Pay-to-Play - The Devil Incarnate?

What are you doing in a band? Are you there just to have a laugh with your mates, to get girls (or boys), for the machismo, or just so you can brag down the pub? Or do you have real aspirations, like fame and fortune (as if)? Well, it doesn't matter why you're doing it. You don't need a reason. Whatever makes you happy (or gets you through the night) is just fine.

But being in a band costs money (and time). You have to shell out for kit, a rehearsal room maybe, getting to/from gigs, not to mention the huge cost of professionally recording your music, printing flyers, manufacturing CDs - the list goes on and on. But, again, if you're happy spending your hard-earned cash like this, you don't need to justify it to anyone.

I don't know about you, but spending money like that is fine by me. No, the biggest arse-ache isn't the time and the money, it's the ranks of shysters trying to rip you off, left, right and center. Hey, give us 700 quid and we'll kick-start your music career! Give us 300 quid for a photo-shoot done on an iPhone! Give us 500 quid for a promotional video that know one will ever see! Give us £30 just to list your band on our website! Give us £30 just to apply for a slot at our festival. Give us £120 just so we can tell a few nobody 'execs' about your music! Give us £40 just so ALL your Facebook fans actually hear what you have to say! Give us £40 to get 100 Indonesians to 'like' your band page! Give us £50 and we'll give you 0.00001p back every time someone accidentally listens to your music! Hell, just give us your music for free, why don't ya! In fact, give us it for free AND give us £1000 for the privilege!

Ever noticed that the people in 'music' who are raking in the cash aren't actually musicians? Odd that, isn't it? The truth is, the music industry (I use the term loosely) has the same relationship with musicians that the major supermarket retailers have with their suppliers. Or the same relationship Amazon has with independent authors. It's called a 'rip-off'. And even the 'underground' or 'roots-level' fraternity are now just a service industry i.e., they extort huge amounts of money from those who can least afford it, for services that are worthless.

And, of course, the worse 'service' of all, and the one most bands are caught out by at some stage, is the devil incarnate - the pay-to-play. Hey, give us £400 to play to a half-empty room with a bunch of other bands who are also giving us £400! For no purpose whatsoever!

This week, there's been a bit of a hoo-hah online about pay-to-play and its many guises. I'm mentioning no names (you can start your own list of offending promoters if you like), but it has resulted in a new Facebook page rallying bands to the cause. Also, there's another Facebook page with a similar theme that's been knocking around for a while. If you're a musician with ethics, go along and join or like those pages/groups!

Pay-to-play generally refers to the practice of a promoter 'charging' a band or a musician to play a gig. They could do this up front by asking for a fee in order to be added to the bill. Or, they can attempt to hide the fee by asking the band to 'sell' some tickets. That's not an unreasonable request, but what they really mean is that the band buy the tickets. If the band don't sell the tickets on, then that's their problem and the promoter keeps the cash anyway. There are other ways they might try to hide the fee too. But, however they like to dress it up, it's still 'pay-to-play'.

But promoters are wily. They want to make you think you're getting a good deal. So, they'll try to convince you that there will be a huge promotional campaign, that the venue will be packed with potential new fans, that you'll be networking with other more-successful bands in your particular genre, that they will invite important execs from the mythical 'industry' hoping to spot the 'next-big-thing'. They'll try to suck you in with the promise of an exclusive 'after-show-party', with celebrity DJs and even more music execs and A&R men drooling over your every word.

But, of course, it's all bullshit! They're only in it to make money out of you; just like all the other 'give us your money' scams that cynically prey on your dreams and aspirations. They don't give a shit about you, your music or your fans. Profit margin, that's what they care about!

At a basic level all the promoter has to do is pay the venue a hire fee. Most venues won't even charge extra for staff (or sound techs) because it's part of the hire fee or they make those costs on the bar. As long as the 'ticket revenue' covers the hire fee, any extra revenue goes straight in the promoter's back pocket. Why would they spend money on actually promoting the gig when their costs are already covered? They might ask RCA's janitor down (who they were at school with) just so they can say someone from RCA was there. They might ask their Uncle Bernie down who's a DJ (he does the 1-3AM Sunday slot on Pigsknuckle FM). They might ask a down-an'-out 'celebrity' DJ to play some tunes for half-an-hour at the end of the night because he used to be the gardener for Noel Gallagher's cousin. But that's about all they'll do!

What about you, the band? What do you get out of it? You've actually done all the work for the promoter. You've sold all the tickets, advertised the gig, put it on social media, maybe printed flyers, etc. Have you garnered more adoring fans? Been approached for a three-album deal? Hobnobbed with famous meal-tickets? No, you've just played another run-of-the-mill gig, to a room containing 20 of your mates and 200 mates of the other bands, been rushed on and off stage, paid for your travel costs and subsistence etc. Just the usual.

Of course, you might have decided to play this gig because you could easily sell those tickets and you quite fancy a night on the main stage at the O2 Academy. Well, that's fine. But you didn't expect the gig to be any different to the Dog & Parrot, did you?

Unfortunately, there are so many promoters out there plying this evil scam that bands can easily be fooled into thinking this is the norm. It doesn't have to be this way. Good promoters are exactly that; they promote! Sure, they might ask you to get as many people down to the gig as possible, but that's not the same as making you buy tickets to your own gig. It's their job to sell the gig, not yours! And good promoters do the job themselves, and they do it well.

But who's to say you can't be your own promoter anyway? After all, you did all the work yourself for the pay-to-play scam and sold all your tickets. Hire the venue yourself, get a bunch of bands to sign up, sell the tickets between you and then split the profit (if there is any). Cut out the middle-man!

It's a shame that bands continue to get duped by promises of access to the 'inner sanctum' of the music industry. They continue to be fleeced by unscrupulous shysters calling themselves 'promoters' and hiding behind the facade of a corporate name (yes, you know who you are!). Many bands don't even realize they're being scammed. Or they will but they'll play the gig anyway, because they're lazy or they just don't give a shit. But, please, if you sign up to pay-to-play don't complain that it got you nowhere or it's not you who's getting rich!

What, as a band, can you do to help? Firstly, refuse to have anything to do with pay-to-play, however nicely dressed up it looks. Secondly, warn other bands not to get involved - actively encourage them to refuse. Thirdly, be your own promoter and sign up those bands yourself.

With a bit of effort it wouldn't be too long before these individuals and organizations are put out of business. But, unfortunately, unless all bands refuse to be subjugated like this these people will continue to feed like parasites off the dreams of others. Off your dreams. Time for a change?

Rant over!

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