I must offer the musicians and artists who visit my wall some food for thought.

After DECADES of participating in performances (using my musical skills it took even more decades of hard work and sacrifice to acquire), to offer yet another performance in hopes of “exposure” leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I did my first professional gig when I was 14. I’ve done dozens, maybe hundreds of gigs wherein I was promised “exposure.” It produced absolutely no result at all.

Permit me to share a personal anecdote with you.

Some years back, I was part of a music collective that traded musical directorship between members. We got a call for the Disney Corporation. They were holding a corporate function at a hotel in midtown. We spoke with them, got the details, etc. Then, we asked what the gig paid, their answer was this: NOTHING. Not a penny. But we were told it would be “good exposure.”

I told them “NO FUCKING WAY!!” From that moment, I had a personal vendetta against Disney.

Think about this: Disney (whose corporate earnings in 2013 was $90.1 million) were renting a hall in one of Manhattan’s most expensive hotels, paying for caterers, paying security, limo company, etc. etc – and they wouldn’t scrape a few thousand for the live music.

Try telling a catering business or a security firm they should work for free because it’s “good exposure.”
The reason is obvious: they have NO respect for us. They, and hundreds of others, see us as chumps who will work for nothing if they dangle the prospect of “exposure” in our faces.
Power respects power. We need power, or we will be doing free gigs and going to people like this with our hats in our hands and walking away with nothing to show for our work the rest of our lives.

I learned this lesson late in life: I’ve been making music for 44 years. It may very well be too late for me. Don’t make the same mistake I made.