Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

The last post (spam IMO) from a benefit promoter got deleted after 2 replies.
GOOD!

Here is my reply I was going to post but it got deleted before I finished it:

I'm sorry JW but this just runs up my crawl; When I was a concert promoter EVERY act got paid!
If you were the opener and only did 7 songs you got $50. And I didn't give a sh*t if it was your very first gig... and yes that was a regular occurrence.
Now the promoters only seem to do benefit concerts (in most states you only have to give 15% of the profits to the charity) and they want EVERYONE to play for free.
SCREW THAT!

The only reason they don't want to pay the talent is to pocket ALL of the profits rather than sharing them with the SOLE REASON most everyone is there in the first place.
As a former producer and promoter, as well as an artist it's just down right dirty to me.

If you want to make money off of musicians than share some of it with them, or you can kiss my fukn ass!!!

Hayden Im in complete agreement with you and I dont play for free, unless its some benefit situation that Im aware of.

However for many unknown people that want thier music heard, they may not get a gig unless its free.

I know you got burned on one of these deals, but many on this site have never had a real gig so they want whatever they can get, just to do thier thing.

I realize most people arent capitalist like me, they do it for the love of the music, and way back there in the dinosaur ages I did too!

Good Luck Hayden and have a Great Day!

True JW that first gig is a dream to a new band. I recommend doing a friends party for a first one.
As far as benefit concerts go, let em share the profits. I didn't mind making only a couple grand on a show rather than screwing the acts to make 5k instead. But then I'm not a greedy bastard willing to capitalize on the dreams of artists for my own personal gain.
I also never had a problem getting talent for shows. They sought me out

I still do it for the love, but not for free

I have done a few charity things for free but they were for somebody that I knew personally and all the moneys raised went to the cause. A recent one, concert, dance and auction, for a person who had terminal cancer raised 57 grand for the guy and his family . He has since passed. I got to see what kind of impact it made on this family and if I had made 50 bucks I would have giving it back to the cause and maybe a bit more if I could afford it. But I agree wholeheatedly that a promoter shouldn't ask anyone to come play for free. No matter what his cause is. But doing something to help somebody who really needs help is a very honorable thing IMHO .

I voted for exposure. I would have to know that the money was really going into charity, and not some meiser's pockets.

For the troops? Yeah!
Cancer research? Yeah!
Environment? Yeah!
More homeless shelters? Yeah!
Education? Yeah!
Feeding the starving children and families? Yeah!

Anything that the government is funding? Hell no!

"IF" it's all going to someone or a group in need then sure I'll toss in and perform for free........ but just because it's going to cancer or "the troops" doesn't mean anything if the producer is pocketing 85% of the profits.
In most cases that's what happens with benefit concerts. It's not a new gig and producers have been milking it for years.
"IF" they pay the performers then I don't have a problem with that either... it's their conscience not mine.

Thanks JW, you too!

so I'm curious - those who vote never, do you believe open-source software should be made illegal?

huh?
We're talking "live performances" here SJ.

Hayden King wrote:huh?
We're talking "live performances" here SJ.

I guess I'm missing a distinction there. I'm not in the "never" camp myself, and would check all 3 of the above if I could

I don't get much of a wage but the retirement benefits are awesome.

I think it depends a lot on the size and scope of the benefit.

If it is a large venue raking in thousands of dollars then the acts should be compensated, then if they decide to chuck in some or all to the benefit that is up to them.

If it's like the benefits we have played for local guys hurt in auto accidents or suffering with cancer we all reached into our meager pockets as it could just as easily be one of us.

If it is a true benefit in which no one is charging for venue etc.
IE totally no profit. IMO you'd be a sh*t bird to want to make a buck when everyone else is making a sacrifice.

I voted for the benefit. But I have to place many of the same caveats on it that others do. A benefit - to me - benefits a worthy cause, not the bank account of the promoter.

Also, I think there should be a rule in the band for benefits. In my band, each member is allowed one benefit per year. After that, any benefits need to be voted on by the band. I'll vote 'yes' for Walk For Life, but I'll vote 'no' for vague-cause-of-the-week-with-ill-defined-goals. Oh, and the vote must be unanimous. Not majority.

Benefits I would support = Free

Benefits I wouldn't = No show

I have done several benefits for free.

One was to stop a landfill 4 miles from my home, that went in anyway, bringing in most of it's trash & income from NJ...

One was for a battered women's shelter.

The rest, as best as I can recall, were all for local ppl in dire straits.

Yeah, I try to do at least one a year, though I just missed one for a local muso that I have a lot of respect for, but I simply couldn't afford to go. Things have been pretty damned tight around here, but I feel really bad about missing that one.

aiki_mcr wrote:I voted for the benefit. But I have to place many of the same caveats on it that others do. A benefit - to me - benefits a worthy cause, not the bank account of the promoter.

Also, I think there should be a rule in the band for benefits. In my band, each member is allowed one benefit per year. After that, any benefits need to be voted on by the band. I'll vote 'yes' for Walk For Life, but I'll vote 'no' for vague-cause-of-the-week-with-ill-defined-goals. Oh, and the vote must be unanimous. Not majority.

Thats the same situation for our band. We have done some big ones where we bring the whole stage setup pa lights and get 4-5 bands and handle it. The last couple we did were simple show up with a guitar and amp and play for an hour for whatever cause.

Our band is like your it has to be a group decision, Im not going to say unanimous cause we did one last year that our drummer didnt take part in but we felt close to the cause.

I guess Hayden on second thought if its a regular festival every year for soem big cause and there is lots of money being made I would want to be paid.

If your performance is helping someone else make money - and it's not for a charity you approve of: get paid.
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