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You'd consider Wilco sell-outs when....


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Wilco isn't just a BAND. It is also an entity that employs people above and beyond six guys onstage.

 

An excellent point. When touring, Wilco doesn't just make their money from ticket sales, though. Most artists - at least those the caliber of Wilco - typically have a performance fee that comes before they even hit the stage, a deposit of some sort that's paid in advance to secure the booking. It's a "no pay, no play" concept that helps the band shape a tour, in part that is.

 

Regardless, there was the bit in Kot's book that mentioned during the Being There era, band members were taking home between $60-$80K annually, and Tweedy was making even more from songwriting royalties. I'm sure it's even greater than that now. As another commenter said, that's certainly more than I'm taking home.

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I was going to write "don't you mean go Sir Stewart?" before I even got to the parenthetical.

 

LOL

 

Twin brothers from different mothers

 

An excellent point. When touring, Wilco doesn't just make their money from ticket sales, though. Most artists - at least those the caliber of Wilco - typically have a performance fee that comes before they even hit the stage, a deposit of some sort that's paid in advance to secure the booking. It's a "no pay, no play" concept that helps the band shape a tour, in part that is.

 

Regardless, there was the bit in Kot's book that mentioned during the Being There era, band members were taking home between $60-$80K annually, and Tweedy was making even more from songwriting royalties. I'm sure it's even greater than that now. As another commenter said, that's certainly more than I'm taking home.

 

Are you as good at your job as Jeff is?

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I spend half my day at work writing to my friends about what was on TV last night, then a bit of time on VC, bastards removed facebook access so I can't abuse that at work anymore. Anyway, my point being, even if I'm crap at my job, being a cog in a big company means no one is going to notice. I'm pretty sure if Wilco got up one night and said "can't be arsed, going to do about 12 songs tonight", people would notice.

 

Also I don't have any pressure on me to keep being creative. It must be horrible to know that many other non band people are relying on you to be succesful so they have a job. Thats not even factoring in the fact they have to be away from their family most of the year.

 

Back onto the original topic, I did an environmental degree intending to work for the EPA or something, now I work for a petrochemical company. I'm in no position to be calling others sell outs.

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Well, I'm certainly not as good a songwriter, but I don't know if you can compare singer/songwriter/bandleader to "communications coordinator."

Do you have to constantly be traveling all over the country and world to make your living? I don't mean to bust on you, but these guys do earn their money.

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Do you have to constantly be traveling all over the country and world to make your living? I don't mean to bust on you, but these guys do earn their money.

 

I'm being grossly misunderstood here.

 

I am not saying Wilco have it easy, and I am not saying they don't earn their keep. I agree with you and everyone else that says they work hard to make a living. I was simply clarifying for another poster that when on the road, Wilco's pay doesn't exclusively come from ticket sales. In no way was I accusing them of not working for it. And to enhance that point, I simply quoted a section of a published book to illustrate a fact about how much money the band was making at one point in their career.

 

Friends? Friends. :cheers

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I'm being grossly misunderstood here.

 

I am not saying Wilco have it easy, and I am not saying they don't earn their keep. I agree with you and everyone else that says they work hard to make a living. I was simply clarifying for another poster that when on the road, Wilco's pay doesn't exclusively come from ticket sales. In no way was I accusing them of not working for it. And to enhance that point, I simply quoted a section of a published book to illustrate a fact about how much money the band was making at one point in their career.

 

Friends? Friends. :cheers

OK - sorry, man. Wilco makes more money than I do too.

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Do you have to constantly be traveling all over the country and world to make your living? I don't mean to bust on you, but these guys do earn their money.

 

And let me just add that by putting my job title in there, I was trying to say that it's impossible to compare the [what I assume to be the] challenging & exhausting but creative and gratifying "occupation" of singer/songwriter/bandleader to that of a "communications coordinator" like myself, who stares at a computer and writes copy.

 

F*ck me running, I'd take a grueling tour, playing music, over sitting on my ass in a cubicle any day.

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OK - sorry, man. Wilco makes more money than I do too.

 

Very well, then we're all in the same boat. I'm not bitter about it, though. I can play a large chunk of Wilco tunes on the guitar on my couch - I just can't come up with anything of my own that's worth the tightly coiled piles a dog leaves in the yard. So I've accepted the fact that I'm a couch rocker and am proud of it.

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Not sure if this was already mentioned (because I'm too damn lazy to read back through the whole thread) but what about an extended stay in Vegas at Caesar's Palace? That is one of the few things that just ooozes sell-out to me. (Sorry Elton!)

 

I wish that I could find the quote from Elton in either the 70s or 80s, but he said "I'll never play Vegas like Elvis did before the end of his career."

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