I can recall from my teenage years being enamored with the idea of being a rock star. I idolized these guys; partly because they seemed to live sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. I used to see them in magazines like Rip, Metal Edge, Circus, and Hit Parader. I was jealous. These people got to play music every day, gain the attention of female fans, drive fast cars, reside in high places, and lived what seemed to be a nonstop party.
Now, close to 20 years later my perception has changed. Don’t get me wrong, if I could drop everything today and be able to play music tomorrow I would certainly do it. The difference now is that it’s for a general love of music. The genre wouldn’t matter, but I would need to be able to make a decent living and have adequate health coverage. What drew me into wanting to be a rock star decades ago is not what would draw me into being a musician today.
As I grew older; a sobering, harsh, and daydream shattering reality that bands are companies made itself more apparent. Like PepsiCo or Microsoft or Georgia Pacific, bands have a product to sell in a marketplace of consumers. While I have no work experience in this industry, I started to perceive that they’re worried about branding and image; are concerned about numbers (consumer products sales, record sales, ticket sales, etc.); or on the lookout for anything that could threaten demand for their sound.
Recently, I’ve broken out some of the old Dream Theater CD’s and have almost forgotten that the Glass Prison was one of twelve musical pieces about their drummer’s, Mike Portnoy, experience with alcoholism. Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed some rehab or drug use news. Bon Jovi noted that, Richie Sambora will be entering rehab and Steven Tyler announced that he and Joe Perry did drugs as recently as 2008 despite having been clean for years.
So I have to wonder …
When a big name band recruiting is someone, do they have a benefits package that they tout? Do these guys get full medical and dental coverage? Would the band’s medical plan then cover chemical addiction and/or counseling? Maybe rockers’ are considered high risk because of their exposure to sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. If this is the case, perhaps coverage doesn’t extend to S.T.D treatments or chemical dependency; or at the very least, maybe rock stars pay higher premiums … I mean, don’t insurance rates increase if one’s a smoker?
What about other benefits?
Lately, I’ve been watching The Spirit Carries On; the reality TV webisodes of Dream Theater auditioning new drummers. After the audition, the band sat down and proceeded to interview the drummers. When they were chatting, I didn’t hear any discussions about how many weeks of paid vacation the drummer would get or any mentioning of a generous 401(k)? What about short and long term disability – why wasn’t that part of the discussion?
I would imagine that musical bands actually do have benefits; but a wide-eyed, awestruck, 15 year old drummer who idolizes these people, probably doesn’t care about full medical or dental. After all, a 401(k) with generous employer contributions probably isn’t the reason for them wanting to become a rock star – it certainly wasn’t for me.
Then again, maybe the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle is the only benefit really offered – it’s all I’ve ever really seen in those metal magazines as a kid.
