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I do strongly believe, even though it can have negative results, that it's my business to decide if I want to play for free or not. Most musicians though will look down on me and even try to black ball me for not banding together. It's an us against them thinking. I do not go along with that.



I've been a member of the American Federation of Musicians since 1974, which is the year I first started earning my full time living playing music. I earned all of my income from music between 1974 and 1979 and have maintained my union membership even though I earn most of my money from another endeaver now. I disagree with your stance and can pretty much tell you that you don't help yourself by peddling your talent to commercial interests below the price where your music business can turn a profit. They are in business to make money and so should you be. Its one thing if you want to play for free for a charity but it is something else altogther to offer your services to a commerical money making interest free of charge. If you start teaching commercial operations that they can negotiate a fee below the union minimum, then they are going to low ball everyone out of the ability to earn a living. Its kind of like the mimimum wage except the musicians themselves have to enforce it instead of the government.

Whether you realize it or not, you are sending the message that you don't think your music is worth paying for.

Keith
2025 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,3 Raven Mtis