yorks5stringer Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 This was on our local Facebook page: Calling all budding musicians and bands! We are running The South-West’s first ever pop up alcohol free bar! This will be a celebration of alcohol free drinks which includes 4 full fridges and 6 taps of draught AF beer and cider, come and see how far AF drinks have come! The event is running for 4 Saturdays from 10th-31st July from 12pm-8pm at Wayside Farm, Evercreech, BA4 6QW and it would be great to have some live music. This has been big outlay for us so can’t pay but can offer you drinks on the house and of course you can drive home! First reply: Sick and tired of young musos being asked to perform not nothing....their teachers didn't provide the lessons for nothing! Organiser reply: Sorry didn’t mean to offend. Just thought it might be nice to offer up an opportunity rather than playing recorded music Don't think the organiser realises if they are playing recorded music they may need a license they buy and we all know the other arguements: expect the organisers are paying themselves something etc etc, why are musicians 'fiscally invisible'? I guess the upside is there won't be drunken idiots climbing on stage or asking you to play 'Sweet Caroline' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Some musicians just like playing to a public, and don't consider it to be a job; they probably like the change from whatever work they do during the week to pay the bills. It's certainly the case for our band; we've never charged for what we play, and do it because we want to. We play rarely (I'm now retired...), and all our gear was bought just for ourselves, whether we play out or not. Not all musicians are professional, and many give a high level of performance. If asked to play for nothing, it's simple enough to just decline or accept, isn't it..? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 I agree with @yorks5stringer about musicians being undervalued on events like this. Good chance the bar staff and security are being paid so why expect the "entertainment" to work for nothing? Frustrating as we like to perform but show your appreciation by not insulting us. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted July 3, 2021 Author Share Posted July 3, 2021 Of course, but if you play for free it creates a precedent. However we did a free gig 3 weeks ago ( I agreed to do it for drinks and food). On the day was told we got our first drink free and that was it. I grudgingly did the gig and bit my tongue at the next rehearsal only to be told we'd got 3 paying gigs from our exposure at the free gig. ( It appeared no-one was paying attention to us and as it was the first outside event in that village for 14 months everyone was just enjoying chatting) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Ah, the old being paid in exposure nonsense... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) It has always been the case, playing music is perceived to be "fun" ( which it is of course) and consequently they balk at the idea of paying you for it..."why pay when they'll do it for nothing" is kind of institutionalised thinking Edited July 3, 2021 by Waddo Soqable 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 If you're not being paid, then its busking. And should be OK with the organisers to have collection buckets for the band. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 21 minutes ago, Bigwan said: Ah, the old being paid in exposure nonsense... I'll do it! I'm several exposures short on my rent this month, so it sounds ideal 😝 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 10 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said: If you're not being paid, then its busking. And should be OK with the organisers to have collection buckets for the band. And get some 'hefty' lookin' mates to circulate tru the audience rattling collection tins.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Waddo Soqable said: And get some 'hefty' lookin' mates to circulate tru the audience rattling collection tins.... Aye, well, it lets the punters see that the organisers aren't paying the band. 👍 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 If it's a general 'if you don't mind not being paid, please come along and play' type thing then fine - it's up to you if you take them up on their offer or not. I do object to events messaging us direct and asking us to play for nothing, but we usualy reply saying that we would love to play for free - will they be supplying a PA, travel expenses and food and drink for the day? I honestly don't think there's any malice or greed behind these requests, most people just have no idea of what's involved in putting a band on. Just before plague, I was a punter at a beer festival where they had a bunch of bands & solo artists playing for free. The festival provided stage but no PA, so each artist was loading in, setting up & soundchecking a seperate PA, plus there was no stage management to make sure bands didn't overrun their set. It was utter facking chaos - the punters spent more time watching bands setting up and breaking down than actually playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Ricky 4000 said: Aye, well, it lets the punters see that the organisers aren't paying the band. 