Originally Posted By: Notes Norton
I don't patronize any place that has open mic nights. Why? It exploits musicians.
  • The owner gets paid
  • The managers get paid
  • The bartenders get paid
  • The cooks get paid
  • The wait staff gets paid
  • The bouncer gets paid
  • The provisioners get paid
  • The floor sweeper gets paid
  • The toilet cleaner gets paid
  • The musician gets nothing and in most cases the songwriters don't either as open mic places usually avoid ASCAP licenses.



Yet musicians FLOCK to jam nights! I almost never went to a jam night and never performed, and it's something to notice that more than half of the people who go to EVERY jam night EVERY week don't play in a band. They go on stage, play the 2 songs they know, and get empty praise from their pals to feed their insecurity. And the jam night heroes who ARE in bands give their talent away for free and then complain because there's no work. Well, you keep giving bar owners free bands, and as in any area of sales your lowest price soon becomes your highest price. If your lowest price is free, that's on you.