A Tax Form for the Marginally Employed – NYTimes.com
Jeremy Baguyos, the double bass professor at the University of Nabraska-Omaha, sent me a link to the following story that the NY Times put out back in April. It (somewhat depressingly) sums up my former career:
A Tax Form for the Marginally Employed – NYTimes.com
A look back: A Week in the Life
You’ve just gotta love this profession. No matter how many roadblocks get tossed in their path, musicians always seem to find a way around them, taking things in stride and laughing about it later with each other over either coffee or beer (depending on the hour!). Whether it’s butchering the Messiah by whacking the transposition button on the organ, dropping bows and breaking into hysterics mid-concert, or finding oneself face-to-face with a leering colleague just as they are about to play a big solo, musicians are often only a hair’s breadth away from making fools of themselves in very public settings.
The following series from 2007 describes a week filled with enough painful (yet strangely humorous) moments to warrant a series all its own:
Part 1 – Locked Out in the Cold
Part 2- Parking Nightmares
Part 3 – Behind the Scenery
Part 4- Look Out!
Tails Man
There are always a few moments (usually in the spring) when the stark contrast between “normal life” and the wacky life of a freelance musician rear their heads. A few examples from a recent warm and sunny Saturday:
I was breathing in the wonderful springtime scents through my open kitchen window, my awesome cat Dan on the windowsill next to me. I could already see my north Evanston neighborhood bustling with activity: people were donning wrinkled shorts (undoubtedly yanked from a draw that was last opened the previous fall) and out in full force, sipping a Starbucks coffee and animatedly chatting on the first truly fantastic weekend day of the year. Days like this in Chicago are all too rare–the continental climate in which this town is ensconced only gets a few dozen truly great days (devoid of rain, hail, sleet, snow, and subzero or scorching temperatures) at the most each year, and I was pumped to get out and enjoy the day.
The only problem? I was stuck in my stupid tails all day.
Sunny and 77 degrees on a Saturday morning, and I’m in my white vest and tailcoat? Lovely.
A Day in the Life
I put on my penguin suit and head out the door, getting bemused glances from all my neighbors. They’re carrying tennis rackets and going out to have “normal person” fun. I’m headed out to play a bunch of random gigs in tails–I had just enough time to get from gig to gig, so bringing street clothes made no sense, unfortunately. Already sweaty and uncomfortable only after loading the bass and getting into the car, I drove by scores of happy Evanstonians out frolicking in the sun, getting the occasional glance at my seemingly eccentric choice of summer garb.
I ended up teaching some lessons in my tails on my way to gig #1. Ever take lessons from a guy in tails? I never did as a student, but I’ve taught countless lessons in them myself.
You’ve Got To Be Kidding
My next stop was at a hotel in downtown Chicago, and I left with enough time to spare, but not a whole lot of extra time (which is more my style). I was just about to hang a right and go into the parking garage (which was only going to cost me $14–a relative bargain in Chicago these days) when I noticed, to my horror, that the Cinco de Mayo festival going on. Hey–it was only the 2nd of May! What gives? I didn’t know, but I was thoroughly hosed by this predicament. All exits off Lakeshore Drive were blocked off by the cops for miles, and I had to drive down to the near South Side before I could flip around.
My adequate time cushion had now evaporated, and to make matters worse, I was now stuck in horrible freaking Cinco de Mayo traffic on Michigan Avenue. I looked at the clock. I looked at the traffic. I looked at all the happy shiny people enjoying their Saturday while my stomach acids burned (no time for lunch now). I cursed my fate.
I finally got to the entrance for one of the underground parking garages (this one would soak me for $24 for a few hours of parking). I pulled in, grabbed my bass, and began speed walking up out of the garage. I was about a mile from my gig, and I had (hopefully) just enough time to make it to gig #1.
There’s nothing like a man speed walking through jam-packed Cinco de Mayo city streets in tails with a double bass to get people’s attention, and I got a lot of smirks and smart-aleck “should’ve played the piccolo” comments as I booked it across Millennium Park in the center of downtown Chicago.
I made it, breathless but still slightly early, to gig #1, headed up to the second floor, where I was shooed away impatiently by some irritated party planner and directed to 2B–the subbasement of this massive hotel/convention center. I made it with just enough time to spare, hungry, hot, and cranky to be sure, but there.
