Free Music
I feel as though I should write something meaningful for a change instead of just an update, so here goes.
One thing I've been thinking about a lot at the moment is free performances and whether they're a good thing or a bad thing.
In some ways, I think they're a good thing. It gives people that perhaps don't have large amounts of money available to go out to see live music or a theatre production to actually go out there and see art happening. It also allows people who aren't professional artists to take part.
However, in a lot of ways, free performances are making it really difficult for someone in the UK to earn a living from music and art. My band are constantly struggling with this attitude.
Recently, we signed up to take part in the Free Fringe in Edinburgh. We were set to play in 2 pubs over 3 days. We were asked to pay 40 quid to the festival organisers "towards the costs of maintaining the venues and the online listings". We paid up as we thought that we would be able to sell CDs and pass around a hat at the end of the shows to try and break even. If we earned any more money, we could put it towards the costs we incur moving amps and drum kits around.
A few days ago, the listings for the Free Fringe came out online. Naturally, I checked them to make sure everything was looking ok for our gigs. We knew there was going to be an information section at the bottom of each listing saying a little something about the band. We'd taken some info off our MySpace page and shortened it slightly and e-mailed it to the guy in charge. When I checked, this had been completely discarded and replaced with "Music from Vicaria Ivanova", Evidently the guy had some kind of flare of creative genius and thought he would write something himself. The vocalist and bass player in the band is, however, called Viara Ivanova.
She was, understandably, really pissed off about this and e-mailed the guy and told him in no uncertain terms that it needed changed. He wrote back and told her that she was rude and her attitude didn't match the attitude of the other bands in the program and that we weren't allowed to play any more.
What a pile of shit, This guy evidently thinks it's right for a band to pay out money and take any crap he wants to dish out for the 3privilege" of playing in these pubs. If these places were top notch music venues with loads of good contacts in the audience, playing there would have been a privilege. It's laughable really.
Whenever I've played in Europe, this has never been the case. I've been paid relatively well and looked after in terms of drinks and meals. Over here, people are just trying to get something for nothing, and using the recession as an excuse. Until other musicians start to say "NO" to free gigs, the attitude will spread and ruin music in the UK completely.
One thing I've been thinking about a lot at the moment is free performances and whether they're a good thing or a bad thing.
In some ways, I think they're a good thing. It gives people that perhaps don't have large amounts of money available to go out to see live music or a theatre production to actually go out there and see art happening. It also allows people who aren't professional artists to take part.
However, in a lot of ways, free performances are making it really difficult for someone in the UK to earn a living from music and art. My band are constantly struggling with this attitude.
Recently, we signed up to take part in the Free Fringe in Edinburgh. We were set to play in 2 pubs over 3 days. We were asked to pay 40 quid to the festival organisers "towards the costs of maintaining the venues and the online listings". We paid up as we thought that we would be able to sell CDs and pass around a hat at the end of the shows to try and break even. If we earned any more money, we could put it towards the costs we incur moving amps and drum kits around.
A few days ago, the listings for the Free Fringe came out online. Naturally, I checked them to make sure everything was looking ok for our gigs. We knew there was going to be an information section at the bottom of each listing saying a little something about the band. We'd taken some info off our MySpace page and shortened it slightly and e-mailed it to the guy in charge. When I checked, this had been completely discarded and replaced with "Music from Vicaria Ivanova", Evidently the guy had some kind of flare of creative genius and thought he would write something himself. The vocalist and bass player in the band is, however, called Viara Ivanova.
She was, understandably, really pissed off about this and e-mailed the guy and told him in no uncertain terms that it needed changed. He wrote back and told her that she was rude and her attitude didn't match the attitude of the other bands in the program and that we weren't allowed to play any more.
What a pile of shit, This guy evidently thinks it's right for a band to pay out money and take any crap he wants to dish out for the 3privilege" of playing in these pubs. If these places were top notch music venues with loads of good contacts in the audience, playing there would have been a privilege. It's laughable really.
Whenever I've played in Europe, this has never been the case. I've been paid relatively well and looked after in terms of drinks and meals. Over here, people are just trying to get something for nothing, and using the recession as an excuse. Until other musicians start to say "NO" to free gigs, the attitude will spread and ruin music in the UK completely.