Fair Trade Music PDX

Intelligence is the key to every successful operation.

2010-07-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

.... and, as a musician at ground-zero, we need your help.

To intelligently negotiate with venues and implement Fair Trade Music, we need vital information on their average pay scale, percentage of the door, house fees deducted, etc.

And only you – the working musician – truly knows what a venue pays.

If you haven't already, please take 5 minutes to complete our online survey. It’s completely anonymous, incredibly simple, and is essential to moving Fair Trade Music into the next level of venue implementation.

http://www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/?q=node/275

It’s a cliché because it’s true – WE CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP!

Thank you,

Fair Trade Music PDX

www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/

Fair Trade Music signs first participant: Village Building Convergence event

2010-05-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Fair Trade Music PDX is way stoked to announce their first participant: the ten-day Village Building Convergence, a fundraising event for the neighborhood-transformation-design-architecture-building-community organization City Repair Project.

We’re also way stoked to be working with such an amazing group.

They’ve agreed to pay EVERY musician – not just a few, as it was in the past – at least our minimum 1st tier scale. That they’re paying musicians despite everyone else volunteering their time underscores the Village Building Convergence’s commitment to supporting the artists in a real, rather than merely rhetorical, way.

Fair Trade Music Supporters: Rhythm Traders signs on first

2010-04-27T15:28:00.001-07:00

The main part of any campaign, especially a public relations campaign, is to get the word out. In our case, that means informing club musicians that what they do is worth something more than zero, and informing fans that club musicians are the last to get paid, if at all.

Toward those ends, Fair Trade Music is partnering with local music retailers. We congratulate and welcome Rhythm Traders in Portland as our first official supporter!

Rhythm Traders is one of the nation's premier retailers of traditional and contemporary percussion instruments from all over the world, including the United States.

Musicians themselves, Owner Brad Boynton and the other Rhythm Traders staff didn't hesitate to jump on board - they were all too familiar with the conditions we're working to ameliorate.

As supporters, Rhythm Traders has agreed to keep our stickers, buttons, and brochures on the counter of their giant new NE Portland store, as well as help via their electronic media connections. They're also offering a discount to Fair Trade Music endorsers, who will receive details via email. (you can sign up as an endorser on The Fair Trade Music PDX page)

In exchange, they'll get some fine looking "Official Supporter" stickers for their doors, and additional promotion from Fair Trade Music. Also, In much the same way that it will for live music venues, participation will enhance their public image: The public will know that they support musicians earning a living wage.

JP / FTM

Venue Information Project, Venueology

2010-03-29T00:14:00.001-07:00

Jake Pegg

Fair Trade Music PDX

AFM indie recently announced a new website called Venuology. It's in beta, and currently only has NYC club info, but it looks pretty promising, as does AFM indie.

Venuology is a forum for musicians to post reviews of live music venues. It strikes me as being especially useful for touring bands, and will hopefully be more constructive than craigslist flaming.

Speaking of Craigslist, we've just heard about a related project, the Portland Venue Information Project, or PDX-VIP. Musicians working in Portland are asked to take the survey here.

Other recent news here at FTM-PDX :

The venue agreement is near completion, as is the supporters' agreement for music retailers and the like.
Our internal online contact management system is coming along,
Video PSA's with FAMOUS ARTISTS are in the works, and
Another happy hour is pencilled in for April 13 at Zaytoons, hopefully featuring a music Q & A with someone from the local press. Stay tuned!

Joshua Bell in the Washington Subway

2010-03-08T13:50:00.001-08:00

Jake Pegg
Fair Trade Music

Since this Washington Post story came up again recently at a FTM core group meeting, I decided to look it up to post here. I'd read this article, but hadn't seen the video.

I'm ashamed to say I hadn't seen or heard him play before this. Damn, it's enough to make me forget the years I was force-fed music of this vintage and start liking erudite music again. In fact, i'm almost inspired enough to take the tuba out to the corner of 82nd and powell and see how I do.