Gig #1 lasted for a few hours (this gig alone would make for a fairly entertaining blog post of its own–maybe some day…), and I then got the pleasure of again crossing Millennium Park in my tails (albeit at a more relaxed pace), getting more heckles along the way, back to the distant garage, where I loaded my bass up and headed off to gig #2.
The Hungry Penguin
The expressway was a sea of brake lights and interminably slow traffic, and I drummed my fingers on the dashboard as my rumbling stomach called out pathetically for nourishment. Mile after mile painfully crawled by–I could have walked faster–and I eventually found myself 40 miles out of town in a distant working-class suburb for gig #2. I spotted a Subway sandwich shop and dashed in, getting a fresh set of puzzled stares from the families in the restaurant. I was getting sick of looking like I was on my way to a catering gig or a Dracula convention, but honestly, what could I expect? Who else but a musician drives around all day on a beautiful weekend day in full formalwear but a freelance musician with scant minutes between each stacked gig.
I inhaled a footlong sub like some ravenous animal, careful not to get mustard on my white duds (I’ve soiled many a vest or dress shirt that way in this same exact situation), and waddled off, burping happily, to play gig #2.
Just another day in the life of a freelance music dude…
You! Peon! Work for Free!
Here’s an exchange I was forwarded (on condition of anonymity) that, while being both aggravating and darkly amusing, reminds me how easily non-musician administrators forget that we performers are actually trying to make a living from this kind of work. It’s a job–honest!
With Administrators like These….
I’m chalking up the attitude exhibited by the administrators in this email exchange to ignorance of the actual economic situation of their musician employees. This institution also happens to pay quite a meager per-hour scale to their employees, require unpaid meetings on a regular basis, and do a host of others things that make me think that this is an attitude that is unfortunately ingrained in this particular institution. I’ve changed names and omitted any revealing references (though I’d love to expose the school I’m actually talking about….I’ll be good….). This correspondence, while only bouncing between a few individuals, was also sent to the entire institution’s faculty, which is how I got it….and no, I don’t work at this place! Never have. Also, I couldn’t help editorializing just a bit–my remarks are in italics during the exchange.
Do you have any contractors you work with, music school or otherwise, who ask for “favors” like these? Leave a comment and let us know!
You Play Now!
Administrator: On _______, 2008, [Retail Outfit #1] is celebrating [Random Anniversary]. In honor of this milestone, there will be a concert in the store on _________ from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM — first floor by the fountain. A grand piano will be available.
[Retail Outfit #1] has invited [Anonymous Music School] faculty members to perform– string ensembles, piano trios, solo piano, singers… etc. This will not include any student performances—it is strictly for professional musicians.
If you have any interest in participating in this community event, please email me so I can give you contact information.
Musician #1: Is there any pay offered to musicians for this event? If not, I would think it would be a disservice to the music profession to have professional musicians provide free entertainment to solely benefit a for-profit business.
Note the “crafty dodge” employed in the response–a classic administrative deflection tactic intended to befuddle the poor helpless simpleton musician mind:
Administrator: Dear [Musician #1],
As I have told all of the musicians who have expressed interest in this event, you will need to contact [Random Administrator #2] to find out about compensation. She never mentioned any type of stipend to me, and as I stated in my email, it is a community service event for the patrons of the store.
While the event does benefit [Retail Store #1], the excellent visibility helps create greater awareness of our faculty and of [Anonymous Music School] for those same patrons. Hopefully, that awareness translates into inquiries and future registrations. While I agree with you that compensation seems appropriate, I am sure [Retail Store #1] sees it as a way for musicians to serve the community, while promoting their talent and their school. I suspect she invited other community music school faculty too.
[Musician #1], please contact [Random Administrator #2] to get more information about the event. Thanks.
What’s that? It’ll create “excellent visibility” for the institution? Yippee! So do concerts…and I get paid for those. “Serving the community,” you say? Are the caterers volunteering their services? How about the security guards? The store employees working late?
