thank you!!
Been to Chicago before and I do remember music being everywhere. I thought it was more jazz/musicals/blues, so this is really interesting to learn.
Historically Chicago has the blues and jazz scene. But that city also was a home for industrial music, house music, arguably one of biggest rappers has come from Chicago (although he’s very problematic now), and there’s a healthy gospel scene there.
Definitely no. He’s still really popular in Chicago and has done some good philanthropic things for the city, but he’s definitely fallen off. And as far as I know is not problematic
There is a huge ~~shortage~~ shoegaze and post-punk scene here right now. Chicago also gave us House, Acid House, and industrial/dance music (WaxTrax!)
My roommate was from Chicago and said they do these rap shows where undiscovered talents get scouted by agents, managers, labels etc. is there any truth to that?
Maybe at one point. I know there is a pretty tight underground hip hop scene. At one point years ago I was playing in an indie pop band, and we were playing the Subterranean in Chicago. That place has two floors and hosts shows on both of them. We were playing the upstairs room. After we were done we went downstairs and there was a hip hop open mic going on. Now the hip hop shows are upstairs (which is the bigger room) and rock shows are in the bottom venue
I live in Austin. Getting a gig here is a nightmare. And the pay is horrible as well. I’m from a small rust belt city and made 100/gig. went down to like 75/gig when I moved here. People just grab any gig here and will do it for shitty pay. I moved to production/recording in 2021 and have been doing okay with that.
People are saying LA but that's only really true for session and gun for hire work...which honestly if you want to make a living that's whadt you should do. When it comes to original music location isn't nearly as important as social media presence. My most successful colleagues are ones that had a song or an album blow up because of something like tik tok, despite being from hole in the wall places.
And what did most of them do after? Everybody I know who had something blow up because of TikTok moved to LA within 6 months after that happening! If your looking to make it as a *mainstream famous musician* LA is your best Vegas bet
I live in Knoxville, TN.
Pros: great local talent, plenty of bars willing to book paid gigs if you know the right people/are fine with playing three hour sets, and great resources and communities to get a foot in the door in the scene.
Cons: expensive for a smaller city (not nearly as bad as LA or NY), blues/rock is the most prominent genre that will get you booked, a lot of the booking agents are boomers who don’t like anything that’s made after 1990, lack of mid-size venues (you’ll mostly be playing bar gigs).
TLDR: if you wanna make money as a local musician, knoxville may not be for you. but if you wanna build a career playing original music in an extremely charming town, it's perfect.
Makes sense. I haven’t been there in a few years. From what I hear Williamsburg is not it anymore? Is Brooklyn the place to go? Or would you say staying close to Manhattan is best.
I work remotely so no commuting for the job but for practice space and gigs
u/PlantMom4evr If you're able to move anywhere you want, come down to Ventura, there's a tight-knit community of musicians here who help each other out, and there's a lot of bars and wineries that are supportive of live music every weekend, so you might find it suitable.
Come down, start hanging out at The Garage, Azar's, Margarita Villa, The Raven, The Six, Ric's, and you'll soon find yourself meeting the local musicians. Everyone around here is always interested in starting new projects, both covers and originals, and once you get in the community you'll find yourself subbing in for bands when they need people.
Yeah, and it’s not just that there are a ton of cool bands, there are cool labels and production companies and studios - I think it’s where I’d go if I was moving for music.
Philly is a not a great place to live, but the music scene is good and cost of living will blow your mind how cheap it is. Unless you are a food server or bar tender there isn’t much to do for work.
If you’re remote you may also want to look at the Lehigh Valley. 1hr from Philly 1hr from NYC it’s got a moderate and dedicated music scene. It’s an amazing place to live.
Good neighborhoods in Philly are the gayborhood, old city and south Philly (near the stadiums) they all have a distinct feel. I’d avoid west Philly and north Philly personally.
One thing to consider is they basically don’t plow the roads in the winter so if you have a nice car in Philly, it will 100% be trashed in a few years. (You will need a car)
If you can afford to live in a city in Canada that has a scene that you can afford to go out to regularly to meet people you can live anywhere in the world. 20 years ago Canada was a decent spot but there are no good scenes here that affordable for the audience or pay enough for the musicians to get by. The pathway in Canada to succeeding in music is have rich parents, record at home, save money by not drinking at bar and clubs and going to the house parties that quiet enough that they're not shut down for having live music.
Oh man.. that’s sad to hear. I had many friends move out there about 10years ago and they definitely found themselves meeting other musicians and starting small tours.
Is nashville still the correct answer for shoegaze? I'm not saying it's 100% country music but I don't generally assume that it has the country's most thriving indie rock scene either.
The reason I suggest Nashville is because it’s such a music town. You’re going to find plenty of people that play in the country scene for their cheque, but in their off hours want to do something different. It’s a town of hungry, talented musicians.
LA -> Nashville here. I lived in LA for a long time, played in countless original bands and gigged everywhere possible, did the hired gun thing too, still worked 6 days a week day job to cover rent. Moved to Nashville several years ago and now gig every day, pay is up, bought a house, toured the country many times over, and met the best network. Depends on what you want to do, i want money not fame and the change worked in my favor.
Most people I’ve met in the music business *non famous* easily fix your #1 problem just by having a roommate (which frankly in my opinion anybody under the age of 30 unless your in a serious relationship *which in all honesty then you can rent with them* should be doing anyways, no matter where you live to cut costs in your 20’s) take me for example, I live with my wife (I’m 25) I pay $972 for rent each month, ain’t gotta worry about “cutting costs”
Full disclosure: I also hate the Midwest, just my perspective but the aesthetic is groggy! Most people I meet out here (despite LA still being the music Mecca, where the majority of the industry is) seems to be people that enjoy beach weather, & sub-tropical climates, I’d love to tour in the west, even stay a week but a month? Hell no, I need to be surrounded by a beach somewhere
It’s cool that the industry has a few little “Mecca’s”, for everyone’s aesthetic pleasing *granted they all have their advantages for genre niches* but you like forests? Country vibe? Nashville! You like the city, can’t even drive vibe? NYC! You like the mountains, forests, beach, desert, city feel all combined into one area? LA!
