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MU to debate Pay To Play at In The City
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 24 September 2010
The Musicians’ Union will lead a debate at next month’s In The City convention in Manchester on the concept of ‘pay to play’, the thing where grass-roots promoters insist on artists committing to a minimum income clause in their booking contract, meaning the band may have to cover any losses if not enough tickets are sold. It’s a system that basically shifts some or all of the risk from the traditional risk taker, the promoter, to the artist themselves. And it’s not something the MU has been especially happy with in the past.
Says MU Assistant General Secretary Horace Trubridge, who will chair the panel: “The Musicians Union supports musicians and likes to see them paid for their commercial efforts. We don’t like to see them having to pay to go about their work. Some musicians not only pay to attend and play their own gigs, but they pay more than the punters coming through the door, and that can’t be right. Some promoters don’t actually like promoting and pass that part of their job onto the musicians by enforcing minimum ticket sales. This is not promoting as we know it, this is pay-to-play”.
That said, Trubridge admits that, while the MU has, in the past, been against all forms of pay to play, following some research by their newly formed gigs section they are now willing to accept that some such deals might have their merits. He continues: “The MU recognises that it’s really tough out there. Unless you are an established artist, you’re going to need to do deals in order to get the gigs to build up your fan base and launch your career. The MU will still oppose deals which leave musicians out of pocket, but we are now advising members to have a look at what is being offered – some pay to play gigs result in the artist making a decent sum of money”.
Guardian blogger Helienne Lindvall, BBC Introducing’s Chris Long, Manchester promoter Jay Taylor and Elbow’s Guy Garvey will join Trubridge for the ITC debate on 13 Oct. More about all things In The City can be found at www.inthecity.co.uk.