The upshot: One of the world's greatest violinists, playing some of the greatest (erudite, Western European) music ever written on an instrument valued at about $3 million, went largely unnoticed. He made $59.

It's not [just] about the money! (Part One)

2010-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

Part I: building a better music scene.
Jake Pegg, Fair Trade Music PDX

I've been talking to a lot of people about the Fair Trade Music campaign. There seems to be a widespread misconception that it's exclusively about money.

It's not hard to see why - most of my friends know that most Portland musicians are literally just scraping by: According to a poll we conducted last year, the average Portland musician makes under $9k a year (the federal poverty level is $12k.)

However, among most of the people I talk to, very few people seem to be aware of why. Part of it, unfortunately, is that our culture doesn't really seem to value live music or musicians as much as it used to, or as much as other cultures do (see the article on Joshua Bell in the DC subway)

The other is that following a federal labor law ruling in the late 70's, an arbitrary, invisible line was drawn between musicians and all other service workers in a club. This line magically absolved club owners of any legal obligation of paying the musicians. So, venues pay the musicians last, if at all.

It's common practice for a club to use the cover charges fans pay to pay for sound and door personnel, as well as an additional 'house cut.' The bands split up what's left. This has even been reported to us, without shame or intent of irony, by venues that say they are only profitable when a band is playing, love music, wouldn't be there without it, and "support the arts." (More on that later.)

All that said, the goals of Fair Trade Music are much broader than simply putting a few more bucks in musicians' pockets. We have reason to believe it can make a better scene with better music and make Portland a premier destination for traveling music lovers.

MAKING BETTER MUSIC: when?!

Musicians feel the time crunch of modern life, perhaps more than anyone. Many musicians work additional jobs to make ends meet, which makes it tough to find time to work on their craft. Full-time jobs pay the bills, but leave almost no time to write music, practice, rehearse, or record. Performing music is a sideline for these musicians; they cannot devote themselves to developing their potential.

This is the music lovers' loss.

Part-time jobs are a little better, but, in Portland, good part-time jobs are very difficult to find. They tend toward low-pay, low-skill "McJobs."

In addition to working 'day' jobs, musicians often work in clubs with no guaranteed wage whatsoever. If they don't want to play for free, they have to put hours into promotion. This involves designing, printing (at their expense,) and putting up hundreds of flyers, managing social networking accounts and email lists, and calling their friends and fans to try and get a decent turnout. This can take 1-5 hours - for each show.

This is time that could be spent making better music, but it's not - it's spent making sure the venue gets customers, for which the musician may or may not see a share of. This is the music lovers' loss.

This promotes a quantity-over-quality approach that does not benefit the music, the music scene, or the music fans. It trades in a long-term, stable build for short term gains.

What would happen if musicians could eke out a minimal living making music, and actually had enough time to practice? It would enable them to make better music! Music lovers win. Music lovers go out to shows more, stay longer, and eat and drink more. Club owners win.

Making a better scene with better music is just one of the reasons we're doing this campaign. We're also trying to raise the level of professionalism among musicians, as well as securing Portland's place not only as THE city for live music, but also its place in history as the first Fair Trade Music city, with others (NYC, San Fran, Nashville) to follow.

Ten quick things you can do in five minutes

2009-10-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

We've had an exciting few months here at Fair Trade Music.

We're working hard to spread the word about our cause.

Here ten quick things you can do in five minutes or less to help us out:

1. Use the "Tell A Friend" tool on our our website at http://www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/ to send information to five friends.

2. Do you believe a venue may be a good fit for our program? We are
now in the early stages of discussions with music venues. Suggest a
venue for participation at

http://www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/?q=contact/

3. We've had some notable press recently. Read a recent article or listen to a radio interview about Fair Trade Music at

http://fairtrademusicpdx.org/?q=press/

If you see something you like, share it via the convenient "Share/Save" button or leave a comment.

