I believe I need to further clarify what this website is all about. Unfortunately there is some confusion, so let me lay it out. Please read this before you check out my opinion pages and keep it in mind as you read through it. ME: I’ve been in the same band for 30 years: Girl Trouble. The original four people who started this band are still together.. We never “made it”. That’s cool. I’m proud of what we’ve done over the years. Girl Trouble has gotten to do some amazing things that I believe every band hopes for. We’ve gotten to make records and get some radio play. We’ve gotten write-ups in some national/international magazines, including about 7 different languages. We’ve gone on tours through the US, Canada and Europe and shared the stage with some of our heroes. We’ve played in every situation from crappy scary dives to huge ballrooms and theaters. We’ve had wild experiences and made tons of good friends along the way. It’s been a great ride that I’m not done taking. I love being in this band. I love my band mates. We are still together, we still have fun and they still make me laugh. They’ll follow me into the fires of Hell if I need it and I’ll do the same for them, in a heartbeat. Pretty amazing after all those years, wouldn’t you agree? So while we never “made it”, we don’t really care. And I’m not being sarcastic. “Making it” comes with it’s own set of problems that we probably wouldn’t have wanted to deal with. We watched a lot of our friends go through it. For some it turned out really great, for others...not so much. In all those years, we have firmly stood behind the idea that turning in money before a performance is not helpful to musicians or their local scene. None of our famous friends got their success by doing these shows, winning battles, selling tickets for festivals. Every one of those famous bands already had worked up a big local fanbase and already had something released on independent labels. This is an important fact to always keep in mind: Your combined body of work is what gets you noticed. There’s seldom one show or one meeting with some random label rep that allows you to “make it”. It takes hard work in practicing and putting on good shows. It takes patience (especially with each other) and dedication. You’ve got to stick together through thick and thin and never give up, ever. Do that and you’ll go far. MY PURPOSE: When we started out, there were established musicians who would give us some tips about what to avoid when dealing with the “music biz”. We learned a lot from them. In fact, we first learned it from our band friends in L.A. who were experiencing this awful trend in their scene. Clubs would get bands to buy a certain number of tickets outright with the idea that the band could sell them and recoup their investment (or make tons of extra money, depending on “if they were a serious, hardworking band”). They called it pay-to-play. We were so thankful our musician friends would share this information. We really appreciated it and I always kept it in mind. So now that I’ve been around the block more than a few times, I’m passing it on. I think the term “pay it forward” applies here. Those bands helped us, I’m trying to help you. I feel that it’s important to offer this information to new/inexperienced musicians. A strong scene will benefit us all. In fact, I believe it’s my responsibility to share what I’ve learned over the years with the next generation of musicians. Even though it’s over the internet, it’s pretty much the same conversation we’d have if we were hanging out together. Think of this as a conversation between you and me. I’ll buy you a beverage. We’ll talk. So, this is food for thought and nothing more. You have to decide. I’m not going to kid you, I absolutely hate this practice for my music scene and for yours. It saddens me that pay-to-play has actually grown in popularity. But in the end, it’s your decision whether you want to go for selling and turning in ticket money for your show. I will confess to writing in a wry, hopefully humorous, manner (which has always been my style). Yes, I get sarcastic. I will admit to joking around on certain points that I find ridiculous. Sometimes I get downright snarky (which amuses me if no one else). But I’m never malicious. I never get into name calling and I won’t resort to lots of expletives. I try not to go the personal attack route. I believe that getting to the level of unnecessary cussing and harsh name calling diminishes my argument. And I do believe this is an important topic for all artists to discuss. STATS ON THIS SITE: Even though this website might seem extensive, it is hardly popular. Neverpaytoplay (NPTP) gets a few hits a day which is divided over the entire content, not just on one page. The statistics not earth shaking by any standard. My lame internet traffic stats is in comparison to all the fancy websites/myspaces/facebooks etc of the companies I list. These companies are public. They go to great effort to advertise all over the internet, they reach out to every musician with a myspace, you’ll find them all over Craigslist, they have an incredible amount of resources in manpower and finances. In addition, there are many company CEOs and reps doing damage control (or actually getting opposing sites deleted) on every forum where musicians have complaints. So keep this in mind. NPTP is a drop in the bucket to all the pro-presale information, blogs, reps and company owners who have impressive resources and a powerful internet presence. I can’t even come close. I’m no expert. I’m just somebody with an opinion. Again: One person - one opinion. RESEARCH: I do a lot of research on each company I specifically list by extensive internet searches through company websites, social networking sites, and forums. Whether it’s battles, festivals, shows, CD comps, or other opportunites for musicians, I research how the money comes to the company, what the percentage rate is for the musician and what the percentage is for the company. I never list a company without the facts behind it and I try to link to everything I find. It normally starts off either when my band gets a spam email or when another musician will notify me about one they got. I go from there and I encourage you to do the same. Recently when I haven’t been sure about a company I’ve started emailing the bands directly. That’s been great. There are so many really nice musicians out there. I’ve learned so much from just asking bands questions. It’s amazing how much they are willing to share and I thank them for it. I’m trying to do more partial screen captures (fair use) to prove that this information really does exist in case the links go bad. I go by these guidelines for showcases, festivals and battles:

1. Is the company in question expecting bands to sell tickets and turn the money over the night of the show?

2. Do they contact random bands through generic emails or generic ads on Craigslist?

3. Does the company have many shows in many cities listed?

4. Are the shows overcrowded with too many bands?

6. Are the ticket prices higher than normal shows?

7. Are most of the bands young, inexperienced and/or unknown?

8. Are the bands participating mentioning ticket sales or in some cases even begging?

9. What’s the word on the street? Are bands complaining on message boards and forums? Are there company reps trying to do damage control? I’m skeptical by nature. I seldom take anything at face value. I ask questions. I want proof. In the music biz especially, you need to have this attitude too. It’s not going to slow down your “rocket to stardom” to take a half hour or so and check stuff out. In fact, it just may save you a lot of hassle, money, time-wasting and heartache. I seriously encourage every musician to do research before deciding on any opportunity that’s offered to them. FYI: Glowing info from the company rep doesn’t count. UNFORTUNATELY: But here’s the downside...since I started ranting about this four years ago, this practice is more popular than ever. Pre-sale shows have grown on a national level and unfortunately in many areas, it is now trickling down to the local scene. Obviously I’m not a threat to anybody’s livelihood. Some may think I am hurting these businesses. Well, the facts don’t bear that out. Not at all. There are more of these battles, festivals and shows, even my state of Washington, than there has ever been. There are more companies collecting more money from young musicians who are willingly/happily participating. My four years of discussing the pitfalls of pay-to-play/presale or whatever the hell you want to call it, hasn’t even made a dent. THE BOTTOM LINE: But I still fervently believe it’s important for musicians to speak up on issues like this. A free exchange of ideas and experiences is vital to this art. We need this conversation. Good or bad, pro or con, any discussion will help to make the scene stronger. We’ll all sort it out together. So that’s why this website exists. Not to bring down some company, not to “get on my soapbox” (as some have accused me), not to make my band famous (after 27 years it’s a little late for that!) but to simply have the information available if somebody wants to take a few minutes to check it out. I have my opinion. This is it. Nobody has to agree with me but damn it, I believe in this country I still have the right to say it. If this website serves to get the discussion rolling then I consider NPTP a success. Keep rockin’,

Bon

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