This image has been doing the rounds on and off for a while now and it always gets me thinking. It seems somewhat hypocritical of me given that I spent over a year producing Mondayitis Cabaret a charity night that asked performers to donate their time and talents but generally I agree with this sentiment*.
The problem with working for free is that it can make even the most passionate hobby unsustainable. Burlesque particularly is a very expensive art form, costumes, make up, grooming all take time and money. There are several arguments that clients might use when asking artist to work for free.
'We have a limited budget', often means 'We would like you to work for free or for 'in kind' payment. 'In kind' covers things like; food and drink or additional complementary tickets to the event.
Food and drink as 'in kind' is a lovely idea but performers often do not have time to eat or drink at a performance. The other thing that this does not take into account is that eating and drinking are not the costs a performer incurs at a performance, you need transportation to the gig, time spent rehearsing and preparing an act. Unless you are performing at Rockpool or The Fat Duck the cost of a meal is likely to be much less than your regular fee.
Complementary tickets to the event is a cheeky way of making you feel like your in kind payment is of a higher value. Whatever the event ticket price is for a 'for profit' event there will be a margin. It is far cheaper for the producer to offer you some free tickets especially if it is an event that is unlikely to sell out than it would be for them to pay you the retail value of those tickets. Unless it is an event you would have paid to attend anyway you are coming out worse off in this arrangement.
Additionally often paid gigs will offer 1 or 2 complementary tickets to performers and even if they don't your fee should be enough to cover a small personal cheer squad, obviously dependent on the ticket price.
The offer to include you on our press releases and media materials may sound generous but in my experience I have received more media coverage for shows that I have been paid to perform in. If a producer is paying the performers a fee they have a much more vested interest in ensuring that you're promoted in order to sell tickets.
Charity events are a slightly different affair; the call to donate an act or two is something that is up to the individual performer. I used to produce Mondayitis Cabaret which was a fundraising night for the ACT domestic violence crises service for which I asked performers to donate their time and talents. I would never ask performers I didn't know well and I certainly never put pressure on anyone to perform. If you aren't able to perform for free don't allow a producer to pressure you into it.
I suppose in the end I agree with the final statement, if those creating the art aren't prepared to put a value on it even if it is only a nominal amount how can we expect others to value it?
*This post does not cover TFP arrangements where artist collaborate in order to produce images or film that can be used by both parties. This kind of work is a fantastic way for artists to build their portfolio.
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