If you are a working musician you have probably had a side job at some point, but Covid has taken the side job hustle to a whole new level. Many artists are out of work and are looking for creative ways to bring in income. Musicians are left to make tough decisions like whether or not they should apply for unemployment or try to collect from the multiple relief funds. Tours are canceled and live streams are taking over, but for many there is just not enough disposable income available.
One of UNCA’s own adjunct faculty members in the music department has lost his main source of income. Zack Page says most of his income comes from gigging, recording, performances at colleges and other arts organizations and teaching. Corona has brought his work to a standstill. Zack’s main source of income now comes from his side job, landscaping. Fortunately, he likes this job stating that the pros are, “getting exercise, honest work, and getting paid in cash at the end of the day,” but that landscaping can also be very physically demanding with jobs lasting anywhere from 2 to 8 hours. Landscaping seems to be a popular choice for musicians. Another popular local Asheville band “Empire Strikes Brass” started a landscaping business under the new name “Empire Strikes Grass.” Band members work together to meet all of your landscaping needs.
Neil Lackey, a Music Technology Student at UNCA, was working as an assistant band director at a high school before schools went remote. His job included classroom assistance with instrument repair, recordings, grading, tutoring, ordering equipment, writing music and exercises, and directing the band and small ensembles. Neil would also use his studio at the school to teach one-on-one lessons to people who had interest in improving their technique and expanding their musical knowledge. When schools shut down, his position as assistant director became a part-time remote job. Neil has been spending his time at home looking for ways to help grow his music department in the future. He has created a recruitment video for incoming freshmen, a trailer for the marching band show next season, created online audition packets for future ensembles, and continuing to write music and exercises for next season. He is also doing remote recordings with the band students and mixing them from home to create an online ensemble experience for the students. This sounds like a lot of work, but Neil says this doesn’t even amount to half of what he was doing before Corona hit. He decided to reach out to his students to let them know he would be teaching online lessons on Zoom and that payments could be made through PayPal or Venmo. After his first week of successful online lessons, he started to reach out to other people in the community. Neil now has twice the amount of students and has been successful with this new way of teaching.
Andrew Scotchie and the River Rats, a local band with a dedicated fanbase, just released an album titled, “Everyone Everywhere.” After a conversation with friends, Andrew realized that the slogan, “I am everyone everywhere,” was even more relevant now due to the circumstances of Coronavirus. The idea was born for the slogan to be printed onto a mask that could be sold as merchandise to help the band, as well as to unite the community. Andrew connected with a local Asheville business called MTN merch via Facebook and made his order for the masks. The first order of masks sold out through the bands Facebook fan club, but a new batch is on the way and there is still time to get your own. Andrew says in a Facebook post that priority for the masks will go to nurses and those in the medical field. This seems like a no-brainer for musicians since merch sales usually bring a significant amount of income to touring artists. Even though tours are cancelled, artists like Andrew are continuing to engage fans through livestreams, and offering unique merch is a great way to give fans a way to support you through these times.
Tamatha Bechtel is the Director of Business and Development for Bassology. Bassology Around The World started as an educational cruise where students came to participate in a 22 hours worth of bass curriculum taught by Anthony Wellington. Students are able to enjoy amazing destinations and learn about music theory while sailing. This was so popular that they decided to do shorter versions on land. The Bassology Masterclass series was born, but this year Corona postponed Bassology events in The Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Spain. The enrollment for the cruises are also low for 2020 because of the panic surrounding Corona, but Tamatha isn’t ready to panic. She says she will continue to work hard to, “create new ways for us to provide value-added Bassology for our students.” Tamatha and Anthony have started doing virtual clinics for their Bassology students all over the world. Tamatha continues to grow the social presence, and Anthony continues to teach through Skype. Both their jobs have changed dramatically, but they were able to adapt to the circumstances and create a new way to keep the income coming in.
This is not the first time musicians have taken a huge hit to their income. When music-streaming platforms became the main source for listeners as opposed to other ways of delivering music, artists took a huge hit. According to The Atlantic, “40 percent of income that once came from radio royalties and music sales had vanished.” Musicians overcame the devastating blows that streaming brought, and they will do the same with whatever corona throws their way. Being a professional musician is never easy, and artists have shown us in the past that they can overcome these challenges. Covid-19 cannot stop the music. In these times people are looking for ways to come together more than ever before, and that is what music does. I believe when this is all over there will be a huge demand for live concerts as people will strive to feel the sense of community that these artists once brought us, so please continue to support the musicians through this hard time so we can return to the world stronger than ever.
I made a Facebook post asking artists what side jobs they had taken up during Covid-19. Here are some of their answers:
Online Lessons
GrubHub
Remodeling Trailers
Grocery Store
Sanitation
Home Improvement Store
Farm Labor
Misc Artist Support
Selling Horn Tracks
Yard Work
Baking and Selling Bread
Campbell, Torquil. “A Catastrophe for the Night Economy.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 1 Apr. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/musicians-coronavirus-second-cataclysm/608074/.
Zack Page, email message to author, May 1st, 2020.
Tamatha Bechtel, email message to author, May 1st, 2020.
Andrew Scotchie, phone call with author, May 4th, 2020.
Neil Lackey, Facebook message to author, May 3rd, 2020.
