IS GWYNETH PALTROW WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING? by Timothy Caulfield

Author:Timothy Caulfield [Caulfield, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-8070-5749-0
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2015-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

So You Want to Be a Star?

Rock Star!

My flight to the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, was nonstop from New York. Judging by the number of guitar cases, the quantity of DJ gear, the predominance of I-wish-I-didn’t-have-to-get-up expressions on people’s faces, and the answers to a few random queries, the boarding area at JFK was overflowing with musicians. There was a smattering of fans, business executives, music lawyers, and people involved in music promotion, but mostly it was bedraggled individuals wearing attire that unimaginatively advertised their musical affiliation: hip-hop, alt country, rock ’n’ roll, retro punk, ironic quirky pop. The plane at the gate next to our flight was heading to Florida. The slow-moving passenger line was peppered with wheelchairs, Bermuda shorts, and polo shirts. The contrast with the hipster caravan I was about to join could not have been starker. One line filled with retirees, the other with people who probably rarely think about that kind of late-life lifestyle.

SXSW is billed as the world’s largest music conference or, as its website declares, the “biggest and most anticipated convergence of all things music.” More than two thousand “official” musical acts are playing at hundreds of venues—large, medium, and rumpus-room-ish in dimension—throughout the downtown core. The roster includes well-established big-name bands, up-and-coming acts, and bands that are new but have lots of buzz. (I heard the word buzz hundreds of times while at SXSW, as in: “no buzz,” “buzzless,” “about to catch some buzz,” “no point in coming unless you have buzz,” and the much-coveted “buzz band.”) There are also hundreds, perhaps thousands, of unofficial acts that play in unofficial (rough, closet-size) venues.

While the music is the focus and the public draw, the music industry people I spoke with told me that SXSW is really a big schmoozefest industry party. Given this fine mandate, it seemed an ideal place to explore the state of the music industry and its role in the celebrity game. Specifically, I wanted to explore the current status of the celebrity musician. Is the rock star job still available? And, more broadly, can you get rich and famous in music?

My guide for the event is a good friend, C.J. Murdoch—aka Cecil Frena, Edmonton’s electropop music wiz and leader of the one-man band Born Gold. C.J.’s career path might be considered eccentric by some. He was a rising star in the world of legal academia. He obtained a law degree from the University of Alberta, was a researcher for the university’s Health Law Institute, published a number of well-received academic articles, was given a fellowship at Stanford University, and, just a few years ago, gave it all up. C.J. went all in. He doesn’t do music as a hobby or as a part-time job. He is a full-time struggling musician. And wow! The vast majority of professional musicians do struggle.

In March 2013 the Canandian Independent Music Association released a comprehensive report on the economic impact of the music industry. The message was pretty clear.

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