I’m increasingly hearing about musicians having a tough time earning a living from music. With the advent of online streaming, revenue from products is not what it used to be. Live gigs are still a source of income, but many venues are paying less than in days gone by. There’s an additional problem with festivals, many of who seem to think they are doing a favour in allowing artists to play. As well as “pay to play” I saw one festival promotion talk about “compensation for playing” which IMO is perhaps not the best linguistic term, suggesting again doing the artist a favour.
I have blogged on this before and I appreciate the subject ruffles a few feathers as some have a commercial interest in this topic not being discussed. That said, I think all artists musical or otherwise should receive sensible payment for their work and not be exploited in any way. Social media is full of examples of artists being taken advantage of which is unfortunately a sign of the times.
I set up Music for The Head and Heart to give a voice to artists and to promote music in an affordable manner. The launch party with four great performers is priced at just 6 pounds for the evening. All proceeds go to the artists and the whole platform is dedicated to music lovers. Proper respect for artists is in my view important and sensible payment is a key consideration.
The launch party is just a month away and tickets are available here