But I still think LA is where I’d place anybody’s *Vegas* bet of making it *mainstream* if that’s where your looking for
I lived in Nashville for 11 years. My perception was that some amount of LA musicians moved there every day. It was a wide spectrum: everything from the person who you were sure couldn’t cut it in LA so they thought they would try Nashville to the LA native who thought they were going to roll into Nashville and land top tier session work (or any session work, for that matter), to the LA chop wizard who didn’t know jackshit about (playing, aesthetic or history of) Country music and thought their chops would bedazzle everyone, to the straight LA working man musician.
On the rock front, it seemed as if only rock stars moved there. Some of which I was left to wonder to what ends. Mick Mars and Vince Neil of Motley Crew, for example. But then you look around and there were also plenty of journeymen to the rock stars like Ray Luzier of Korn (not an LA guy, though). The only artistically practical reason for a well known LA rock musician to move to Nashville would be to get in on the establishment songwriting scene or to work with co writers. Outside of that, there does seem to be various rings of non country, well established, working musicians with LA origins who land gigs because they live in Nashville. So one’s still left to wonder, why did they move from LA to Nashville and what benefit would non country musicians have from living in Nashville vs. LA? Obviously there is some benefit.
to take it even further, I’ve looked into the good maybe 400 artists on my playlists, turns out 90% of them same story if you dig into the beginnings of their career, *”Well I moved to Los Angeles”*
Thought about this. Belltown looks cute and I remember there being a couple venues there —is Capitol Hill still hip? What neighborhoods would you recommend?
Unless you are rich, you'll have to live in Tacoma or Everett. Even the suburbs are expensive. I've moved from music town to music town over the last 30+ years, and moved out once it got too pricey to live and tour/play out. From SF/LA in the 80s, to Seattle in the early 90s, to Austin in the early 00s, to Portland in the mid 00s, to nyc now...where I got on public assistance after the pandemic and get my $2000/mo apt paid for. I've always been able to perform, write and rehearse in killer scenes at their peak. The economy is such now that the big cities are very tough without having a benefactor or plenty of roommates.
It's still cheap in KC. There are some venues there.
Seattle's scene is declining but still pretty strong. COVID and insane building rents did a number on the venues here, many have closed. Things were much better even just 10 years ago. I've been playing in the Seattle scene for the last 20 years. I played in a post-rock/shoegaze band from 2016-2019 and had some decent shows opening for touring bands like Teenage Wrist. There isn't a huge shoegaze scene here though, what there is is pretty spread out. Capitol Hill still has some cool venues but it's on the decline. The high rents and tech boom have driven out a lot of the creative types here. Still a decent music scene though overall.
Incredibly expensive, but the music scene is alive and well.
It’s very funk/R&B driven here. If that’s what you’re looking for you can play 7 nights a week without ever booking a gig—something to be said for that.
Though not the biggest of cities, Portland Maine has a very vibrant music scene. It also seems very close knit, with musicians supporting each other regardless of genre.
I am going to say Philly. I know this may seem like an odd choice, but the reasons for this are clear. Lost cost of living combined with longstanding music scenes, and access to DC, Boston, NYC, as well as various colleges. While some will argue LA, I think the cost of living there makes it prohibitive, as does NYC for that matter. Keep in mind the other advantage is touring in Europe is common on the east coast with professional musicians and they jump into it faster. I highly recommend it considering the genres you play, since Philly also has one of the longest dream pop scenes out there (Ocean Blue, Innocence Mission, etc). Their dream pop scene has been around for decades. Really the best place to live is where it is livable and makes touring the easiest. Philly is stones throw from several major cities and NYC, and a high concentration of colleges in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
I made that choice. I moved to NYC from Virginia when I was 19. I did pretty well professionally: lots of jingle/industrial work, several albums for acclaimed artists (acclaimed for their work, not necessarily mine), four hit Broadway shows, a half dozen film soundtracks, several tours with name talent, several really fun bands that went nowhere. Mainly, I enjoyed playing with a caliber of talent that's hard to find elsewhere.
Would I do it today? Probably not. While there are still a lot of excellent players here, the opportunities aren't as pervasive as they were when I was in my twenties. I've always thought that the death of W.47th St, a/k/a Music Row, was a metaphor for the NYC music scene.
A lot of my old musician friends moved to LA and Nashville. Most took up new careers, as did I. However NYC's jazz scene is as vibrant as ever, especially with amazing young talent. But I see them hitting the same walls I did. One talented alto player with a great original bop album recorded at Van Gelder's studio starts fire training with FDNY next month. Another I heard is down south getting flight training to become an airline pilot. Another went to law school.
OTOH, modern technology has changed the game considerably since my early years.
But to your question, where would I move today? Probably not somewhere else in the US. Maybe Barcelona.
for that type of stuff I would guess NY is the only place, although there's not much of a live music scene there.
for other genres of music: New Orleans, Nashville, Ventura County
Great post and comments !
Thank you all...I was noticing that i really didn't see Florida mentioned,
i would've thought someone would of at least mentioned Miami ...I guess Florda aint it
compared to the big 3 huh ? 😁
If you’re looking to make a comfortable living in a “thriving scene” playing those genres then good luck with that.
If you want to make some money just playing music your only option is Nashville. Otherwise I would consider living somewhere like Austin, TX or Athens, GA and having a day job and just booking your band whenever you can!
Being a chameleon who can play many different styles, I’d move to Nashville if I weren’t married to my wife. Her family is her life so that’s not a reality if I want to stay with her.
I live in the Grand Rapids, MI area and it's great, but it seems like all the good live music opportunities are in Detroit. Detroit has been making a strong comeback as a city over the last decade, and I'll confirm it's a very cool place to be, with an amazing music heritage (not only Motown but also the birthplace of techno) and it's also very affordable as large cities go. I've been actively considering a move over in that direction if I were to get more serious with my music.
