B-but, it’s for charity? Really, whose?
Comedian supports charity, but says artists need to make a living, too
Working on stage is work.
Lately I’ve had a bit of a writer’s block for this blog. My point of view as a motorcycling entertainer should have a myriad of topics but lately I’ve been stumped.
No need for me to go on and on about road safety, as that has been preached ad nauseum, although it’s a topic I feel strongly about. Still there is something about being lost in your own thoughts inside a helmet, free from commercial radio. Here’s this week’s:
I’d like to talk about charity events, particularly those guilty of exploiting the arts needlessly. Recently I got into a debate with a promoter of a show who was raising funds for a cause. Nothing wrong with that as I think everyone should have a philanthropic side even if it’s just to do a good deed and pay it forward.
The event in question was a high profile event for a charitable cause to raise money for something that happened in a city far away. Again, I have no problem with that. I will not mention the exact details of the event or promoter because that is unfair and sadly, many do exactly what I am about to describe.
The performing artists were asked to donate time to perform their art (in this case music) and on a night that is usually a paid gig night. For many of you, who have the 9 to 5 style job, you may not appreciate how precious a weekend can be to a performer. The weekend is payday for us. Payday is most people’s favourite day and I am no exception.
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My issue was there were many who did make money off the event as well as the charity itself. The venue got the liquor sales; their staff got paid. The promoter was compensated for setting it up. Yet the artists were not monetarily compensated for their time despite the fact they had all trained for years to hone their craft and it was their performance that gave the event a show to sell tickets to. To me this is ethically wrong.
Gas gauges on empty are a good cause too
“But it’s for charity, its for a good cause” I heard back.
That’s great. Will that sentence replace the gas in the tank to get there? Will that sentence buy the artist groceries or pay their rent? Will it help them buy new equipment or instruments needed to keep their artful employment going?
No.
All that sentence does is recreate wetting your pants in a dark suit. You get a warm feeling all over but no one will notice.
“You will get good exposure by being a part of this” is another carrot on a stick often used to convince the artist to wave all fees. Please, I can get a trench coat and strip to my birthday suit and get all the exposure I want.
In my nearly two decades of live performances the number of paid gigs that have resulted from “But it’s for charity, its for a good cause. You will get good exposure …” would leave five unused fingers on any hand used to count them.
Getting free exposure
Sure, we see millionaire stars donating their time for causes but they can afford to do so and have a PR team to spin it into profit at some point. An artist yet to be discovered, living month to month, is gambling that by spending their own money/time that miraculously they may see financial gain but they rarely do.
The larger the charity the bigger this divide can become. Any large, well-known charity group has administrative staff to keep things in order. Do they donate their time? No, of course not. Their time is valuable so they are on salary. Its their job.
So why should a performer be expected to do their portion for free or at a loss? The danger is, if you do it for free once you have set your market value.
The turning point that inspired me to write this, was when the show promoter said “An artist donating an hour of his time for our fundraiser is no different than me heading down to a local soup kitchen for an hour…” Really? Years of practice, to create a great live performance, are the same as walking in and ladling some soup? A chimp can be taught to ladle soup.
This was the most insulting statement of the whole conversation and buzzed angrily in my head like a hornet stuck in my helmet. In short it showed a lack of respect for the hard work the performing artists had put in over the years.
“Hey you’re really good on guitar, I can ladle soup. We should jam sometime!”
I was reminded of a similar dense thinker on one attempt to book a show, at a regular venue, years ago. It was for pay, with no charity involved, but the mindset was similar. The booking venue and I could not agree on a price and they offered such a low-ball figure that it was laughable, not to mention unprofitable, as it would require me to brave winter roads for 3 hours, perform, stay over night, and drive 3 hours back the next day (Only a fool would attempt to drive late at night after being up all day and performing in winter).
His answer was “But you’re only up there for an hour.” Yes, but that is not what you are paying for. You are paying for my time, the equivalent of almost a full working day travelling, plus living expenses while away from home, but mostly you pay for my years of honed performing skills that will ensure your clients are entertained. He did not see it that way.
