Unfair Competition?

[unknown-user]

I believe I need to clarify this post where

[jessica-wolff]

Is this man’s perception widely held? Do you get the feeling that harpists are generally considered a pain in the tochus? If so, why?

[unknown-user]

The community orchestra I have worked with does tend to hold harpists in disregard for the reasons that I have mentioned above, requiring music in advance, requiring access to the hall so that you can tune, requiring musicians to remain quiet while you finish tuning. None that I feel are unreasonable, but are often not understood by non harpists.

[carl-swanson]

Thank you Kate C. Your posts illustrate beautifully what I was talking about.

[tony-morosco]

I don’t see how what Carl is describing is price fixing. What Carl describes is no different than unionization.

As it stands, in the US at least, no one CAN tell you what you can charge. You can charge anything you want. But in doing so you may ostracize yourself from the musician community in your area if you constantly undercut other people in the area.

If I knew someone was regularly undercutting other musicians and I was offered a job I couldn’t take do you think I am going to refer it to them? When they need me to fill in at the last minute do you think I am going to help them out?

You can do what you want, the law says so. But making yourself a pariah to the other musicians in your area has major drawbacks. Around here most musicians help each other out. If you are on the outs with the community you are missing out on a lot.

And honestly, I don’t see what the cost of my harp may have to do with it. I don’t charge different for using a less expensive harp. I am charging for my playing, not the instrument I use.

[unknown-user]

Thank you Mr Swanson! I appreciate your posts and thank you for understanding!

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I think harp cost is a big factor in what you should charge. If you are playing a lever harp for a wedding, I don’t think you should charge the same as for a costly pedal harp. There is more wear-and-tear, and the repair and replacement cost is so much higher. But that’s a whole other category of undercutting: lever harpists taking what are normally pedal harpist’s type of gigs.

It’s ironic, but union scale is actually very low usually, so most people do charge more. Price setting is something a guild does, and can do for its members, certainly.

I am all for helping people who have little money, but the fact is that most weddings spend so much on other things, that they want to skimp on the music, when they could easily do with less flowers.

[tony-morosco]

Well, I try to see it from the customer’s perspective. They don’t know, or understand, the issues of pedal vs lever harp, and they understandably don’t care. It works for me and I have spoken to several others who do it that way too.

Keep in mind that doesn’t mean lowering prices because I sometimes play on lever. It is that I charge the same for lever as for Pedal. I don’t give a discount just because I am playing lever harp.

As for the flowers and such, I agree to a point. But that is why I think making such accommodations needs to be an individual thing. And sometimes you just have to trust your instincts about a customer, and so will evaluate what I see as their priorities. I think that if someone asks about a discount that opens the door to make it alright for me to inquire about their budget and how they are spending it to decide if I want to make such an accommodation.

I haven’t had to do this in a long time however, since I don’t generally do weddings and it has always been weddings where people are stretched too think usually. I have never been asked to reduce my price for playing background music at a cocktail hour or something similar and honestly I would find the thought laughable.

[Karen Johns]

And here we go with the flower remarks again regarding weddings! Why even say something like that? How about they could do with less food, or less expensive clothes, etc.? I happen to be a Certified Florist (as my main job) who has to worry from month to month whether I’ll still have a job, thanks to the economy. Believe me, my industry needs NO help from harpists undercutting the importance of flowers. You may think them frivolous, Saul, but to me they put food on my family’s table.

Karen

[carl-swanson]

Karen- I’m sure all aspects of the wedding industry are suffering now. But ever since harpists started playing weddings, brides and brides mothers have felt completely comfortable haggling with the harpist over the music fee, when in fact the cost of the harpist is 1) the cheapest item on the final wedding bill and 2) is maybe 1/4 or less of the cost of the next least expensive thing on the bill.

For some reason people 1) hate to pay for other people’s services and 2) feel that they are being robbed or that 3) the price of someone’s services is negotiable. Every working harpist needs to remember this when people whine about the cost of the harp music and try to negotiate. Their complaining comes mostly from the above stated attitudes and not from any real financial need.

[Karen Johns]

Yes, Carl, I do understand that perspective of haggling- we experience it

[unknown-user]

You are right that the union scale is quite low, which most people don’t realise.

[unknown-user]

Hello Karen, I’m afraid I’ve used the “well, they paid a fortune for the flowers but they don’t want to pay me a decent amount” thing myself! I have said it quite unthinkingly,

[carl-swanson]

Karen- I’m not for a minute suggesting that the music is more important or that the florist is overcharging the wedding. I’m putting the blame on the bride, who is willing to pay $1,000 or more for a dress that she will wear for an hour, or pay whatever the cost of the hall, the limo, etc. is, and then haggle with the muscian when that fee is so much less than everything else she is paying for. And the only reason she is haggling is because it’s someone’s personal ability she’s paying for. She shouldn’t be haggling with anyone. She should simply ask for prices and either accept them or not.

[Karen Johns]

Carl,

I was quoting what Saul said in his earlier post, not yours. But I believe it was you who stated something similar about the cost of flowers in an earlier topic about one-line replies to the response “Wow, that’s expensive!” in regards to wedding harpist fees. I believe

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