Art and Music Require Preparation
"Music is a day job." According to a poll we did a few years back, musicians spend about three hours in preparation (not to mention travel, load-in, load-out, setup, teardown, promotion, and marketing) for every hour they spend on stage. Performing is a service that involves preparation and expenses. There's no reason that service should be free.
One Trip!
Unless you're a piccolo or triangle player, remember to figure something in for 'Portage' in your job estimates. At the end of a three hour gig with three additional hours of load in, load out, setup, and tear down, you'll be glad you did.
NEANDERTALLICA!
Early hominid musicians didn't want or need to ask for guaranteed wages. They also didn't have bills to pay! To those musicians who continue to agree to perform for low and no wages, And to those content to complain about the state of things, yet unwilling to take action for positive change, I say:Quit with the knuckle-dragging and evolve!
Yeah Brah, come and "Jam."
Ironically, it tends to only work on drummers. I'm sure this fits in to the "Should I Quit My Band" flow chart somewhere.
We are all somebody
We get this all the time: "Yeah, our band got screwed again last weekend. Fair Trade Music?! Great idea brah. Let me know when you're done fixing things for me." Nope. Musicians are mired in a red sea of societal values. We're not Moses... we're not even Chuck Heston. We're just the folks handing out buckets, and if we want to fix the current zero-minus-expenses, race to the bottom status quo, we all need to start bailing. In other words, we're all somebody. Now do something! You can start by signing up as an endorser here, and please be sure to check 'go to the next level.'
"Supporting" Music
Almost anyone you talk to will say they "support" music. To them, that usually means to go to a show, clap, and smile.However, we live in an age where music is instantly produced by white plastic electronic devices for free. Why would any one pay for that? Musicans are just hobbysts who appear out of nowhere and 'have fun,' right? It's getting more and more difficult to remind people that what musicians do is a service that has value, and they have bills to pay just like everybody else. Part of the campaign's goals is to educate the general public that music takes preparation: a poll we did a few years back indicated that on average, musicians spend four hours preparing for every hour that they're on stage. Many do much, much more.
Should you quit your band?
I have a different set of rules: 1) Are the other musicians similarly committed? 2) Does the band have a coherent vision and goals? 3) Do the other musicians insist on playing crappy, no-pay gigs? if 1 or 2 are 'no' or 3 is yes, I leave. Maybe that's 'cause I'm a decent drummer!
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Fair Trade Music Logo
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Playing at Pharaohs mic salute
Perhaps our first international/transatlantic mic salute - Playing at Pharaohs from Glasgow.
Exposure Kills #2
Remember folks, Exposure can kill or find you on the wrong side of the law! From "Four things every musician's gotta know:" #4: Exposure kills.It's no coincidence that the overused term 'Exposure' refers to what kills you in bad weather - it's generally used to get artists to work for low or no compensation, under the shady premise that there's a chance someone might see them that might give them some real work, or, worse yet, "Make them famous." Booking agents will freely tout their venue's excellent exposure opportunity, yet tell you (in the same breath even!) that there's no built-in draw. They don't even realize they're suggesting you'll get new fans, plus famous, by performing to an audience that you bring.
For The Birds
from 'four things every musician's gotta know' #4: “Exposure” kills.It’s no coincidence that this term refers to what kills you in bad weather. Although genuinely valuable exposure opportunities show up, they’re quite rare. “Exposure” is almost always offered as a feeble excuse to try to get naive performers to work for low or no compensation, based on the mere chance of an intangible commodity of dubious real value. The term is so common that booking agents will tout their venue’s excellent exposure opportunity, yet tell you (in the same breath!) that the place has no built in draw and you'll have to bring your own following.
Bands are small businesses -- name your brand carefully!
Look, Fair Trade Music is about helping musicians make better music by getting them at least a minimum wage. We're not here to save these miserable turds! Raising the minimum to something above zero minus expenses does not preclude a meritocracy -- It's still up to venues to hire acts they think will make good business partners. Bands still have to do half of the promotion and entertain the crowd, keeping them there dancing, drinking, and wanting to come back. If the band's good enough to hire, they're good enough to get a minmium wage. If they do their job well, they're worth more.
FTM kitteh
Its one thing that the person checking ID's and charging cover at the door gets a better guarantee - and is often paid better -- than the musicians. It's insult to injury that the musicians, who have zero guarantee themselves, usually have to pay the sound and door people out of their own "gate," meaning money fans have paid to see THEM, not the door clerk. The final insult to injury to injury to injury is that it is the musicians, not the sound or door staff, have done a lions share of the advertising, bringing in most of the income for the whole club, are the last to be paid, and may end up owing money at the end of the night. Kitteh play house koncert next time.
