Enough is enough

This is supposed to be a manifesto, but it keeps coming out like a declaration of war.

Maybe I should leave it that way. After all, working musicians have been under one barrage or another, for as long as they have been around. In Elizabethan England, they could have their fingernails pulled out, get thrown in prison, or die for playing the wrong song at the wrong place. Ivan the Terrible of Russia was known to drive his staff through the foot of some unlucky court singer, and if the shrieks of pain didn't sound like music to his ears, he would send the poor guy off to his death. The stuff of revolutions? Not back then. The musicians weren't unionized yet.

But even after the advent of the American Federation of Musicians, new problems sprouted up for those of us who were determined to make a living from our art. Over the last decade or two, the venues and practices of those who would hire musicians took a distinct turn for the worst. Nightclubs that had long paid bands for their set performances now decided to turn the tables and charge the bands to play there. On top of that, they dumped advertising costs on the bands as well - a task that venues used to insist they did themselves. Other businesses and organizations took notice, and asked musicians to perform at their functions for "the exposure", which was just code for "we don't want to pay you, so maybe someone will see you who will". Cultural pockets around the nation, like the one here in Utah, spreads the idea that music must be a labor of love, and not pay. They forgot that "labor" has "pay" sort of implied in the word. Add to all this a deteriorating US economy, which has more wallets snapping shut than ever before, and it turns into a giant headache - maybe even panic - for us who perform and or compose for a living.

Don't get me wrong; free music has a place, and every serious musician I know plays a certain amount of it each year. But they select where and for whom. It's like charity work, up to the artist. It is not merely expected that the artist won't ask for compensation. It is not, and never should be, a mere happy surprise to get paid. Serious musicians put in their time, their toil, their money for training and instruments and maintenance of those instruments, all as preequisites for doing what they do. Their "product" should no more be considered free than a service you'd get from a plumber, a painter or your lawyer.

After hearing the umpteenth story of a band or solo performer getting screwed at a job, or being asked for the enth time to play for free, and seeing fellow musicians merely grumble about it, we decided to launch PAY THE BAND. The focus is to share stories, gather information, spread awareness and change minds in the business community when it comes to fairly compensating working musicians. It's that simple. So if you are a musician, let's hear yours. If you are a music lover, we want your opinions too. If you are just a human with a conscience and sense of fair play, we want your support. If you are a business who wants to know more about this issue, we want to help.

It will take all of us to change the notion that all performers should do it for free. My bills won't all get paid with a mere "thanks to the fiddler".

Will yours?