Dough, Ray, Me

This post picks up on the slightly awkward subject of musicians and money once again. Previously I raised the issue of artists and bands performing for free (just don't, please!) and this time I'd like to share some thoughts regarding gigs which do pay, but either a) take forever to do so or b) surprise you by paying far less than you had possibly imagined upon accepting the gig.

It would be nice to think that the performance end of the music industry was exclusively populated by people who are in it for the love of music above all other things, with money taking second place.

Such people do exist.
They are called musicians.

Thankfully the vast majority of people I deal with in the industry behave ethically and reasonably. If a bandleader is taking the risk on concert dates (almost the only remaining option in the sector) don't expect to be paid 24 hours after the gig. That's just a fact of life. Band leaders are almost all fine. There is only one indivdual from whom I insist on a pro forma payment given his past indescretions, and in fairness if he books me that's just what he does.

Agents can be a problem, but with the access to artists and musicians via the internet we are far better equipped to deal directly with clients without the services of 'Mister Ten Per Cent'. (There was such an individual, a real industry character who was an early pioneer of fake tan, so much so that I used to call him 'Agent Orange')

Or Ms Ninety Per Cent as  the case may be.

Some friends of mine were recently hastily booked by an 'event planner' at the very last minute for a function. It wasn't a regular band and a lot of the set list had to be put together on the fly. This isn't unprecedented. There were ten musicians on stage and they had agreed to a fee of £180 each.

However this event turned out to be a rather grand, upmarket affair and it soon became apparent that the hostess was less than pleased with the quality of the entertainment.
Making no secret of her displeasure to the assembled musicians thus;

"I paid £20,000 for this band".

True story.
You do the math, as they say across the pond.

The negotiating process either as an individual player or the leader of a band  is relatively uncomplicated. The price is discussed, you say yes or no. Sometimes it's reasonable to ask for a higher amount about which more later.

Cash flow is frequently a problem as a freelance musician. All too often I hear tales of woe from players who are kept waiting an excessively long time to get paid for gigs they have done. Try getting 90 days free credit from your dentist sometime why don't you? Fill your shopping trolley at Tesco's, head for the checkout and ask for an invoice which you will pay as and when. We really do put up with a lot don't we?

Is it part of the price we pay for the privilege of doing something we love for a living or are we too cowed by the threat of not being called again by some of the more mendacious employers out there?

Don't be fooled into thinking what an avaricious bunch of mercenaries the freelance musician community is. The days of five decade careers with residual payments on everything are long gone. Today's player is just looking for a reasonable day's pay for a day's work built upon a lifetime of development, practice and experience. That's not to say that there have never been outbreaks of greed however. An in demand session drummer of years past (more renowned for his extraordinarily large nose than anything else) was in the habit of demanding in excess of the Musicians Union agreed recording rates. Guess what happened? He lost work to his competitors.

But with the Union largely ineffective in the prevailing free market economy it's easy for unscrupulous bookers to take advantage. I have no idea of current union approved gig rates but I am certain that they bear little or no resemblance to real world remuneration.

One of the problems we all face is supply and demand. Fear of lack of work results in a distinct reluctance to play hardball with tricky employers. Understandably so, but there are times when enough is enough.

I had a particularly acute cashflow problem back in 1997. For some reason '97 had turned out to be a unusually tough year. Having worked pretty much flat out throughout all of '95 and '96 it had become impossible to keep so many balls in the air so I let one of my two main regular bill-paying gigs go. Then my other primary gig folded quite abruptly. We'd seen it coming, but the guy who was booking us always seemed to come up with a new datesheet at the eleventh hour. This time he didn't so all I was left with were a few deps and the odd 'fifty quid jazzer'. (A fifty quid jazzer was a gig which at the time paid you fifty quid cash in hand to play some music you like with some good musicians who you also like. It has been superseded by the forty and twenty five quid variants. In fact, a recent invitation to go clear across town for £25 was thus politely declined; "I'm sorry, I'm not active in that price range".)

Anyway, around about June I received an offer to spend five weeks doing an extended overseas tour. Very good musicians were involved, it was a genre I particularly enjoy, the money was reasonable and the treatment first class.

A minor digression, during the tour I ran into a whole gang of famous American jazz musicians who were out there doing a package tour. The three great drummers involved were Jeff Hamilton, Terry Clarke and Jake Hanna, who were enduring bum numbing bus rides from city to city whereas we were riding in first class on the Shinkansen. Jazz musicians at the bottom of the food chain yet again.

Anyway, back to the plot. We got a small advance prior to leaving, did the tour and came home.

Then we waited.

Then we waited a little while longer, after which we began to wait some more. Phone calls were exchanged, "You had anything yet?" was the usual opening gambit, "No, nothing mate" was the standard reply.
My short career as a self-employed credit controller was effective and I recommend it to anyone. Call the person concerned at 10:30 am EVERY day until you get paid.
Don't be rude, don't be intimidating, be nice or even better, be boring. Engage them in dull conversation with regular interjections as to the true reason for the call. When you call again tomorrow make it sound as if you haven't spoken to them for weeks.

They'll be so desperate to get rid of you it will always hasten a prompt settlement.

In this instance I got a result within five days.
Of course you don't endear yourself to these people by merely asking for what is rightfully yours.
It didn't surprise me that the people concerned were no longer calling me.

But memories fade and eventually the phone began to ring again.............

I took on a 'hit and run' gig in Europe. Flight and hotel, drums and dinner provided.
£200. Not great but I've done more for less.

This was followed by the offer of two short tours, of three and nine days duration. Based on what I had been paid for the previous trip I said yes, the day came, I drove myself to Gatwick and off I went.

First tour successfully completed, drum feature brought the house down every night.
Nice people, decent band, thank you very much.

About three days before the second, nine day tour, I came home from work one evening and just happened to log in to my bank account. Lo and behold, payment for the three days had arrived.

£550
£550!!! In case you thought that was a typo.

With a flight to catch for the next run of concerts in a little over 48 hours I thought it might be time to enter into a little correspondence.

Here it is reproduced. Feel free to copy, paste and adapt it to your specific circumstances should you ever find yourself in a similar predicament.

Good morning ***,
Thank you for the payment received yesterday.
Whilst I had not discussed a sum with you in advance I would have expected the gigs to be worth no less than the date I did for you in December.
Quite candidly I am frankly horrified and beyond insulted by the truly derisory remuneration that you have seen fit to offer me, especially given that there was no further payment of per diems nor any consideration of my parking costs at Gatwick.
I don't need to remind you of the quality of my work and I bring a great deal to your concerts as evidenced by the audience reaction at all three shows.
I would be most grateful if you would outline exactly what you are intending to pay me for the upcoming concerts in **** in order that I might make a decision as to whether or not I wish to be involved. Should you require a steer as to what I would consider acceptable I will be happy to issue a detailed pro forma invoice and we can pursue matters from there.

It didn't take long for the phone to ring. Hasty renegotiation raised the £550 to £700. After all, imagine the cost and inconvenience of changing the flights had I decided not to do the upcoming tour.

So the moral is keep your head, don't fly off the handle, wait until the ball lands in your court and when it does that's your cue to play hardball.

Suffice to say they haven't rung me since and have almost certainly found somebody who will do it at a lower fee, but that's market forces and people want to work.

Sometimes though there can be a distinct pleasure from watching a bridge burning.

Dough, Ray, Me so to speak.


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