Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 23, 11 September 1946, Page 4

Dear Sir,

Letters to the Editor must be clearly written on one side of the paper only and where a nom-de-plume is used the name of the writer must be included for reference purposes. The Editor reserves the right to abridge, amend or withhold any letter or letters.

MUSICIANS AWARD

Sir, —I think your article on the Musicians Union in your paper on the 9th inst. is somewhat misleading.

You make some comparisons between country and town musicians. At present I am one of the country musicians but I resided in Auckland City up till 3 years ago, and while there played for dances as a part time occupation the same as I do now.

There is not one band in the City composed of professional musicians. With all of them it is a part time job. A dance musician would find it very difficult to depend on dance en-

agagements for a living in New. Ze-

land. The vast majority of musicians that I know think they are doing well if they can get three engagements in one week. Most of the dances held in the City close at 12 midnight. The majority of the suburban bands have only three players. Now the. award rate for musicians is not really very high. The rate for a three-piece band from 8 to 12 midnight including holiday pay is £4 14s even with 4pieces it is only £6. This includes

8/4 leaders fee. The players get £

8s 6d and out of this 2/- in the pound is deducted for wages tax. Transport has to be paid by the employer. In the City it involves a very small amount usually a tram or bus fare of a few pence. Now in the country the position is entirely different. For some reason or other country dancers are not satisfied to stop at midnight. They must dance on till 1 a.m. and often later. My experience has been that they would not be satisfied with anything less than a four-piece band. If the public must dance till such- a late hour, and have a full orchestra they should be prepared to pay a higher charge at the door. Even playing till 1 a.m. the musicians only receive £1 12s lOd after tax has been deducted, considering the high cost of everything today that is hot excessive. Please take into account the fact that it is definitely a skilled occupation. Country musicians capable of playing successfully for dances are scattered and often considerable mileage has to be covered before the band is collected and ready to proceed to the place of engagement.

For the majority of local dances the players must be ready to leave home at 7 p.m. and they are lucky if they are back before 2 a.m. Musicians are always last to leave the hall having a certain amount of equipment to pack.

We all find that playing for a dance, giving our best, and always endeavouring to keep the show going with a swing is very strenuous. Most of us suffer for this next day. The players have high costs to contend with in the purchase and maintenance of instruments. Today it is difficult to buy a set of drums under £6O. It takes a lot of dances to pay that off. The musicians have to be correctly attired a smart appearance must always be maintained.

In conclusion I would say that there are two factors that make a country orchestra much dearer than in the city, and that is, country dances go on to a late hour, also country musicians have to travel considerable distances to reach their places of engagement. I think you will agree w-ith me that transport is a very big problem today. It costs a lot to keep a car on the road and to keep it in good reliable order. A lot of the roads in this district are very rough and the tyre problem is a constant nightmare.

.Yours, etc., MUSICIAN. (We thank our correspondent for his courteous explanation. We are sure that it is well meant and a genuine effort to avoid misunderstanding. At the same time the stand we have made was directed not so much against the activities of the professional player but purely against the compulsory aspect which the Union declares, compels even an innocent piano player at a private party to join up and to demand a fabulous fee from the friends he or she sought to oblige. We thank our correspondent 'for his letter which definitely shows up the side of the local player. Ed.) •