[Dixielandjazz] A Freebie Inquiry

[Stephen Barbone]

Aw gee, Sheik, why didn't you pass the lead on to all those musos who
play free, "for love of the music, not money". At least that would have
kept them busy and exposing theselves for awhile, without harming the
rest of us.  ;-)

Chers,
Steve Barbone

Sheik wrote:

The following is an eMail inquiry I received just now, and my response
to it. I
fear my response was somewhat conditioned by the narrative we received
earlier
this week...
--Sheik

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"At 02:50 PM 3/8/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>
> [...] Pictures is looking for a 10-20 piece band/orchestra for an
independent
> film being shot in DC March 15-16. No Pay but great connections and
exposure.
> We would like the orchestra to be ready to play by 6 AM both days and
will
> wrap shooting around noon on both days.
> Most of the music will be piped in and the musicians will fake playing
and
> only be expected to play for an hour.
> We were working with another band that got a paying job, so we are
sorry this
> is such a rush. We would like to make a decision as quickly as
possible!
> Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions.
> [Female person]


Dear Ms. [female person]: We're professionals who have been around the
park a
few times and know that the promotional value of performing briefly on
TV or
being extras in movies = the pay you're offering... So considering the
time
we'd have to get up to show up on the set by 6:00am, if we aren't to be
paid
for playing, we ought at least to be paid for pain and suffering.

However, it's just possible we might be able to work something out if
you could
provide us with the services for the afternoon of, say, three winsome
young
starlets (one for each five musicians); we'd supply our own
protection...
Actually, come to think of it, considering our ages, winsome would be
sufficient. Realistically, we probably wouldn't need them for much more
than an
hour or so.

Thanks for thinking of us.
--Sheik