I’m sad to say, it all boils down to $$$$. I know. It’s counterintuitive. You would think the musicians would want to be on the air, because that would help them get noticed and sell CDs or downloads. Well, classical musicians do want to be on the air, but they expect to be paid for it, because they are professionals who deserve to be paid a living wage for their work.
It makes sense that the musicians earn royalties for their CDs. After all, several middlemen (the studios, the record companies, the merchants, and the stations) are making money off the fruits of their labor.
But the radio is another matter. The stations do support the musicians when they pay BMI and ASCAP for royalties, but they can’t afford to shell out extra payments for live concerts. Stations also have to pay syndicators (e.g., American Public Media and NPR) for programming (membership fees based on market size, plus fees for specific programs), though the WFMT Radio Network offers programs free to stations. Believe me; stations are operating on very tight budgets.
The record labels don’t pay musicians for live broadcasts either. That’s way outside of their mission.
So if an orchestra wants to be on the radio, it has to find the money to pay the musicians itself. A few years ago, musicians started demanding such high broadcast fees they went off the air almost entirely. Now, several orchestras have renegotiated their contracts and have lowered their demands. Orchestras in Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis have managed to get back on the air to varying degrees, though some of them are still paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to the musicians.
European orchestras operate under different rules. Their concerts are distributed by the European Broadcasting Union, and it’s somewhat easier to get them on the air. On the other hand, some European musicians don’t make a living wage. If American orchestras want to air on European stations, they have to pay the musicians an additional fee for international rights.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the musicians, and I want them to succeed personally and for the sake of the art. But the business is changing and they need to be clever.
I believe the market will correct itself. With the decline of the record companies, musicians will change how they disseminate their music. If they’re smart, they’ll use the power of radio in every way they can. Viva la musica!
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Marty,
Your argument is a bit of a red herring, given the fact that nearly every major US orchestra (and many smaller ones as well) has what is known as an EMG (electronic media guarantee) as a part of their collective bargaining agreements. This provision provides an amount to the players to cover various medias (radio, TV, recordings). If there’s a shortage of radio broadcasts of orchestras these days (and given that the vast majority have at least local broadcasts) it’s not because of musician fees.
Russell, do the musicians get the fee whether they are on the air or not? Don’t they get paid according to the number of broadcasts? Do they get paid more for a national broadcast than they do a local broadcast?
I’m no expert. I appreciate your input.
Marty
Okay, here’s the scoop. I asked a friend in the orchestra world who wishes to remain anonymous.
Some (not all) orchestras have an Electronic Media Guarantee, which is another form of salary that is paid (usually weekly) and applied to offset the costs of media projects – radio, recording, TV, etc. So, for example, if Orchestra X has an EMG that totals $1,000 in a year (per musician) and the total cost of media projects is $1,200, then the Orchestra Association owes each player $200. An EMG just means that some portion of the cost of media projects is paid in advance and applied against the total cost. The rates for media activities have to be negotiated on a project-by-project basis.
Some rates are negotiated nationally, some locally. Some musicians agree to play free for local radio but want to be paid for national broadcasts.
In the brave new world of online radio, rates for musicians’ fees still need to be worked out.
I just read this line in Jerry Del Colliano’s blog “Inside Music Media”http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/:
“Internet Radio is not just the next transmitter for terrestrial radio stations as radio people would have you think. The real value of Internet radio is access for all types of programmers to make their content available. But what is really happening? Licensing fees for music are oppressive and there is no real rate security for developers of this new medium.”
Marty