NAKED CITY – WAITING FOR GODOT – IN THE MODERN MUSIC BIZ

NAKED CITY – WAITING FOR GODOT – IN THE MODERN MUSIC BIZ

A lot has changed in the music industry since back in the late 1600s, when musicians entertained and jammed with patron of the arts Ferdinando de’ Medici in the hot spots of Florence. Whilst historical records differ, it’s generally agreed the players were rewarded immediately after the gig either with cold hard cash or something valuable in kind.

These days musicians who play at the various pubs and clubs around town in Sydney can often expect to wait up until six weeks after the actual gig before they are renumerated. It’s a practice that has become entrenched in recent years, but it wasn’t always that way. Twenty years ago and the norm was nearly always cash on the night, even if it meant hanging around until the wee small hours until the club or pub owner had tallied up the loot.

In Kings Cross one legendary club owner took a fiendish delight in deliberately short-changing bands, albeit by only five or ten dollars. If you were handed a supposed $1000 it was more likely $990, but you never counted the money in his presence or complained, especially if you were looking to be rebooked at the same venue. You did however leave the gig with cold hard cash in your pocket.

Whilst some musicians pull in the big bucks and seldom face the realities of a limited cash flow, there are hundreds who scuffle from gig to gig, waiting for weeks before they are finally paid. The question is – why?

These days most musicians and bands playing at the medium club and pub level work on a door deal. The venue collects the money on their behalf, deducts a cost for the use of the PA and sound engineer (usually around $300) and takes around four to five dollars a head as their cut of the door. With no guarantee, essentially the musicians are hiring the venue and any money left after deductions is legally theirs. If a contract is issued it generally states payment within fourteen days, but the current norm would seem to be more like a month, and in many cases much longer.

It’s clear that many venues are hanging onto the musos money as part of their own cash flow, paying off their more urgent creditors at the expense of the hard working band. The clubs will tell you that it’s all part of an accounting procedure, that they need to wait for returns from ticketing agencies and that musicians are generally paid as soon as is possible. Most ticketing agencies pay up within three or four days, so there’s no excuse there, and the ‘accounting procedure’ clearly indicates that musos are placed right at the end of the pecking order when it comes to sorting out the bills.

The problem for many musicians is that gigs are scarce these days, bookings at clubs are highly competitive and if you do score a date it’s not a good look if you whinge to the venue about their exceedingly late payment – especially if you’re hoping to be rebooked down the line.

It’s just a suggestion, but maybe the Sydney City Council (who often trumpet the cause of live music) could offer incentives, like an easing of the current lockout laws, to those venues who do the right thing by musicians when it comes to prompt payment after the gig. Cash on the night please – even if it’s a tenner short!

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