A couple of days ago, my friend Chris Beyond, who is the Co-Producer of Peepshow Menagerie, as well as the Editor/Founder of No-Fi Magazine,gave his commentary on and repost this article by Dave Goldberg from Scribd, about the challenges Musicians/Performers face in the current LA club scene, although many of the things Chris and Dave say hold true in just about any scene in the world and have always been an issue on how musicians/performers are paid/represented properly. Before my journey to my current home of Los Angeles, I was very much active in the subversive Scranton music scene from 2004-2010, of which I championed sonic working-class heroes of the East Coast, such as the Swims, An Albatross, Kid Icarus, And The Moneynotes, Okay Paddy, Marshmellow Staircase, Das Black Milk, etc. It was not unlike Olympia, Washington in the K Records era and they had their own unique venues they could call home to (Cafe Metropolis, Test Patterns, the Bog, etc.), yet I know the population differences between Scranton, PA and Los Angeles, CA (the epicenter of the recording industry), still there is very little difference in how musicians/performers have to be persistent in building a loyal fanbase, investing time and money in their self-promotion sensibly, finding reliable venues, juggling their passions with a day job, and most importantly, making sure they being treated (and compensated fairly) by venues that should do their talent justice.
Some of you have already seen this on my Facebook page, but these views cannot be addressed enough, because I means so much to me that every musician/performer I have ever known, and will know needs to know that they deserve to live a good life whilst they share their talents with the world at large. Repost this, Share this, Comment on this, Plaster fliers of this around your hometown! Know what your rights are. For what it's worth, I've included Chris Beyond's commentary below, in addition to a link for Dave Goldberg's article:
Chris Beyond:
This is a great article about the inherent problems with being a musician in L.A. (and most other big cities, I imagine).
I've always run any of the shows I've done (Music or Burlesque) on the socialist model in that we all share in the profits, because without the talent being brought in to those shows, we wouldn't have a show. I've also had to deal with bands who couldn't bring a crowd and my answer to that (to this day) is a band minimum - -which in itself is pretty minimum...but then adds up after the split. The band we just booked for this last show I did, for example, did pretty well because the show itself did really well. Now while I'm certainly not a communist, if everyone works together towards a common goal, everyone wins out in the end. This includes clubs themselves because I too have seen them come and go. The clubs that didn't get it (cough - Martini Lounge -cough) seemed to always go away.
It makes me more and more thankful that I've always had a great relationship with the clubs I've worked with either as a promoter or being in a band.
But this goes both ways. Bands need to be understanding of the situation they are getting themselves in. It is important to try to bring people in because A) it shows the club that you are willing to work hard to get our names out there and B) you are in business together with the club. Unless they are playing you a flat fee you have to understand that they are also taking a chance on you and you'll have to understand that if they don't see any growth, they have the right to not book you again - even if they are in the wrong. And it's something I hate to say because I love music from all over the spectrum from amazing to amazingly weird and strange, but just because you are a musician, it doesn't mean that you are a GOOD musician. Also working with a jazz band isn't the same as being in a punk rock band. The gigs are totally different. They just are. It doesn't mean that one deserves more money than the other, but the venues tend to have very different money situations going on.
In any case, if you are still reading this, PLEASE check out this very thoughtful article. It has lots of great points and definitely food for thought for everyone.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/78468650/La-Club-Owners
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