A Modest Proposal

[jhatpro]

I've become disgusted with how cheap a lot of the bookers are these days so, with apologies to Jonathan Swift, I'm offering a new, discounted approach to gig getting.

What do you think of this?

Dear ___________:

I’m pleased to announce our new rates effective immediately:

All notes in any scale played at appropriate tempos and volumes - $75 per musician.

Any notes in C and F major only played MF at 120 bpm - $50 per musician.

Whole notes only in the C played MP at 100 bpm - $30 per musician

We don’t play. We just listen to the audience talk about their day - $15 per musician.

Musically yours,

Jim Hatfield
The Dixie Dogs
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[Joshua712]

I’d gladly take $15 to listen to folks talk about their day
_________________
JPS

[Richard III]

Don't you want to play just for the joy of it? Aren't the tips enough?

I have a friend who regularly sits in with a group in the area. They play largely country music and enjoy having a trumpet player to accent their songs. They give him the tip jar at the end of the night. He's happy. But we live in a jazz wasteland. No one wants jazz. Apparently everyone wants country or rock covers done by marginal players and submarginal singers.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.
_________________
Richard

King 1130 Flugabone
King 12C mouthpiece

[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

I 100% empathize with the OP. Music is a tough field because there are a lot of professional folk doing this out of love and passion and not a lot of money, and a lot of the rest of playing for free but barely in tune or on tempo. I know often musicians get stuck with weird hours and bad pay, and a lot of us are grateful to the pro musicians who inspire us, teach us, fix our instruments, etc.

[boog]

Our big band (and our symphonic band) you have to pay to play in...35 bucks per year dues. Sometimes we get a couple of "dues gigs" to help, but due to limited rehearsal time, working up a gig set is frequently hindered by time constraints. When you only practice 2 times a month, it is difficult to sound good at a paying gig, so we concentrate our efforts into putting on a couple of decent free concerts a year. Everybody plays because it is a hobby to them and they enjoy it.

Our lead alto player, a retired college professor and extraordinary studio musician, remarked to me recently that this was the only band he has ever had to pay to play in...but he and his wife (piano) and a lot of fine local musicians donate their time and money to keep the arts alive in this dismal area in which we live, because we don't want to see it die...

The last studio gig I did on trumpet was about 4 years ago, and I was paid $75 to put horn tracks (along with a couple of sax players) on a regional band's album. I get some Easter church gigs and Christmas gigs, but they are getting scarcer. For years I would make $300-$500 dollars playing a local church's Christmas gala, but they have gone to a more "compact" format with recorded musical backing for the singers, and their once-great choir program has sadly diminished.

The local Symphony uses very few local players, most are flown in from other areas, used to be all-local. This area used to have a thriving musical culture. Some of you guys live in areas that this is still true...keep it going, guys. We are trying to do the same.

Fortunately, we have enough folks locally to have a jazz group at all, and we basically play for our own amusement, and we try to play on a pro level. difficult to achieve when you only meet every other week for an hour and a half...and everybody except for 3 or 4 retirees, like myself, has a "day job". A lot of us will only have a few more years to keep it going, right now I have a young college-age guitarist that is coming along nicely, but mostly the band consists of 30-40 year-olds and up.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic and gloomy (I guess I did, somewhat), because we have a lot of fun playing. We just don't get paid much for doing it!

[jhatpro]

I’m realistic enough to realize that doing something that others will do more cheaply or even for free will never pay well. In fact if I wanted to be well paid I would go back to work. But at age 77 that’s not what I want to do or, fortunately, what I need to do.

I would just like to make enough to be able to have a band that includes good musicians who do rely to some extent on what they can earn with their music. And as my original post suggests it frustrates me that clients so often undervalue what our band provides.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[Richard III]

So do you have a major presence on YouTube?

Is the music you are playing current or even pushing boundaries?

What are you doing to set yourself apart from all other bands?

If none of those are true, playing retirement homes for free is what you get. At least in my area. Okay, we could get a once a year gig at a festival for $500. But not regular gigs that pay.

