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Re: BORROWED PLAYERS

-----Original Message-----
From: Samantha Harrison

do bands have set amounts
>which they are prepared to pay out to a borrowed player?
>Do you arrange with a dep before the job how much you are prepared to pay?
>Is there a going rate?
>Should soloists arrange their own deps and pay them from their retainer?
>how much do you ask for? You never
>know if you are asking too much or if a band would have paid more. I always
>feel really awkward especially when bands try and avoid paying you. (But I
>remember and when they ask again I'm always too busy!) Having said that I
>will try and help out local lower section bands whenever I can and I don't
>expect to be paid.


Did I blink and miss something here?
When did it suddenly become okay to expect a band to pay you to play with
them?  Were we not only just a couple of letters ago reminding ourselves
that we are an amateur movement?  As I understand it, this means that we are
playing for the love of it, not for what cash we can milk from it.
Don't get me wrong - I appreciate what you said about not expecting to be
paid by lower grade bands, but there appears to be an assumption that
playing with a higher grade band means that there is money for the taking.
This all contributes to the bands with big sponsorship effectively killing
off those bands which have to struggle for every cent/penny they get.  "Oh -
you can't afford to pay me?  Well I won't be playing with you."  Is this it
for our banding future?
 I can't help thinking about  six members of my own band who travel to
rehearsal each week, making a 400km round trip.  We have had players undergo
surgery and play in a contest a week later.  I know there are people in
other bands who have done similar things.  This is dedication to the cause.
Not once have I heard mention of recompense for "expenses".  We pay subs for
the privilege of being a member - including those with the big distance to
travel.
We joke about our motto being "Die for the Band", but maybe some people
should be looking more closely at what they are prepared to put in to the
movement as opposed to what they can take out of it.
Think about it.
Wendy Spencer


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