"Not bad for the only Asian act in the SINGfest foreign line-up."
That line was written about the Wonder Girls' performance at Singfest last week. Funny, I thought Singapore was in Asia too. Even funnier is that two Singapore bands played, one was called "a local band" - but in reality is pronounced "Inch Chua and the Metric System".
Anyhoo, Facebook and other forums/social networking sites have been awash with indignant people complaining about how the local press doesn't support local music, blah blah blah.
It's funny because I was talking to a couple of rather prominent members of the music circle here and I asked what could be done to help indie musicians. Perhaps an association or a union, I suggested.
They scoffed. One said, "You can't even get two bands to agree on a minimum fee!" The other told me about how there used to be a union but due to the fact that the musicians themselves couldn't be bothered to do anything about it, in the end that whole system collapsed.
Can bands here agree on a minimum fee? Seriously.
FACT: Local bands agree to play for free. QUESTION: Can bands just please STOP playing for free(except for charity shows perhaps, or your friend's gig)?
True story: I used to get slammed by other local bands and organisers for wanting payment for any performance my band did - apart from charity shows. I wasn't asking for much, just taxi fare to go home after the gig, and food and drinks (not even free flow, just for the meal). That's $100 for the whole band. Is that too much?
True, we didn't get as much gigs as others bands did, but I think we made a bit more money than they did. And we did it playing original music too. We even got to play at the Singapore Indoor Stadium as an opening act. And got paid thousands for it. True, that was last time, before inflation, before Sars, before the 1997 Asian crisis. But...
It's basic math: If you spend $100 on rehearsals plus transport for each gig, and you make $0 from each gig, if you were as prolific as GSE in their first year, playing 60 gigs, you'd have made a total of -$6,000. Do we really want to lose money every time we did a gig? I don't think so. And I don't think we should. If nothing else, we should cut costs at least.
Back then, organisers already took advantage of local bands because they treated us like second class citizens. What did the local bands do? Well, nothing much. Oh, they complained. But not to NAC, not to MICA, so nobody helped. And whenever organisers wanted a band to play free "for exposure", they agreed. So how to win like that?
It's time we took a stand: Say "no" to free gigs (unless it's charity shows or if you're helping out a friend).
Here's a possible doomsday scenario. Someone wants you to open for a major act like U2. They ask you to play for free because you'll get a crowd of 10,000. That's a lot of exposure. It's tempting. But you say no. Everybody says no. The organisers go, so what, it's U2, we'll still make money.
But then, everybody can complain and say, HEY, why aren't we getting some form of renumeration for our efforts? And can complain to NAC - organisers aren't giving musicians fair due. NAC would probably have to listen if every single band in Singapore complained about the same thing to them. Otherwise, just draft a letter to the PM's Office. (But remember to use phrases like "local aesthetic" or "life values".)
If organisers got stubborn and refused to pay local acts their just dues, they're saying "we don't think local acts are good enough", that would imply that the local music scene isn't vibrant. How to be arts hub like that? Besides, wouldn't it be funny if Singfest had no local acts?
But here's something to consider. Same scenario. How can you capitalise on that 10,000 and monetise it? Perhaps if the organisers allow you to set up a merch stall selling your CDs and stuff? If you sell each item $1 above cost, and sell 10,000 copies, you'd make $10,000 in profit. But can you sell 10,000?
By the way, has anyone written to NAC for help? Anyone? Anyone? Sure, NAC might not do anything about it - but they ARE our arts council that's meant to help develop the arts and the last time I checked music in all its form was still listed under the arts. And at least the first move has been made, rather than just yelling out on Facebook.
And what about our Arts NMP? She has a Facebook page (search for Arts NMP (Singapore) or http://www.facebook.com/profile.php...ent_reply#!/group.php?gid=149593403966&ref=ts).
Last time I checked, she was empowered by the arts community to help state our case in the larger playing field that is the government. Again, it's true that nothing might be done, but would you rather say, at the end of it all, "at least we did something" or "we should've done something".
Drop Audrey a message and let Audrey help you in whatever way she can. She seems like she really wants to. So why not give it a shot? What have you got to lose? It's time we took a stand. And make that stand work.
(Just out of curiosity: How much is the minimum amount that bands will play for? I really want to know. Drop me a comment at my blog - http://blogs.todayonline.com/poparazzi)
PS: If you want to leave negative comments, could you do me a favour and skip out all the name-calling, rudeness and foul language? Please? Say what you need to say without being nasty. Otherwise, it's very difficult to publish your comments as is. Better yet, offer constructive criticism.
Eg: Perhaps you should check your facts before making such comments if you want to be taken seriously (constructive despite negativity - great)
Maybe you should have your brain checked by an otter (constructive - slightly, bordering on rude).