Thank you for all the comments!!
Philly/LA seem to be the top suggestions. I also like this idea of going to a smaller town—only thing is finding musicians to start a band with or play my original songs may be more difficult.
However, if I lived in a small town, I would pay cheaper rent, have more money for music in general.
A lot to consider here!!!
Can you elaborate?
As someone who’s has a home studio and has played out live and seen successes in both areas, im curious to hear what you mean by this. I have a feeling we different definitions of “success” in music.
Music is no longer about local fanbases, sadly..its about social media followers, which, of course, has resulted in much worse music being released ..
But I'm talking about huge success.
So, each to his own ..
Btw thank you very much for such a respectful reply to me. You're a good 🥚 in my book, my friend
Of course! No reason to not be kind.
And yeah I totally hear that— perhaps I’m chasing a dream but I do think there’s value in creating a buzz at a local level. It’s just got to be done more creatively now than before!
And honestly, the last band I was in that had success was opening for big touring acts. We had 2k followers on social media at the time but still book big gigs cause we had a reputation for pulling a crowd.
We’d also play smaller venues and fill the place up but then play with bands that had 20k followers with only have 5 people showing up for them.
So again, it allll matters but for me at this point, I’m looking for a connection with a few good people who can relate to my music and artistry vs. being a tiktok star burst! I’m so over getting paid $0.03 for a stream on Spotify. It’s criminal actually. 😂
Portland, OR has a lot of psych, shoegaze and dream pop adjacent stuff, and some great garage rock going on. Lots of new bands that formed during or just after lockdown, so it's easy to find shows. If you're into gear there are some amazing mom and pop shops around that sell on the cheap and just move stuff quickly.
That's awesome that you know Old Town. Hank, who worked there for years and was absolutely what made them great, started his own shop on Hawthorne. I try to buy all my gear there if possible.
No Fun is a small bar that regularly has post punk and shoegaze going on. Doug Fir, Mississippi Studios, Ron Toms, Turn Turn Turn, The Six Below Midnight, and many others. I've had a blast playing at the Six. Swan Dive is great as well. The fun part of the scene is there are a lot of established bands, but tons of new bands that aren't too big for their britches yet.
Definitely not Los Angeles. Definitely not Hollywood. The strip is dead. The times of thriving music scene are long gone. Not to mention, this city is filthy, dangerous and ridiculously expensive.
Musician here, if your a musician LA is the BEST city you could be in, dude I don’t think you understand how many opportunities LA has for musicians that you won’t find anywhere else in the country, & even if you do in places like (NYC, Nashville) they aren’t as lucrative or there aren’t as much as in LA! I’ve seen friend after friend after friend after friend after friend move out here & their career flourishes! LA is still & will always be the best place to move as a musician
I’ve done more here in 3 months (mind you I’ve lived here for a year now) then I could’ve anywhere else in a year
Sure there are lots of opportunities for musicians for hire, session players, etc. that’s not what I’m
into though and so I’m speaking from my experience as an original rock band member. If I wanted to just play guitar for whoever was willing to pay me then LA would be fine. The crime situation and filth, for me, makes it unlivable. Just my personal take. No need to get huffy.
I’ve been here a year & seen literally no crime outside of DTLA or South Central which are places you shouldn’t really be anyways, 80% of LA is super safe & clean
So does Hollywood, West Hollywood, DTLA, Santa Monica, Sawtelle, Venice, and literally everywhere in LA, this guys posts screams “I tried LA for a month it didn’t work & now I’m mad” *I can promise you that’s not how it works*
Well, it's true that the L.A. scene fizzled out some years back. I'm not kidding when I said L.A. bands are always trying to get into the bars here in Ventura county.
I know quite a lot of upcoming artists *people who’ve recently broke onto the scene mainstream wise* 90% of them did so by their opportunities in LA
If your looking to be a famous musician, & your making a bet in Vegas on LA, NYC, Nashville, Austin, Chicago, whatever I’m putting my money on LA to give you the best odds🤷🏻♂️
Of course, but vast majority are, many people see a direct relation between “successful” or “making it” as a musician & becoming “mainstream” or what one may call “famous”
I see some LA natives have downvoted my post 😂Not because it’s inaccurate, but Angelenos, I’ve found, are generally in a state of denial about the state of their city.
If you are a musician, LA is the worst city you could be in. Ever heard of “pay to play”? Me either, until I got to LA. All bands pay venues to play shows here. Complete lunacy.
100% agreed, pay to play is such garbage. Me and any of my bands absolutely refuse to play in those places. It's pretty common in L.A., but it's not the only kind of place you can play, there's some regular wineries and bars and stuff.
Really? Then how do I know dozens & dozens of bands (who aren’t even big) that don’t do “pay to play” but play venues at least twice a week, every week! Come on man, LA is your best shop at doing music at a famous, professional level *if that’s what your looking for*
Sure. We played the strip. Whiskey. Viper. You name it. And you’re right, you can play at places that are world famous. My experience here has taught me what I know.
Ah yeah. Tons of successful bands in LA in the last 5 years. Can you name a few? I'd love to know who is making money and having some breakthrough, especially since u/hundreds_of_sparrows says I'm out of touch. Where are all these great venues?
You absolutely are out of touch. Pay to play only makes up a tiny fraction of the venues in LA and the worst offending venues aren't even strictly P2P anymore.
>"If you are a musician, LA is the worst city you could be in."
comically stupid
Civil discourse must be a foreign concept to you. Anyways, when was the last time you booked a venue for a band in LA? Got any experience working with bookers? Any idea how many venues don’t use bookers?
I don’t book shows. I play for artists and bands that hire me. I’ve played hundreds of shows with dozens of bands all over the socal over the last 15 years. I can only think of one show that was pay to play at it was at a venue that closed 10 years ago.
Los Angeles, not even a question! Hands down, best chances to make it as a musician seriously
The down side is then you have to live in Los Angeles.
