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We've been re-contracting Employment Agency clients (5 bookings in total — where the client pays the artist directly), and, as predicted, this has caused a bit of friction among agents.
The problem with Sarah's solution proposed here is that if the band refuse to go on account of not being paid, then we (Red & Black Music) would still be responsible for making that call as 'bandleader' and also paying cancellation fees to the other musicians affected if such a call is made (if it looks like the booking is cancelled on our account) — something we don’t feel comfortable about. Is there a standard/recommended way of doing this? Obviously we don’t want to put ourselves at a position of risk but don’t want to upset agents either. But using the L1 contract templates provided by the Musicians' Union seems a necessity given the minefield of probabilities that the third-party contracts have thrown up. Read More... Employment Agency vs. Employment Business Fees Update Show Advance Late Payments
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Employment agencies Employment agencies find work for work-seekers who are employed and paid by employers. This is often called ‘permanent employment’ because once the worker has been taken on, they’re an employee of the company they’re working for. However, different rules apply to entertainment and modelling. Employment businesses Employment businesses engages a work-seeker under a contract who then works under the supervision of someone else. This is normally called ‘temporary agency work’ or ‘temping’. Workers under these arrangements are paid by the business instead of the company they’re supplied to. Read More... Employment agencies and businesses (HMRC) From: James Read More... James reasonably advocates an approach whereby a musician is obliged to confirm acceptance of the details in writing to be booked in. Red & Black Music listened. Ever since this scenario on June 1st (see James H), Red & Black Music operates a 2-stage process whereby musicians are now obliged to confirm acceptance of the details in writing at the point of contract, in addition to at the point of enquiry. James' words have had direct implications on Ozenc, and on Tom. Ozenc believes himself to be booked in, yet he hasn't confirmed acceptance of the details in writing at the point of contract. The situation is extenuated by the fact that Tom takes over 24 hours to confirm acceptance of the details in writing at the point of contract. After this 24-hour period has elapsed, Rory enters into conversation with Ozenc, who is the 2nd person to contact Rory. Unfortunately for Ozenc, Tom confirms acceptance of the details in writing during the intermittent period after Rory answered Ozenc's 3 questions. How would you have handled this situation? What decisions would you have made? How would these decisions have been traced back to your policies and procedures on written confirmations and contracts? Is there a definitive dialogue model/script for booking musicians that's 'out there' in existence or should musicians be booked via socialistic/cloak-and-dagger conversations? The Musicians' Union encourages its members to use standard L2 contracts for engaging musicians. Regardless of the circumstances, a contract hasn't been issued in this scenario. Should the musician have requested a contract, or was Rory's confirmation of the details pending final written acceptance sufficient? At what point of the conversation was there a divergence of interests? Finally, should Ozenc have cancelled his prior appointments/commitments at all, just because he received a more 'lucrative' offer elsewhere? As it turns out, Ozenc wasn't available for this engagement after all: because he had already been booked for teaching on that date, and was therefore unavailable right from the word go. Ozenc's willingness to cancel his prior teaching for a performance that may or may not go ahead raises a question mark with regards to his level of commitment. Suppose Ozenc had been booked for this engagement, and was offered a higher paid engagement elsewhere subsequent to the point of contract? Would he have felt entitled to cancel his performing? Why has this been posted? Read More James H James has been contracted for Kit in Rory on 01/06/2018. He's waited until 2 hours before the event (having received a written contract and several Show Advance emails) to suddenly announce that he's no longer available. Oh dear! Do we have a replacement lined up for him at all? Can he suggest someone? On our side, I'd be keen to make sure that we deliver the advertised 4-piece band rather than an 3-piece band. However, in this case, this is the kind of thing where there's nothing much to do. If we do not have a suitable replacement, it might be preferable to warn as rapidly as possible the agent for the event and discuss risk minimisation jointly with them; I would suggest a quick update to the event details, unless James' part in the band is crucial in which case they may have a suitable suggestion of replacement. Please let me know whether we have replacements and its feasible to onboard them as well as what instrument and how crucial James' part is? James' action has had knock-on effects for the label. Primarily in alerting the agent, it's made the label look unprofessional (although we were able to find a replacement drummer ourselves). Warble Entertainment also views our appeal for a replacement drummer as an issue in terms of data protection. What would you have done in this situation? What wording would you have used? What measures would you put in place to stop such a situation from reoccurring? Why has this been posted? Read More Fixing Information Transparency Max L Musicians' Union Rates #2  (Ding! Dong! It's Musicians' Union shark time... Due to recent wedding client expectations and wider feedback from the team of musicians, we've updated our performance fees for commercial bookings across all of our productions so that they are closer to the Musicians' Union National Gig Rates April 2018 (see below).