Pay up, cheapskates. By neither securing payment from the store or offering up some compensation yourselves, you’re sending a message: our faculty have nothing better to do than to drive to downtown Chicago and play for free, with some possible…exposure? For what–some more random young students at this music school, which, by the way (this is lovely!), takes OVER 50% of what parents pay the school for lessons as “administrative costs.”
You take over 50% of all lesson payment for these “administrative fees,” yet you can’t cough up $100 as an honorarium for musicians for an event that will benefit your institution? Classy….and you make this guy to yet more unpaid busywork to even find out about compensation? You can’t just do it yourself? OK…gotta cool down…NOW I remember why I vowed never to work for these guys….
Musician #1: I called [Random Administrator #2] and she said that there is NO compensation – not even parking or a gift certificate. While I also believe in promoting the awesome faculty of [Anonymous Music School], this is an inappropriate way to do this. [Retail Store #1] would not think of asking a practice of doctors to come and provide free medical assistance to their employees, nor would they ask an accountant firm to perform services for free. They would not ask secretarial students to file receipts or ask that bartenders and wait-staff to work for free just because it is their [Random Anniversary].
Music teachers have bills to pay and families to support. Our teachers have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their musical education and spent way over that amount in practice hours honing their craft. If we are a music school, we need to teach our faculty as well as our students that our craft is worth a price.
Musician #2: I completely agree with [Musician #1] on this. The public at large does tend to subscribe to the notion that musicians will work for nothing for the publicity. If [Retail Store #1] wants musicians to entertain their patrons, or if [Anonymous Music School] wants musicians to entertain at [Retail Store #1] for the benefit of [Anonymous Music School], then someone should provide compensation. In no profession, outside the performing arts, are professionals expected, or even asked, on a regular basis to perform their professional duties free of charge. Personally, I do a lot to provide community service, but I do not subscribe to the notion that musicians should perform for nothing. Unfortunately, there are still too many professional musicians willing to work for nothing. So the public continues to subscribe to this notion.
Think they got paid?
Nope.
We’re Lower than Dirt, Huh?
During my educational certification program these past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the differences between a professional (doctor, lawyer) career path and a paraprofessional (paralegal paramedic) career path, focusing on how teaching is in some aspects a true profession (highly regimented, standardized, governing boards, re-certification at regular intervals) and in other aspects a paraprofession (not self-regulated, practitioners held in lower esteem than other professionals, debatable body of unique knowledge). We’ve discussed this profession/paraprofession dichotomy endlessly in class, writing papers and considering how exactly teaching fits into these two paradigms.
Well, guess what? My other career of musician apparently isn’t even a paraprofession by many people’s standards! So, then, what is it? Some sort of circus freak show? Why are we treated like trained monkeys by our own administrators, the very people who should be advocating for us?
What bothers me most about this interchange is the callous nonchalance demonstrated by the administrator I quoted. Believe it or not, there actually is a way to approach musicians and ask them to play for free. It’s not this approach! Also, this kind of event, which is not a benefit/fundraiser but really just a gig, contracted out by a retail chain (and it’s one of the biggest chains in the country, by the way) trying to “cheap out” and hire musicians from the local music school. After all, it’ll be a noisy event, and these musicians are really serving as window dressing, like dancing bears in a toy store; who cares how the musicians sounds, and why ay them if you can get a bunch of warm bodies for free?
An Anomaly?
Is this encounter just an anomaly…or have you had similar experiences? Let us know!
Bass Blog Posting – Culture Wars – The Value of Music
I have been giving this issue a lot of thought during the holiday season, a time when musicians head out in the snow for the holiday gig season adding merriment to the times – and for me with a newborn in the house, even more poignant…
Time for Holiday Cheer!
Once upon a time there was a department store chain in Chicago – we’ll use the fictional name ‘Gimball’s’ (alla the classic holiday film ‘Miracle on 32nd Street’). This department store thought for a big anniversary; let’s have some musicians perform all day in their store to celebrate. These musicians would be performing for patrons indulging in the usual department store materialism – sales of jewelry, fragrances, clothing, etc. ‘Gimball’s’ contacted…we’ll call the institution the ‘City Music School,’ a local community music school.
