On 2013-08-10 18:03, [email protected] wrote:
. .. nebulous middle between amateur and big-name status.
I have turned down offers simply because the fee wouldn't
... the Names make ... exponentially more than what I get
offered. I wish these organizations might budget for something
between their "legitimate" and "no name" fees that would make
touring at least feasible for people who have not reached the
top tier yet. Chris Dr. Christopher Wilke
This is a problem for non-classical performers as well.
A venue in my neighborhood that routinely hires very expensive
big names had tha gall to ask me and one of my performance groups
to play for $50 each. And this was for a statewide radio broadcast
on
Public Radio. Insulting. One is never appreciated on their home
turf,
unless you have already achieved the "big-name" recognition.
A good strategy is to set a rock-bottom fee that you will not
compromise.
Use that as a negotiation point. If they won't pay what you feel
you're
worth, it's their loss. Play for nothing and be treated like
nothing.
Play for a king's sum, and get treated like a king.
Tom
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_
From: William Samson <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2013 6:44 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness
The point I am making about fees is that any society around
here
at that time (Dundee, Scotland, 1980) has a fixed budget for
performers. The usual practice (even now, I believe) is to use
local amateur performers to fill most of the slots at minimal
expense so that the money can be husbanded to pay for a few big
names, each year, who usually have to travel a considerable
distance (from
London,
for example) to perform. As for equal fees, I think not - Is
Bill Samson worth as much as Nigel North for a gig of equal
duration? Of course not. The annual budget is fixed, so the
bulk of it should go
to
the best performers. Do support bands earn as much as headline
bands
.
. .? I think you'll agree that this is quite different from
selling
a
photograph for publication (which I have also done) at the
standard rate set by the publisher. As with your own situation,
there were no professional early
musicians
living nearby who's gigs we were stealing - Even so, the fun
was
the thing, and if by saving money the organisers were able to
attract somebody really outstanding at another time in the
season, so much
the
better for all concerned.
Bill
From: Geoff Gaherty <[1][email protected]>
To: William Samson <[2][email protected]>
Sent: Friday, 9 August 2013, 22:53
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness
On 09/08/13 4:55 PM, William Samson wrote:
> As amateurs we only accepted travelling expenses and any
hospitality
> that was on offer, but we politely declined any fee. I am of
the > opinion that for an amateur musician accept a fee is to
take what
is
> due to those who depend on performing fees to make a living.
As
well as being an amateur lutenist, I am also an amateur
photographer.
One of my photography teachers made the point that anyone who
sells
a
photograph for publication, amateur or professional, should
expect
the
same fee. By allowing our photographs to sell for less, we are
undercutting the professionals, and depriving them of a
livelihood.
If
it's good enough to publish, it's worth the same fee, no matter
who took it. I myself do a lot of performing for free, but I do
it because it's
fun.
Besides, there are no professional early musicians in my
community,
so
I'm not stealing anyone's gigs, and I am (hopefully) increasing
the audience for early music. Geoff -- Geoff Gaherty Foxmead
Observatory Coldwater, Ontario, Canada
[1][3]http://www.gaherty.ca/
[2][4]http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/ --
References
1. [5]http://www.gaherty.ca/
2. [6]http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/
To get on or off this list see list information at
[7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:[email protected]
2. mailto:[email protected]
3. http://www.gaherty.ca/
4. http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/
5. http://www.gaherty.ca/
In my capacity as a double bass player, I played a couple of gigs with
pianist Buddy Montgomery, the brother of Wes Montgomery. Buddy and I
were discussing the sad state of musician compensation. Buddy's comment
was, "If you'll work for $50, you'll work for $50." I asked him, "Buddy,
if I may ask, what do you get for a gig?" Buddy said,"I don't work for
less than $250," This was over twenty years ago, although, sadly, it
still applies today. I asked him, "How many times a year do you work?"
He said, "I don't know, six or seven."
Gary
6. http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/
7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
Tom Draughon
Heartistry Music
http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html
714 9th Avenue West
Ashland, WI 54806
715-682-9362
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