By José Gandue @Gandour
One of the biggest problems in the music industry, wherever you are, no matter what city you live in, is that, really, When it comes to measuring its intervention in the overall economy, it is not viewed with the seriousness it deserves. A large part of the population believes that musicians (and all the people around them) live in a world very similar to the one he describes. The Guitar, by Los Auténticos Decadentes:
Because I don't want to work
I don't want to study, I don't want to get married
I want to play guitar all day
And that people fall in love with my voice
Because I don't want to work
I don't want to study, I don't want to get married
And in my head I heard my old man's voice
It sounded to me like a drum roll
The vast majority of our readers have surely expressed their nostalgia during these months of the pandemic for the lack of concerts and live activities of the time, and how much they miss this or that festival, but, If they are not involved in this business, few will think in real terms about the total poverty that many artists in the field experience. The music economy involves more than just the performers who take to the stage: Starting with that initial figure you see on stage, multiply, by a number difficult to imagine, the number of professionals involved. Take note: Roadies, sound engineers, videographers, publicists, graphic designers, industry media, auditorium and concert venue managers, rehearsal spaces, recording studios, promoters, specialized equipment suppliers, logistics, academies, instrument stores, songwriters' societies, publishers, and record labels. Now add the families of all these members of this much-maligned community. Do you realize how serious the matter is becoming?
But let's continue pointing out the prejudices: Since music is part of joy and revelry, and many relate all of this to merriment, our Judeo-Christian culture leads many of us to believe that The work of these "happy and relaxed," "bohemian and romantic" people doesn't make much of a difference to a country's gross domestic product, and we can ask them to hold on while other sectors recover as we hope. Let's do an exercise: Take out a notebook and think about all the money that changes hands on a single day at any of the major festivals in your city. You buy a ticket, travel from your home to the venue, buy some drinks, and maybe grab a bite to eat, perhaps a couple of times during the day. Maybe you buy a souvenir from the concert, and then you return home on your paid transportation. Multiply your individual sum by the number of attendees and continue with the calculator. Now consider that from the ticket you paid, (if the promoter behaves properly and complies with all the rules) comes the payment for the artists, the technical staff, the temporary employees hired by the organization to ensure everything went smoothly, the payment of withholding taxes to copyright societies for the commercial use of the music, all the publicity required to publicize the date And even, if there's enough money, a little gift for the international guest to make them feel at home during their stay. A lot of money, isn't it? And that's just breaking down what happens on a hectic day, amidst all the annual activity of a music scene as complex as those in Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Santiago, Mexico City, or Lima, to name just a few Latin American cities.
All of that, for the moment, fell apart. This, as we've been saying for several months, is scorched earth. And to a greater or lesser extent, as we see throughout Latin America, it's a minor issue for the respective states of the region. I ask you: Have you heard any high-ranking government officials say anything vital about this? Furthermore, how many high-ranking members of the cultural bureaucracy have actually sat down to discuss this issue, only to find their discourse amounting to nothing more than empty rhetoric? Mind you, no one is suggesting we indiscriminately reopen bars, auditoriums, and stadiums. We remain at risk of contagion for quite some time. We cannot return to the previous situation before the majority of the population is vaccinated. The virus has claimed enough victims that stubbornness should not turn us into irresponsible deniers. But we are talking about hundreds of thousands of victims who have been asked, as if it were a simple matter of wishing, to reinvent themselves while things get sorted out. The irony is that the employees of government agencies that supposedly work on these issues are the only ones who currently have their monthly income guaranteed.. It's curious how, in state departments related to artistic creativity, the least visible plans are creative rescue initiatives for the professional community they represent. These individuals need to shake off their complacency, stop being the most comfortable in this situation, and finally do what's necessary to resolve it.
We open the debate and invite you to share your opinions from any corner of our continent., to answer the following questions:
-What should be the role of the State in this crisis of the music economy?
-Do large private companies have any obligations in this regard? What about sectors related to alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and telecommunications?
-Do you think that, at this point, it's better to consider that music should understand its role as a simple soundtrack to our lives and that those who make it shouldn't aspire to anything more than what they sometimes receive?
-Can musicians do more than complain about their bad times and contribute to the solution?
As we are able to convince some personalities to speak in depth about these topics, we will publish opinion columns to sustain the discussion and give this issue the space it deserves. For now, it's the least we can do about it.