I love the simple pleasures in life, but I really dig the bigger ones - like seeing an issue of importance to you catch on so fast with others. That's what's been happening in the scant few days since this blog was launched.
Looks like we've garnered some well-heeled support over at the excellent site GIGDOGGY, a place I'd definitely recommend for musicians of all walks to huddle about the issues that concern them. Props go out to them for writing us a glowing review that you can lay your eyes on here. Oh, and don't forget to mark them as one of your daily blog checks. They is good people.
Thanks also to Irminsul for the recommendation to GIGDOGGY. Keep harpin' on this one (you must get that all the time, sorry!)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
UPDATE: ZooLights! (Hogle Zoo rip off)
I just got a communication from another local musician who agrees on how Hogle Zoo's Zoolights! debases musicians, but from what she tells me, this is just the tip of the iceberg on Hogle Zoo's community relations problems.
This musician's daughter (who was 15) worked at Hogle Zoo and was routinely overworked for her age - in violation of Utah labor laws. On top of that the management left these young girls alone, at night, for extended periods until they could be picked up from work. Apparently calls to management were just ignored. So add labor abuse to roster of Hogle Zoo's problems.
This is still developing so stay tuned...
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This musician's daughter (who was 15) worked at Hogle Zoo and was routinely overworked for her age - in violation of Utah labor laws. On top of that the management left these young girls alone, at night, for extended periods until they could be picked up from work. Apparently calls to management were just ignored. So add labor abuse to roster of Hogle Zoo's problems.
This is still developing so stay tuned...
********
Sunday, October 19, 2008
BIG FREE EXPOSURE SHOW!
OK, this one just showed up in the last couple of days. Here was the post:
http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/muc/883827915.html
FREE EXPOSURE DWNTWN !!!! (SLC DWNTWN)
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A very popular place is going to have a HUGE Haloween party and we need a band. What kind of music do you play? This is NOT for pay, it is for fun. THX
Yeah, thanks. They are having a HUGE Hal(l)oween party at a "very popular place" - so huge and so popular that they cannot afford to pay a band. BUT, they really really want you to play.
Between fits of laughter, I discovered my favorite response to this ad:
Somebody should apply for the gig in question with the intention of flaking on the night of the show. I think it'd be hysterically funny to have a club that was expecting some band to play their enormous Halloween party for free...and then have the management thereof standing around with their dicks in their hands while several hundred people stood around in the silence, sipping their beers and wondering why the fuck they came to such a quiet party. LOL.
You'd have bragging rights as the band that fucked over "the one venue" (whose name we've not been made privy to) by not showing up to play the BIG FREE EXPOSURE SHOW! on Halloween. I'm enough of an asshole that I'd be willing to wear that badge with honor. Yes, you run the risk of getting a bad reputation among club owners in Utah, but since they're all evidently out to fuck musicians (read: us) over to begin with...well...fuck 'em. Do unto others before they have the opportunity to do unto you.
Awesome. It probably won't happen, but it was good to see that other musicians are cluing into the ethical stupidity of these episodes. If you saw this ad, please resist the urge to play it. If you happen upon this "BIG FREE EXPOSURE SHOW" on your Halloween night romps, find the coordinator or host and really give them a real fright - by asking them why they won't do the right thing and pay their musicians.
http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/muc/883827915.html
FREE EXPOSURE DWNTWN !!!! (SLC DWNTWN)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A very popular place is going to have a HUGE Haloween party and we need a band. What kind of music do you play? This is NOT for pay, it is for fun. THX
Yeah, thanks. They are having a HUGE Hal(l)oween party at a "very popular place" - so huge and so popular that they cannot afford to pay a band. BUT, they really really want you to play.
Between fits of laughter, I discovered my favorite response to this ad:
Somebody should apply for the gig in question with the intention of flaking on the night of the show. I think it'd be hysterically funny to have a club that was expecting some band to play their enormous Halloween party for free...and then have the management thereof standing around with their dicks in their hands while several hundred people stood around in the silence, sipping their beers and wondering why the fuck they came to such a quiet party. LOL.
You'd have bragging rights as the band that fucked over "the one venue" (whose name we've not been made privy to) by not showing up to play the BIG FREE EXPOSURE SHOW! on Halloween. I'm enough of an asshole that I'd be willing to wear that badge with honor. Yes, you run the risk of getting a bad reputation among club owners in Utah, but since they're all evidently out to fuck musicians (read: us) over to begin with...well...fuck 'em. Do unto others before they have the opportunity to do unto you.
Awesome. It probably won't happen, but it was good to see that other musicians are cluing into the ethical stupidity of these episodes. If you saw this ad, please resist the urge to play it. If you happen upon this "BIG FREE EXPOSURE SHOW" on your Halloween night romps, find the coordinator or host and really give them a real fright - by asking them why they won't do the right thing and pay their musicians.
Zoolights! - Hogle Zoo's annual musicians' rip off
You like animals? You like Christmas? Sure, who doesn't. It sounds like a wonderful event for all during the holidays, doesn't it? Everyone except for the musicians.