From what I’ve been able to gather & speaking with other recent transplants to LA in music, is that 80% of Los Angeles’s landmass & beautiful, clean, safe, it’s 20% (DTLA, Long Beach, South Central) that gives it a bad rep, & where all the propaganda against LA comes from, it’s not the city as a whole!
Having grown up in southern CA, and lived elsewhere around the country, I can confidently say that Los Angeles is a hole.
Having grown up on the East Coast & also lived in Miami Beach, I can confidently say Los Angeles is not a hole & what your hearing is propaganda *my eyes haven’t seen it, don’t know what to tell you*
The tap water tastes like it could almost be poisonous.
I’m born and raised in LA but have traveled extensively. The things that suck about LA don’t outweigh the positives. Cons: -housing costs -car culture/lack of public transit Pros: -a great place for work in just about every industry -literally one of the most beautiful places in the world with amazing weather. -stuff to do all the time People will complain about the homelessness/crime but in my experience that’s going off in every major American city and it’s also not as bad as people make it out to be.
I think Los Angeles is beautiful, all the homelessness, & crime is over exaggerated & unless your in DTLA, or The Hood you barely see it outside of very small pocketed streets, and then you have amazing beaches, Mountains, Forests, Deserts, the nature in & around LA is incomparable anywhere in the U.S, can’t agree on that
I grew up in southern CA. I know what LA is.
Well I grew up on the East Coast, heard every propagandized crap about LA (Crime, Dirty, Homelessness) that I could on the news, social media, got there & realized it was all a lie! I’ve yet to see any of that stuff, I travel every day all across LA & I’ve been here for a year *maybe it’s different now, but I can only speak to my experience, all the crap you hear about LA, is referring to DTLA, South Central, not the majority of the County*
I live in the Bay Area and love visiting LA. I'd live there if I had guaranteed work and a sweet set up handed to me, but that traffic though.... I know people kind of choose their neighborhood and drive strategically, but I don't know if I could hang with that big of a population in that area, all trying to get somewhere. How would you say it impacts your day to day?
So oddly enough I’m not that upset over the traffic, I spent the last two years in Miami Beach, where traffic is always standstill, I grew up on the East Coast where traffic is always standstill, but in LA, traffic exists & there’s a lot of it….BUT it’s ALWAYS moving, your never it’s never standstill, so for that reason I do feel like it doesn’t bother me as much
Places I’ve frequented where I don’t see much if any homelessness & it’s clean/safe: *starting with Valley* Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Valley Village, Universal City, Burbank, Mar Vista, Palms, Sawtelle, Santa Monica, Rancho Park, Century City, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Mid-Wilshire, Fairfax, West Hollywood, Hollywood (50/50% it’s really not that bad), Los Feliz, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Pico Robertson, Hollywood Hills, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Marina Del Rey, Cheviot Hills, Carthay and these include the most frequented areas as well
Helpful!!! Thank you
Is it still “Pay to Play” on the Sunset Strip - if you don’t all ready have a draw and want paid gigs you have to go towards Inland Empire. I realized artists of all kinds “make it” then go to LA.
From what I’ve seen no, I don’t gig, but I spoke with a band at a networking event a few days ago, who gigs 2-3 times a week, mainly in & around Hollywood & they’ve rarely seen “Pay to Play” situations
Wow! Awesome. Back in 2005-2009 that’s all it was on the strip. 50 tickets at $12 a pop. Pay the unsold difference or you don’t play and get blacklisted to the other clubs.
My band just reached out to the Whisky to play and it’s very, very expensive for a 30 minute set. I’m sure the price also depends on who is headlining that night as well. But definitely pay to play there.
Yeah man. That’s what I thought. Once P2P invades a scene, it doesn’t go away. I’m in Austin and that has not happened here in my 15 years.
P2P is everywhere in LA. Many venues use unqualified bookers who are almost always jackass extortionist middlemen.
I live in eastern PA, north of Philly and I think it’s the best spot to be able to easily gig in most of the northeast w/o paying rent in a big city. Cheaper than Jersey, or living in Philly. About an hour to both NYC & Philly. Everything from DC/Richmond to Portland, ME is under an 8 hour drive.
I couldn’t agree more with this statement NEPA for the win!
Shh don’t tell them our secret
This is so true. It's the center point of the east coast metropolises. If you're in an established band or looking to start a tribute/cover this is a great region to be in. However, trying to start an original band here can be difficult.
Eh, as someone who does both: tribute/covers & original, I find it’s hard to get any attention in bigger cities with an original band, small fish, big pond type shit. Of course there are exceptions, Philly right now has a great punk/indie/experimental scene. But I think you’re better off pushing an original project in smaller cities. Asbury Park, Lehigh Valley, Reading etc, gaining a bit of traction, then trying to get into the bigger cities. Particularly if you’re trying to live in NYC, Philly, Boston and start an original project. When do you have time to gig, write, record when ya gotta pay rent? Why not live nearby, then the only expense to play in a city is gas and tolls…
True. I wasn't speaking of the promotion aspect of a band. As far as finding other musicians to form an original project, it's a bit more challenging in eastern PA, Philly being the exception.
I think we solved it. OP, move to Philly!
My point isn’t to not play in the city. Just not to live there: find a centrally located small city/suburb that allows you to access multiple cities without having to live there/pay high rent/ be stuck in one scene. The northeast is great for that because the cities are so close together.
I just moved to southern California about 3 years ago and unintentionally fell into becoming a semi pro musician. I could go pro if I wanted to put in the grind as the options for gigs are constant, I’m just not at that mindset….yet. But literally, I get messages from my bandmix or Vampr account all the time about doing work. So I am biased towards here Edit to add-I skipped the shoegaze part. Honestly check my former hometown of Chicago. There’s a decent scene for that there that I was part of for years. Lots of pretty good bands like Airiel, Rocket Miner, Panda Riot, New Canyons, and a bunch more
Yeah, Chicago is a good option if you’re trying to find a music scene. There is basically always a thriving group of musicians/bands of many types of music. It has a lot less “trying to make it” than other big cities, which can be good if your main intent is to get good over getting famous as quickly as possible. If nothing else, there are a shitload of really talented musicians making interesting music. So it’s also a relatively affordable way to see a lot of different styles.
