Respect the Entertainer

 For over twenty years now I have been involved in either entertaining, or coordinating the entertainment, for events around Ontario. A trend I did not like back at the start seems to be getting worse. Entertainers are still constantly being asked to provide their services free for fundraising events.

Although these events and their causes can be very worthwhile, I feel it is an insult and lack of respect to the entertainers. These entertainers such as bands, musicians, solo artist, duets, buskers, magicians, dj’s, and karaoke hosts have spent a lot of time and/or money to become an entertainer. They have everyday living expenses just like everyone else. It seems strange that we ask someone to work for free to help support someone else financially.

When I started coordinating entertainment and production for events, I made it very clear that I would not be involved if they were looking for free entertainment. I would only be involved if there was some sort of budget to pay the entertainers for their time and effort, even if it was just an honourarium to help cover expenses. Most of the time I would coordinate the entertainment, stage and production, even emcee, for free. But, if they wanted us to perform, there would have to be some sort of pay being received. In addition, I usually end up helping with social media, digital marketing, and media and public relations as a bonus.

We have a good rule of thumb when trying to decide to donate our services. If absolutely no company, person, or service is getting paid for their work, product or service at the event, then we would consider doing it for free as well.

Some entertainers will donate their pay back, as we have done in the past. But, that is their decision, not the events. For some entertainers what they do is their full time job. For others it is a side job. Certainly there is an element of passion in what they do, but for most, especially in these times, they need the money to survive. I doubt anyone that has a regular full time job would donate their time or pay cheque to the business they work for, so why are entertainers asked to do it so often?

I do understand that for the organizations holding the events to raise awareness or funds, that budgets can be a challenge as well. Decide on what you can afford and put it out there. At least you are making an offer and the entertainers themselves can make the decision to accept that offer or not. Alternatively, look for sponsors to cover entertainment costs and co-brand them with the entertainment. Many organizations have successfully done this to help cover the costs of entertainment, stage and sound.

In summary, make the effort to offer something for entertainment to show that you respect them and their craft.

If anyone is looking for a duet, full band, DJ, karaoke host, or entertainment coordinator, give me a call. Besides what I do, I have a list a mile long of entertainers.

Rob MacArthur
A Multipotentialite