4. Sign up as a volunteer at Volunteer@fairtrademusicpdx.org. We have some events coming up and will be reaching out more to our endorsers and list members in the months to come.

5. Send us testimonials. Do you have a gig horror or success story? Send them along to http://www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/?q=contact/.

6. Post a link to http://www.fairtrademusicpdx.org/
on you or your band's webpage. If you send out periodic email
newsletters, don't forget to let your fans know about Fair Trade Music
as a way to support Portland's live music.

7. Friend us on Facebook or Myspace:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6239013585

http://www.myspace.com/fairtrademusicpdx

8. Join our new Meetup group

http://www.meetup.com/Fair-Trade-Music-Campaign-Portland/

9. Visit http://www.afm99.org/ and consider membership in the Union. Your support is critical to keep this campaign moving forward!

10. Mark any of our events on your calendar or include them in your
band's schedule.

We are now enjoying weekly happy hour events at The Standard (14 NE 22nd Ave) every Tuesday, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., so bring your friends, enjoy discounted drinks, and come find out more about the campaign.

Stay tuned for future volunteer opportunities!

Willamette Week Editorial

2009-10-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

There's an editorial in the Willamette Week entitled, "Musicians are Not Teamsters."

Check it out and post a comment!

Crappy Indie Music Blog

2009-10-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

And another write-up on Crappy Indie Music - the Blog.

Thanks, Allison!

Billboard Article on FTM

2009-10-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Check out the article about the campaign on Billboard.biz:

Analysis: Weighing Fair Trade As It Hits Portland Music Scene

Happy Hour!

2009-10-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

Join us for happy hour at The Standard in NE Portland from 4-6pm on Tuesday, October 13th. FTM Steering Committee members will be on hand to answer questions and to get the ball rolling. Meet other musicians and learn more about the campaign!

The Standard

14 NE 22nd Ave

Portland, OR 97232

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 4-6pm

Look for the FTM banner or the group wearing FTM buttons. Hope to see you there!

Willamette Week Article!

2009-10-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

By Amanda Ingram

"The health of Portland’s thriving music scene is evident when you’re waiting in line Saturday night to see your favorite band, clutching a sweaty $5 bill to hand to the doorman.

But not enough of that cover charge goes to the acts, says a group of 200-plus musicians who have organized as the Fair Trade Music movement."

To see the full article, please click HERE.

KBOO Interview

2009-09-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

Tune in to KBOO tonight to hear the FTM campaign interview with Sean Ongley of UN-HERD! The interview airs live at 10pm.

http://kboo.fm/UnHerd

Because Music IS a Day Job!

2009-09-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Find our interview with KBOO Labor Radio HERE!

Music Fest NW Meetup!

2009-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

We'll be handing out FTM brochures at Music Fest NW on Thursday and Friday night!

Thursday, Sept 17th: We'll be meeting at the corner of NW 2nd and Ash at 9pm.

Friday, Sept 18th: We'll be meeting at the corner of SE 9th and Burnside at 9pm.

Please be prompt as the group will be splitting up and moving around! Several members of the FTM Steering Committee will be on hand to answer questions and give conversation starting tips.

Hope to see you there!

FTM Campaign Press Release

2009-09-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

PORTLAND MUSICIANS LAUNCH
“FAIR TRADE MUSIC” CAMPAIGN

Project Seeks to Establish Minimum Pay Guarantees for All Working Musicians

Portland, OR – September 7, 2009 – A coalition of Portland musicians has launched the “Fair Trade Music” campaign, which is seeking to establish minimum pay guarantees for all performing musicians in the Portland area. Co-sponsored by Local 99 of the American Federation of Musicians and the Labor Education and Research Center, the coalition includes union and non-union musicians.

