Klarinet Archive - Posting 000450.txt from 2002/07
From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Movie Trailer Music
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 12:57:02 -0400
Contractors and Gas Stations don't have to go to
schools for years to become qualified, nor do they
have to spend time outside of the particular job
*preparing* the music. Liken a musician to a doctor or
lawyer. You can find one cheaper than another, but
NEVER just cheap.
Music Unions have had to fight (like other unions) to
get 1. benefits, 2. job security, and 3. money that
isn't ludicrous for the time they spent, so as to make
it worth doing this thing called a music career.
The wage for Union musicians is actually fairly low,
considering the amount of time put in. I played a 3
hour gig, also getting doubling fees for playing 5
instruments, and this was in NY. The amount I got for
those 3 hours (WITH the 15% additional for each of the
4 extra instruments) was only $119 after taxes for *3*
hours, and this WAS union scale. If I had played only
*ONE* instrument, I would have only made $75 for the
gig. I then had to basically not do anything else that
day, to enable myself to play this gig. At a usual 8
hour job, this is a little over $9 take home pay, and
I know I practiced more than the other 5 hours left
out of the 8 hour day. THIS SUCKS!
I don't know why musicians in America are not supposed
to make a real living, but be reduced to be "hobby
players" except for the fact that MOST people in
the US think that musicians are superfluous, and don't
need to be paid for our time.
By the way, not only did the Kirov Orchestra NOT get
Union rate for their playing, they were brought in
under false pretenses, with the managing company
pledging to pay them union rates for the NY jobs. They
were not paid union rates, and they were not paid
residuals, for every time the movie makes money
either. This money is a FAR cry from what a
professional in another field would get for the same
time, and they weren't even paid that small amount.
Until people actually see that musicians aren't just
gas station attendants who don't need to be paid a
good salary because we LIKE our job, the Union
protects us from the schmucks who DO think we
shouldn't be paid enough to survive.
Next time you look for a kitchen contractor, I'll find
you one really cheap. He is a musician who does
kitchen contracting as a hobby. He's not very good,
and only does the kitchen contracting for about 3 or 4
hours a month professionally, but we aren't paying him
for the time he spent getting to where he is, or the
preparation time, are we?
Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - New York City
--- "Robert S. Nalezinski"
<nalezinski@-----.net> wrote:
> And so where is the problem here? If the gas
prices
> at one station are
> too expensive, you look elsewhere. If you are
> having your kitchen
> redone and one contractor is too expensive, you
look
> elsewhere. Why
> shouldn't it be the same for musicians?
>
> Also if you are building a house... And want it
to
> be like all those
> nice houses you see in the Bavarian Alps... Would
> you use Americans to
> build it, or if you have the opportunity, use
some
> visiting Bavarians to
> build it who are also willing to work for less
too.
> Seems very much
> like common sense to me.
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