Just some ideas. I've adjusted my band's style so many times I've lost count. I've changed personnel so many times, well, same thing. I'm still looking for the answer.
_________________
Richard

King 1130 Flugabone
King 12C mouthpiece

[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

I think someone here wrote that traditionally all music was performed--if you wanted music you had to have players and many people played (or sang, danced, etc.). That helped me accept my okayness with being a weekend player--it's fun to play and musicality is part of being human.

I also have great admiration for pros. We live in a strange time--ubiquitous, recorded music by thousands of amazing artists has probably killed a lot of audiences (from weddings and festivals to churches to concerts). I know a lot of musicians who say they'd dissuade their kids from being musicians...

[boog]

Perhaps to reiterate the obvious, a few observations:

Playing or singing professionally for a living has some major drawbacks. I have discussed this with former colleagues and teachers, and these are some of the answers I have received:

My college trumpet teacher was a pro trombonist. He could have gotten a job with a name touring band, he was that good. I asked him once what the heck he was doing teaching in a small cow-town college. His reply was that he did not want the lifestyle of touring and the major BS that comes with playing exclusively for a living. So, he was a professor, and a good one.

A colleague that I taught with at a small high school happened to be the choir director there. This lady had a major heavyweight resume in performing, with gigs at the NY Metropolitan, and in Germany... A monster talent as a Mezzo-Soprano. I basically asked her the same thing as above and got the same reply.

My wife's vocal teacher in college had a similar resume. The vocal range of the piano, no kidding! Same answer...

A former trumpet student of mine spent 20+ years as a Navy musician, much of it at Annapolis where he was a co-director of a Jazz-Rock unit. After retirement, he finished his degree and became a HS band director. He has since left that for other better-paying work, with less frustration. Fortunately, he has a military pension...

Only one friend that I gigged with back as a kid is playing exclusive for a living. He has been playing with a major rock act for over a decade now. Saw him 3 or 4 years ago, and he is just happy to be playing, but has no family ties, you know what I mean....

Another college friend, and monster talent, is leaving Las Vegas, where he has lived and worked as a pro musician since the early 90's, mainly because he cannot make a living anymore as a guitarist. And he is excellent at it!

The point is, many people do not want the hassle and uncertainty of relying on their talents as a musician, so they play a lot for free, and get the occasional paying gig. And, they have a day job.

I guess that not much has changed since the 1920's in this respect!

Take this for what it is worth. Just a few observations from decades of musical endeavors, and my experiences are by no means exclusive!

I do not have "the answer", but I have never discouraged any of my students over the years from pursuing a career as a player. However, I have always told them to go into it with eyes wide open.

"That's all I have to say about that"....Forrest Gump

[jhatpro]

Feeling better about things today:

Pumped out 35 emails to potential clients touting our Creole Christmas program and got a couple of good gigs lined up. Even starting to fill our Mardi Gras 2019 dance card.

Added a good lead trumpet playing friend to the band so I can focus on cornet and announcing.

Going to record some short samplers Thursday and get links to prospects.

Not saying woo woo yet but getting close.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[John Mohan]

[Tony Scodwell]

Let me cite an example of how it's done in Reno. The Reno Jazz Orchestra has a director who is an amazing example of not only a great player but an astute businessman. He has generated a following of listeners who often come up with the dough to hire the band for various private events. They actually pay him a modest salary for compensation on his efforts running and organizing the band. They have hired a full time grant writer to take advantage of state money available to the arts, also on salary. The RJO works on the average of four or more gigs a month paying the full scale to the musicians. Understanding that writing grants is a specific talent and professionally running an organized band like this takes a lot of skill, the question is why sit back and play for free when it's possible (still) to maintain your dignity as a professional musician and get proper compensation? Playing for free keeps generating a mind-set amongst non-musicians that music played by good musicians for free is worth exactly that. A good friend who is a principal player in a major orchestra was asked by a prospective wedding employer if his price was "his best price". He answered by asking if they had negotiated the price of flowers or the cake.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

[Didymus]

[Ed Kennedy]

[BraeGrimes]

If all we do is play in the scales, we're not worth it.