Just imagine if I asked you to do a job that could take months, even years, to complete; but before you started, I explained, you may never get paid for it.
Welcome to the world of the artist and musician. This is the environment we work in. Our currency is *IP and Copyright and sometimes we can earn a healthy amount for our output; but for the majority, it’s hit and miss and creative incomes are pretty lean.
Over the years, I have developed a simple response when anyone wants to use my work, or music, on the Songbroker Music Publishing catalogue for free, and that is; “There is no R in fee”.
Creatives are driven to produce work for a variety of reasons, but it is unlikely the main one is because they think they are going to earn a lot of coin. Secretly, probably, we all hope we will, but there is never a guarantee we can charge for the work we do.
Artists don’t get paid via a salary or a wage, we get paid when our audience (or customer) wishes to interact with our work commercially. And the kicker is, because we never know if someone will be interested in what we offer, or when that may be; well, it’s not exactly a job for the fainthearted.
I have licensed songs on film and TV productions that were written over 25 years ago. That’s a long time to wait for a pay cheque.
There is No R in Fee / Jan Hellriegel
As I am in Skin by Cassandra’s Ears recorded in 1989, featured on NZ TV series Westside in 2020.
I wrote It’s My Sin around 1990 and someone licensed it onto a film, Juniper, in 2021
Recently, and it’s not the first time this has happened, someone asked me if I would license one of my music tracks onto an online promotional video. A Government Department was funding the project, and the Director was certainly not short of a bob or two.
The fee they offered me was Zip; Nada; Zero; Nothing. The producer was hoping I might consider a gratis license because it was such a good cause.
I thought about that offer for about minus two seconds and said. “No way”.
If I am not keen to proceed with a *synchronisation deal, I usually say “No, thank you, but thanks for the opportunity”; but this wasn’t one of those circumstances. This was a bunch of people asking me to work for free when they should’ve known better. There are laws against this in the real world, but unfortunately not in the artists’ realm where the Free Economy continues to dominate.
Another example of the Free Economy is when performers work at events for no remuneration. A Charitable Trust; A Non-Profit; or Government Agency may ask them to volunteer at a fundraiser or perform at an industry awards show spectacular for exposure or experience while the people asking are on very reasonable salaries. Everyone else contracted to work at the event is getting paid, but there is an unwritten assumption that the performer should rock up for no charge.
Most artists are good people. We want to do the right thing. But asking anyone to do something for free backs them into a very uncomfortable corner. Even if someone agrees to give their work away for nothing; you need to understand, like buyer’s remorse, they might go away and, after having time to think about it, resent you very much.
What the Free Economy also does is perpetuate the myth that ‘art’ has no value and that creative people are not important in our society, nor do they deserve to earn from their work. That may not be your intention, but yeah, that’s what happens when you pull out the “Will you do it for free?” card.
Thinking people in Aotearoa New Zealand champion the living wage and accept this is a fair way forward but then these same people would not hesitate to ask someone who is probably earning way less than them to donate their time, or their work, for ‘no-charge’.
Look, I get it, it’s OK if you are an established artist who wants to donate your expertise to a worthy cause (and even get some personal promo going) but many artists in NZ do it very tough and even a small *koha is better than not offering some sort of payment for a person’s time or work.
If you are organising an event, the rule of thumb when considering whether you should pay someone is this; If all people working at an event, including; you, the caterers, roadies, ushers, bar staff, cleaners and the production company, are receiving some sort of payment, then you should offer to pay the artist, performer, speaker, etc. There is no excuse not to.
It’s also about excellent results. When everyone working on a job is happy, the outcome of this is a good energy and therefore a better work flow. This is probably a little esoteric, but I have worked on a lot of projects in my time and my theory has not failed me yet.
Art is valuable, and it’s worth investing in, but who wants to sink resources into something that has no return at all? The irony is when an artist hits the big time, the income from their creative output can be more than some of our highest paid CEOs and Government Bureaucrats. Lorde will earn from her creative industry for the rest of her life and beyond; at the same time contributing to society by paying her taxes. One less person who will need to rely on a pension in retirement has got to be a good thing, doesn’t it?
You need to be brave to be an artist. You will face rejection and years of living from hand to mouth with no ability to save for a rainy day or support your kids (which is why I had to give away my music for a number of years). So when there is an opportunity to sell or license your work, then you want to be paid decently because you know how much work went into creating it.
Through all the years of working and getting paid a wage to support my creative tendencies, I can say, hand on heart, nothing is as sweet as being paid a royalty for my creative work. Whether it’s a song placed on a film, a streaming income or a performance fee, it’s all good. Whenever I sell a book or one of my albums, I am happy feet dancing for hours. It’s nothing to do with the money. It’s because someone is interested in my art and they are acknowledging me by paying for it. Frankly, it’s one of the best feelings ever.
Next time you are thinking of acquiring music or licensing art or asking someone to work at your event; keep in mind the many hundreds of hours that this person has laboured to make what you are asking for, available. Before you make a fee offer, ask yourself; “Is this fair?” Always offer something and remember the mantra. “There is no R in fee”.
See more about the author Audio Culture
*HP = Intellectual Property
*Synch Licensing — Synchronising music onto film and TV shows.
*Koha The koha reflects the mana of both the giver and the recipient, reflecting what the giver can give, and the esteem they hold of the person or group they are making the gift to… *source Wikipedia