[Dixielandjazz] Playing for nothing - was music business

Fri Jan 22 22:03:07 PST 2010

Steve and Jim
If you make a business decision to play free that's up to you like buying 
advertising.  Sometimes you might luck out and apparently you did Steve.

Unfortunately this is the line that is used so often to lure musicians to 
play for free.  Young bands fall for this all the time.  A lot of the time 
they end up actually paying.

My Brother in law when he was about 17 was in a pretty good band.  A local 
church had a battle of the bands.  The entry fee was $50 for each band. 
There were 4 bands.  The prize for the best band was $200 (DUH!)  The band 
lost their money... played for an hour... got no more jobs.... the church 
made out like bandits with the door and sales of cokes etc.

A business decision is OK if there is a real chance to get work from it. 
This is usually a sucker play.  After a band gets burned a couple of times 
they learn.

I think the difference is who asks you to play.  If they ask then look 
out.... If you ask then you retain control.

Before I asked anyone in my band to play free I would have to have everyone 
agree and that means everyone including me.

I am right now considering a concert at a church.  I am fronting the money 
for the band.  If the gate exceeds the cost of the band then the church 
makes money and I get my front money back and maybe the church will start a 
concert series.  I have seen others do it and be successful.  The worst 
thing that will happen is I will lose a couple hundred bucks but I stand to 
gain too.  In any event the members of the band will get paid.  I just don't 
believe in having guys work and not get something.  I'm the boss and I take 
the risk not the guys.

The only reason why I'm doing this is because the Priest is not a 
businessman and is overly cautious.  If it makes money he will be a whole 
lot more receptive to live music in the future.  I have little doubt that it 
will make money and when it does I can persuade other groups to play.

Music in some ways is like farming.... you have to plant some seeds before 
you can harvest anything.

I would caution anyone who has the urge to play for free to step back and 
try to think it out in a businesslike way and ask:  Am I likely to get work 
from this.  If the answer is only a forlorn maybe then don't do it.

Free is the best price in the world.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen G Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 3:28 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing for nothing - was music business

> >
>> "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
>>
>>> Interesting 3 minute perspective on the music business from  Guitarist 
>>> Dick
>> Dale.
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AJxc3Lxn4o
>>
>> More negative than interesting, I would say.  He ends by telling  young 
>> guys
>> to get out there and play for nothing if they have to.  That's not a 
>> great
>> idea, and has been put down pretty strongly by some on djml in the  past!
>
>
>
> I am one of those whom excoriates those who play freebies on an  ongoing 
> basis. However, there are times when it just might make good  marketing 
> sense to play a freebie. Especially for a young band with no  credentials. 
> I think Dick Dale suggests playing a free gig to get  paying gigs and not 
> freebies all the time just for the sake of playing  in a band.
>
> I remember years ago when I formed Barbone Street, we had no track  record 
> of club dates and wanted to perform in jazz night clubs, like  in the 
> 1950s, before they all disappeared.
>
> So I decided to do a free "showcase" in Rehoboth Beach, a resort town  100 
> miles from our home base. Several things made me think it might be  a good 
> idea. (A showcase, for those who don't know, is where a bunch  of bands 
> perform for 20 minutes or so in front of event presenters,  club owners 
> etc.) It was in March.
>
> My rationale was that this is a resort town on the Atlantic Ocean with  a 
> bunch of clubs that present music all Summer. Plus they have a Jazz 
> Festival every October with some big timers. Plus, we did not have a  lot 
> of gigs when we started out. So I talked the guys into doing it  for no 
> pay, and subsidized their travel expenses by giving the vehicle  drivers 
> $50 and bought everyone dinner.
>
> They all bitched afterwards because they felt is was all for naught  and 
> there were only about 40 people in the audience. And there were  some 
> pretty bad acts there.
>
> What they didn't realize is that the Jazz Festival Folks were there,  as 
> well as Ms. Sydney Arzt who ran Sydney's Jazz Cafe, one of the 100  top 
> jazz venues in the USA at the time. She grabbed me and said keep  in 
> touch, I' love your band.
>
> The upshot was that, starting that summer, we got booked annually at 
> Sydney's for the weekend closest to Louis Armstrong's birthday for the 
> next 10 years or so. (until Sydney sold the place) Room and board for  the 
> weekend, plus resort life, plus making good money for two nights.  Plus 
> performing before an adoring crowd of YOUNG people like you get  in Spain.
>
> We also got booked 4 times at the Rehoboth Autumn Jazz Festival, the  only 
> Dixieland Band amongst smooth jazzers, singers (Alicia Keyes et  al), 
> made excellent money and received great audience support. Then  we got 
> booked twice at the Mid Delaware Jazz Festival, and 3 times at  the Dover 
> Downs Casino, and twice at the Dover Downs Jazz Festival,   and played 
> several private parties at beach homes, and two Republican  Gubernatorial 
> nominating conventions. Needless to say the band loved  it both musically, 
> and financially.
>
> It all happened because we played one free gig, 100 miles from home,  and 
> I was willing to bet a few bucks and a little time that the  investment 
> would pay off.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
> "I get satisfaction of three kinds. One is creating something, one is 
> being paid for it, and one is the feeling that I haven't just been 
> sitting on my ass all afternoon."
> - William F. Buckley
>
>
>
>
>
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