Is the London 2012 Olympics exploiting musicians? My thoughts on a recent article in The Telegraph
This blog is about the piece written in the Telegraph a few days ago about the London Olympics non-payment of musicians fiasco.
It is a shame that a musician's worth is questioned or negated in this way.
What us freelance musicians do is a hardcore hustle people.
We choose to do it. Yes, we do. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be paid when we are requested to provide entertainment, unless of course we choose not to be.
I'm not talking about musicians who do not know their worth, or those who are scared to speak up and demand (I say demand because sometimes you have to be firm to heard) a reasonable sum. Nor am I speaking about charitable engagements which are a different matter entirely. I am talking about professionals who have paid their dues and (rightfully) request a reasonable fee when asked to play.
My request to you, music lovers of all ages, is that you show your support to musicians by respecting our work! Buy our music if you like it. Please don't be flippant about not paying that 70p or whatever it costs to download a song. I know you may be used to freebies coming left right and centre but look at it this way, there are levels of musicianship and professionalism and different opinions. If someone wants to give their music away please don't think that we all do. If you are listening to my work, please respect my craft. In order to be the best that I can be, showing you value my work by buying it would be great.
I would also like to ask this: Before you rip a substandard quality audio track, could you at least try to find the download in a good quality first from a store and buy it first>
This makes a huge difference to a musician's life. If you don't think that music is worth paying for, then what do you value? Did you pay for your valued posessions? Did you ever work intensely for a long period of time to achieve excellence? Are you an expert at anything?
Hopefully if you ever do reach a level of expertise in your craft you will then comprehend why you deserve fair pay when contracted to fulfill your duty in your profession.
When I put it this way, tell me honestly, would you work for no payment then?
The following excerpt from the Telegraph article is what inspired me to write this post. See the full blog and link below: "Added to which is a lingering prejudice that what musicians do isn’t really work because they so obviously enjoy themselves. A musician acquaintance of mine was once asked about her job at a party. “I play the cello in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,” she said. “Yes, but what do you do for a living?” came the reply. It’s bad enough for classical musicians but pop musicians have to face another ignorant prejudice, which is that they earn far too much anyway. The truth is that most musicians, apart from salaried orchestral musicians or choral singers, just about scrape by on freelance gigs. The MU reckons that 70 per cent of its members earn less than £20,000 per year from music."
-BEGINNING-
By Ivan Hewett
53 Comments
It is a shame that a musician's worth is questioned or negated in this way.
What us freelance musicians do is a hardcore hustle people.
We choose to do it. Yes, we do. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be paid when we are requested to provide entertainment, unless of course we choose not to be.
I'm not talking about musicians who do not know their worth, or those who are scared to speak up and demand (I say demand because sometimes you have to be firm to heard) a reasonable sum. Nor am I speaking about charitable engagements which are a different matter entirely. I am talking about professionals who have paid their dues and (rightfully) request a reasonable fee when asked to play.
My request to you, music lovers of all ages, is that you show your support to musicians by respecting our work! Buy our music if you like it. Please don't be flippant about not paying that 70p or whatever it costs to download a song. I know you may be used to freebies coming left right and centre but look at it this way, there are levels of musicianship and professionalism and different opinions. If someone wants to give their music away please don't think that we all do. If you are listening to my work, please respect my craft. In order to be the best that I can be, showing you value my work by buying it would be great.
I would also like to ask this: Before you rip a substandard quality audio track, could you at least try to find the download in a good quality first from a store and buy it first>
This makes a huge difference to a musician's life. If you don't think that music is worth paying for, then what do you value? Did you pay for your valued posessions? Did you ever work intensely for a long period of time to achieve excellence? Are you an expert at anything?
Hopefully if you ever do reach a level of expertise in your craft you will then comprehend why you deserve fair pay when contracted to fulfill your duty in your profession.
When I put it this way, tell me honestly, would you work for no payment then?
The following excerpt from the Telegraph article is what inspired me to write this post. See the full blog and link below: "Added to which is a lingering prejudice that what musicians do isn’t really work because they so obviously enjoy themselves. A musician acquaintance of mine was once asked about her job at a party. “I play the cello in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,” she said. “Yes, but what do you do for a living?” came the reply. It’s bad enough for classical musicians but pop musicians have to face another ignorant prejudice, which is that they earn far too much anyway. The truth is that most musicians, apart from salaried orchestral musicians or choral singers, just about scrape by on freelance gigs. The MU reckons that 70 per cent of its members earn less than £20,000 per year from music."