👍 Regrettably tho, they're unlikely to give a monkey's ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky 4000 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Waddo Soqable said: Regrettably tho, they're unlikely to give a monkey's ! You might do well with a sad looking dog lying by the collection tin. 👌 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Its a non-issue, nobody's going to go to a pop-up alcohol free bar. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 minute ago, paul_c2 said: Its a non-issue, nobody's going to go to a pop-up alcohol free bar. Sounds like a right laugh doesn't it? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Never mind not being paid, the real downer is the alcohol free bar! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Not only is it an alcohol free bar. It's an alcohol free bar, In the afternoon......... On a farm! Where do I sign up? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshy Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 I wonder if they are also giving their product away for free? Are the staff/owners working for free too? Bet they aint 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 They could pay the band in alcohol free beer tokens. That’d be ok… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 hour ago, yorks5stringer said: Of course, but if you play for free it creates a precedent. However we did a free gig 3 weeks ago ( I agreed to do it for drinks and food). On the day was told we got our first drink free and that was it. I grudgingly did the gig and bit my tongue at the next rehearsal only to be told we'd got 3 paying gigs from our exposure at the free gig. ( It appeared no-one was paying attention to us and as it was the first outside event in that village for 14 months everyone was just enjoying chatting) The horrible cynic in me is wondering if they'll actually happen, as keeping to promises doesn't seem a high priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) I think it's too easy to see this pay/no pay situation as a binary, black -v- white thing. In my experience, it's anything but. Right now I'm involved with four bands. 1. Junkyard Dogs - a fully commercial pubrock band, playing together for many years. Under normal circumstances we would not accept no-pay gigs. During Covid we volunteered to play two freebies to help certain venues stay in business. Immediately post-Covid we volunteered to play one more freeby simply because we were so rusty after eight months that we'd have been embarrassed to ask for money. Apart from that, all the gigs in our 2021 diary are paid, and more-or-less properly. 2. Damo & The Dynamites - a fully commercial rock'n'roll band, playing together for three years. Under normal circumstances we would not accept no-pay gigs. During Covid we volunteered to play two freebies to help certain venues stay in business. Immediately post-Covid we volunteered to play one more freeby to help a venue with no music budget (yet) but where we expect to get many further paid gigs. Apart from that, all the gigs in our 2021 diary are paid, and more-or-less properly. 3. Soul Seniors - a Lockdown project which has more-or-less survived, but we're a long way from being tight and I'm the only member with any recent gig experience. We've played no gigs at all yet, and we'd jump at the chance of playing a few freebies. Don't much care why they're not paying or what excuse they're giving ... we need some low-stress no-pressure gigs to gel properly, and we'd be playing for nowt because that happens to suit us just now. 4. Fat Walters Band - a band that died a few years ago but suddenly revived last month. The format of the band has changed radically, again I'm the only member with recent gig experience, the repertoire is about 50% different from before, and the choice of material is - frankly - not commercial. Very few venues would be prepared to pay us, and we're far more likely to be offered mid-week gigs for beer money. If the mini-fest in the OP were reachable from here, I'd have no problem in offering the latter two bands. Stealing bread from the mouths of starving musicians? Bollocks. If the organisers have no budget for music and have come right out and said so, then what's the issue? No band is getting paid, and the mini-fest will have to put up with whatever music is available free. In my case, that would be my two weaker bands, neither of whom are actually good enough (right now) to charge a fee anyway. 😂 Edited July 3, 2021 by Happy Jack 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Can the OP post a link? I might want to contribute to the replies.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Ricky 4000 said: You might do well with a sad looking dog lying by the collection tin. 👌 You've done this before haven't you.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Reminds me of a time we agreed to do a charity event for "exposure" (drummers idea). We followed on from the kiddies Balloon Man, he went down better than us, and I killed up my valve rig from the generator. Cue £450 re valve and repair bill. Never again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 We did a free gig for the Spanish Anarchists ( bless 'em) once.. and I ended up nicking a proper Fez from someone, with Arabic writing inside and everything.. Result 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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