Our conversation ended, when I suggested, perhaps he should go up and entertain the crowd himself for the night in question. “I can’t do that, I don’t know how to go on stage and perform.” He blathered back, to which I replied “Exactly” and hung up.
Even if he had raised the rate I could sense the show promotion and production would be such low quality it was best to stay home. I had learned to say “NO” and it felt good.
I am not suggesting charity events be boycotted, that would be counter productive to society. What I do wish, is to make people aware how often performers may be asked to do shows for free, without even a honorarium to help cover some of their costs of travel and time at the event.
Yes, it is the choice of the artist to donate their time but I wish show organizers would stop this practice of asking artists to work for free. We do that at open mics where we hone are craft, to make our show more sellable. There is no reason to waste that effort, for no gain, just because an event promoter wishes to use guilt but still expects a professional show.
Paid gigs are after rehearsing (for free) for weeks
Should you find yourself at a fundraiser where performers are donating their show, please support them. Without them the event would just be people in a room staring at each other. Sign up to their fan mail list (if they have one); “Like” their Facebook page, purchase their merchandise (if they have albums or T-shirts for sale) buy them a drink or, better yet, tip them.
If one of the acts really entertained you why not walk up to them, toss them a couple of 20’s and say, “Thanks for doing this, I really enjoyed your show, here, have a lunch on me.”
You have no idea how much that can mean to a performer trying to make it in the crazy business we call Show.
Category: Blogs, Entertainment
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I feel your pain. I have a friend who is a visual artist and this crap is pulled on her and her fellow artists all the time. Fundraisers in which they are supposed to offer works of art, produced by years of training and blood sweat and tears, for some noble cause and for free. What it ends up doing is devaluing their work and lowering the bar for any prospective art buyer. Why should they pay for the art when all they have to do is wait for the next benefit auction.
Daryl,
As always, a great blog to read and very accurate. Being a photographer, I still feel the pain about this issue in the events area.
There’s a cartoon which depicts this entire situation, quite accurately.
Here’s the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6B6OXnyaRk
Keep holding your ground. If the event is getting paid, and making money, then everyone involved should get paid. And of course, a certain percentage of profits go to their cause.
Cheers!
Neil
Well said.
I will never cease to be amazed at the indignation of those who ask us to work for free, when we reply, “Do you?”
It should always be up to the ARTIST to donate their time – to offer to donate it, or to offer work for a reduced fee; it should NEVER bet the purview of those hiring us to presume we will work for no pay. NEVER.
For those reading this who are in charge of organising talent (and photographers, in my case), let it be known the presumption that we will work for no money says a GREAT deal about an organisation and what value they REALLY place on the people they invite to help them with their charity events – and by extension the value the REALLY place on the charity.
In short, your real motivation is showing…
I think this is a topic that has been neglected for too long. I host a number of “fundraisers” every year and I rarely get a break from anyone including caterers, staff, servers, etc. In fact, I usually end up paying overtime as these events go on later into the evening. However, if you even hint that you would like to recover some of the costs thought the proceeds or modify the concept so that it minimizes expenses the recipients get cranky.
Because of this, we have been forced to cut back our philanthropy.
My 2 cents.
For the record I don’t mind helping out but the art of stand-up I have worked on for 18+ years and it is not to be given away for free.
Daryl,
If you are going to persist on being an absolute dick about this you better get your facts straight. There is no promoter for our events…TLB Group is some local people VOLUNTEERS, everything we do is 100% donated and this includes setting up and promoting shows where our entertainers do get paid. 3-4 times per year we do fundraising events, where we do ask the entertainers to donate their time. Let me rephrase the no different than ladling soup for an hour. I am a bookkeeper and business owner that has worked honing my SKILL SET for 22+ years, every event we have done I have tracked all the money, acted as charity contact, organized volunteers, run around picking up donations for auctions, promo items and I have never received a penny for anything I have done for these shows. As I stated before, an artist’s time is no more valuable than mine. For every hour I ask a artist donate to our events , I have donated at least 6. Did the venue make money from our event, yes they did, did the venue spend money on our event , yes they did, perhaps you could suggest a hall that would be willing to donate the use of their building for free for night and we could host the event there and donate every penny of the liquor sales to the charity. Which would create even more work for our volunteers. The use of a bar as a venue is one of convenience for us and the bands.
