Re: Looping venue help

[Bill Fox <billyfox@soundscapes.us>]

Sorry for the late reply but I'm 600 posts behinf on LD...

Chris Sewell wrote:
> Only because we allow it. I say bring back the union.
>
> On Apr 10, 2008, at 4:23 PM, Travis Hartnett wrote:
>> Because live music on the local level doesn't have much monetary 
>> value and supply greatly outstrips demand.
I'm in Local 45 because that's the only way that I would be able to play 
my saxophone in a community concert band.  (Remember high school band?  
Brass, woodwinds, and percussion.)  However, outside of that and the 
professional classical arena (symphony orchestra, et al), the union has 
no power and, it seems, no interest.  The club scene is dismal as a 
result.  The clubs rape musicians and will hire the lowest level of bad 
musicians playing pap drivel to an uneducated crowd that only cares 
about drinking, wriggling their arses, and getting laid.  That is, 
unless they can get a DJ or Karaoke for cheaper.

To those who feel that it's OK to play for free, just remember that when 
you place zero value on the music you make, you also reinforce the 
concept that everyone else's music is worth the same; zero.  You are not 
operating in a vacuum.  What you do affects others and has the potential 
to take away thier choice to place value on not only their own music, 
but on live music and on music in general.  Even if it's only dinner 
(and it had better be a good one that also includes wine or beer to 
boot!), some form of compensation should be required.  With this culture 
of Rip A CD And Share Perfect Copies With Millions, we, as musicians, 
don't need to be doing anything that reinforces the idea that all music 
should be free and that musicians can just go get real jobs if they want 
to eat.  With the economy going in the trash bin and the cost of just 
getting to rehearsals and gigs rising exponentially, we need to act as a 
single community and demand better treatment.

Cheers,

Bill