Payments for Professionals

Organists throughout the world, unite! Well, maybe starting next month. One of the most committed sins for a professional musician is falling for, "I'll do it, and no - I expect no contribution towards the $33,000 loan I took out to study the instrument." And now, after finally getting my head around the fact that the qualification which cost me so much to gain should start paying its own way, I fall for an old trick from Television New Zealand.

TVNZ are bringing the cameras down to Timaru to do some recordings for Praise Be. As part of that recording, they're recording a combined congregation in the Sacred Heart Basilica. They've been informed that the organists are Josh Anderson, and me. The assumption is made is that, unlike the camera operators, production team, musical director, post-production, actors, fill-in Uncle Tom Cobley who are NOT volunteering their services, obviously the local musicians are! Really? What made them think that? Filming an apple in a TVNZ studio for an hour costs thousands of dollars! Having ME perform on their Sunday morning performances gives me nothing!? I wonder if the local accommodation providers are providing free lodging for TVNZ during their stay?

It is unreasonable for TVNZ to ignore the costs incurred in using professional musicians in their recordings, and I know that I shall not be contributing to their programming in the future.

...starting next month!

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