Chicago for a successful career in music? (Nashville, Bridgeport: safe neighborhoods, school)

[Switchin Lanes]

I'm 24 years old, currently living in Texas, and looking to find success as a singer. I consider myself very talented, and though I'm quite young, I feel as if time is running out for me and I have to start making moves. I've been in and out of school and holding down steady jobs, since I was 18, but that's not enough anymore. So I'm really interested in hearing how far I can expect to get in Chicago for a career in the R&B/soul music industry.

I love Texas, but there's not a whole lot going on here, unless you're in the country, rap, or gospel genres. People tell me to go to Atlanta, but I just know that market is saturated with everyone looking to be the next big thing, and I'm not interested in being a part of that mix. Ideally, I would like to be in New York, but the COL is too extreme for me. Chicago is surprisingly affordable, and I'd love the experience of living there. I visited once before and liked it a lot.

I know this isn't really a music message board, so I'm not sure how many helpful answers I'll get, but I just thought I'd put this question out there to see if I might get any valuable info.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

[ChiNaan]

If I were in Texas, I'd go to Austin for this. It's definitely not all country or rap there, is it? I've been out of touch with the scene there for the past few years, though. Is it slipping? From everything I've heard, Brooklyn may be the new Austin in terms of music scenes, though Brooklyn's is much bigger now, and yes cost of living there is more than Chicago.

Chicago's scene seems to me to be about the same size as I remember Austin's being 10 years ago, though Chicago's is spread out over a significantly larger city, so it doesn't have as intimate of a feel. I've never tried to make a living as a musician in Chicago, though, let alone to become "successful," so maybe somebody else can speak to that. It seems to me that the last group of rock acts to become big out of Chicago were in the 90's with Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, etc. In more recent years it appears to be hip-hop.

[chet everett]

...but neither one of them would have had the tragejectory they did without huge boosts from their family. In the case of Billy Corgan dad was a legitmate working musician,while Liz Phair's family was well off and highly supportive of her path.

Liz Phair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Billy Corgan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


If you are older and still trying to build time in clubs as a way to support yourself it would be hard argue that someplace like Austin TX with its tightly packed clubs or Nashville with it huge performer base would not be a wiser choice than Chicago...

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

If I were in Texas, I'd go to Austin for this. It's definitely not all country or rap there, is it? I've been out of touch with the scene there for the past few years, though. Is it slipping? From everything I've heard, Brooklyn may be the new Austin in terms of music scenes, though Brooklyn's is much bigger now, and yes cost of living there is more than Chicago.

Chicago's scene seems to me to be about the same size as I remember Austin's being 10 years ago, though Chicago's is spread out over a significantly larger city, so it doesn't have as intimate of a feel. I've never tried to make a living as a musician in Chicago, though, let alone to become "successful," so maybe somebody else can speak to that. It seems to me that the last group of rock acts to become big out of Chicago were in the 90's with Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, etc. In more recent years it appears to be hip-hop.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you are older and still trying to build time in clubs as a way to support yourself it would be hard argue that someplace like Austin TX with its tightly packed clubs or Nashville with it huge performer base would not be a wiser choice than Chicago...

Actually those (Austin, Nashville, Brooklyn, Portand, etc.) are often the worst type of places for making a living in bars/clubs, precisely because of the "huge performer base," which is also known as increased competition for gigs. Bar owners in those places don't generally even have to pay bands, and in some cases bands even have to pay them. Those places are great for finding other good musicians, being part of a "scene", maybe being noticed by important people, etc., which is what the OP (who is young) seems to be looking for. If you just want to be a geezer making a living in bars/clubs, you want a lot of establishments with a lot of customers, not a lot of competition. Touristy places are better for that. I would guess Chicago to be rather middle-of-the-road as far as that goes (unless you're playing Chicago blues for tourists), but I'd be interested to hear what any working musicians have to say.

