[Fmpro] LSO isnt the eastern block

[Chris Alpiar]

[OK I am trying to learn from my critics and doing my best to continue
feeding this most excellent discussion with provocative and positive
argument and to not get lost on ego battles. I sincerely apologize to all
for my goading of others, my unclear words, and where I have allowed myself
to succumb to goading lately. I care dearly about our betterment and any
argument I pose is for its sake.]

Unions provide tremendous value to its members. As an AFM member I am
entitled to many benefits, including free legal aid for issues related to my
union jobs. They spend tons of money lobbying issues on behalf of the
musicians on an industry and governmental level. I have access to an
emergency fund and a pension plan (which is unfortunately falling apart
currently since it is still based on CD sales...). I have the power of all
(or most) of the professional musicians in the USA organized together as a
unified voice. As an example: With that power a violinist in Albuquerque can
get paid a reasonable salary or rate to have a decent life without being in
a Hollywood "A" orchestra. The AFM consists of literally hundreds of
guarantees that I am to be treated with dignity and paid reasonably for the
very special and unique job that I do. 

The union isn't some Jimmy Hoffa types with baseball bats who manipulate on
behalf of the masses in order to skim millions from magical slush funds.
(While that sounds like certain non-union organizations it's not the AFM or
my vision of a composer's union) Of course every organization has issues,
and the AFM is partnered with the AFL/CIO for better or for worse. But the
AFM has maintained a really decent ethic and goal-set over the years. It is
a bit stodgy today and needs some serious overhaul to stay in line for the
new age, but overall it is GOOD. It is made up of people that believe in the
goodness of music and musicians and want to help our society's members to
all have respectful, decent lifestyles. My dues of $130 per year are roughly
the same as my dues to FMN per year. While I LOVE all the great things that
Mark does for us, his group for sure isn't offering anything remotely close
to the benefits the AFM has. (Hold on flamers, that statement wasn't
anything negative towards FMN, Mark is one of my absolute favorite people
who works tirelessly for us, but FMN still isn't a union, so it was just a
comparison to show that union dues isn't some exorbitant extortion)

Someone dropped the LSO in a while back on this thread but really it has
nothing to do with the issues at hand. I am absolutely positive you cannot
book the LSO for 1900 an hour for a 50 piece including studio and engineers
and even copyists. It was not the LSO that was the meat of this conversation
but the eastern European and 3rd world orchestras, who, while all very
excellent musicians, are allowing themselves to be abused with $20/hour (and
probably less then that even) salary and no backend. Once again it is not
their fault, but it is wrong nonetheless. I wish we could have an
international musicians union but since courts can't have international
jurisdiction, it still must be dealt with nation by nation. In actuality the
root of all the weird problems we are suffering from today is that we have
this massive, mostly open door, international deluge of data and products
called the internet but our world is still governed country by country. And
of course the industry powers that be are milking it for every bit they can.
However that is another subject for another day.

But let me assure you, this discussion is about real issues Rick, and we
have opportunity during this changing time to step up and do something about
it. What you suggest sounds like you gave up long ago. Every man for himself
and step on who you need to, that is the just the way it is and there isn't
anything I can do so Ill just live off the table scraps and nod my head. The
problem is that this trend of what is happening today isn't going to just
stop; it's going to keep going on and on unless we do something about it. 

Try to gestalt and see where we came from 50 years ago, where we are now,
and where these trends are leading us. It's really scary! It is leading to
orchestras eventually having to work for so little they can't afford to keep
the quality. At some point those amazing violinists and oboists will say
"Screw this, I am going to be a pharmacist so I can feed my family" or
whatever and then there will be no more orchestras. And there will be no
more film score composers. And films will change and society will say ah
that was cool when they used to blablabla but whatever this is here now and
it's what they feed me. (Just as 50 years ago people wouldn't have ever
accepted what Gwen Steffani does on stage is music or anything music
related, but more like some freak show stripper carnival act, but hey now
she owns Billboard and Rolling Stone. Or how 3-6 Mafia won the OSCAR last
year for the sad, sad excuse for a song with one hook and no other musical
qualities, and it won against the music from Crash?!... Pardon while I get
the TUMS)

Maybe that is ok with you; to let it all fall apart, since there will
probably be some gigs still in YOUR lifetime, even if you wont get paid the
way you deserve you will probably still work it out. But what happens after
that? The first step in making change is to specify issues and create
dialog. That is being overly-idealistic? That is wasting breath? I say that
it is up to you to choose what you want to see happen to our art and our
livelihood. And the choices need to start being made now before it's too
late. For me it is NOT ok for us to remain indifferent or ambivalent. I
think the time for dialog is now and to prepare our goals and actions that
make up our path for years to come, and ultimately our legacy

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you will
join us. And the world will live as one (thanks Pete for making this song
stick in my head for the last couple days! ;)

-----Original Message-----
From: fmpro-bounces+chris=alpiar.com at nxport.com
[mailto:fmpro-bounces+chris=alpiar.com at nxport.com] On Behalf Of Rick Blanc
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 1:41 AM
To: fmpro at nxport.com
Subject: [Fmpro] LSO and stuff

 Producers have been using the LSO for many
 years.  And why not?  First-class product,
 reasonable pricing.  That's it.  All this noise
 about union, what people deserve, world order
 etc. is all just that -- noise.  I hate to be
 the agent of disillusionment but does anyone out
 there really think the union gives a damn about
 YOU.  You live, you die, who cares?  The union 
 guys have their salaries to worry about.  

 The way things work is really quite simple.
  Companies need product, sometimes good
 product.  If a union can stand in the way of
 their need and their product they can extort
 some more money, if not then they can't.
  The landscape today weakens unions because they
 can't prevent producers from getting the product
 they want -- somewhere.

 All this idealism and utopianism is interesting
 maybe, but has no impact on the fundamentals:
 union bosses have their paychecks to worry about
 and if YOU expire tomorrow you will be known as 
 union member #### whose dues will be missed.
  Meanwhile business continues -- as it should -- 
 and first-class orchestras and musicians 
 worldwide will work and compete in an
 international marketplace. 

Rick    
_______________________________________________
The Film Music Pro List is sponsored by Film Music Magazine -
http://www.filmmusicmag.com

To edit your list options or unsubscribe, visit:
http://nxport.com/mailman/listinfo/fmpro