A & E

It used to be a musician's goals were simple: A record contract, a national tour and, if the stars magically aligned, "the thrill that you get when you get your picture /on the cover of the Rolling Stone," according to the song by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

That was long before the Internet, P2P file-sharing and a sharp decline in the sales of albums created a new paradigm for musicians. No longer is it enough to merely release music and tour.

"It's definitely an evolution," says Pittsburgh-based musician Bill Deasy. "I'm hard up against the economic realities. I can't really sustain myself on the old model of recording and touring."

"The economics of music have gotten to the point that unless you're drawing significant numbers in some of these places, it's really difficult for you to make the expenses that it takes to keep a band out there for a month regardless of how cheap (a band tours) and how many couches you're sleeping on," says Darius Zelkha, owner of Tough Love, an artist management and consulting company in San Francisco whose clients include Josh Ritter, The Submarines, Birdmonster and Dawn Landes.

Zelkha adds that because sales of T-shirts, CDs and other merchandise are down because of the current economic conditions, solving the financial equation that equals a profit is difficult.

But there are still opportunities for musicians who are willing to take advantage of alternative ways to get music in front of people. One comes by way of a medium that artists traditionally shunned; the other is a by-product of the digital age.

For most artists, allowing songs to be used for commercial ventures used to be considered a sign of greed, a callous use of art. While many musicians prefer to keep their music "pure," the last few years have witnessed such a drastic alteration of the dynamics of the music business that few consider it crass to license a song for commercial use.

Thus ads utilizing Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)" for Outback Steakhouses, "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes for Wendy's and The Fall's "Blindness" for Mitsubishi.

"People have changed their attitudes towards being on TV or using music for commercials," says Cindy Howes, a disc jockey at WYEP-FM in Pittsburgh. "It's not selling out anymore; it's more that they are trying to pay the rent."

Zelkha notes that many of the bands who employ Tough Love's services sustain careers by allowing songs to be placed in commercials, television shows and films.

"They still lose money touring, they still are not selling more than 10,000 records, but are in six figures in terms of the money they put in their pocket for licensing opportunities," Zelkha says.

A band can earn in the low five figures for merely placing a song in a television show, and upwards of six figures for placement in a film or for commercial use.

"The licensing stuff is a bright spot, for sure, and the opportunities for lower level or independent bands are huge right now," says Zelkha, who adds the revenue earned from licensing music is often used to defray and supplement the costs of recording and touring.

Of course, there are bands who don't really need the money or exposure. It's hard to imagine Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who (who have licensed music for use in Nissan ads and the "C.S.I." television series) or the Rolling Stones ("Start Me Up" was used in a commercial for Microsoft's Windows 95, "She's a Rainbow" for Sony Bravia LCD televisions) in need of any extra cash.

But commercial licensing gives a musician like Deasy -- who has had songs used by ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and KDKA-TV -- another opportunity in addition to songwriting collaborations.

"I think it makes me more marketable," Deasy says. "It's not quite played out, so I can't say for sure, but I think anything like that can open a door since there's so much competition for everything."

In the year 2000, the Recording Industry Association of America reported 942.5 million CDs sold. In 2007, that total was 511.1 million, a staggering decrease of 46 percent.

But music remains popular, as evidenced in its use in film, television and commercials. Live performances -- notably the Dave Matthews Band and the Police at the Post-Gazette Pavilion, and especially the two-day New American Music Union festival at the SouthSide Works -- continue to draw sell-out crowds in Western Pennsylvania.

Where have all the music buyers gone?

The answer, simply, is online. Just as vinyl records, 8-track tapes and cassettes became technological antiquities, the CD is on pace to become an endangered species. Since 2004 (the first year reported), online sales of albums have increased from 4.6 million units to 42.5 million in 2007. Sales of single songs online also have increased, from 139.4 million in 2004 to 809.9 million in 2007.

"The Internet is providing all sorts of opportunities and unique ways to do things," says Jeff Price, the founder of TuneCore, an online digital-music distribution service.

For a flat fee -- Price jokes that it is the cost of "a six-pack and a pizza" -- his company allows musicians to upload their music for distribution to iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon and other online music stores.