Most music fans assume that 100% of the cover charge goes to the artist but in fact, through extensive deductions for venue expenses like sound staff, door staff, promotional fees, and ‘house fees,’ musicians routinely see their compensation reduced to a tiny fraction of what was brought in. “This is simple,” stated Bruce Fife, President of the Musicians Union, “we think there ought to be a reasonable, minimum compensation for musicians when they work for a business enterprise. And when you, the consumer, pay your $5 or $10 at the door, we want you to know that your money actually makes it to the artists.”

In response to this ongoing problem, the Fair Trade Music coalition has developed a tiered pay scale based on venue type and capacity that adequately compensates musicians while still allowing the house to make a fair profit and eliminates questionable deductions for venue overhead. Fair Trade Music asks the general public to only patronize venues displaying Fair Trade Music window stickers indicating their support and commitment to fairness.

Ryan Biornstad of the band Starf*cker said, “I fully support the Fair Trade Music campaign. It reimburses musicians fairly for their time, both onstage and off – where most of the real work happens. Musicians need to realize that their time and energy is worth something and clubs need to properly appreciate that. You spend a lot of money on equipment and a lot of time writing and recording and then you have to haul your gear to the club and that's just to get paid nothing. That's just the norm right now, but we can change it. I hope all Portland musicians will join the campaign.”

Fair Trade Music is endorsed by over 200 Portland-area bands including such well-known acts as March Fourth, 3 Leg Torso, and Keegan Smith. It is also supported by the Cascade Blues Association, the Portland Songwriters Association and the International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees (Local 28).

The coalition is offering all musicians Fair Trade Music buttons and stickers to display at their gigs in silent solidarity with the campaign. Musicians are encouraged to visit the Fair Trade Music website (www.FairTradeMusicPDX.org) for more info and to register their endorsements. Additionally, the campaign will be hosting regular gatherings to raise awareness and answer questions about the program.

Simply put, “When a band performs for exposure,” said local blues great Norman Sylvester, “they expose themselves to poverty.”

** FAIR TRADE MUSIC – Because Music is a Day Job! **

Be sure to check out the release on Portland Metblog!

2009-09-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Meet us for Happy Hour at the Night Light Lounge in SE Portland from 4-7pm! Meet other musicians and learn more about the campaign. There will be FTM Steering Committee members there as well!

For directions to the Night Light Lounge please visit: http://www.nightlight...

Hope to see you there!

Labor Day Event!

2009-09-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

We'll be having a fun event at Oaks Park in Portland on Labor Day! Event hours are from 10-5. Meet other musicians and learn more about the campaign!

Be sure to look for the Musicians Union banner when you arrive. For detailed directions to the park please visit the Oaks Park website.

Hope to see you there!

How much work goes into ONE of your shows?

2009-08-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

We have a new poll on our Meetup.com page!

How much work goes into ONE of your shows?

Say it's the beginning of the week and you have a show on Saturday night. How long will it take to prepare? Add up all the time it takes to practice, get training, do instrument maintenance, write music, rehearse, talk to the venue, promote the show, drive to the venue, load up/ break down equipment and finally tune or sound check.

Vote on your answer!

FTM is on Meetup

2009-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Please check out our new Meetup page for the campaign!

Get your flair!

2009-08-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Fair Trade Music buttons and stickers have arrived! We have them available at the Musicians Union (325 NE 20th) for you to pick up. Swing on by any time during regular office hours (M-F 9-4). Put a sticker on your case or wear a button to your gigs!

Buttons and stickers are FREE to anyone that wants them - although a small donation is always appreciated.

Thank you!

2009-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to thank everyone that attended our happy hour event at Vendetta yesterday. We had a great turnout with lots of productive conversations.

We sincerely appreciate your support and any feedback that you may have. Don't let the conversations end with the event - we need help spreading the word!

Join us for the Fair Trade Music Happy Hour!

