A Call To Action: Why We Should All Be Demanding Payment For Performing

Now that we have started yet another year, perhaps you can add one more resolution to your list: demanding payment for your performances. All of you. I know that a lot of you already do, so I suppose this article is not for you.

 No, I’m writing to the as of yet unpaid musicians, or even some of the one’s that may play free because they like a certain place. I see a lot of free gigs happening out there and it’s time for this to stop.

Are You Getting Ripped Off?

Think about it: These venues are using you and they’ve been getting away with it for far too long. What they are telling you is that they can’t afford it but what they are actually saying is that you’re not worth it. And guess what? By going along with it, you are agreeing with their sentiment.

Now, think about the places you normally play. How hard is it to get payment out of them? Now think about the kind of business they do. Are they doing well? Do you frequently see customers? IF, so, they can afford to pay you to entertain their customers. After all, we provide a service for them and bringing them business, they very least they could do, is pay us for that service.  If they are in business, they can afford to pay you. If you need help negotiating, you can read my article series on negotiating a better deal here.

I know a lot of you will say “I don’t do it for money, I do it for the love of performing” or “It’s not about getting paid, it’s about music”. I call Bullshit! Please spare me your hippie mentality. Tell me you would turn down a couple hundred bucks if you could get it; I think not! If it was just about the music, you can make that at home.

Think About the Larger Community

This leads me to my next point; you are making it harder for those of us who rely on music to make a living. Many of us value our services and we need to get paid to perform and bring home a paycheck, so to speak. Believe it or not, there was a time when musicians got paid and on a regular basis, and large sums of money.

 In my article with Dino Madellone, we talked about how getting a seven hundred dollar pay out at the end of the night was not uncommon in the 70’s. The 70’s! Of course, you had to be good, but most of you reading this are. Most of you are at least second tier groups who could potentially have earned five hundred a night. That’s right, many of you struggling to earn three or four hundred a night (like myself) would have done quite well in the ‘good old days’. Why is this not so now?

You Have Value

Well, for one thing, there are far too many of you who are willing to work for free. Maybe you don’t know that you are worth something, but you are. If you have an hour or more worth of material, keep the crowd entertained, you are worth at least three hundred bucks, if not more but you can’t get it because there is always some other group who will undercut you, and there is a group who will undercut them, and so on until the restaurant, coffee house, bar, or whatever, finds the cats who will play for free, just to play in front of people. We need stop undercutting each other and start demanding a payday. If they won’t pay, don’t play.

Create Your Own Scene

If you absolutely have to play in front of people, throw a house party! Remember those? Man, back in the 90’s, we used to have amazing house parties and those house parties had amazing bands. In the 1990’s in Riverside, we had the best house parties with bands like Alien Ant Farm, Applekore, Spiderworks, The Skeletones, Voodoo Glow Skulls, to name but a few. 

Those parties were amazing. We charged five bucks at the door, and that gave access to the kegs and music. The bands got paid (usually) and everyone had a blast. That was before social media. Think of what we could do now, with the advent of Facebook and social media? We could take the business from the “We Don’t Pay” venues and perhaps they would think twice. Also, it would greatly build our audience as well.

Go Where You Are Appreciated

But really, my bigger point is that we have to let the venues know that if they are unwilling to pay performers, we performers can take our act elsewhere and make money. It’s been far too long that we musicians have had to settle, and I’m not buying the ‘In this economy… “argument. I see Starbucks filled everyday with schmucks willing to pay five to seven bucks for a cup of coffee so they damn well can afford to sit and but a few drinks and watch bands, or pay a five dollar cover to see us play.

What I am asking, may seem like pie in the sky, and it probably is, but I am going to ask you all anyways. Learn how to negotiate with these venues. If they don’t want to pay out, don’t play. Yes, it means turning down gigs you yourself have tried to book, but if you can’t get the club or venue to value your art, they don’t care about you. They may tell you something else, but it’s just an excuse to not pay you what they owe you. It requires a certain sacrifice but eventually, you will find a place that will pay you then share that venue with your fellow bands and tell those bands what you were paid so that they can receive the same amount. If we start promoting for those venues and getting those venues more quality acts, it will only help us.

Once we start performing for the select few clubs who will pay and only those clubs, we will start commanding a little more respect but first we have to respect ourselves enough to commit to the premise, as I have done. Once I decided that I would no longer play for nothing, I got hired in a working band and I started getting paying gigs. It can happen but we as a community of professionals or would be professional musicians need to band together and help each other out. It means sacrificing a gig or two, but in the big picture, it means getting paid and I’ll take one or two paying gig over five non-paying gigs in a heartbeat.

Why Pay To Play?

As far as Pay to play, well, that is a joke! The club that comes to mind on that first is the Whiskey A Go-Go in Hollywood. They are going to want you to buy tickets form them and sell them to your fans. This strategy is only worth it if you can land a night with a big name headliner otherwise, forget about it. You will eat that 600 bucks just to play a shitty little place that nobody really goes to anymore.

 Perhaps if you can sell enough tickets to make your money back and some on top, it may be worth it, but in order to make that happen, you need to build a solid following and if you have sixty or more people who will pay ten bucks to see you play, you are beyond the point of having to play places like that without being the headlining spot and getting paid for it as well. Bottom line is that it is a racket, they make a killing off of ignorant bands who just want to add the name to their resume`. Fuck that! Besides if no one played to play at the whiskey anymore, well, they’d either have to start paying flat out or they would have to close shop.

God forbid, they clean the place up and hire good bands that could command an audience and a decent ticket price. Never have I seen a lousy dump like this trade in on their past glory as much as the Whiskey. Instead, we should be focusing on building up our venues around our own hometowns and yes, it may hurt them initially, but after that, they may see an increase in business by hiring quality bands that draw paying customers and we may be able to respect ourselves once again. 

The east coast does it. I could move back out there and play the east coast circuit and get paid to do it because they really value good musicians out there and recognize the value in great performances and that in turn, bring customers in on a regular basis who know they will see a performer that won’t chase them out the door in under five minutes.

Demand Respect, Show Respect

So, don’t let these venues bully you around or get away with their cheap excuses, demand payment or play somewhere that cares about you and their own customers enough to pay you. In return, promote your shows, get active in your community and do your part to draw a crowd and let the venue know you are worth it as well. After all, it’s a two way street right?

Finally, lets share the venues with our fellow bands and help share the wealth, so to speak.

 If you score a good gig that pays, let your friends in the music community know about it and get them on board. This way we can build up the places we like, and ignore the places we don't. Perhaps this will send a clear message to promoters and clubs: pay good bands and you will book good bands. 

For one, you can try The Vault in Redlands, they pay. Call them up and ask for their booking agent. or email them at bookingthevault@gmail.com

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think if we all start standing for one another and the music scene in general, we can improve our collective careers.

I would love to hear your thought on this so please comment below and let’s further the discussion.