Help us fight for a sustainable music business!
Fair Trade Music connects musicians, venues, and fans to promote a healthy music business—one that pays musicians fair wages.
We certify that venues have “Fair Trade Music” when they pay wages and benefits that are fair to both the musicians and the venue — that respect the livelihood of the performers, yet don’t put the venue out of business.
Part I: Building a Better Music Scene
Jake Pegg, Fair Trade Music PDX
I’ve been talking to a lot of people about the Fair Trade Music campaign. There seems to be a widespread misconception that it’s exclusively about money.
It’s not hard to see why – most of my friends know that most Portland musicians are literally just scraping by: According to a poll we conducted last year, the average Portland musician makes under $9k a year (the federal poverty level is $12k.)
However, among most of the people I talk to, very few people seem to be aware of why. Part of it, unfortunately, is that our culture doesn’t really seem to value live music or musicians as much as it used to, or as much as other cultures do (see the article on Joshua Bell in the DC subway)
The other is that following a federal labor law ruling in the late 70’s, an arbitrary, invisible line was drawn between musicians and all other service workers in a club. This line magically absolved club owners of any legal obligation of paying the musicians. So, venues pay the musicians last, if at all.
It’s common practice for a club to use the cover charges fans pay to pay for sound and door personnel, as well as an additional ‘house cut.’ The bands split up what’s left. This has even been reported to us, without shame or intent of irony, by venues that say they are only profitable when a band is playing, love music, wouldn’t be there without it, and “support the arts.” (More on that later.)
All that said, the goals of Fair Trade Music are much broader than simply putting a few more bucks in musicians’ pockets. We have reason to believe it can make a better scene with better music and make Portland a premier destination for traveling music lovers.
MAKING BETTER MUSIC: when?!
Musicians feel the time crunch of modern life, perhaps more than anyone. Many musicians work additional jobs to make ends meet, which makes it tough to find time to work on their craft. Full-time jobs pay the bills, but leave almost no time to write music, practice, rehearse, or record. Performing music is a sideline for these musicians; they cannot devote themselves to developing their potential.
This is the music lovers’ loss.
Part-time jobs are a little better, but, in Portland, good part-time jobs are very difficult to find. They tend toward low-pay, low-skill “McJobs.”
In addition to working ‘day’ jobs, musicians often work in clubs with no guaranteed wage whatsoever. If they don’t want to play for free, they have to put hours into promotion. This involves designing, printing (at their expense,) and putting up hundreds of flyers, managing social networking accounts and email lists, and calling their friends and fans to try and get a decent turnout. This can take 1-5 hours – for each show.
This is time that could be spent making better music, but it’s not – it’s spent making sure the venue gets customers, for which the musician may or may not see a share of. This is the music lovers’ loss.
This promotes a quantity-over-quality approach that does not benefit the music, the music scene, or the music fans. It trades in a long-term, stable build for short term gains.
What would happen if musicians could eke out a minimal living making music, and actually had enough time to practice? It would enable them to make better music! Music lovers win. Music lovers go out to shows more, stay longer, and eat and drink more. Club owners win.
Making a better scene with better music is just one of the reasons we’re doing this campaign. We’re also trying to raise the level of professionalism among musicians, as well as securing Portland’s place not only as THE city for live music, but also its place in history as the first Fair Trade Music city, with others (NYC, San Fran, Nashville) to follow.
From the Nashville Scene:
Hey kids, ever play a show at a club? Then you know how the door money always goes to the sound guy before it goes to you. What if it wasn’t like that? Well, funny you should ask, because Portland, Oregon’s music scene says it doesn’t have to be. In an interesting article from a local alt-weekly, writer Amanda Ingram lays out the deets:
Many folks in Portland’s music community think that, just like coffee farmers’ wages, musicians should be able to demand a fair wage for their performances. But what do the club owners think?
Project Seeks to Establish Minimum Pay Guarantees for All Working Musicians
For Immediate Release
Portland, OR – September 7, 2009 – A coalition of Portland musicians has launched the “Fair Trade Music” campaign, which is seeking to establish minimum pay guarantees for all performing musicians in the Portland area. Co-sponsored by Local 99 of the American Federation of Musicians and the Labor Education and Research Center, the coalition includes union and non-union musicians.
Most music fans assume that 100% of the cover charge goes to the artist but in fact, through extensive deductions for venue expenses like sound staff, door staff, promotional fees, and ‘house fees,’ musicians routinely see their compensation reduced to a tiny fraction of what was brought in. “This is simple,” stated Bruce Fife, President of the Musicians Union, “we think there ought to be a reasonable, minimum compensation for musicians when they work for a business enterprise. And when you, the consumer, pay your $5 or $10 at the door, we want you to know that your money actually makes it to the artists.”
In response to this ongoing problem, the Fair Trade Music coalition has developed a tiered pay scale based on venue type and capacity that adequately compensates musicians while still allowing the house to make a fair profit and eliminates questionable deductions for venue overhead. Fair Trade Music asks the general public to only patronize venues displaying Fair Trade Music window stickers indicating their support and commitment to fairness.
Ryan Biornstad of the band Starf*cker said, “I fully support the Fair Trade Music campaign. It reimburses musicians fairly for their time, both onstage and off – where most of the real work happens. Musicians need to realize that their time and energy is worth something and clubs need to properly appreciate that. You spend a lot of money on equipment and a lot of time writing and recording and then you have to haul your gear to the club and that’s just to get paid nothing. That’s just the norm right now, but we can change it. I hope all Portland musicians will join the campaign.”
Fair Trade Music is endorsed by over 200 Portland-area bands including such well-known acts as March Fourth, 3 Leg Torso, and Keegan Smith. It is also supported by the Cascade Blues Association, the Portland Songwriters Association and the International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees (Local 28).
The coalition is offering all musicians Fair Trade Music buttons and stickers to display at their gigs in silent solidarity with the campaign. Musicians are encouraged to visit the Fair Trade Music website (www.FairTradeMusicPDX.org) for more info and to register their endorsements. Additionally, the campaign will be hosting regular gatherings to raise awareness and answer questions about the program.
Simply put, “When a band performs for exposure,” said local blues great Norman Sylvester, “they expose themselves to poverty.”