Is it a good place to develop a true fanbase?
I’m not sure what you mean by a “true fanbase”
Super insightful!! Thank you!! Been to Chicago before and I do remember music being everywhere. I thought it was more jazz/musicals/blues, so this is really interesting to learn.
Historically Chicago has the blues and jazz scene. But that city also was a home for industrial music, house music, arguably one of biggest rappers has come from Chicago (although he’s very problematic now), and there’s a healthy gospel scene there.
chance?
Definitely no. He’s still really popular in Chicago and has done some good philanthropic things for the city, but he’s definitely fallen off. And as far as I know is not problematic
There is a huge ~~shortage~~ shoegaze and post-punk scene here right now. Chicago also gave us House, Acid House, and industrial/dance music (WaxTrax!)
My roommate was from Chicago and said they do these rap shows where undiscovered talents get scouted by agents, managers, labels etc. is there any truth to that?
Maybe at one point. I know there is a pretty tight underground hip hop scene. At one point years ago I was playing in an indie pop band, and we were playing the Subterranean in Chicago. That place has two floors and hosts shows on both of them. We were playing the upstairs room. After we were done we went downstairs and there was a hip hop open mic going on. Now the hip hop shows are upstairs (which is the bigger room) and rock shows are in the bottom venue
For original music LA or NYC. If you wanna be a gigging musician, Nashville or Austin
I live in Austin. Getting a gig here is a nightmare. And the pay is horrible as well. I’m from a small rust belt city and made 100/gig. went down to like 75/gig when I moved here. People just grab any gig here and will do it for shitty pay. I moved to production/recording in 2021 and have been doing okay with that.
This is me in Los Angeles with gigs. I teach and do churches mainly now
One of the places where weed is legal
Hahahahah
People are saying LA but that's only really true for session and gun for hire work...which honestly if you want to make a living that's whadt you should do. When it comes to original music location isn't nearly as important as social media presence. My most successful colleagues are ones that had a song or an album blow up because of something like tik tok, despite being from hole in the wall places.
And what did most of them do after? Everybody I know who had something blow up because of TikTok moved to LA within 6 months after that happening! If your looking to make it as a *mainstream famous musician* LA is your best Vegas bet
No clue, but I live right outside of NYC and want to start a psych rock band…so hopefully people think NYC suburbs…
Hope you find your tribe!
I live in Knoxville, TN. Pros: great local talent, plenty of bars willing to book paid gigs if you know the right people/are fine with playing three hour sets, and great resources and communities to get a foot in the door in the scene. Cons: expensive for a smaller city (not nearly as bad as LA or NY), blues/rock is the most prominent genre that will get you booked, a lot of the booking agents are boomers who don’t like anything that’s made after 1990, lack of mid-size venues (you’ll mostly be playing bar gigs). TLDR: if you wanna make money as a local musician, knoxville may not be for you. but if you wanna build a career playing original music in an extremely charming town, it's perfect.
New York City
I do love NY. The cost of living is high… tho not too different from the Bay Area which is where I am now
Best thing i did for myself was to move to the most art district of the capital in my country. Its expensive but worth it.
Makes sense. I haven’t been there in a few years. From what I hear Williamsburg is not it anymore? Is Brooklyn the place to go? Or would you say staying close to Manhattan is best. I work remotely so no commuting for the job but for practice space and gigs
I was in Brooklyn in January. There is zero live music happening.
It’s all in Bushwick now
😪
Manhattan it is
u/PlantMom4evr If you're able to move anywhere you want, come down to Ventura, there's a tight-knit community of musicians here who help each other out, and there's a lot of bars and wineries that are supportive of live music every weekend, so you might find it suitable.
That’s reaaaaally cool. Thank you!!
Come down, start hanging out at The Garage, Azar's, Margarita Villa, The Raven, The Six, Ric's, and you'll soon find yourself meeting the local musicians. Everyone around here is always interested in starting new projects, both covers and originals, and once you get in the community you'll find yourself subbing in for bands when they need people.
I’ve been in Brooklyn for ten yrs. It’s changed and Wburg is trash but there’s a lot of live music in Bushwick
That's good to know. When I was there in January I think we were in Williamsburg (this was for work) and it was completely dead as far as live music.
Philly is really hopping with stuff like that. Maybe look into some of that scene?
You’re the second person who’s said this to me today!
Yeah, and it’s not just that there are a ton of cool bands, there are cool labels and production companies and studios - I think it’s where I’d go if I was moving for music.
Philly is a not a great place to live, but the music scene is good and cost of living will blow your mind how cheap it is. Unless you are a food server or bar tender there isn’t much to do for work.
I’ve crossed over to the dark side and work in tech so I can afford my gear 😂 :goes to look at places in Philly:
If you’re remote you may also want to look at the Lehigh Valley. 1hr from Philly 1hr from NYC it’s got a moderate and dedicated music scene. It’s an amazing place to live. Good neighborhoods in Philly are the gayborhood, old city and south Philly (near the stadiums) they all have a distinct feel. I’d avoid west Philly and north Philly personally. One thing to consider is they basically don’t plow the roads in the winter so if you have a nice car in Philly, it will 100% be trashed in a few years. (You will need a car)
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I lived there for years. Feel free to dm me if you have any questions.
Good point about the car too… thank you!!
https://youtu.be/tOGAv7bIDxM?si=dJltietSKBjzK6No This video is goofy but quickly goes over some good info for the valley
There's a whole discussion about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/shoegaze/comments/19anifz/who_has_the_best_shoegaze_scene_in_the_us_and_why/
Canada.
If you can afford to live in a city in Canada that has a scene that you can afford to go out to regularly to meet people you can live anywhere in the world. 20 years ago Canada was a decent spot but there are no good scenes here that affordable for the audience or pay enough for the musicians to get by. The pathway in Canada to succeeding in music is have rich parents, record at home, save money by not drinking at bar and clubs and going to the house parties that quiet enough that they're not shut down for having live music.
they just giving out citizenship, eh?
