musicians (maybe some radio stations could set aside an hour to play submitted music), and organizations aimed to create more opportunities for aspiring musicians to earn a livable pay (such as the Canada Music Fund). Perhaps a New Hampshire Music Fund could be formed?
One more solution would be to offer higher-paying gigs for up-and-coming musicians. According to Heather McDonald in an article she wrote for The Balance, “There tends to be some real misunder-standing of how much money up and coming musicians can make at their shows. Often, they get a cut of the door after the venue and promoter expenses, which may be very, very little or nothing at all. Even if your [favorite] local band nets thousands at the home show, they'll be starting from scratch in new markets.” It would be a win-win situation if some venues offered a higher pay cut to performing artists. These venues would receive more publicity due to higher traffic of musicians and the artists would walk away with a livable stack of cash.
One more question that needs to be asked about this topic is… why? Why do lesser-known mu-sicians need to be paid more? Do they really deserve a “pay raise”?
An article written by Andy Thomas for Westword provides one of the many answers to this ques-tion. In summary, funding lesser-known musicians will allow them to continue their career and to explore different ways to better their music. Even if some of their music isn’t the greatest, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be paid for their effort. Additional funding could help these artists fine-tune their style and could set them on their way to create a masterpiece. As Thomas puts it, “…For every million Tony Roma line cooks, there is only one Jean-Georges Vongerichten. That doesn't mean that when I go into Tony Roma’s for a burger, I don't have to pay the cook and my waiter because it is not the best possible meal out there.”
Thomas also goes on to say,
“Too often, the musician makes nothing at all, no matter how good his or her product gets. Music, like everything else, should be on a sliding scale. But that scale shouldn't start at $0. Encourage-ment, resources and a little bit of money will make musicians better. A life of pain and misery will extin-guish great artists and stop great careers long before they ever had a chance to truly flourish.”
In other words, the next Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley could be