When I started this blog, one of our early participants reminded us, and I especially took notice, that we need to praise the people who treat musicians with respect - as well as expose the ones who don't. Happily, we have a recent example.
Sugarhouse Coffee (1045 E. 2100 South) is starting a new project called "Acoustic Cafe", which will spotlight some of the best acoustic musicians in the area. They have not only put some considerable work and money into a good sound system, lights and room for the event, they plan to pay their musicians. To quote their craigslist ad:
The Acoustic Cafe at SugarHouse Coffee is now auditioning musicians to perform on our new stage. Our intention is to create an intimate venue where musicians can perform all genres of music acoustically. All musicians will have their performance showcased with professional lighting, (spotlights) acoustics (sound system) and a managed audience (background noise). We are developing a venue/restaurant that focuses entirely on the musician during their performance and shows them the respect they deserve. If you are interested in performing please call our booking agent at 801-645-0499 or send an email with contact information to sugarhousemusic@inbox.com. Together we can create Salt Lake City's premiere acoustic venue.
I just confirmed that the establishment is not only shaping up to be a paying one, but has the over all goal of bringing good acoustic music to prominence. Please check them out, and be sure and bring your best game. This looks like a win for everybody, and will hopefully serve as a model for other businesses and clients of professional musicians to see how it's supposed to be done.
Kudos to Acoustic Cafe, and thanks for paying the band.
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This is not dissimilar from an angle that I'm working on. I am the managing director for a non-profit arts venue in the Phoenix area that promotes theatre, live music and visual art (among other things, but these are the pillars). The goal is and remains to make art of all kinds accessible to artists and appreciators of art. I'm finding that the music scene is a very difficult one to cultivate in this town specifically.
I'm looking towards a business venture in which I will open up a combination cafe and arts venue (the concert aspect of which will be a 200 capacity room). I have every intention of avoiding many (if not all) of the local promoters as I have watched them collectively deconstruct the music scene in this town to nothing more than a glorified pay to play town. My intention is to have a small arsenal of in-house "promoters" that work with me to establish given shows in which I choose headlining acts and work with them to establish supporting acts. ***Everyone gets paid.*** However, to avoid going broke myself, all artists (including the in-house promoter) will be paid a percentage of the evenings draw. This is not based on how much they drew necessarily (as is the custom with many small to mid-size venues here), but how much the show itself drew.
This is a long explanation to get to my final question! Ultimately, I want to pay bands legitimately to protect myself and seeing as I'm planning to average 2-3 shows per week, I'm thinking independent contracting is the way to go. Opinions? Do you think the average musician will take exception to having to fill out a 1099 to play in my venue? Any advice here would be much appreciated.
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