INDIE INSIDER
Is Pay-To-Play Ever Acceptable ?
Live music is tough business for artists & venues alike , but should artists be expected to cover costs ?
By Michael Raine
PIPER HAYES
Back in May , Canadian Musician received an email from Hamilton , ON-based independent singer-songwriter Piper Hayes detailing a recent experience she had with an unnamed venue owner . Recounting their email conversation , Hayes told CM the venue owner said she , the artist , would need to cover the cost of the doorperson . “ When I asked if I could have my own door person ,” Hayes continued in her initial message , “ I was told , ‘ I can ’ t due to the neighbourhood . We need bag checks and the front watched closely as people like to take booze outside .’ This indicates to me that the door person needs to be an employee and therefore covered by the venue itself .”
Though covering the doorperson ’ s wage is unusual , the expectation that musicians cover costs – either by paying a fee to the venue for the “ privilege ” of playing , or covering costs directly by , say , paying the sound tech – is unfortunately a not-too-uncommon occurrence . The practice of “ pay to play ” is decades old and online
10 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN complaints from musicians continue to pop up with regularity . “ I have been taking it upon myself as of late to challenge music venues on how they treat musicians ,” Hayes said in her email , “ Over and over again , I approach venues to set up shows and I am met with pay-to-play standards .”
“ I find there ’ s a trend in paying for the sound person and it ’ s anywhere from $ 40 to $ 100 ,” Hayes later says by phone . In another example , she recalls , “ I was part of this festival this year and then it got cancelled . I was supposed to be playing at [ a venue in Toronto ’ s Kensington Market ] and they contacted me and said , ‘ Would you still come ? Would you still fill the spot ?’ I said , ‘ Yeah , great . What are the terms ?’ The terms of the festival were I was offered a guarantee and we were playing with two other bands . It was in Toronto and I live in Hamilton and even transportation and all that factor in , and they said , ‘ Well , it ’ s the same thing , we ’ ll do this at the door and you pay $ 60 for a sound person .’ Well , that ’ s not the same thing . She called it a ‘ nominal fee of
$ 60 ’ and I ’ m like , ‘ Well if it ’ s so nominal , why don ’ t you pay it ? I don ’ t understand .’”
Hayes messaged the other two artists on the bill and explained why she was going to say no to the gig . A little surprisingly , “ One of them wrote me back and sent a really long message about why I should do it – that the $ 60 isn ’ t that much and ‘ if we get this many people , then we ’ ll make this much ,’” Hayes recalls , “ and the reality is , too , that it ’ s not true for me . I will make more money if I go across the street and play at the old coffee shop I used to work at , do a pass the hat or whatever I want , and not have that loss of $ 60 . But it is ethical , as well . I don ’ t want to encourage that system anymore . It ’ s an old , broken system .”
Shawn Creamer couldn ’ t agree more . Creamer owns the Dakota Tavern , a staple of Toronto ’ s roots music scene , as well as the The Hayloft Dancehall in Prince Albert County and the Whippoorwill Restaurant and Tavern in Toronto , in addition to being a guitarist and singer with highly regarded alt-country band The Beauties .
“ Totally would never happen … I ’ ve got two venues and there would never be an occasion at either of those venues where we would have an artist pay to play ,” Creamer tells CM emphatically . “ For one , it ’ s an ethical decision , and being a musician , I would just never do that to another musician . But I think it is also a business decision , too . I own music venues and we have a place where we need , sort of , a farm system for young bands to be able to come up and go through . So for us to be only thinking about the bottom line and having bands pay to play would not be good for business for us at all . It would tarnish our reputation as being a reputable place for bands