Okay, we have some of the players, but a few more to go. ‘Gimball’s’ asked this school for no student musicians – just professionals. Okay – seems like a good idea. Celebrate with some good professional musicians playing high-quality literature. Great idea…or so I thought. I am a self-promoter as a freelancer, but here’s where the champagne goes flat. When the ‘City Music School’ had their faculty to contact a coordinator at ‘Gimball’s’ to setup the gig…wait…you mean you aren’t going to pay? You mean that I, faculty for a not-for-profit institution DONATE my work to a for-profit corporation. There’s injury No.1. So okay, if I were to hypothetically come & play for an hour or two, parking validation right? NOPE. Injury No.2…Insult No.2? So I would have to drive 40 miles into town, spend $20-30 on parking & no food either. Well, I’m not juggling that gig into my schedule.
Hello Scrooge Ol' Boy
So what’s the problem here? A few of the faculty at the ‘City Music School’ spoke up to the administration of the school. With complaints about contacting the union local, suggestions of using students instead, my feeling is that the true issue is about the value of the work we do. It has as much to do about the value of music and/ or the perceived value:
It is vastly different, when I (the performer) offer a pro bono workshop or performance – I am offering work I believe has value for no cost. When someone asks me to play for them for free, it suggests that this individual doesn’t value the work I do. Here’s a scenario:
I go to a dinner get together with various people and they ask me what I do for a living. I mention that I am a professional musician and teacher. They ask -”play me something.” If I am in the company of friends, or colleagues, I might just to prove to them what I do is at a certain level.
When a complete stranger does that, I ask – “what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a lawyer.”
“Oh, would you write me a free will or give me free legal advice?”
“No…”
“Then don’t ask for free work from me.”
No Sense Being Miserly!
It’s not that I think everyone has to pay for music. I do not think that ‘class warfare’ is the name of the game. Apologies by the way to a student of mine who IS a lawyer – I’m just using another ‘professional’ as a player in this discussion. The issue is this attitude in our American culture.
The poor urban areas deserve outreach efforts (that’s the work I do in schools) – but why should those who can afford to pay for quality art not subsidize works of art?
Oh…you said the a-word. What word? ART.
Art is often a bad word nowadays. There is such a focus on materialism and sports – remember what the ancient Romans did? Give them bread and circuses! No need to educate the masses right? Let’s give them Guitar Hero or Rock Band…no need for them to even learn how to do what we do.
Ever notice that primary schools are cranking out more students in choirs, orchestras & bands every year, many of which do NOT continue in music. Culturally in the United States, the majority of youth who are involved in sports become avid sports enthusiasts later in life. I don’t usually see the same happen with music students. I think the cultural ‘dummying down’ of what our musical art is about by seeing the popularity of games such as Guitar Hero exemplifies that music has been turned into a commodity. It’s got to have a dollar-value right? No. It’s more complicated than that. More people are being exposed to art music than ever before due to the success of Apple’s iPod & other MP3 players. On the other hand, ensembles still are struggling to get audiences to come & see live music. We’ll see how that trend plays out, but time for the rest of us to move and take advantage of new media.
The value of art & music is a big issue that in an era where media exposure to content, music or otherwise, can be grabbed up sometimes for nothing. This is something I think about a lot. What we do as musicians has value, but with everything being turned into a commodity in our consumerist culture how do we explain the value of music?
I had a college professor who referred to individuals as “musicians” versus musicians. One is an amateur – any person can, through some effort, achieve some proficiency on an instrument (or their voice) can label themselves a “musician.” How does that differentiate from someone who has spent years mastering their craft? Well, I’ll leave that up to you to think about.
So in the end, what is the value of music? I love what I do, but I often have to balance monetary concerns with artistic ones. All of us do at some point. Before you decide what you are willing to do, free or not, consider the value of the musical product you are producing, who is the audience for your work, and how much effort you can afford to put in. Let’s do what we can to bring music to wider audiences, while still remembering that we can’t do everything for free.
Remember the spirit of giving this holiday season, and happy holidays from the bass blog!
Happy Holidays from the Bass Blog!
These opinions are strictly the opinion of the author, Phillip Serna, and not necessarily of the Double Bass Blog.
-
Sponsors:
Subscribe to our podcast!
Blog highlights
Network with us!
-