2009-07-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

We're having a fantastic event for Fair Trade Music coming up that you won't want to miss! Come and rub elbows with other cool people and discuss Fair Trade Music. There will be a short presentation and drink specials ($1.50 PBR and Olympia Tall Boys) during Happy Hour and all night long!

You don't need to be a musician to attend - spread the word!

What: Fair Trade Music Happy Hour
When: Tuesday, August 4 from 4 - 6
Where: Vendetta, 4306 N. Williams

The Race to the Bottom

2009-07-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is a recent post from my personal blog. Per Ross Lampert's request I'm also posting it here. Feel free to comment!

-Jennifer

"There's good news and there's not so good news. My name is spreading in Portland as an available and (hopefully...) competent clarinetist. That's great, but unfortunately none of the gigs I've been offered pay at all. Even worse, they are what I've dubbed "warm body gigs," meaning that they don't care how well you play, just that you play.

I was asked to sub for three shows in the pit orchestra of a local musical. Three performances lasting about two hours each. I was pretty excited until I got to "no pay, but it's fun so who cares, right?" I emailed back that I do care, and let her know my fee. I also asked (kindly...not in any way combatively) if the actors and venue staff were also doing it just for fun. No response as of yet....

The current music scene here is a race to the bottom. Venues offer little or no money, musicians play for exposure and fans don't realize what's going on behind the scenes. If you do try to hold out to get paid there are 10 groups that will play your spot for free. The venues get quality music for nothing and the musicians have no leverage to change that. Yet.

I've recently joined the Steering Committee for the newly named, "Fair Trade Music" campaign. There's a three pronged plan of attack for overcoming the current system: 1. Gather endorsements from musicians; 2. Gather support from fans; 3. Sign up venues.

Changing the current culture creates a race to the top. Venues that pay well will have their pick of great bands to choose from. Musicians will have more money to spend at local music retailers in order to update their equipment, take lessons, whatever. Fans will see great bands that compete for shows rather than ones that get added to the slot to fill time and increase the take from the door.

On the classical side of the music scene the impact could be tremendous. Portland can definitely benefit from added competition for playing at venues that pay well. I love community musicians and I completely understand the need to play no matter your skill level. It can be an awkward position, however, when you sit in for a gig that you've practiced for only to find that the skill levels are so varied that the music suffers. Competing for shows at venues will up the game and commitment requirements for musicians while raising the level of music for the audience. Community musicians can still find venues to play in and share their talents without undermining the efforts of professional players to make a living playing music."

Appraisal system completed

2009-07-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Jake Pegg
Fair Trade Music

After literally MONTHS collecting data, playing with spreadsheets, comparing other systems, and discussion, the Fair Trade Music committee last week finished their work on the "Star level system."

This system allows them a fair, concise, and simple way of determining the level of participation (read: pay scale) for a venue in the program.

This tiered system allows recognition for smaller venues (with smaller budgets) to participate, and greater recognition of venues that invest in great music.

It's a simple system based loosely on one created by Musicians' union members in Calgary.

We looked at how it applied to a few dozen Portland venues to make sure it was relevant; it appeared to be, and reasonably so.

New Name!

2009-07-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

The campaign formerly known as "The Fair Pay To Play Campaign" preemptively struck a blow against tangentially tonsilated tonguetwisters by voting to change the name to Fair Trade Music.

This preemptively relinquished the catchy slogan "Fair pay to Play - easier to do than it is to say."

Steering committee members felt that the name made the intention clearer, was easier to say, and removed the association with the infamously antithetical phenomenon known as "pay to play," wherein bands (or deep-pocketed promoters) aren't just paid squat - they're actually expected to pay venues for the privilege of playing.

A nasty shock and Fair Trade improvement goals

2009-06-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Jake Pegg
Fair Trade Music

I played at Mississippi Pizza with my Brazilian group z'Bumba the other night.

Other than two injuries that could have been major, and the fact that we went home with an average of $19 (About $4.80 an hour, including the time we spent promoting the show) both us and the super-fun Papa Coyote had a good time.

