OK, so my title is indeed facetious, but this is an offer I’ve received many, many times.

Of course, it does not come phrased in these words. Usually, it sounds more like this: “Would you like to perform at our festival/event/fair/market? Our audience is quite large, and you can sell your CDs.” When you ask if there is a performance fee, you are told again that you can sell CDs and put out all your fliers and marketing materials.

There is no ill-will in this offer. Sometimes, there is even admiration and a genuine desire to hear you.

But what there isn’t is MONEY.

I’ve said yes to my fair share of these offers and have returned home hot and tired, buoying myself up with platitudes about how great it is to get to play music at all. I’ve stopped for gas and realized as I filled up that I actually lost money because I had to pay for my own travel, a situation best summed up by our current president:  Sad.

Here’s the truth: you can play beautifully, you can be agreeable and even charming, you can donate your precious life energy, and you can still remain among the unpaid performers of the world. And why?

Because you said yes.

You thought you were saying yes to:

  • A chance to play and show your stuff
  • A chance to meet people and network
  • A chance to sell some CDs and get the word out about your next gig

But what you were really saying yes to:

  • A chance to play all day for free and go home with the proceeds of maybe one or two CD sales or $7 in a tip basket

I’m a bit of a slow learner, and on top of that, I’ve been an Olympic-level people-pleaser with a deep aversion to talking about money. Yikes! But finally, after many years, I see the truth of this clearly and I want to share with you “Kate’s First Axiom of the Performing Life.” Here it is:

Free gigs lead to more free gigs.

And the corollary:

Free gigs rarely lead to paid opportunities.

That includes CD sales, future bookings, house concerts, and teaching. In my experience, the promise of those free gigs rarely materializes. People who have received something for free do not start paying for it because “it’s the right thing to do.”  People who have seen you playing for free rarely see you as an expert, regardless of your skill.  They see you as a nice person who they might invite to perform for free at their event.  Hence, the axiom!

Yes, we play for the joy of playing, especially in convivial company. And yes, there is a place in every performer’s life for benefit concerts and for gigs paid in currencies other than money (sunset cruise around Gloucester Harbor? Um, yes, please). And ultimately, it’s always up to you to decide what feels best and meets your standards.

Personally, I welcome all inquiries and I respond gratefully to all of them – paid or free. It’s nice to be asked!  But I’ve learned that if we want to land opportunities that match our investment of time, devotion, and skill, and that lead to a sustainable, honorable life in the arts, we have to resist the lure of “exposure” and the temptation to be so agreeable that, as the old joke says of musicians, we die of it.

We could go on all day about why musicians are invited to donate their services when doctors, grocers, plumbers, physicists, tree experts, and trash men are not. We could get mightily riled up about the injustice of inviting someone who has practiced an art devotedly for decades and attained a high level of skill and excellence to give away his or her time and talent for free. But we won’t. This is the world we live in and it’s not up to anyone else to change it on our behalf.

It’s up to us.

To do that, it sure helps me and I hope it will help you, to remember my snappy axiom –

Free gigs lead to free gigs –

And then to answer all invitations accordingly!

 

(Photo by Seb Barsoumian on Unsplash)