[TPIN] A fair wage for a job well done

[Jon Trimble]

   Alright, gotta get my 2 cents in here I guess.  Pay or no pay aside, I
find it remarkable how little people know about what goes into the horn and
even music in general.  You pay a Lawyer or Doctor a ton of money.  Why?
Because part-way thru high school he/she thought they might clean up their
act and actually apply themselves for a few years.  Then they go on to
college and such.  For this they get a fair salary I suppose.  Now take the
trumpeter (musician in general I suppose).  We're working pretty much since
our teeth came in.  We're not able to go out as often for fun (gotta
practice). We don't get a day off.  A week away and you HAVE to take the
horn.  We live and breath music from day one.  Constantly  improving each
day to hold onto what we have.  Those of us fortunate enough to make a
living at it need to practice and play every day like there's at least 100
cats waiting for your job.  Why?  Because that's the truth.  The funny thing
I find about all of it is why do so many think it isn't a "real job".  For
the love and honor I can agree with, but I still gotta eat and feed my
family.  Interesting thoughts guys.  I too will occassionally play for free
for a family or someone close.  Whenever people ask me to do it "for the
love" I gotta say sorry.  " I do this for a living".

  Thanks for reading the ramble...:)  Any thoughts are welcome.

Jon Trimble

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Vaxtrpts at aol.com>
To: <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 2:18 AM
Subject: [TPIN] A fair wage for a job well done


>
> In a message dated 7/13/2006 10:02:50 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
> bedgett1 at comcast.net writes:
>
> Professional musicians run
> businesses. It is neither dishonorable  nor immoral to set a
> professional fee for a professional  service.
>
> Musicians who routinely play for free or for only a nominal  fee aid
> the public in its perception that because musicians get an  emotional
> reward from their calling they ought not to be paid, or, at  least,
> ought not to be paid very much. Of the majority of good  professional
> musicians I have known who have quit, the vast majority quit  because
> they lived like paupers while pursuing what they loved. I know  many,
> many freelance musicians who really are miserable people.  Now  I know
> that much of that can be internal. But the difficulty of making a
> good living as a professional musician contributes to that
> irascibilty, in my view.
>
>
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Boy, Bryan, you have said a mouthful here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> While the "market" is what ever the "traffic will bear," and - I do  agree
> that people can charge what they feel their services are worth, giving our
> services away too many times for free, does hurt all of us.  People are
willing
> to pay for every other part of a wedding, funeral, bar mitzvah, party,
etc.
> Why do they feel that the musicians should play for free?  Because we
have
> let them get that impression.  Remember, we actually describe what we  do
as
> "playing."  That is probably our first mistake.  Florists don't  "play"
when
> delivering the flowers.  Caterers don't "play" when preparing  and serving
the
> food.  Ministers don't "play" when officiating at a wedding  or a funeral.
We
> MUST let these people know that (whether a full time  professional or
someone
> with another "day" job, who also plays to supplement  their income), we
are
> running a business and as such, should be paid a fair  wage.
> What we do is really anything BUT playing.  We spend years practicing,
> paying for lessons, paying for music books, studying our profession by
listening
> to countless recordings, and honing our skills.
> And then think of the athletes, who make huge salaries.  They also  work
hard
> at what they do, but people also describe them as "playing" at their
> profession.  Somehow, the public doesn't mind to spend ridiculous amounts
of money
> to see them "play," but thinks that we should do it for free, because  we
> "like" what we do.
> Whether it is Taps, or Closer Walk with Thee, or Amazing Grace or some
other
> favorite tune of the deceased, I think that we should not feel guilty
about
> charging for this service.  Have I ever done it for free?  Yes -  but ONLY
for
> family members or close friends. (And in agreement with another  earlier
post
> --- boy, is it hard to play when you are playing at the funeral of
someone
> that you really cared about!)
> I can also tell you that I have refused to go to the wedding receptions of
> sons and daughters of some very close friends, because they were using a
DJ
> instead of live musicians.  I make it very clear (in a nice way) that
since  I
> make my living performing music, I cannot in good conscience, go to a
> reception or party that hires a DJ and puts live musicians out of work.
> Mike Vax
> PS - and don't get me started about night club owners and managers and how
> they screw musicians right and left!!!!!!
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