Paying to Play?!

I was recently in touch with a well-known musical establishment about a possible concert. They were looking for musicians who might be willing to do concerts for free in order to help them raise funds. This isn't unusual and there are times when I have chosen to donate all or part of my fee to a charity I wish to support. However, on this particular occasion I was shocked that this musical establishment not only expected musicians to perform for free but also wanted to charge almost £100 for the use of their facilities! The Musicians Union have been running the "Work not Play" (worknotplay.co.uk) campaign supporting fair play for musicians. While as musicians we love what we do, it is surely also not unreasonable for us to expect a fair fee given the hours of practise and preparation that goes into each performance and of course the cost of our instruments and maintenance of them. So while there may well be times when I may choose to donate all or part of my fee back to a charity that I want to support I certainly won't be paying almost £100 for the opportunity to perform!