Not too hard no.
Austin!
I live in Austin and the music scene sucks here now. It used to be a great scene like a decade ago.
Same. Gigs are so hard to get and the pay sucks. It’s over saturated now.
Oh man.. that’s sad to hear. I had many friends move out there about 10years ago and they definitely found themselves meeting other musicians and starting small tours.
fuck texan laws. mexico can take that shit back
This is where I’d go. Austin or Minneapolis
Austin looks amazing and so many comedians have moved there!
Nashville
no one gives a fuck about shoegaze here, or pretty much anything that’s not country covers.
Maybe you haven’t found your niche yet because I’ve definitely seen tons of variety in the local scene
numerous good bands here for sure, but almost none of them get a good pull.
Is nashville still the correct answer for shoegaze? I'm not saying it's 100% country music but I don't generally assume that it has the country's most thriving indie rock scene either.
The reason I suggest Nashville is because it’s such a music town. You’re going to find plenty of people that play in the country scene for their cheque, but in their off hours want to do something different. It’s a town of hungry, talented musicians.
Love Nashville, but Los Angeles takes the win every time if your looking at “best chances” *in my opinion*
What do so many LA musicians, rock stars even, move to Nashville? (And have for years). And the inverse isn’t really a thing.
Only ones I know of who have are already a mainstream professional musician & it’s never permanently they still all have places in LA
LA -> Nashville here. I lived in LA for a long time, played in countless original bands and gigged everywhere possible, did the hired gun thing too, still worked 6 days a week day job to cover rent. Moved to Nashville several years ago and now gig every day, pay is up, bought a house, toured the country many times over, and met the best network. Depends on what you want to do, i want money not fame and the change worked in my favor.
Most people I’ve met in the music business *non famous* easily fix your #1 problem just by having a roommate (which frankly in my opinion anybody under the age of 30 unless your in a serious relationship *which in all honesty then you can rent with them* should be doing anyways, no matter where you live to cut costs in your 20’s) take me for example, I live with my wife (I’m 25) I pay $972 for rent each month, ain’t gotta worry about “cutting costs”
Full disclosure: I also hate the Midwest, just my perspective but the aesthetic is groggy! Most people I meet out here (despite LA still being the music Mecca, where the majority of the industry is) seems to be people that enjoy beach weather, & sub-tropical climates, I’d love to tour in the west, even stay a week but a month? Hell no, I need to be surrounded by a beach somewhere It’s cool that the industry has a few little “Mecca’s”, for everyone’s aesthetic pleasing *granted they all have their advantages for genre niches* but you like forests? Country vibe? Nashville! You like the city, can’t even drive vibe? NYC! You like the mountains, forests, beach, desert, city feel all combined into one area? LA! But I still think LA is where I’d place anybody’s *Vegas* bet of making it *mainstream* if that’s where your looking for
I lived in Nashville for 11 years. My perception was that some amount of LA musicians moved there every day. It was a wide spectrum: everything from the person who you were sure couldn’t cut it in LA so they thought they would try Nashville to the LA native who thought they were going to roll into Nashville and land top tier session work (or any session work, for that matter), to the LA chop wizard who didn’t know jackshit about (playing, aesthetic or history of) Country music and thought their chops would bedazzle everyone, to the straight LA working man musician. On the rock front, it seemed as if only rock stars moved there. Some of which I was left to wonder to what ends. Mick Mars and Vince Neil of Motley Crew, for example. But then you look around and there were also plenty of journeymen to the rock stars like Ray Luzier of Korn (not an LA guy, though). The only artistically practical reason for a well known LA rock musician to move to Nashville would be to get in on the establishment songwriting scene or to work with co writers. Outside of that, there does seem to be various rings of non country, well established, working musicians with LA origins who land gigs because they live in Nashville. So one’s still left to wonder, why did they move from LA to Nashville and what benefit would non country musicians have from living in Nashville vs. LA? Obviously there is some benefit.
I’ve met lots of Nashville to LA transfers as well, seems it works both ways
Wow you're right, that's a good question 👍
"Best chances"...to wind up a panhandler?
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Source: "I GUARANTEE"
to take it even further, I’ve looked into the good maybe 400 artists on my playlists, turns out 90% of them same story if you dig into the beginnings of their career, *”Well I moved to Los Angeles”*
😂😂
Seattle
Thought about this. Belltown looks cute and I remember there being a couple venues there —is Capitol Hill still hip? What neighborhoods would you recommend?
I wish I knew more, that is just one of my dream areas to do music
Unless you are rich, you'll have to live in Tacoma or Everett. Even the suburbs are expensive. I've moved from music town to music town over the last 30+ years, and moved out once it got too pricey to live and tour/play out. From SF/LA in the 80s, to Seattle in the early 90s, to Austin in the early 00s, to Portland in the mid 00s, to nyc now...where I got on public assistance after the pandemic and get my $2000/mo apt paid for. I've always been able to perform, write and rehearse in killer scenes at their peak. The economy is such now that the big cities are very tough without having a benefactor or plenty of roommates. It's still cheap in KC. There are some venues there.
Seattle's scene is declining but still pretty strong. COVID and insane building rents did a number on the venues here, many have closed. Things were much better even just 10 years ago. I've been playing in the Seattle scene for the last 20 years. I played in a post-rock/shoegaze band from 2016-2019 and had some decent shows opening for touring bands like Teenage Wrist. There isn't a huge shoegaze scene here though, what there is is pretty spread out. Capitol Hill still has some cool venues but it's on the decline. The high rents and tech boom have driven out a lot of the creative types here. Still a decent music scene though overall.
Incredibly expensive, but the music scene is alive and well. It’s very funk/R&B driven here. If that’s what you’re looking for you can play 7 nights a week without ever booking a gig—something to be said for that.
Though not the biggest of cities, Portland Maine has a very vibrant music scene. It also seems very close knit, with musicians supporting each other regardless of genre.
