Just Pay Me

There’s an old joke that goes like this: An entrepreneur is having a grand opening for his new store and decides that it would be a good idea to have musicians play for it. He phones the local union to see if he can find someone to do it and the union rep asks how much he’s willing to pay. The entrepreneur says, “Oh, I was thinking that they could do it for the exposure,” to which the union rep responds, “Well, you know, musicians have been known to die of exposure.”

What is it about a culture that doesn’t appreciate the arts (specifically music in this case) enough to offer what it would offer any other profession? Why do people assume you’ll play for free, saying things like, “I thought you enjoyed playing music?” Just because I enjoy doing what I’ve trained myself for over 30 years to do, means I’ll do it for free. I have to assume that doctors, lawyers, psychologists and other highly trained people (and musicians fall into that category) enjoy what they do. Why do I have to put up with being paid $80 (union minimum) for three hours of work when the above mentioned make over $300 for the same amount of time?

There’s an easy answer: music (and all the arts) is seen as unnecessary. Still. In the face of evidence that’s been around for years demonstrating how art drives the emerging creative/knowledge-based economies around the world, people retain this attitude.

Here’s some numbers and some rationale supporting the arts as outlined by John Mahon of the Edmonton Arts Council, which includes expenditures of $82.5 million on the Greater Edmonton Region and $116.6 million on the province of Alberta (numbers based on 101 arts and festival organizations that applied for operating grants from the City of Edmonton in 2000 and representing only a portion of the possible economic impact) According to Mahon, “Communities have integrated the arts into their economic development arsenal to achieve a wide range of direct an indirect economic goals:
They leverage human capital and cultural resources to generate economic vitality in under-performing regions through tourism, crafts, and cultural attractions;
They restore and revitalize communities by serving as a centerpiece for downtown redevelopment and cultural renewal;
They improve quality of life, expand the business and tax revenue, and create a positive community image; and
They make communities more attractive to highly desirable, knowledge-based employees thus stimulating new forms of knowledge-intensive production to flourish.”
And from Meric Gertler in a Canadian Policy Research Networks publication:
They contribute to the economy, generating billions of dollars on investment and expenditure on facilities, equipment, hotels, restaurants, tickets, clothing, transportation, tourism and attract business, industry and a skilled labour force.