I am not saying that there are not organizations or venues that use the “showcase” or “fundraiser” idea to line their own pockets, but you obviously have no clue what TLB Group is about, fundraisers are only a small portion of what our group is doing for the live music scene in Calgary. I personally spend most of my weekends shooting promo videos and pictures for bands and I have never once charged for my time , or copies of the videos or pictures. Every expense our group comes across is donated by business’s attached to the music industry , other corporate sponsors or TLB Group members themselves. We have never asked the musicians themselves to donate a single dime and we do everything we can to help them make money. Next time do your research before you attack someone or something. And take your “Holier Than Thou” “I’m better than you because I’m an artist” mentalities and stuff them.
Hey Karl…I read Daryl’s article, and conditionally agreed with some of what he wrote…Then I read your reply, which started out with “If you’re going to persist in being an absolute dick”, and you lost me there, no matter how right you are. The lack of respect for the amount of shit comics have put up with from producers, promoters and agents over the last few decades has left a sour taste with most of us…You want a comedian for your benefit? Fine-pay for the fucking gas, toss a small per diem our way and shut up whining. And you can stuff that and your attitude right up your ass, where it obviously belongs.
David Bruce
604-417-9798
davidbruce45@gmail.com
Don’t get me wrong folks, It’s not that I don’t believe that what Daryl is saying doesn’t happen, we all know that the changing dynamics of the music scene make it virtually impossible for unknown artists to make money but this guy attacked TLB Group and says I insulted him, he insulted us, first by assuming TLB Group as a promoter makes money and then by saying that his time is more valuable than ours. TLB Group main mission is to help revitalize the music scene and allow the artists to make better money. To build a scene that supports local live music so much that every venue in town will be screaming to book the original and cover bands every night of the week. The fundraisers are only one of the vehicles we have to do this. We have only just begun.
All to often I see artists preforming at events and not being compensated properly if at all. Worse is how I see these same people being treated by event organizers where food, drinks were not provided let alone some form of monetary compensation. If organizers took proper care of the preforming artists, VIP treatment, it would only encourage them to do more. A win win for all involved including in our communities.
Super article Daryl.
I spent several years as a Business Instructor….I have spent several years as a Manufacturer/Wholesaler who gave goods away as a Sponsor….and finally ended up in the Art business. I am a member of the Arts & Cultural Committee for my region.
It is standard practice for Artists to “Donate” to charitable causes….but it is and should ONLY be a % portion of their Revenue! They have overhead expenses as does any other business.
The well known “Celebrity” entertainers have Tax Deductions for Charitable Donations which make it advantageous for them to perform rather than pay!! (Donations “in kind”!)
The Event organizers have to determine who is making money (Concessions? Liquor Sales?) and get them to open up their wallets! Keep these performers performing….with food on their tables and a song in their heart….the world needs “The Arts”!!
I would like to speak up in defence of the TLB group. I am an artist and I have donated my time to many of their events because I believe in the causes they are raising money for. And it makes me feel good to be able to help out in a small way. The bands involved are NEVER cajoled or harrassed to play. They hear about an event put on by the TLB group and within minutes they are usually having to turn groups down. Its because the bands also believe in the causes and TLB who has done so much for both the cover and original music scenes here in Calgary thatey are so quick to donate their talents. Maybe you should come out to an event and actually speak with the artists that are participating before you make such a harsh public judgment on the TLB group and their events. Im sure you will be ssurprised. And maybe even enjoy the show. (btw I appologise for the lack of punctuation. My phone is being screwy )