There are thousands of great singers and song writers in this country and all over the world and they (or should I say we?) all dream of making it big, having the number one song on the charts, having thousands attend our concerts but unfortunately none of us will ever reach the pinnacle of success that Michael Jackson, Elvis or the Beatles did.

No longer can you get rich just by selling a million copies of your CD, because if you are reasonably famous, before your song is officially released, pirated copies are already flooding the internet and your record sales are zero.

So the singing stars of today earn their lakhs (not millions) doing concerts. The heights you can reach in the popularity charts are limited to the same level of the success charts of say a Remo, a Gary Lawyer or a Sonu Nigam.

To reach those dizzying heights of Michael Jackson you need an arranger like Quincy Jones, a world class advertising agency dedicated to your makeovers and success, a powerful recording company with money to spend, a world class studio, world class backing musicians, the obvious talent of Michael Jackson and the luck of the devil.

Here in India, Mumbai, with the villainous government apathy towards musicians and artists in general, crippling and unfair taxes, sound restrictions, one out of a hundred musicians have a regular job.

I think musicians and artists are the bravest people in the world. And those that allow their children to be musicians are even braver. We all know what it took just to get our noses above water and to see a musician without work is the saddest thing in the world.

Over the years the flame that we all had pining for success has turned into a flicker and may blow out at any moment (like carrying a lighted candle and climbing mount Everest).

So what do we do? We find jobs in five star Hotels, form bands and play for peanuts at various Gymkhanas, play at corporate events, weddings and parties and watch Michael Jackson and other American artists on you tube. That’s as close as we’ll ever get.

This was not written to dissuade your children from taking up music as a career but only to tell you how far your child can go in the music world.

Besides being the bravest people in the world, we are also the happiest. We can be happy with nothing……….just our music.

By Ernest Joseph Flanagan

Ernest Flanagan aka Ernie is a professional musician who has been around since 1976, Singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and budding poet; he has performed almost all over the world. His vast repertoire of songs in all genres and many original pieces can be found on YouTube.