"We don't take any of the money from the sale of music," says Price, who formerly ran the music label spinART, which featured artists including Frank Black, John Doe, Richard Thompson and the Pixies.

The Internet, Price thinks, has the advantage of being a democracy. There are no filters, no layers of administration; by uploading songs, musicians, are, in essence, "their own record company," he says.

Some musicians and critics bristle at the idea that anyone with a computer can upload songs for the world to hear. And it is true that there is a lot of dreck and substandard music available.

Price, however, believes that a confluence of emerging revenue streams will continue to make being a musician economically viable. What he calls the old model of "income buckets" -- copyright exploitation, merchandise, live performance -- will be abetted by new and varying revenue streams.

"Having a video viewed on YouTube a million times could get you the opportunity of a TV offer," he says. "I see there being more avenues, more opportunities, for musicians."

The idea of being a touring musician is exciting in concept, if not in practice.

For every band with a luxury tour bus, there are many more who cobble together cross-country tours in vans, pinching pennies, hoping that there's enough money for a few decent meals.

"I'm pretty sure that none of bands I know very well really make any money," says Howes, who worked in radio in Boston before coming to Pittsburgh two years ago. "Especially in (Pittsburgh)."

But Howes does not feel the harsh economic realities of being a rock musician will result in fewer people making music.

"I think if someone has a passion for something and they really want to go for it, that's part of the challenge," she says.

That passion was evident in mid-November at the Canonsburg Public Library. Tom Breiding, whose most recent album, "The Unbroken Circle: Songs of the West Virginia Coalfields" is as much a historical document as a collection of music, performed for a little more than a dozen patrons ranging from senior citizens to elementary school children.

Afterwards, he and Bill Toms, with whom he plays guitar in the band Hard Rain, were heartened by the warm reception the music received from the small audience.

They'd both like to perform in large venues, and be well-compensated for their talents. Both men are married and have families and are in their forties. Breiding is a full-time musician who also creates programs that combine music and history for schools. Toms works full-time at a job that allows him to take time off occasionally to tour.

But there's no question that music is a calling more than it is a career choice.

"The art of it is to share your vision with an audience," Toms says. "If you can make money at it, God bless you. ... I think as we grow older, people like myself and Tom, people that are in our bracket, that's what you're looking for. "

"For me, it's a real lifestyle pursuit," says Breiding. "It's traveling and not just connecting with audiences, but finding kindred souls who are doing what I do for the same reasons I'm doing it. It's not just hanging out with local guitar players, but finding people who do what I do. I've become a better artist for being exposed to those people."

"It's like making a painting and putting it on a wall," Toms says, "and hoping enough people walk by it and can identify with it."

Jeff Price, co-founder of TuneCore, an online music and video distribution company, offers some tips for selling music on the Internet.

• Cover a popular song. Covers sell, to completists who have to have every version of their favorite song or those searching for alternate versions of "America the Beautiful." A cover version of a song often leads to a look at the artist's own music.

• Record holiday-themed music. Whether it's a cover of "White Christmas" or a takeoff on Halloween, music with a link to holidays gets noticed. Again, these songs often lead to more exploration of a musician's work.

• Use keywords that are searchable. A klezmer band might consider calling themselves the "The (Insert Name Here) Klezmer Band." Consider what people are searching for when creating band names.

• Make a video. Video's are not the province of MTV anymore, but an eye-catching inventive video posted on YouTube (or iTunes) provides another way to get noticed.

• Use the blogs. Music blogs, ranging from An Aquarium Drunkard to Gorilla vs. Bear, are increasingly influential in breaking new, unheard bands. Find the ones that most suit your music and submit songs.

• Create an iMix. And iMix is a playlist of songs. Price recommends musicians list three of their own songs, along with the music (approximately nine songs) of similar, popular artists. The iMixes will pop up on the other artist's iTunes pages, allowing a link.

• Create a visually pleasing design for the packaging, whether for the online presentation or physical product. Collaborate with a graphic designer, if necessary, but come up with something that is striking and distinct.

• Tell everybody you know. Send album reviews, playlists, iMixes to friends via the iTunes "Tell a Friend" option.

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