As soon as I stepped to the mic to address the audience, I'd gotten as far as "Good evening..." and was stopped short by the nastiest electrical shock I've received in some time.

Now, I've had these before, but they weren't so bad. I didn't think I was going to die, but this was quite painful. I felt like a bad monkey in an experiment.

I'd always heard, but never believed, that this kind of shock could actually kill someone.

However, this web page suggests otherwise:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/safety/index.php

(The article recommends every gigging musician should have a ground tester)

In any case, it reminds me about some of the goals of the Fair Pay to Play campaign - it's not just about making a living wage; it's about creating a better scene.

In addition to:

Allowing musicians more time to write and rehearse, and

making Portland a more attractive destination for talented, working musicians and music fans.

One of the goals of the sponsorship committee is to create partnerships between venues and music retailers to create incentives for clubs to join the campaign, and advertising opportunities for retailers.

Gigging musicians with more money is a good thing for local music retailers, and we're hoping that these partnerships would make it easier for clubs to get better - and safer - sound equipment.

It also occurred to me that if the musician's union had any sway in a club like Mississippi Pizza, it would have been much more likely that the outlets had been tested. I'll admit it's not likely, but the fact remains that those unsafe conditions could have killed me or any of the other hundreds of musicians that play there every month. (Sunny got right back to me right away to say she'd get the owner to look into it.)

I also slipped off the edge of the stage and almost cracked my skull open on it at the end of the show. Fortunately, there weren't even bruises!

Fun with Excel: using minimum wage as a negotiating tool

2009-06-02T20:11:00.001-07:00

Jake Pegg
Fair Trade Music

I was recently offered a show for my seven piece - 1 1/2 hours of music for $50 and "Good Karma."

So, I figured it out with setup/tear down time, travel time and fuel cost. Being a huge dork, I put it into an excel spreadsheet. This made it faster and easier to play with the numbers.

For seven people the $50 would have translated to $2.18 an hour.

Compare their $50 to the $190 that would have paid those musicians Oregon minimum wage for their services.

Incidentally, it also worked out to $26 apiece - pretty crappy pay for doing a show in a city 1/2 an hour away! I don't suggest you use minimum wage for actual bidding, but, rather, as an educational tool. I frequently use a fast-food analogy: "Well, when you go out to eat, do you eat at places that pay their cooks minimum wage?"

Such tools may be useful for people who don't consider music to be a service, who don't consider musicians' services worth compensating, and who consider music to be an amateur, hobbyist pursuit, not the realm of professionals or workers.

These perceptions are products of the steady devaluation musicians and their services have suffered over the last thirty years.

Educating presenters/purchasers about the time costs involved with performing gives them a different perspective, one that I've had good results with- few people try to argue that your time is worth less than minimum wage. I actually convinced a dancer - quite unintentionally - to finance a group of drummers based on this model.

It's a tough place - we practice hard to be able to perform well, and it's never easy to turn down shows. That, however, gets complicated - I'll deal with it in another blog entry..

Mayor's Office: supportive!

2009-05-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

Jake Pegg
Fair Trade Music

Graham has been meeting with several representative of the Mayor's office. It turns out that they have an arts wing that's already working on related projects, and Travel Portland is excited and supportive of the campaign.

That's very good news for us!

We'll be checking back in with them as things continue to formalize on our end.

Travel: My take is that they may well be into this because it would provide a brand that would further enhance Portland's reputation as a premier destination for live music fans. This fits in perfectly with our goal of making Portland the best city for live music in the country!

Related: It's not hard to see why good musicians would want to move to a town where 'guarantee' is not a dirty word!

Hostile Q & A - almost done!

2009-05-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

We are almost done with the 'Hostile Q & A!'

Basically, club owners are naturally a little hesitant about this, and musicians are generally kind of cynical as to whether or not this can work.

