Klarinet Archive - Posting 000647.txt from 1998/02

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: "Professional" vs. "amateur"
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 22:58:32 -0500

On Mon, 16 Feb 1998, Daniel A. Paprocki wrote:

> If you make most of your living by playing, are in the union, and
> meet a certain standard of playing then you are a professional.

The term "professional" can have two different aspects. I think we can
call these the quantitative and the qualitative definitions. The
quantitative one would consider such questions as whether income is
derived from the practice of one's art, how much income, whether one
belongs to professional organizations such as the musicians's union, etc.
The qualitative one would derive from the fact that musicians have come to
regard the term "professional" as an adjective. A person who is referred
to as a professional is one who exhibits skill, a high level of
competence, a professional, business-like attitude, etc. One could
perform at a professional level and in certain circumstances never get
paid for it, or conversely, and even more often, one could get paid even
though he/she did not posess professional-level skills and attributes to
justify the pay received.

I wouldn't put membership in the union too high on the list of what
qualifies one to be called a professional. Quite a few states, I think
possibly about half of them, have what are called "right-to-work" laws.
My state, Indiana, is one of those. In essence, that means that no one
can be forced to join a union in order to work, and no one can be
discriminated against by an employer solely on the basis of either
belonging to or not belonging to a union.

I belonged to the musician's union for probably 25 years or so, but I
can't recall a thing that they ever did for me except charge me annual
dues and work dues, and generally hassle me about everything I ever tried
to do in music. I never heard of any musician who felt that the union was
a direct benefit to them. It wouldn't have to be that way, but the
musicians I know have felt that that's the way it is.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

   
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