For two years running now, the Hogle Zoo (Salt Lake City, Utah) hosts a holiday event called "ZooLights!"; an evening full of Christmas lights, music and animal exhibits. I first saw something about the event in the "musicians" section of the Salt Lake City craigslisting. "Cool", I thought "this sounds like it would be a nice event to play. So reading the entry, it was clear within ten seconds that Hogle Zoo was asking for the musicians to play (drum roll please) for free. Oh, they laid it on thick, all the talk about what a wonderful exposure opportunity this was, how many CDs you could sell etc etc. But none of it was thick enough to cover the fact that this thing was once again in a begathon for free live music. So I sat down and constructed a polite, respectful but to the point email to Cagney Smullen, the Special Events Assistant who was in charge of this stuff for ZooLights, email addressing my concerns as a musician being petitioned to do what I do for a living, for free. The response was a surprisingly curt, snarky dictum saying that they would not pay for live music and that I didn't have to play for the event if I didn't want to.
Wow.
I wrote her back and tried to be even more specific about the problems, and the ethics (or lack of them) in asking people to play for free at an event that Hogle Zoo was CHARGING the public for. The fee at that time was $6 an adult, $4 for children. I got back another response, completely refusing to address those issues and in even more snotty language declaring that I don't have to play there.
About that time, more musicians piped up about the situation on craigslist. And of course, a smattering of reactionaries who saw nothing wrong with musicians being ripped (that's to be expected - it is craigslist, after all). But the majority easily saw the problem and weighed in.
That was back in 2007. Well, Zoolights! is at it again. They have already advertised for this year's musicians rip off, and whats funny this time around is that no sooner did I dash off a quick protest on the musician's section....along with several others...about the repeat performance than I got this email from Ms. Smullen:
I realize you have an issue with this event, but please bring it up with me and let other people make their own decision. It states right up front that they will not be paid, if they don't want to play, they don't have to participate.
Thank you.
Cagney Smullin
Special Events Assistant
Utah's Hogle Zoo
I see. So, not only should I just shut my trap about Hogle Zoo devaluing the living of working musicians, I should keep my protestations to her desk - where they would be duly ignored. Sweet.
If you would like to give Ms Smullen a piece of your mind about this ludicrous situation under her watch, feel free to contact her at (801) 582-1631 ext 658, or csmullin@hoglezoo.org. If she is nasty to you, don't say I didn't warn you. But, it is very very important that we start pressuring businesses who pull this crap. Get their names out in the light of day.
Call or write as soon as, and as often, as you can.
For two years running now, the Hogle Zoo (Salt Lake City, Utah) hosts a holiday event called "ZooLights!"; an evening full of Christmas lights, music and animal exhibits. I first saw something about the event in the "musicians" section of the Salt Lake City craigslisting. "Cool", I thought "this sounds like it would be a nice event to play. So reading the entry, it was clear within ten seconds that Hogle Zoo was asking for the musicians to play (drum roll please) for free. Oh, they laid it on thick, all the talk about what a wonderful exposure opportunity this was, how many CDs you could sell etc etc. But none of it was thick enough to cover the fact that this thing was once again in a begathon for free live music. So I sat down and constructed a polite, respectful but to the point email to Cagney Smullen, the Special Events Assistant who was in charge of this stuff for ZooLights, email addressing my concerns as a musician being petitioned to do what I do for a living, for free. The response was a surprisingly curt, snarky dictum saying that they would not pay for live music and that I didn't have to play for the event if I didn't want to.
Wow.
I wrote her back and tried to be even more specific about the problems, and the ethics (or lack of them) in asking people to play for free at an event that Hogle Zoo was CHARGING the public for. The fee at that time was $6 an adult, $4 for children. I got back another response, completely refusing to address those issues and in even more snotty language declaring that I don't have to play there.
About that time, more musicians piped up about the situation on craigslist. And of course, a smattering of reactionaries who saw nothing wrong with musicians being ripped (that's to be expected - it is craigslist, after all). But the majority easily saw the problem and weighed in.
That was back in 2007. Well, Zoolights! is at it again. They have already advertised for this year's musicians rip off, and whats funny this time around is that no sooner did I dash off a quick protest on the musician's section....along with several others...about the repeat performance than I got this email from Ms. Smullen:
I realize you have an issue with this event, but please bring it up with me and let other people make their own decision. It states right up front that they will not be paid, if they don't want to play, they don't have to participate.
Thank you.
Cagney Smullin
Special Events Assistant
Utah's Hogle Zoo
I see. So, not only should I just shut my trap about Hogle Zoo devaluing the living of working musicians, I should keep my protestations to her desk - where they would be duly ignored. Sweet.
If you would like to give Ms Smullen a piece of your mind about this ludicrous situation under her watch, feel free to contact her at (801) 582-1631 ext 658, or csmullin@hoglezoo.org. If she is nasty to you, don't say I didn't warn you. But, it is very very important that we start pressuring businesses who pull this crap. Get their names out in the light of day.
Call or write as soon as, and as often, as you can.
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?
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?
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