Every time we post a Craigslist ad about the campaign, there is a storm - mostly from musicians - about why they think making $4 an hour for providing a service is OK!

The good news is that many or most of these objections are based on myths and misinformation, much of which is throwback to the Reagan Years! Also, since they're pretty much the same objections, over and over, they're utterly predictable.

In fact, Graham fielded a call from a local press agent who called to play 'devils advocate.' basically, every one of his objections was right out of our Q & A, so Graham was able to dispatch with them deftly and efficiently, with an excellent chance to be able to so do again in future.

Time permitting, we'll have it done at this Wednesday's meeting. Let me know if you'd like to see them.

Bidding out-of-town shows: using the star rating system

2009-05-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of guesswork in bidding out-of-town shows.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the multi-tiered 'star system' we've worked up was really helpful in bidding a show the other day.

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise: although it doesn't help in clubs (any more,) the good ol' union scale book helps take a lot of guesswork out of decisions like this, and it even helped me make a few extra bucks at a senior prom last week.

Since the Union book doesn't really work for clubs, we worked up our own: one of the cornerstones of the Fair Pay to Play campaign is a tiered pay scale that reflects the earning potential of clubs. This recognizes clubs who pay musicians better, and it also allows small venues to participate. (see http://wwwfairpaytoplay.com)

Next question: How many stars?

There are a few ways to do this. We are in the final, number-crunching (and reality-checking) stages of testing several calculators. One of them is based on the 'Calgary' style model (so named after a group of AFM musicians who did this before in that city.) Based on that model, I asked the presenter/purchaser/organizer a few questions about the club:

Full bar? Yes. (this means, unless it's tiny, it's at least a two-star)
Capacity? about 150. (it's not tiny.)
Ave food price? (average... upscale bar food)

Sounds like a two-star venue to me. I bid a three-star price for negotiating purposes, and added travel time and expense. The number sounded perfectly reasonable, possibly even doable by the venue! Headache averted.

With any luck, we'll be finishing the star level calculator in the next few weeks.

With a lot more luck and some help, we'll start signing on venues in October.

Recreational music versus provision of a service

2009-04-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

People ask, and even expect me, fairly regularly, to play shows for the pleasure of it.
There is no shortage of craigslist ads asking me if I would like to play for "tips and exposure."

That is perfectly okay with me. I like what I do, love it, in fact. I would also love it if:

- My landlord provided a place to live for me, becuase he loves landlording so much
- My grocer, farmers, delivery drivers, cooks, chefs, etc, fed me because they love growing, farming, driving, etc.
- the 76 station would fill my tank so I can get to gigs, becuase they love making fuel so much.
- my doctors would provide medical care for me becuase they love doctoring so much

And so on... Things cost money! The real question is whether or not the general public considers music to be a profession or a hobby. This, I believe, is tied in to whether or not it is considered a service.

The following distinction has been helpful for me:

Playing whatever music I want in my own house for as long as I want is pleasure. I have no responsibility, and the ratio of music to schlepping is quite high. I can experiment, jam, start and stop whenever I want.

However, playing a show is different.

The balance shifts to a high degree of responsibility and schlepping versus music: I have to pack up, load out, and carry my equipment (which, at various times, could mean a tuba, many drums, basses and amps, etc.,) drive to the show, set up my equipment, and provide high-quality music for a specific duration starting at a specific time.

The music I provide changes the atmosphere of the venue considerably, hopefully for the better, and, although I am not a musical genius, I have been playing for over 25 years, and people seem to enjoy what I do. I bring people to the venues I play.

The music part of it is fun, but it's still a service.

How much time does it take to put on a show?

2009-04-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

We believe that part of the reason for current conditions is that the general public sees musicians performing, which is generally enjoyable.

Although it's probably common knowledge that musicians do practice, rehearse, and learn and write material, very few understand not only how much time that invovles, but also some of the other things involved in putting on a show. Here are a few off the top of my head. I've done my best to figure out how long it would take to do them.