You're a ****** ******** disappointment, your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries and you have no brain (rude, not funny - except for elderberry reference, definitely not constructive at all)
That line was written about the Wonder Girls' performance at Singfest last week. Funny, I thought Singapore was in Asia too. Even funnier is that two Singapore bands played, one was called "a local band" - but in reality is pronounced "Inch Chua and the Metric System".
Anyhoo, Facebook and other forums/social networking sites have been awash with indignant people complaining about how the local press doesn't support local music, blah blah blah.
It's funny because I was talking to a couple of rather prominent members of the music circle here and I asked what could be done to help indie musicians. Perhaps an association or a union, I suggested.
They scoffed. One said, "You can't even get two bands to agree on a minimum fee!" The other told me about how there used to be a union but due to the fact that the musicians themselves couldn't be bothered to do anything about it, in the end that whole system collapsed.
Can bands here agree on a minimum fee? Seriously.
FACT: Local bands agree to play for free. QUESTION: Can bands just please STOP playing for free(except for charity shows perhaps, or your friend's gig)?
True story: I used to get slammed by other local bands and organisers for wanting payment for any performance my band did - apart from charity shows. I wasn't asking for much, just taxi fare to go home after the gig, and food and drinks (not even free flow, just for the meal). That's $100 for the whole band. Is that too much?
True, we didn't get as much gigs as others bands did, but I think we made a bit more money than they did. And we did it playing original music too. We even got to play at the Singapore Indoor Stadium as an opening act. And got paid thousands for it. True, that was last time, before inflation, before Sars, before the 1997 Asian crisis. But...
It's basic math: If you spend $100 on rehearsals plus transport for each gig, and you make $0 from each gig, if you were as prolific as GSE in their first year, playing 60 gigs, you'd have made a total of -$6,000. Do we really want to lose money every time we did a gig? I don't think so. And I don't think we should. If nothing else, we should cut costs at least.
Back then, organisers already took advantage of local bands because they treated us like second class citizens. What did the local bands do? Well, nothing much. Oh, they complained. But not to NAC, not to MICA, so nobody helped. And whenever organisers wanted a band to play free "for exposure", they agreed. So how to win like that?
It's time we took a stand: Say "no" to free gigs (unless it's charity shows or if you're helping out a friend).
Here's a possible doomsday scenario. Someone wants you to open for a major act like U2. They ask you to play for free because you'll get a crowd of 10,000. That's a lot of exposure. It's tempting. But you say no. Everybody says no. The organisers go, so what, it's U2, we'll still make money.
But then, everybody can complain and say, HEY, why aren't we getting some form of renumeration for our efforts? And can complain to NAC - organisers aren't giving musicians fair due. NAC would probably have to listen if every single band in Singapore complained about the same thing to them. Otherwise, just draft a letter to the PM's Office. (But remember to use phrases like "local aesthetic" or "life values".)
If organisers got stubborn and refused to pay local acts their just dues, they're saying "we don't think local acts are good enough", that would imply that the local music scene isn't vibrant. How to be arts hub like that? Besides, wouldn't it be funny if Singfest had no local acts?
But here's something to consider. Same scenario. How can you capitalise on that 10,000 and monetise it? Perhaps if the organisers allow you to set up a merch stall selling your CDs and stuff? If you sell each item $1 above cost, and sell 10,000 copies, you'd make $10,000 in profit. But can you sell 10,000?
By the way, has anyone written to NAC for help? Anyone? Anyone? Sure, NAC might not do anything about it - but they ARE our arts council that's meant to help develop the arts and the last time I checked music in all its form was still listed under the arts. And at least the first move has been made, rather than just yelling out on Facebook.
And what about our Arts NMP? She has a Facebook page (search for Arts NMP (Singapore) or http://www.facebook.com/profile.php...ent_reply#!/group.php?gid=149593403966&ref=ts).
Last time I checked, she was empowered by the arts community to help state our case in the larger playing field that is the government. Again, it's true that nothing might be done, but would you rather say, at the end of it all, "at least we did something" or "we should've done something".
Drop Audrey a message and let Audrey help you in whatever way she can. She seems like she really wants to. So why not give it a shot? What have you got to lose? It's time we took a stand. And make that stand work.
(Just out of curiosity: How much is the minimum amount that bands will play for? I really want to know. Drop me a comment at my blog - http://blogs.todayonline.com/poparazzi)
PS: If you want to leave negative comments, could you do me a favour and skip out all the name-calling, rudeness and foul language? Please? Say what you need to say without being nasty. Otherwise, it's very difficult to publish your comments as is. Better yet, offer constructive criticism.
Eg: Perhaps you should check your facts before making such comments if you want to be taken seriously (constructive despite negativity - great)
Maybe you should have your brain checked by an otter (constructive - slightly, bordering on rude).
You're a ****** ******** disappointment, your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries and you have no brain (rude, not funny - except for elderberry reference, definitely not constructive at all)
