No gigging musician should feel guilty about turning down unpaid work “opportunities”.
Everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, whether they are a teacher, a plumber, an engineer or a musician.
The Musicians’ Union found that:
- 71% of musicians have been asked to work for free
- 54% are asked to work for “exposure”
- £5,000 is lost per musician per year to free work
99.9% of the time, playing for exposure is crap.
It doesn’t matter if you make all your money from music or it’s just a small amount of your total income.
Will a pub host an event where all the drinks are given out for free, all night, for anyone who comes along? To get good exposure for the venue? Or because it’s for charity? No, I didn’t think so.
Why should there be a different rule for cover bands, tribute acts and original music? Tell them to do one.
Here’s a great flowchart from the Musicians’ Union that can help you decide:
Okay, if it’s an amateur event, not open to gigging musicians. Maybe a talent contest. And you’re not trying to become a professional musician. Then do it, and enjoy it.
And if it’s a charity event, is everyone else working for nothing? Are the bar and security staff getting paid? If you want to support the charity, then ask for a fee, but donate part of it back to the cause.
Charities are a tricky situation, and it is reasonable to request payment or have expenses covered, depending on the circumstances.
If it’s a community event, perhaps hosted in a public place, and the entire event is volunteer-driven, with everyone from organisers to stallholders, sound engineer and vendors all donating their time and resources for free. Then, if you truly believe in the charity and you really want to do it, you may not want to charge.
If it’s a charity event run by a pub or other hospitality venue, on their premises, and the staff are getting paid, and attendees are paying to eat and drink, with money changing hands that’s not all going to the charity. Then the band should get paid too. And at these types of events, they usually do get paid.
Also, if the charity is large, well-known, or raises significant amounts of money, bands should expect some compensation, especially if the event is high-profile and other vendors and service providers are being paid. The bands are usually the main reason that people turn up.
If you’re frequently asked to play at charity events, it can be taxing to regularly perform for free. Particularly when these events are usually in the festival season, so you give up other paid opportunities to play.
If you really want to do charity events for free, perhaps offer to support two charities every year, but if there’s a fair bit of travel involved for band members, ask for some petrol money.
Without the bands, there wouldn’t be an event. Know your worth.
Being a musician is not a hobby, it’s our profession.
What’s your take on it?
