Respecting the Law of Exchange

Recently, a friend of mine was looking for a pianist to be accompanist for his new play. It was a low-budget production, but with an artists' pride. We would never want a show to become lousy just because of the budget. There was little incentive for my pianist friend to take on the project - the pay would not even be enough for transport, let alone to reimburse the lessons he'd have to cancel just to make the rehearsals. The director later said that he doesn't want to work with people who have their mind on money.

I believe the director has failed to understand something very important. This project was his. He wrote the script, and his name would appear on the programme, and he will get the credit. The composer will get credit too. The actors will get credits. These are the people that the audience watching the show would want to know about. Few people would even read the name under Accompanist. So what's in it for my pianist friend? The chance to work with the composer, who was well-established in the contemporary music field. Only that these sessions would be limited to 1 or 2. As I said, the money would not even cover the transport.

As the saying goes, when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. My pianist friend may not be famous yet, but he's got great technical ability, performing experience and earns well as a piano teacher.

I respect the law of exchange. When you give something, you must take something back. I recently accepted (and completed) a project which budget was only a quarter of my last. Why did I do it? It was a great script, it had strong actors, it was a well-established theatre company, I knew the director well, and I haven't had a job for 2 months. In a way, the other 3/4 of my payment would be in publicity for myself as a sound designer and composer. I'm usually very wary of projects that paid little, because people would assume you're cheap, and treat you as such. But I had great pleasure working with this group. While I would definitely like to be paid more, I would say that this discount was worth it. I got to meet many people, some who were potential clients, and some who were potential friends and lovers. Andrew? hahahha....

So this is what I believe the director mentioned in the first section of this blog didn't understand. He knew the money wasn't enough, but he wouldn't know or cared how else the pianist would benefit. Well, as I already said, when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Yes, you might also be able to get young pianists who would do anything for exposure.
But I must clarify this. We music people (me and my pianist friend), and artists (me and my artist friends) are by no means mecenary sort. There is a balance which must be kept if we want to work happily together. This balance would hopefully help keep the bank accounts in balance, but that's secondary, to me anyway. It's important to understand and be happy with the working conditions, before we agree to take on the job. Otherwise, the whole production could be jeopardised by ill feelings.