GETTING PAID

[David Ice]

I’ve often told others that you can’t reposess the music once it’s played.

[unknown-user]

I require a non-refundable deposit to reserve the date.

[Jeralee]

I have had only one instance 8 years ago where the mom of the bride was two weeks past the date paying me.

Now, I require a $50.00 non-refundable deposit to be sent back with the contract to secure the date.

[tiffany-envid]

Carl – you’re not being critical.

[David Ice]

Hi Tiffany,

One thing I’ve tried very hard to do here in the Phoenix area (and I think I’ve succeeded) has been to develop a spirit of cooperation and “friendly competition” among all the professional harpists here.

[carl-swanson]

Tiffany and David- You’ve both touched on something very important, and that is cooperation within the professional harp community. This takes several forms. It can mean being available on an emergency basis, which is extremely important. It can also mean sharing work, i.e., having others to call, and being willing to call them, when a job comes your way that you cannot take. It can also mean agreeing on minimum fees for various types of jobs, transportation, etc. so that no one is stabbing anyone else in the back, consciously or not. Sometimes students fresh out of music school will charge idiotically low fees because they have not added up the expenses, which heretofore have been paid by mom and dad, that go into owning, insuring, transporting, and maintaining a harp as well as simply making a living. You can also get the occasional harpist, usually an adult amateur, who is giging ‘for fun’ and charges low fees, because she has a husband who pays the bills. Either way, this is undercutting.

As a harp technician who has come in contact with many harpists over the years, the most common complaint I hear from professional harpists about their colleagues is that the handed off jobs go in one direction only. “I’ve given her a lot of work, and not once has she ever passed a job to me” is the sort of thing I’ve heard many times. Something like that is what causes hard feelings and mistrust in any local harp community.

I would suggest that once a year, all of the professional harpists get together to discuss all of the issues associated with freelance work. And there should be an agreement that everyone can talk freely and openly about issues important to them. Maybe this would foster better relations among the working harpists in a particular area.

On a completely different note: the recent change of direction of the threads and posts is very refreshing. I had not posted for a long time because I had lost interest with the nonsensicle stuff that was up. It’s nice to see some interesting discussions again.

[David Ice]

Hi Carl,

What we’ve done in the Phoenix area is every couple of years or so, we send out a totally anonymous questionaire to all professional harpists.

[janet-king]

Gosh, I don’t “hand off” work that I get, I book it myself, send another harpist, and take a cut.

[carl-swanson]

Janet- You’re right on the money!

[David Ice]

Hi Janet,

I realize that we have a very unique situation here in Phoenix.

[Jeralee]

David,

We do the same thing here. I am friends with the other harpists in the area that I give work to, and they are the same.

[janet-king]

Oh, of course I am up front with my customer: “I’m not available myself to play

[carl-swanson]

David and Janet-My first reaction to your different approaches is that I like Janet’s approach a little more. David’s assumes and requires that everyone in the professional harp community be fair and honest with each other voluntarily, when that may in fact not be the case. And all you need is one narcissist in the community to create bad feelings and polarization all around.

Janet’s solution encourages, with money, that everyone treat everyone else nicely. If one harpist is nasty and uncooperative with the others,then she won’t be subcontracted for any work. If all of the professional harpists in an area subcontracted any work they could not take, then there would be a HUGE incentive for everyone to treat everyone else, as a potential employer, nicely. It would also encourage a standardization of fees, so that no one would undercut anyone else.

[David Ice]

Hi Carl and Janet,

I concur with you both, believe it or not!

[Jessica Frost]

I’ve really enjoyed reading this thread and have gotten some great ideas.

[Author]

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