-BEGINNING-
By Ivan Hewett
7:00AM BST 10 Jul 2012
53 Comments
Music is the food of sport, it seems. The organisers of the London 2012 Olympics just can’t get enough of it.
There are five “official songs” for the Games. The opening ceremony will be full of music. And the closing ceremony will, according to the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), “celebrate the fact that music has been one of Britain’s strongest cultural exports over the last 50 years” with a “Symphony of British music”. To judge from the flurry of invitations issued to musicians in the past three months, there isn’t going to be a moment’s peace in the Olympic Village. You’d think the athletes might prefer a bit of quiet.
They might get it, as some musicians in the capital are up in arms with LOCOG. The headline acts have no complaints; they can afford to play gratis and have agreed to do so. And the hundreds of amateurs invited to liven up the Olympic Park are happy too. It’s those in the middle who aren’t: the “working stiffs” who make up the bulk of the music profession, some of whom have been asked to play for nothing.
It all started back in April, when the first grumblings emerged on MySpace and Facebook from musicians who had been asked to “volunteer” to play at the Games and told there was an “across-the-board” policy not to pay musicians. The Musicians’ Union (MU) took up their members’ case. LOCOG has insisted with an air of pained innocence that it is stuck with the agreement with the TUC to pay professionals and offer unpaid gigs only to amateurs.
But every week brings more examples of professionals being offered engagements on amateur terms. Steve Haynes, leader of the professional group Barbican Brass, received an invitation that stated “this is an UNPAID event but chance [sic] to showcase the groups [sic] talents to worlds [sic] press. It would be great if you wanted to take part. It’s a chance to be involved in the Olympics.” Another group were told they could not sell their merchandise or CDs on site, no expenses were payable, and that the fee was £50 per act per hour. This is a worse deal than being offered expenses and no fee.
Added to which is a lingering prejudice that what musicians do isn’t really work because they so obviously enjoy themselves. A musician acquaintance of mine was once asked about her job at a party. “I play the cello in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,” she said. “Yes, but what do you do for a living?” came the reply.
It’s bad enough for classical musicians but pop musicians have to face another ignorant prejudice, which is that they earn far too much anyway. The truth is that most musicians, apart from salaried orchestral musicians or choral singers, just about scrape by on freelance gigs. The MU reckons that 70 per cent of its members earn less than £20,000 per year from music. Inevitably many have other jobs on the side, and this further undermines their status as professionals. And it has to be said that some musicians connive at their own exploitation, accepting beggarly fees because it’s better than no fee at all.
Promoters know all this, and drive a hard bargain. This is understandable in a pub or a jazz club, as these venues struggle to survive themselves. But LOCOG is not a struggling pub or jazz club. It’s a well-funded organisation, which (as it keeps reminding us) has a mission to show the best of Britain to the world. Trying to exploit professional musicians with wheedling invitations to “showcase their talents” is no way to do it.
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Link to the original blog: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/9382467/Is-the-London-2012-Olympics-exploiting-musicians.html
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I invite you to leave a comment this blog below. Let's continue this dialogue.
Thanks for reading
Danelle
It’s bad enough for classical musicians but pop musicians have to face another ignorant prejudice, which is that they earn far too much anyway. The truth is that most musicians, apart from salaried orchestral musicians or choral singers, just about scrape by on freelance gigs. The MU reckons that 70 per cent of its members earn less than £20,000 per year from music. Inevitably many have other jobs on the side, and this further undermines their status as professionals. And it has to be said that some musicians connive at their own exploitation, accepting beggarly fees because it’s better than no fee at all.
Promoters know all this, and drive a hard bargain. This is understandable in a pub or a jazz club, as these venues struggle to survive themselves. But LOCOG is not a struggling pub or jazz club. It’s a well-funded organisation, which (as it keeps reminding us) has a mission to show the best of Britain to the world. Trying to exploit professional musicians with wheedling invitations to “showcase their talents” is no way to do it.
-END-
Link to the original blog: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/9382467/Is-the-London-2012-Olympics-exploiting-musicians.html
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I invite you to leave a comment this blog below. Let's continue this dialogue.
Thanks for reading
Danelle
