los angeles vs austin music career? (Palm Desert: movies, living in, cost of)

[locoindio]

im from texas. and im currently in nashville. and i do not write country music. in a few years i plan to move to either austin or los angeles to further my music career. i'm not trying to be an artist btw. mainly a producer/composer. is it more beneficial for my career to live in austin and do business in LA? or to flatout move to LA? anybody who can help, write back...

[nature's message]

Los Angeles for me. It has the biggest music industry by far out of the two. But it all kind of depends. If you just want to be locally known, then you should move to Austin. If you want to go be and be very successful, then LA is your best bet.

[Lumerian Feast]

Having lived in both places: LA, easily. Austin has an okay music scene -- mostly on 6th Street, a lot of bar bands. L.A. has 50 times the number of clubs and bars that Austin does, and actually has the entertainment industry. Bands that make it big in Austin have to come out to LA for the business; no one has to go to Austin.

On the other hand, one could argue that you should go where you like living better. Spoon got famous enough living in Austin. Austin gets very small very quickly; some people like that a lot, others... not so much. Austin's not nearly as quirky and interesting as it used to be, though. It's getting fairly yuppyish. I think LA's more interesting.

[RobE]

If you're going to be a producer/composer, L.A. is the place because the kind of work you want to do will require you to network in the industry and it's all in L.A.

However, while there are indeed clubs in L.A., it's very dead compared to how it used to be back in the 1970's and 1980's and getting to those clubs is much more of a hassle than it used to be. Many of the clubs have gone real corporate and there just isn't the spirit that there used to be as a result.

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by Lumerian Feast

Having lived in both places: LA, easily. Austin has an okay music scene -- mostly on 6th Street, a lot of bar bands. L.A. has 50 times the number of clubs and bars that Austin does, and actually has the entertainment industry. Bands that make it big in Austin have to come out to LA for the business; no one has to go to Austin.

On the other hand, one could argue that you should go where you like living better. Spoon got famous enough living in Austin. Austin gets very small very quickly; some people like that a lot, others... not so much. Austin's not nearly as quirky and interesting as it used to be, though. It's getting fairly yuppyish. I think LA's more interesting.

I initially thought Austin was the better idea because of the intimacy, but this is a caution too, the bolded sentence. Instead of Nashville to Austin, Nashville to LA does make sense. The clubs here are different from long-before, though, it's true. I guess you could haul out to the Palm Desert for a looser scene, if that's your kind of music.

[SlowMotionApocalypse]

There is not much of a music business left, at least not since people figured out music isn't something that needs to be paid for.

[passionatearts]

Wow - I've been thinking a lot about this exact same subject for the last few months! I'm a musician as well, and I currently live in Austin. I've lived in Austin most of my life, but I want a change of pace and better opporunities to advance my musical career. So, I'm probably going to move to Los Angeles later this year.

The answer to your question really depends on what you want out of your career.

Austin has a lot more going on musically than most mid-sized cities in the U.S., but there are just so many more business opportunities in larger cities, especially music hubs like New York and Los Angeles. Austin, despite its reputation as the "Live Music Capitol of the World," lacks a solid music industry infrastructure. There just aren't really any major industry players in this town.

My experience with Austin is that for the style of music I want to play (progressive rock), it's virtually impossible to find any serious musicians who want to team up with me. You (original poster) didn't mention what style of music you play, so I don't know what you're looking for. If you come to Austin and want to play punk, indie rock, country, or blues, you'll find plenty of musicians who will play with you. If you want to work in a style outside of those I just mentioned, you may find the opportunities lacking in comparison to a place like Los Angeles.

Bottom line:

If you're really ambitious and looking for a world-class music/arts scene and tons of networking opportunities with powerful industry people and high-calibre musicians, move to Los Angeles. If you prefer a slower pace of life where the cost of living is lower and you don't mind the lack of a world-class music or arts scene, then Austin might be a better choice for you.

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by SlowMotionApocalypse

There is not much of a music business left, at least not since people figured out music isn't something that needs to be paid for.

People will still pay for music if music is good. I don't believe that the music business is "dead."

That said, it's true that the "big 4" major labels (EMI, Universal, Warner Brothers, and BMG-Sony) don't have the clout they once had. With the rise of the internet as a method of distributing music, musicians can find other ways to market their music.

Despite this, I still believe the major labels still have some importance - namely their marketing muscle and access to major performance venues. A lot of artists nowadays are signing with indie labels and/or self-releasing their music and using the major lables for distribution deals (in order to get their albums into music stores).

[locoindio]

i mainly write acoustic pop. but that's due to lack of resources really. i want to get into world fusion electronic music, writing for mainstream pop artists in whatever genre, and composing for tv and movies. i also play tabla (north indian hand drums), traditional drumset/concert percussion, and acoustic guitar. my biggest beef with moving to austin is that it doesn't have a strong music business element to it. a lot of people i've talked to in austin love to be creative but for whatever reason hate the business side. they see it as evil. it's a little naive, but that's just my humble opinion. anyway, that's what i do. thanks a lot for the advise. it's well-received.

[RobE]

Originally Posted by passionatearts

My experience with Austin is that for the style of music I want to play (progressive rock), it's virtually impossible to find any serious musicians who want to team up with me.

Prog? Like progressive heavy metal (Symphony X, Avantasia, Ayreon, etc)? Nobody in the U.S. is really signing anyone playing that, unfortunately. You can find musicians for it in L.A. easily enough, but the only places where that style is flourishing to any extent are Germany and Scandinavia and, to a lesser extent, Japan.

More 70's style prog (Genesis, Gentle Giant, Yes, etc) maybe Italy. The people populating the A&R departments in L.A. basically won't sign anything that isn't the next Britney, Neo-MOR like John Mayer. rap/hip hop or alternative stuff. If Led Zeppelin started today nobody would sign them. The better you can play your instrument these days the less you are likely to be signed, unfortunately.