Red & Black Music has traditionally paid moderate fees in comparison to other artists, productions and labels to keep ourselves competitive and accessible to promoters. Given the high calibre of musicians we're booking and the increased expectations required (in particular for weddings) we've deemed it necessary to address these fees. Unfortunately, this update will mean that the commercial fees will increase for the most part. We've finally ditched the tapered fees structure that's been in place since 2010 so that the fee for performing solo becomes the same as the fee for performing as part of a larger lineup. However, we've implemented a number of related conditions and costs which will hopefully ease this radical transition and change things for the better.
Many thanks for your patience, And apologies for any inconvenience caused. Best Regards, Claire Maillot & Rory Duffy We run a show advance in the run-up to the event. This document details all of the finer details and arrangements, which we update as we go along to ensure that we are clear on everything. Most of these are simply standard details we check for every event, so not all may apply to all events. We encourage clients to take a look and let me know if there is anything that they wish to add/amend. If we are unsure on some of the details, we check nearer to the time, if preferred.
The following articles explain why we've implemented a show advance and the circumstances from which it has arisen. AOB What details could/should be checked in the run-up to the event? Feedback An example of a client not addressing all of the points in the show advance, and not getting the most out of their booking. Gig confirmation re: 09/08/2014 How the "Show Advance" originally came about. Gig confirmation re: 16/08/2014 What happens if the vocalist cancels? Gig confirmation re: 23/08/2014 Why is it important for the producer to communicate musicians' feedback to the manager? Gig detail confirmation PLEASE NOTE VENUE CHANGE Why is it important to contract events in advance? Show Advance - Latin Explosion - 22/12/2016 Why is it important to make all stipulations at the point of enquiry and not subsequent to the point of contract? Show Advance - Diáspora - 25/02/2017 This thread explores the understanding that venues/promoters are assumed to have regarding band riders. It's trying to find a way of implicitly stipulating these requirements without being overly meticulous. Show Advance - Rory Jazz (Manchester) - 16/07/2017 Why is it important to iron out any remaining issues so that the event can run as smoothly as possible? Yesterday An example of a show advance being carried out verbally, thereby spawning knock-on implications and problems on the day. Read More... FAQ Here is an updated report of recorded pending supplier queries since records began in 2012, across events, projects, productions and job applications. Full names have been omitted for data protection purposes. 
Here is an updated report of recorded musician absences since records began in 2012, across events, projects, productions and job applications. Full names have been omitted for data protection purposes.  Cancellations trigger repercussions at all levels and cause undue headache for all parties (and all musicians) involved. As a general rule, we encourage everyone to disclose ALL terms and conditions to their clients and stakeholders prior to the point of enquiry, not subsequent to the point of contract. We fully understand that circumstances change and other commitments factor in, but we emphasise individual responsibility to ensure that these are arranged around their contractual agreements well in advance so that they are not compromising other people. It's not fair on managers, producers, musicians and service-providers to cancel after an arrangement has been set out - whether it's a live or studio engagement. Since there are no other businesses/services who regulate accountability, we have taken it upon ourselves to "police" accountability. We do this by communicating publicly any breaches of account. While acting as a deterrent for potential offenders, it also provides a useful knowledge base for music managers and producers who constantly come up against the problem of people as both false prophets and obstacles to creative work. With this in mind, here is an updated report of recorded musician cancellations since records began in 2012, across events, projects, productions and jobs. Full names have been omitted for data protection purposes. Release = Cancellation is authorised. Ink = Cancellation is not authorised and the musician is in a position of breach.   “can you check if he knows any of the songs already? i find that really unprofessional as its an artists job to keep enhancing their set regardless. does he not learn any songs in general to ensure his clients are happy ? that is daft. i wont go ahead with the booking for the extra unfortunately 40 pound more is not possible for us so close to our date. I'm disappointed that an artist would not ensure that songs a couple at a wedding wanted where in there for his on reputation.” This is a follow-up to the previous Negotiating For Nothing post, and discloses a scenario whereby a client took issue with the fact that Rory charges for song requests, and always has done, since the production launched 10 years ago:
Requests Rory offers song requests. Check out the playlist for a list of possible songs (www.rorymusic.co.uk/playlist.html). If the song is on the playlist, request is FREE. If the song is not on the playlist. • 1st request is FREE • Subsequent requests £10 per song (1-4 piece band), £25 per song (5 piece and upwards). Song: Song Request @ £0.0 = 1st request FREE Song: Song Request @ £10.00 = Subsequent requests: 1 - 4 piece band Song: Song Request @ £25.00 = Subsequent requests: 5 piece band and upwards Song: Secret Saxophonist @ £25.00 = 1 song performed by memory and a helping hand where required This information is also available and accessible to all on Rory's website Book Page (scroll down to "Song Requests" and on Rory's Warble Entertainment page (the agent in this case has decided to omit the information about charging for more than one request, for the sake of appeasing clients - see similar scenario here: Show Advance - Latin Explosion - 22/12/2016). In this scenario, the client (Laura) has requested:
Charges for the requests in accordance with the above have been made explicit to the client at the point of enquiry (prior, not subsequent, to the point of contract). The client's response: “can you check if he knows any of the songs already? i find that really unprofessional as its an artists job to keep enhancing their set regardless. does he not learn any songs in general to ensure his clients are happy ? that is daft. i wont go ahead with the booking for the extra unfortunately 40 pound more is not possible for us so close to our date. I'm disappointed that an artist would not ensure that songs a couple at a wedding wanted where in there for his on reputation.” A couple of issues here, which we won't skip to go over and examine in detail... Read below. This is a follow-up post to Musicians Union Rates #1. It exemplifies an unoriginal attitude from a recent music graduate, who, upon putting himself forward for a job without first checking the details, then complains because it's not paying Musicians' Union Rates. Hi,
We've made a few significant updates to this website.
