Young Audiences got me Saturday morning gig at an open house at a Bright Horizons near Budd Lake, NJ. A great facility of activity rooms for child care. I was in the ‘music’ activity room and I did a 30 minute set for a few kids and parents. A couple of the kids were a tad overactive and walked through my rather subtle instruments and picked up the loud cymbals and bells on the shelves. I knew this wasn’t going to be controlled so I had to steer them back into dancing, etc. Several of the teachers joined in and it was a good session.
I packed up when I was done and as I headed out, I gave the director my thanks and two of my CD’s. The teachers who were enthused about my visit asked her how the CD’s could be distributed, she said, “I’ll make copies.” I surprised myself when I said,”Why don’t you buy them from the artist?”
This is the new economy for the artist. Thanks for paying me well for the gig, but I should be paid for my artistic property.