NYC Music Director Meet-Up, February 8th

MusicianWages.com is helping organize a meet-up for all music directors in the NYC theatre industry. The event will be held at a bar/restaurant in Times Square, the Trattoria Dopo Teatro (44th & Broadway), on February 8th at 8:00pm. The event will be in the cabaret room downstairs.

Please visit the event page on Facebook and RSVP if you plan to attend:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=275380463085

Dear 1999: All Participating Blogs

The past decade has introduced many changes, opportunities and surprises in the musician business. To end the decade, we asked the musician blogging community to help us answer the following question.

If you could go back to 1999 and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

The participating music and musician bloggers published responses on their blogs on December 30th to mark the end of the decade. A list of all participating blogs is below. Please visit the participating sites and see what they have to say.

Musicians Locked out of New York Musical

November 7, 2009
The producers of the New York-based production of Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding recently fired their musicians and replaced them with pre-recorded music. The musical has performed in…

Federal Grant Earmarked for Kansas City Jazz Club

A jazz club located in the heart of Kansas City’s 18th and Vine Jazz District will be receiving $143,000 worth of federal grant money to help pay for repairs, according…

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra: Cuts Now, Raises Later

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra signed a new contract this month that includes a 9% cut in base wages for symphony musicians.  The base salary of the orchestra will fall from…

Oregon, Montana Relax Labor Laws For Musicians

Two state laws passed this month, impacting musicians in Oregon and Montana.
Both bills concerned the employment status of musicians working at nightclubs and bars. Previously, musicians in both Oregon…

To a Mother Concerned About File Sharing

MusicianWages.com recently received the following question from a mother concerned about her son’s file-sharing. Along with Music Careers at About.com and KnowtheMusicBiz.com, we asked the musician blogging community to help us answer the following question. The article includes links to all of the responses.

“I have a teenage son who tells me his pirating music is no big deal. Since he is a musician himself, I point out to him that someday that’s going to be his money people are stealing. But he remains unphased.

“He tells me the record sales make money for the record label, not the artist. He says that the artists make all their money from touring and live concerts. He thinks the pirated music promotes the concerts and therefore helps the artist make more money. I still don’t allow pirating in my house.

“But tell me what you think – as artists out there having your work “shared,” are you just glad to have it being enjoyed, or does it bother you? Admittedly, he is stealing music that is recorded by major record labels, so maybe its different than the independent musician working for his living. But I’d still like to hear what you think.”

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Cuts Musicians Salaries by 12%, Administrators by 15%

Minnesota Star Tribune reported this week that an agreement had been reached between the musicians and management of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The musicians have…

Banana Republic Promotes Musicians with New Collection

Banana Republic recently launched a new promotion called “City Stories” that features 12 musicians, including 2 jazz musicians (David Sanchez & Esparanza Spalding) and one classical violinist (David Garrett, who…

Honolulu Symphony Not Paid in 6 Weeks

News station KNHL in Honolulu recently reported that, as of March 22nd, 2009, the musicians of the Honolulu Symphony had not been paid for 6 weeks.

The Honolulu Symphony, a union orchestra in the International Conference of Symphony and…