Read More What happened to Diaspora Collective? Hello,
Please read the details before putting yourself forward for roles, and please don't apply if you are busy and/or unavailable. The details were available here: http://www.redandblackmusic.co.uk/jobs/lead-vocals-diaspora
Should you put yourself forward for anything again in future, please ensure you communicate at all times. I fully understand that you have other commitments but it is your responsibility to make this known so that you are not compromising other people. It's also not fair on other applicants (who might otherwise have had the chance) to accept an audition and fail to attend. Please, for future, arrange this in advance so at the very least the opportunity can be given to someone else. Regardless, I'd like to thank you for contacting us and I wish you the best of luck with your future endeavours. Best Regards, Claire Maillot This is a log of audition absences and the contextual correspondence and circumstances in which they happened. Please stop putting yourselves forward for opportunities and entering into dialogues about potential projects if you're not available! It’s not that we don’t want to be flexible at all, but we’ve had so many musicians put themselves forward for opportunities in the past and then subsequently announce that they’re not available after all (Read More...), which, as you can imagine, really puts us at a disadvantage. It can also prevent the chance being given to someone else who is available and genuinely interested. We're using the audition process as a litmus test to establish whether or not people have actually read what they're applying for, played by the rules and are able to do the job, or whether they’ve just got nothing better to do other than applying for every opportunity under the sun (and, in some cases, forgotten that they had done). PS: vocalists who haven't heard back. Apologies for the delay. We're still waiting on a few people to get back to us. Meanwhile, you can attribute our rules and restrictions to these guys (below).
Diáspora AuditionThanks for letting us know you can't make your audition. Unfortunately, as the ad stated 20/21 Jan originally, it would only seem fair and reasonable to honour that. Please don't use the word "busy"!You'll instantly lose points and go down in our estimation. "Busy" means you don't know how to manage your time/workload effectively. It implies that there is a problem and that the problem is on your side: you've taken on more than you can handle efficiently. If you use the word while putting yourself forward for auditions: alarm bells start ringing as you've already contradicted yourself. At the very least, it indicates an unfinished account, a lack of communication: you've already taken on another job without first considering how this might affect your original job, and you've failed to make this known to your original job. "Busy" is an excuse for mismanaged expectations.
At a wider level, some people pride themselves on 'being busy'. Either to make themselves look important and for others to look upon them as objects of desire. Or to politely withdraw interest by putting themselves the subject above the object. Read More... "Busy" Please do not apply if you are busy. And another thing...Please do ensure you read through the details of the post or any post you apply for in future. I know it seems like a hassle, but it allows us to give other people the chance who wouldn't have had the chance otherwise. T&C
Writing an artist review is as important, if not more important, than obtaining a client review. Unfortunately, not enough people realise this and we were too late to realise this in one instance.
