The Value of a Musician 

The value people place upon musicians is equal to the value musicians place upon themselves.  That value builds from learning and doing what musicians do – excel on an instrument, compose popular music, and perform concerts as foreground or background to events produced by a variety of entities – memberships, societies, associations, corporations, families, partnerships, and individuals.

The integer of value as a musician is proficiency with the voice, instrument, and music that is performed. Time, practice, concentration, consciousness, determination, proclivity, and proximity to music studies and performance produce the degree of proficiency a musician attains to. It is personal and individual for the musician.  Knowing the value of your musical prowess is at the core of sustaining yourself and your lifestyle from musical production.

When a presenter calls, it is imperative to know your value.  What their budget will bear for music may not be what you need to earn to take the contract.  There is a line of demarcation between what you will and will not work for.  That is business. The seller (musician) dictates the cost of service or product (CD, music) for those who request said services and products. Negotiation is a given. However, quibbling your perform fee is a sign of insecurity and underestimation of your own worth.

Telling the stories of women in Blues and Jazz!

Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. has provided 5 years of musical services  community and promoted women musicians and the men who support them, globally, with our COMPILATION CDs, concerts, and website.  After our MUSICWOMEN CONFERENCE in 2013, we aim to have statistics about women composers in the U.S.A.  In 30 years, Donne in Musica  in Rome, Italy created this chart of the thousands of women composers in Europe.