INSTRUMENT:
Learn to play. Take lessons. Pay for lessons. Take out loans to go to music school (I pay about $350 a month on music school loans)

Practice at least 1/2 hour a day (this varies a lot...)

BAND:
rehearse Roughly 3-4 hours per week (this also varies)

DEVELOP PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL: all this pretty much needs to happen before the first show. It's possible to do without, but it's hard to do well.

Write blurb/bio - 1
create web page - 5
create facebook, myspace, twitter, blogger accounts - 2
invite friends to all -3
Develop email list - .5
Develop or procure press list - .5
Get photo taken - 1
Develop press/promo materials - 2 (varies)
Record demo - 3 (varies)

Total: 17 hours, roughly, in promotional startup. Frequently, this is an ongoing thing; people start out with a few hours up front, and just keep nibbling at it over time.

Still, we're 17 hours into it, and not a note has been played, not even in rehearsal!

GET A SHOW:
Network with related bands - 1
Develop club list - .5
Contact clubs - .5
Follow up with clubs - .5
Get a date - .5
Get musicians availabillity and follow up - .5
Find opener - .5

4 hours

SHOW PROMOTION:
Write and press release to media list - 1
Design flyer and handbill- 1
Create small, electronic copy of flyer (secof)
Send flyer and handbill to printer's, pick up 1/2 (+ money)

Add show to myspace 'upcoming'
Create facebook event; invite friends
Send myspace bulletin
post link to facebook event
Make 'secof' default image on both facebook & myspace
send secof and modified press release to email list - .5
All of the above - 1.5
Hang and distribute flyers - 2
Day-of text messages and phone calls - 1

Total promotion: 7 hours

GETTING TO THE SHOW:
Break down, pack up, and load out equipment: .5
Travel to: .5
Load in, setup .5

29 1/2 hours later,not counting practice:
*Play the show.*

Break down, pack up, load out equipment .5
Travel .5
Re-set up equipment in practice space: .5

Thirty one hours, not including rehearsal.

I'll admit readily that these estimates are rough, but not unreasonably so.
Some of the up-front time in promotion would be spread out over time, and not have to be done for each and every show.

The promotion, however, has to be done each time! I'll also admit that it's possible to cut corners, and not do everything on here. I'm just estimating how long it would take to do this kind of thing right.

Let's say you could do all of this in 1/4 of the time. That's still almost eight hours of prep, not counting rehearsal, for a 1-4 hour show.

Survey

2009-04-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

I just launched a survey to help us find a great slogan:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wjUug7ng_2bEgw_2f_2f_2bSBL_2f97A_3d_3d

Please take a few minutes to help out. Thanks!

Welcome to a new era for musicians.

2009-04-22T18:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick note to get things started!

[I'm actually on my way to the regular, Wednesday night steering committee meeting, but felt like this blog was a little lonely]

A QUICK INTRO

A long time ago - until the late seventies - a musician could play seven club dates a month and cover all of their expenses for the month. Musicians were employees of the venue, which took care of the promotions. Clubs built their reputations and clientele on great music and great house bands.

A bizarre loophole in legislation changed all that: Despite providing a service, musicians were now exempt from minimum wage laws of any kind.

Fast forward thirty years. Imagine that service providers in a club - bartender, server, janitor, dishwasher, etc - would be expected to:

- bring their own equipment
- do a majority of the venue's advertising with their own resources
- bring the venue a majority of its customers.
- assume a majority of the financial risk
- go home without pay if the venue isn't well attended

It would be considered unreasonable, even ludicrous for any service provider - except for a musician. In that case, it's not only okay, it's not only expected, but some people, even musicians, adamantly oppose it being any different.

We are going to change that. Musicians are contracted to provide high-quality music for a specific duration: that's a service like any other in a club.

There's far more information at our main web site:
http://www.fairpaytoplay.com