From: John We've recognised artist, clients and business intermediaries approach us from all angles and require a vast range of options to suit different booking options and scenarios. We've categorised these into a Deal Code system so we can recognise and respond to these requirements more quickly and effectively. This allows us and our clients a greater degree of flexibility in terms of how we do business. Deal Codes #1 - #3 are the most frequent and integral to our business. These are, to a certain extent, dictated by who shoulders most of the Risk Factor (the client, the agent, the label). Deal Codes #4 - #5 are peripheral and a rarity. Deal Code #6 is an elusive, paradoxical deal code for people like Tim @ Essence Music Agency who want the world for nothing. From: Essence Music This is a follow-up post from our original Event Diary #1. In 2015, one of our agents, Tailored Entertainment was added to our weekly Event Diary following on from them Bcc'ing all artists requesting them to update them on their summer availability. 2 years later, the exact same agent requested to be removed from our weekly Event Diary. Furthermore they didn't acknowledge that they'd been added as a consequentiality of their request, or address any of the reasons why when asked. We are left guessing as to why this is the case. It may be that the agent is too "busy" to manage their workload, and is struggling to keep on top of emails. Alternatively, it may be that the agent is trying to be polite by not acknowledging or addressing these points, and, somewhere in the hazy background, may be offended by the content of our informative communications. However, in not communicating why, we are again left to speculate. What's the alternative? Read below for the full story. Read further to understand why "Thought for the week" is now a regular fixture as part of our Event Diary. Read More Event Diary General nag Quoting Provisional Availability View our online Diary What happened to Diaspora Collective? From: Salsa Direct  Stop the talking!People ask questions, and when answered, do not respond. People are asked questions and an answer is not received. Subsequently, a phone call or a face-to-face meeting happens. Something is expressed in an abstract, time-bound utterance. An offer/decision is backhandedly dealt and almost instantly withdrawn (possibly). A conversation/discussion takes place, and simply vanishes into thin air without a trace, without being committed to written record and/or followed through. Almost as if the conversation/discussion didn't take place at all! Thus, one begins to doubt oneself, question one's own sense of reality. Yet when topics are picked up on in writing, people fail to respond. The blank email inbox and innocently empty mailbox conceal a hidden agenda of swords and daggers. They indicate an absence of communication and a lack of accountability. It's this that we challenge at its route source.
Whilst talk is a reasonable form of communication in articulating a "shared vision", this is only a temporary illusion. It's emotionally and spiritually effective, whilst physically and psychologically ineffective. It's an obstacle to accountability in its very nature of being fluid and intangible. In business contexts, talk should be a means to an end, not an end in itself. We're human too. We like to talk and share a good feeling. It's lovely and nice (depending on the context). We like to give ourselves and one another a break once in a while, and there is a time and place for that. However, whilst easier in the short term, talk creates confusion in the long term because it's not committed. Why have a two part thing of talk then having to commit it into writing afterwards when you can simply skip step one and formulate everything straight into writing? Just keep it in the back of your mind that talk, to the same degree as developing relationships, ideas and thought processes, raises the threshold of disappointment. Things can be said and not substantiated. Moments are lost and forgotten. Communications aren't picked up on. People are too "busy"* to follow things through effectively and translate talk into action. *busy = inability to manage one's own time. Let's simplify communications. Let's reduce communications to their basic, elementary form and strip out all of the emotional confusion that is the enemy of solid, concrete accountability. Let's communicate information neutrally and transparently. Yes, I repeat: talk is a reasonable form of communication, but in its fluid, transitive, time-bound transmission, lacks accountability and is an inferior, deficient form of communication. Simply because it's impossible to verify/falsify what was discussed/agreed (unless it is committed to a sound recording, which throws up a minefield of technological complexities). On the other hand written communication puts action into account. Read More Busy Emails Phone lines down Text messages Diaspora Collective 
Sorry, but we love this image. It pretty much says it all.
Here is a report of recorded musician cancellations and unauthorised absences to date. Please note that this report excludes deputisations and cancellations where the contract wasn't enforced (i.e., cancellations mutually agreed and authorised). Report last updated: 04/10/2017
Please note: a confirmation does not constitute a contract. We still require a contract to honour our original quotation, even if the date(s) are confirmed. An additional holding period may be allocated to allow for the contract signing, subject to our discretion. Otherwise, our original quotation only applies until the end of our original quotation's reservation period, regardless of whether the date(s) are confirmed or not. We cannot be held to honour our original quotation if a contract is issued after this point.
Our quotes increase incrementally according to the notice at which we sign a contract, and it is our policy to close all enquiries, at the very latest:
We appreciate your understanding. Please note the above applies to studio (rehearsals, recordings) IN ADDITION TO live events. |
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Rather than withholding information and exploding in a fit of emotional angst, we prefer to transparently dismantle, communicate and account for the what, why, how, when and where in an open, honest, neutral and unbiased way, so we may learn from experience and grow, develop and strengthen ourselves and others as individuals.
Red & Black Music was set up in 2012 to stop musicians cancelling. Conforming to our striving for information transparency, Read & Blog is an open source of KLU (Knowledge, Learning and Understanding). It reports breaches of agreements and unscrupulous traders, communicates problems to be aware of, documents incidents, resolutions and future implications and explores and analyses ongoing issues/topics in music management and production. Full names, addresses and contact details of private individuals are omitted for the purposes of GDPR.
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Red & Black Music Ltd
Registered in England & Wales (2012) Company No: 8673668 Contact: info@redandblackmusic.co.uk |