It seems like a common thread; these days that come up on facebook or in discussions between musicians, venues and festivals. It could also be discussed by graphic designers, writers, photographers and filmmakers.A couple months ago, Dan Israel posted on Facebook about not doing the Stone Arch Festival anymore for the main reason it didn’t pay anything. He was, however, happy he was able to sell some merch and play for a good audience. If you know Dan, he likes to put his opinions out there. He said he was surprised by all the reaction to his post.
I was originally going to dig in and do a research piece and interview those involved setting up the festival and how it all worked etc… After a post on the Riftmagazine.com Facebook page about this topic, heated up it all came down to one comment. Was it worth to you, to play that gig?
Another great point was that the visual artists selling their art have to pay to be there. Of course that is over a few day period, and for plenty of chances to sell and make their money back. The business model of music and art is quite a bit different.
How can we figure out the difference between artists, business and overhead? There are different models for everything. Look at all the blogs and online news that don’t pay anything at all to writers. You can write to promote your book or your blog. Is that worth it?
How about a club or a venue, that doesn’t pay bands? I set up the open mikes for The Coffee Shop Northeast, and we have had a few other performances by local musicians as well. We have paid the artists. Here is why we don’t turn it into a regular venue. Just for having open mike night, we have to pay the performing rights organizations right around $900 a year. If we wanted to charge a cover, that amount would go up. If we served beer and wine that price would go up.
I know of a coffee shop up in Duluth that pays over $2000 per year to those organiations to have live music. Plus the overhead of staff, building, etc… You have to make that money back and more.
There are often circumstances, extra work and costs that people don’t realize. While it would be nice to have, the Stone Arch Festival find a sponsor and pay all the musicians it also has to be a big pain to figure that all out and cut checks, etc…
There are also circumstances for Musicians, where non-payment is not an option. Professional musicians need to get paid, and when you’re paying your backing band, you need more then the merch table will put out.
So what it comes down to it, it is how your run your business. It would be great if we didn’t have to equate art as much with business. Sometimes when you start out, you have to get it out there without getting paid. We all have grandiose visions of ourselves, and it seems easy to think we can bring in a hundred people to see our band. Or I can get hundreds of people a day to read Riftmagazine.com. It’s hard, and as an artist, business or just as a person you have to decide what is worth it. It’s also hard to know what your worth is.
If I told you how much I have spent over the years on Rift, you probably would tell me I am crazy. I have never gotten paid for it, but I have gained some satisfaction and some self-worth out of it. Sometimes for art and passion, return on investment doesn’t always apply. Of course many of you know, and have done the same thing with your art. I guess when we figure it out, and there is money at the end of the day, it will make that much better.
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