Paying to see local talent?
We have some talented musicians on the Southern Oregon Coast. No doubt about that. You can see a number of them playing live almost every weekend of the year, and often on weekdays. These musicians play at local coffee cafes, restaurants, farmers markets, local festivals and at monthly events such as the Saturday Art Walk. These musicians play for free, hoping to gain new fans and sell a few self-produced CDs. Occasionally, musicians and local business owners will charge a nominal fee ($10 or less) to see a concert, only to sell a handful tickets and see the artists perform to small (yet enthusiastic) crowds.
To charge or not to charge? That is the conundrum that local musicians face every week. I’m a firm believer that what they do should be rewarded. After all, most of them have day jobs and sacrifice their limited personal time to rehearse and perform publicly, hoping to scrounge up enough money to pay for gas and maybe a guitar pick or two. At the same time, local business owners who provide a venue for us to see live music should get a little money for their efforts, otherwise opportunities in this remote area to experience live music of any kind would disappear. People don’t think twice about paying $15 or more to see live music at the Pistol River Concert Hall. Is it because the musicians playing there are new to us? Someone we haven’t already seen playing locally several times? These are questions that I and music-minded folks ponder, and we can’t seem to find the answer. Perhaps you can help. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think. Thanks
- Scott
