This is my follow-up email to Betsy Terry of the Vermont Parks & Recreation Association. She found my initial, understated concerns about charging musicians to showcase their talents for the States parks entertainment rosters, pretty strong. Dear Betsy, You found my email strong? Hows this: Expecting artists to audition at your showcase, and to pay for the privilege is akin to asking, say, plumbers to come fix the pipes at a government facility, while paying to have folks watch them and judge their professionalism, in hopes they might be hired to fix someone elses pipes. Musicians are professionals, like lawyers or accountants (or administrators) who spend years studying, practicing and honing their craft. Expecting them to pay for the privilege of being judged by the Parks and Rec crowd is disrespectful, insulting and demeaning. I wonder how you might react if someone were to tell you that you had to come in to work tomorrow and pay to have someone judge the quality of your work, just so that you could come back and be paid to do the same work the next day. It is effectively the same thing— and if you are a state-affiliated organization, you and the State Of Vermont are doing a great disservice to the dedicated, creative professional musicians of Vermont. I want no part of it, and Ill be sure to discourage the whole of the Burlington music community and any other performers who might be tempted in any way to be bamboozled by such a scam. Sincerely, Brett Hughes Burlington
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:15:15 +0000