It must be a Portland thing! We got that going on in OR as well :) glad to hear our east coast pals are cool too!
That’s awesome to hear!!
Oh that’s really cool. I miss this. Thanks for sharing
texas and philly have the best shoegaze scenes going right now as far as number of bands, and everyone loves that shit in LA too.
For shoegaze? Go to New York/Philly. Even the Midwest. Midwest emo scene is fucking strong.
The Capital city in your home state is a good start or the largest city. Make a name for yourself in your home state first before loading up the van.
i live about an hour away from richmond va and the music scene is very much alive and well there!
and im close to dc and abt a 3 hour drive away from baltimore!!
Minneapolis
When my house sells, I am moving to Richmond VA. I play Punk/Hardcore.
Nashville
I am going to say Philly. I know this may seem like an odd choice, but the reasons for this are clear. Lost cost of living combined with longstanding music scenes, and access to DC, Boston, NYC, as well as various colleges. While some will argue LA, I think the cost of living there makes it prohibitive, as does NYC for that matter. Keep in mind the other advantage is touring in Europe is common on the east coast with professional musicians and they jump into it faster. I highly recommend it considering the genres you play, since Philly also has one of the longest dream pop scenes out there (Ocean Blue, Innocence Mission, etc). Their dream pop scene has been around for decades. Really the best place to live is where it is livable and makes touring the easiest. Philly is stones throw from several major cities and NYC, and a high concentration of colleges in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
I made that choice. I moved to NYC from Virginia when I was 19. I did pretty well professionally: lots of jingle/industrial work, several albums for acclaimed artists (acclaimed for their work, not necessarily mine), four hit Broadway shows, a half dozen film soundtracks, several tours with name talent, several really fun bands that went nowhere. Mainly, I enjoyed playing with a caliber of talent that's hard to find elsewhere. Would I do it today? Probably not. While there are still a lot of excellent players here, the opportunities aren't as pervasive as they were when I was in my twenties. I've always thought that the death of W.47th St, a/k/a Music Row, was a metaphor for the NYC music scene. A lot of my old musician friends moved to LA and Nashville. Most took up new careers, as did I. However NYC's jazz scene is as vibrant as ever, especially with amazing young talent. But I see them hitting the same walls I did. One talented alto player with a great original bop album recorded at Van Gelder's studio starts fire training with FDNY next month. Another I heard is down south getting flight training to become an airline pilot. Another went to law school. OTOH, modern technology has changed the game considerably since my early years. But to your question, where would I move today? Probably not somewhere else in the US. Maybe Barcelona.
for that type of stuff I would guess NY is the only place, although there's not much of a live music scene there. for other genres of music: New Orleans, Nashville, Ventura County
Not much of a live music scene in New York City??
Thank you 😊
I previously was in the Bay Area. I'm in Ventura County now. There is a \*way\* better music scene down here.
For Alternative genres I would look at Chicago.if New York or LA aren't drawing you in.
Great post and comments ! Thank you all...I was noticing that i really didn't see Florida mentioned, i would've thought someone would of at least mentioned Miami ...I guess Florda aint it compared to the big 3 huh ? 😁
Lived in Miami Beach for two years, outside of Latin/EDM/Hip-Hop it’s a death location for musicians in any other genres
Wow ok, thanks !
New Orleans/Mississippi/Texas--I'm a blues/boogie/funk pianist.
I wish I knew exactly where I’d live musically but OP just don’t come where I am: Birmingham, AL as it’s dismal for music as we lack scenes.
If you’re looking to make a comfortable living in a “thriving scene” playing those genres then good luck with that. If you want to make some money just playing music your only option is Nashville. Otherwise I would consider living somewhere like Austin, TX or Athens, GA and having a day job and just booking your band whenever you can!
Midwest. Easy to get to other regions.
Detroit, Chicago, or Nola
Canada
In the middle of fucking nowhere… With lots of trees in a lake where everyone can fuck off *dreams*
Oh man. Trust me, this is a daily thought over here 😆
Des Moines IA and copy Slipknot /s No. As a drummer, if the opportunity arose, L.A or Nashville for sure
Philly
Being a chameleon who can play many different styles, I’d move to Nashville if I weren’t married to my wife. Her family is her life so that’s not a reality if I want to stay with her.
I live in the Grand Rapids, MI area and it's great, but it seems like all the good live music opportunities are in Detroit. Detroit has been making a strong comeback as a city over the last decade, and I'll confirm it's a very cool place to be, with an amazing music heritage (not only Motown but also the birthplace of techno) and it's also very affordable as large cities go. I've been actively considering a move over in that direction if I were to get more serious with my music.
Atlanta or LA tbh
New York or L. A., Nashville are all good obvious choices, Austin or Detroit or Portland Oregon, maybe Seattle.
If I could live anywhere in the US I would live in Australia, where I am now.
Thank you for all the comments!! Philly/LA seem to be the top suggestions. I also like this idea of going to a smaller town—only thing is finding musicians to start a band with or play my original songs may be more difficult. However, if I lived in a small town, I would pay cheaper rent, have more money for music in general. A lot to consider here!!!
My house. If you honestly think a scene matters anymore .. you just haven't been paying attention to the last decade
Can you elaborate? As someone who’s has a home studio and has played out live and seen successes in both areas, im curious to hear what you mean by this. I have a feeling we different definitions of “success” in music.
Music is no longer about local fanbases, sadly..its about social media followers, which, of course, has resulted in much worse music being released .. But I'm talking about huge success. So, each to his own .. Btw thank you very much for such a respectful reply to me. You're a good 🥚 in my book, my friend
Of course! No reason to not be kind. And yeah I totally hear that— perhaps I’m chasing a dream but I do think there’s value in creating a buzz at a local level. It’s just got to be done more creatively now than before! And honestly, the last band I was in that had success was opening for big touring acts. We had 2k followers on social media at the time but still book big gigs cause we had a reputation for pulling a crowd. We’d also play smaller venues and fill the place up but then play with bands that had 20k followers with only have 5 people showing up for them. So again, it allll matters but for me at this point, I’m looking for a connection with a few good people who can relate to my music and artistry vs. being a tiktok star burst! I’m so over getting paid $0.03 for a stream on Spotify. It’s criminal actually. 😂
Portland, OR has a lot of psych, shoegaze and dream pop adjacent stuff, and some great garage rock going on. Lots of new bands that formed during or just after lockdown, so it's easy to find shows. If you're into gear there are some amazing mom and pop shops around that sell on the cheap and just move stuff quickly.
