To answer your question . . . if I were independently wealthy I would still very much enjoy playing music. I just wouldn't play in some of the same venues where I work now.
I would most likely hire three or four of the best sidemen in the world and a couple of real live backup singers. If the occasion demanded I would have a brass and reed section on standby.
I would buy the finest p.a. system that could be bought and hire roadies to haul it around in my tour bus and an engineer to handle the sound and to make live multi-track recordings of every show.
Probably most of my "jobs" would be for nursing home residents. Even though most nursing homes COULD well afford to pay for entertainment, they in fact don't and you will not find a more appreciative, deserving audience anywhere else. I'm not talking about the big-city nursing homes for rich people, I'm talking about all those little ones in small towns around the country where the only entertainment they get is a local lady playing piano and singing hymns. (There's nothing wrong with that either!)
I would also do fund-raiser shows with the proceeds going to deserving charities.
I would still have the best arranger keyboard available at home or to have on call in the back of my $50,000 van, in case I wanted to play for momma and them on Sunday afternoon.
Until all that happens, I'll keep on doing it as I am now, and that doesn't leave much room for freebies.
DonM

If I had the money of Bill Gates I would buy out Yamaha Corporation (in a hostile takeover fashion ) keep all the good employees "toss the bad ones of course" and set about making the necessary changes to give 'my' customers more of what they want in a Keyboard. First off I would give them the wider Key size they've been dreaming about - along with with the best Action Key feel Keys of any of 'my' competitors, even Roland. Money would not be the main motivator for producing my Keyboard products (or Motorcylces either ). To keep my customers happy and loyal to the Yamaha name I would do everything in my power to build the best Keyboards around. And my R&D department would be hard at work fine tuning the OS's of all updatable OS over the internet Keyboards and provide 'regular' updates for them - even when a Product line is discontinued for "5" full years and also supplying parts for discontinued products for "5" years also. And that goes for the Low, Mid, and High End ones. I would have my R&D department buzzing with the development and "implementation" of the latest High Tech innovations finally catching up with the High Tech Computer industries standards and implementations.

>> Were talking Firewire, USB 2.0, Digital I/O's, Hard Disk Streaming, Lighter and Stronger Space Age materials to make Keyboards much more portable and durable, Super Twist LCD technology for the displays, Wireless Networking on the Keyboard - Cool!!, to name just a few. And of course "SOUNDS" would have TOP priority - Yippee!


And if by chance I had a free weekend off I would do the Gig routine and give all the proceeds to charity.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 01-28-2004).]

I graduated from the University of Kentucky as an accountant and took a job as an auditor for a tire company. I HATED IT, and quit after a month. I went back to work playing at the local college bar I had been playing at and went back to graduate school,
completing graduate degrees in marketing and communications.

My decision was to do for a living what I would do for fun. That included music, photography, producing graphics and communications research. I approach each project as a business activity...figuring a NET income after expenses, etc. Getting paid to do what you love is a real high!

I only play free for legit charities, and get a tax deduction in the process. Often, I hire a replacement for my paying job to do so. Part of the reason for doing this is leaders of the charities are often business clients.

Playing for appreciative people and helping to raise money for a good charity is really satisfying.


Russ