Playing for Exposure – Yea or Nay?

Playing for Exposure – Yea or Nay?

She dug in her pockets; last five bucks. Between gas and food and the neck repair on her sweet ’64 Fender Stratocaster, she was broke. They were broke. It was cheese-sandwich city, and they were about to play four hours for “exposure,” that corporate-sounding euphemism for “free… but they were going to play with fucking Pearl Jam!

It might seem odd for a person with a talent, or a trade, to perform that talent or trade for free, absent a good cause. But it happens, and in the world of creatives, it happens a lot. And what’s more is that it’s been happening since the dawn of decorative cave adornment. What were they going to pay, rocks? The question is whether or not its right or wrong. And looking at it full bore, it can be both. It has its use, and it has its abuse.

The first thing that we need to make clear is that art ain’t free. And it’s not always cheap. Music has instruments that need to be taken care of and practice spaces that need to be rented, studio time if they’re doing original work, gas and wear-and-tear on vehicles to get to shows.

Visual art comes with paints, brushes, canvases, or if digital, subscriptions to software packages.

Writing is time; every hour a writer spends writing is another hour researching, is another hour editing. Pursuing creativity is an investment in either future success or peace and good vibes.

And so we have to make the second thing clear, which is to say that booking shows, holding galleries, and putting together anthologies is also not free. So we’re not talking about the small bump in electric when a bar has a band on Saturday night. We’re talking about people who promote shows at bigger venues.

Bigger venues have higher costs, and promoters are usually paying those costs up front in the hope of making a profit from the door. Even if they book a known act, there’s no guarantee people will come out. Promoters can and do lose their shirt at times. People not showing up is true about galleries and anthologies too.

Bands starting out have different needs from their respective scenes than established ones (we’ll just say “bands,” but it’s all true of artists and writers too.) Bands starting out need to practice playing around people to build their stage presence. And they need to network with other bands. And if they’re selling anything, they need a place to sell; even a card table in the back. These things are valuable to a band starting out, and if they are being asked to play for free, they are still getting value for their investment and effort.

If the idea of performing for a for-profit venture is truly odious to you, you can still perform in benefits. Benefits help people, and none of the players get paid (usually.) The same applies as the exposure-play. The only difference is that you’re limited in how often you can play – benefits don’t happen every day.

Getting paid for a show, if you’re a gig person who survives off of playing, is crucial. If you’re an original band, other things are crucial. If an original band survives off of playing, they’re probably doing covers, and that’s a whole other ball game. So a big fat ‘no’ on exposure for cover bands or ‘incidental’ musicians.

What’s crucial to original bands is getting the word out and growing a following. If you have a chance to reach a lot of people, more than you could on your own, but it’s an exposure gig, do you say no? Or do you see it as a forty-minute commercial for your band? Do you have CDs and merch to sell? What would the profit on those be? Not to say you should do it, but these are the things to think about.

Before anyone thinks that this is a “play-for-exposure” love letter, it’s not. Some promoters will abuse “play for exposure.” I got a story in an anthology that talked big and paid me an ebook of the anthology in the end – wasted a good story. Anyone who is offering exposure instead of pay should do what they can to make sure the show gives that opportunity. And, to harp on it, are they letting you set up a merch table? That’s a big one because it’s something they’d have to arrange for. It would show that they value the bands that are playing for free in a way that doesn’t much put them out.

Do some promoters take off with the door at the end of the door? Yes. But you’re not getting any of that if you’re exposure. So really, if you want to know when to ask for part of the door, keep track of who you’re bringing in. Could you bring those people to some other venue and have a profitable show? If so, you probably need and deserve a part of the door. If they say no, then you know what to do.

Eventually, if you network with other bands, you’ll be able to build your own events, and you’ll have to decide if anyone plays for exposure or not. Just be adviced that if you split the take evenly, some of the bands will have done more of the work getting people to come, and some of the bands will have done no work at all. Lots of hurt feelings comes from this. This is why promoters do exposure in the first place.

So what to make of it all? Well, your art, your music, your writing, has a value. And it has a cost. And if you are going to give away your value, to anyone, make sure you’re getting enough value back to justify that cost, whether its networking, practice, a chance to sell, or just a plain old rock and roll hootenanny. Just know when that well’s run dry and you have to walk away.