Photo credit: Neil Marshall from Distinct Perception
The first money I ever made from sound work was £20. This was whilst shadowing the senior engineer who had decided for the last band that he would rather be propping up the bar than riding the faders.
He left me in charge of the desk and paid me the twenty at the end of the night. Twenty quid for one band? This seemed like ludicrously easy money and I thought to myself, “if only I were willing to work a whole shift for that £20. I would have more work than any engineer in a five mile radius”.
The thought, however, was fleeting. There was no way as a professional engineer (with a fancy schmancy bit of paper to prove it), was I going to work for less than minimum wage just to get a foot in the door. Nobody ever got anywhere by selling themselves short.
This unfortunately doesn’t seem to be the attitude of many other young engineers in the city desperate to start their careers by whatever means necessary.
Admittedly, my first few months at The Maze were unpaid but then it wasn’t real work. I watched the other engineers work, learned the equipment. I had never really expected the exercise to lead to a job and I appreciate I have been lucky.
Since working as an engineer, I have seen many other engineers offering to do the same work that I do for a fraction of the price.
It is an unfortunate case that there are some unscrupulous promoters who are willing to overlook an angry desk of red clip lights and waves of irritating feedback to avoid paying the going rate of decent engineer. In some cases, this is the largest part of their expenditure for an evening. This has led to well meaning inexperienced students rocking up and charging half what a professional would charge.
But how else to get a chance! I hear you cry.
Okay, okay, jobs in sound are not exactly falling from the trees. Trying to get a residency like I have is a combination of right place/right time, perseverance and knowing the right people but undercutting is not the best way in, trust me.
Do you think that once you have got to grips with equipment that the promoters you’ve been working for will double your fee? Do you believe that once you’ve started to use compressors and effects to great artistic effect that new venues will be willing to pay the going rate after you’ve been charging £30? Nope. It’s not going to happen.
And not only are you taking work away from other engineers who have been working hard to establish a name for themselves, you are effectively screwing the future of your industry by driving down the average fee. The same principle applies to any creative industry- be it photography, dressmaking, or web design.
It is hard to get a foot in the door. I know this and I do sympathise but undercutting your rivals is not the answer.
You are responsible for setting the foundations for a stable industry for yourselves and many newbies to come. Don’t cover the ladder with grease before you’ve even started climbing.
Nottingham! What do you think? We’re a small city with a limited number of venues and everyone has to get their foot in the door but… how can you get in? How do you increase the size of the market? Will the Creative Quarter help this? Let us know what you think.
Tara Rawson is a local sound engineer, vocalist and events promoter for Roller Derby team, Hellfire Harlots.
See, this is where I get slightly confused about the different rationalities we each seem to be applying to the system we all endorse by complicity – The Capitalist Market Based Economy.
Seems no-one ever wants to dip their toes in the icy water of this kind of debate these days though.
On the one hand you’re saying competition within your industry is destroying it, by young (perhaps inexperienced) people desperate to get a foot in the door offering their labour cheaply. But on the other…I mean, isn’t this one of the core principles of the market-based economy – businesses (be they in this case individuals) competing with each other for their share of the market? That’s what we’re talking about here isn’t it? In a way we all have to think about ourselves and our individual labour as a commodity or business in this economy, right? And for some, especially the young, it’s a real struggle and just about anything goes to get ahead.
Seems to me thats how it’s being considered at societal level anyway these days (and hence the complicity – we all buy into it in one way or another). Let’s not forget either, at it’s most primal level this is an issue of survival, not only of an industry but of the people entangled with it. We all want to get ahead in life….or preserve the one we already have.
While I understand and accept your ideas about the result of undercutting (the potential undermining of an industry), I think you may be avoiding considering the real cause of the problem (the abstract principles of the system in which all this is taking place).
You know, in a way I can’t even bring myself to wholly agree with the critique of the ‘unscrupulous promoters’ – after all they’re just playing the same game, albeit with slightly more manipulative power. Not that I agree with any practice that exploits people for a buck.
No, I think there’s a case in my mind that the principles of our overriding economic culture are diametrically at odds with the people it’s there to help organise & sustain – all of us! We each have to confess that the fear that it might be us who ends up at the bottom of the system is very real. On that level it forces us to face the compromise of the potential suffering of some of us while a generally greater majority prosper adequately or very well, depending on the starting conditions of the individual of course (always hated that assertion that ‘Anyone can make a fortune these days’).
But add to that the ever dawning reality that the world will ultimately not be able to sustain resources for the growth principles of this economic system (that’s a no brainer isn’t it? – if not directly for us then for our children & grandchildren) and it starts to reveal the gravity of the problems we’re facing if we don’t deal with that root cause, rather than us all blaming each other for making our lives difficult.
Everything just seems to be a business today
Just one more thought – if you think undercutting in your industry is destroying it now, a lot more industries could be in for a huge culture shift if mainstream business starts really exploiting web-sourced jobs via sites like fivrr & people per hour. It’s going to confuse a lot of people out there on all levels, from the ethics to the economics.
Can’t wait.
I’m not putting the blame on anyone. I don’t claim to be a financial expert. These are comments based on what I’ve experienced.
I worked for free, as stated, for some months so appreciate how hard it is to get a foot in the door. This is a warning based on what I’ve seen. I’m not damning anyone’s actions.
I really hope you don’t one day find yourself out of a job because an under qualified rival has offered their skills for less money. Unfortunately this is reality. “Cowboys” exist in all walks of like.
Thanks for your comments.