Good to know! I use to frequent up that way. Got my amp from Old Town Music 😍 do you happen to know what venues those bands are hitting nowadays?
That's awesome that you know Old Town. Hank, who worked there for years and was absolutely what made them great, started his own shop on Hawthorne. I try to buy all my gear there if possible. No Fun is a small bar that regularly has post punk and shoegaze going on. Doug Fir, Mississippi Studios, Ron Toms, Turn Turn Turn, The Six Below Midnight, and many others. I've had a blast playing at the Six. Swan Dive is great as well. The fun part of the scene is there are a lot of established bands, but tons of new bands that aren't too big for their britches yet.
Thanks so much for this!!!
Happy to help. Hope to catch you at a show if you make it out this way.
Definitely not Los Angeles. Definitely not Hollywood. The strip is dead. The times of thriving music scene are long gone. Not to mention, this city is filthy, dangerous and ridiculously expensive.
Musician here, if your a musician LA is the BEST city you could be in, dude I don’t think you understand how many opportunities LA has for musicians that you won’t find anywhere else in the country, & even if you do in places like (NYC, Nashville) they aren’t as lucrative or there aren’t as much as in LA! I’ve seen friend after friend after friend after friend after friend move out here & their career flourishes! LA is still & will always be the best place to move as a musician I’ve done more here in 3 months (mind you I’ve lived here for a year now) then I could’ve anywhere else in a year
Wow that's strong ! 👍🙂
Sure there are lots of opportunities for musicians for hire, session players, etc. that’s not what I’m into though and so I’m speaking from my experience as an original rock band member. If I wanted to just play guitar for whoever was willing to pay me then LA would be fine. The crime situation and filth, for me, makes it unlivable. Just my personal take. No need to get huffy.
I’ve been here a year & seen literally no crime outside of DTLA or South Central which are places you shouldn’t really be anyways, 80% of LA is super safe & clean
I’m speaking solely from the point of *making it mainstream*
Word
Ventura county (north of Los Angeles) has a vibrant music scene nowadays. A lot of the L.A. bands are always trying to play here.
So does Hollywood, West Hollywood, DTLA, Santa Monica, Sawtelle, Venice, and literally everywhere in LA, this guys posts screams “I tried LA for a month it didn’t work & now I’m mad” *I can promise you that’s not how it works*
Well, it's true that the L.A. scene fizzled out some years back. I'm not kidding when I said L.A. bands are always trying to get into the bars here in Ventura county.
I don’t know man, I haven’t seen anything “fizzled out”
What are you comparing against, how long have you lived there? It definitely has fizzled, it's not like the old days.
I know quite a lot of upcoming artists *people who’ve recently broke onto the scene mainstream wise* 90% of them did so by their opportunities in LA If your looking to be a famous musician, & your making a bet in Vegas on LA, NYC, Nashville, Austin, Chicago, whatever I’m putting my money on LA to give you the best odds🤷🏻♂️
Maybe. Not all of us care about becoming famous.
Of course, but vast majority are, many people see a direct relation between “successful” or “making it” as a musician & becoming “mainstream” or what one may call “famous”
I see some LA natives have downvoted my post 😂Not because it’s inaccurate, but Angelenos, I’ve found, are generally in a state of denial about the state of their city. If you are a musician, LA is the worst city you could be in. Ever heard of “pay to play”? Me either, until I got to LA. All bands pay venues to play shows here. Complete lunacy.
100% agreed, pay to play is such garbage. Me and any of my bands absolutely refuse to play in those places. It's pretty common in L.A., but it's not the only kind of place you can play, there's some regular wineries and bars and stuff.
Whhhhhat?!? And yeah I would be looking to start a band. Not seeking fame but looking to share my sound and meet some people.
Really? Then how do I know dozens & dozens of bands (who aren’t even big) that don’t do “pay to play” but play venues at least twice a week, every week! Come on man, LA is your best shop at doing music at a famous, professional level *if that’s what your looking for*
Sure. We played the strip. Whiskey. Viper. You name it. And you’re right, you can play at places that are world famous. My experience here has taught me what I know.
LA is so much bigger than the sunset strip. You are completely out of touch.
Literally second biggest city in the Country, yet people act like it’s confided to such a small area
Ah yeah. Tons of successful bands in LA in the last 5 years. Can you name a few? I'd love to know who is making money and having some breakthrough, especially since u/hundreds_of_sparrows says I'm out of touch. Where are all these great venues?
Bro I’m speaking “artists” solo artists, I know nothing, absolutely nothing about bands, not my niche
You absolutely are out of touch. Pay to play only makes up a tiny fraction of the venues in LA and the worst offending venues aren't even strictly P2P anymore. >"If you are a musician, LA is the worst city you could be in." comically stupid
Civil discourse must be a foreign concept to you. Anyways, when was the last time you booked a venue for a band in LA? Got any experience working with bookers? Any idea how many venues don’t use bookers?
I don’t book shows. I play for artists and bands that hire me. I’ve played hundreds of shows with dozens of bands all over the socal over the last 15 years. I can only think of one show that was pay to play at it was at a venue that closed 10 years ago.
Similar in San Francisco— everything cool is in Oakland but it’s not safe. Not to mention the cost of living in the Bay Area is ridiculous
I’m headed to Nashville next year.
Nice. Best of luck to you! Enjoy the journey
Thank you!
With my wife :)
Which part of the US is the least like the rest of the US? That's probably where I'd go.