[marothisu]

Making it in the music business is hard. Trust me, I know from experience. About 99% of all people don't 'actually make it. Although, it's easier now with the internet, it's still extremely low odds to actually make it. I even work with people who were once musicians, professionally signed musicians with record contracts, and they still ended up ditching their careers for something else. My friend/coworker released like 3 albums with his groups, played probably 5 nights/week and even toured, but at the end of the day he said he was broke, needed money, and he ended up going back to school and now he does the music stuff on the side.

I still sing, play guitar, and write my own music (rock and electronic, sometimes classical), but it's more of a hobby thing. I plan on releasing an album of some stuff, but it's a no pressure t type of thing. Just keep this in mind.

I agree with ChiNaan about Austin. It's a good music city and way more there than just country/gospel, but definitely don't be fooled. There are a lot of musicians out there who do not do well in life. It's not always about who's the best musician and whatever (I know of plenty genius musicians who died broke who never got much money off their music). It's pretty much about being in the right place at the right time.

[thefallensrvnge]

Here is an article about a few record labels in Chicago: Chicago Record Labels (Part One)

I would think that Chicago has a decent R&B/rap scene, but Austin might be good as well. When I was in Chicago, I noticed they seemed to still have a strong hold on to their jazz roots. Even in places like O'Hare and the Shedd Aquarium you'll hear jazz coming down over the speakers. I did read an article awhile ago about a few musicians making it in Chicago. They said they loved the more hospitable atmosphere of the music scene in Chicago compared to some other cities.

[Switchin Lanes]

Thanks for all the help.

I do doubt, though, that Austin would be a good city for the R&B scene. The black population there is so small, and the city is more alt-indie oriented.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Switchin Lanes

Thanks for all the help.

I do doubt, though, that Austin would be a good city for the R&B scene. The black population there is so small, and the city is more alt-indie oriented.

True. Pretty sure Atlanta, Los Angeles, and NYC are the place for those. There is a scene here, but I don't think it's as good as those other cities.

[Switchin Lanes]

Originally Posted by marothisu

True. Pretty sure Atlanta, Los Angeles, and NYC are the place for those. There is a scene here, but I don't think it's as good as those other cities.

Right, but as I stated in my first post, cities like NY and LA are too expensive for me, and Atlanta is too saturated. Chicago had piqued my interest as a city where I could really grow as an artist and be presented with a lot of opportunities, but I'm guessing that isn't the case?

In case I decided to head up there anyway, what would be the best, relatively safe neighborhood for a young, single black male? Ideally, I'd like to be around a lot of people like me and spend no more than $700 a month on rent. Of course I wouldn't make the move without a job lined up.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Switchin Lanes

Right, but as I stated in my first post, cities like NY and LA are too expensive for me, and Atlanta is too saturated. Chicago had piqued my interest as a city where I could really grow as an artist and be presented with a lot of opportunities, but I'm guessing that isn't the case?

In case I decided to head up there anyway, what would be the best, relatively safe neighborhood for a young, single black male? Ideally, I'd like to be around a lot of people like me and spend no more than $700 a month on rent. Of course I wouldn't make the move without a job lined up.

I guess I'm not as familiar with the R&B scene here. I know there is one, blues and jazz is bigger here though. I used to sing R&B but it was from a company out of NYC before I moved here. Your curiosity makes sense though.

There's a lot of safe neighborhoods here. There are some people here who'd like to paint that there's like a "race war" going on here, but the reality is that most people don't care what color, sexual orientation, etc you are in most neighborhoods, so I wouldn't worry about that IMO. Since you are a musician, I'd assume you want a more artistic neighborhood or does that not matter to you? I would suggest an area like Logan Square or Ukrainian Village. The problem is that some of these places you need roommates. The prices are not that high, but there's a lot of 2+ bedroom places in these areas. There's also Pilsen which is a predominantly hispanic/mexican neighborhood. Bridgeport as well south of that has a little art stuff going on.

Then there's areas up north like a Ravenswood which is quiet, or Albany Park which is like the United Nations of Chicago.