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signature tune work. In the US, on the other hand, no television
repeat fees are paid unless the programme is repeated on
another medium video or CD-I for example and signature
tunes are not regarded as any different from any other music
recorded for television.
For live performance on television or radio, with a band or
singer playing live on a music show for example, minimum rates
are negotiated between the Musicians Union and television
companies, which vary in the case of television depending on
whether or not the musician actually appears on camera. If a
performance is repeated, all musicians receive a repeat fee. No
single body monitors repeat performances; the Musicians
Union, which negotiated this payment structure on behalf of
musicians, says that the repeat fees system works on trust. If a
programme featuring live musical recordings is repeated, the
television or radio executive responsible for the repeat broadcast
will return to the original contract drawn up with the musicians
concerned and they will be paid according to the contract. In the
case of television programmes which after their original
184 The session player
broadcast on a terrestrial channel are sold abroad or to satellite
or cable channels, musicians again receive repeat fees, in
accordance with multimedia royalty agreements between ITV and
BBC and the Musicians Union.
Session musicians will also receive a set fee for playing on a
television commercial, which can be used for a certain number of
times during a certain period (usually around 3 years), after
which the musicians original contracts would be renegotiated.
Again, in the UK such renegotiation happens on trust, the
Musicians Union intervening only where a dispute arises.
In the case of jingles, such as those played by radio stations in
between items or to identify a programme or presenter,
musicians in the US will receive a low set fee and repeat fees
(also known as residuals) every time the jingle is played. In the
UK, musicians will usually receive only a set fee for jingles,
unless the musician is also the writer and possibly even the
producer, which is often the case. Then a US-type deal will be
negotiated in which a lower set fee will be established in return
for residuals.
Fees for music recorded for films, whether they re made for
television or for theatrical release, will be negotiated on a job-by-
job basis.
On stage
There are Musicians Union minimums for live stage
performances by session musicians, although these are of course
open to abuse. In a classical situation, session musicians and
singers will almost always get what s rightly theirs because live
performance is often where most of the money is to be made in
classical music, so musicians wouldn t accept or be able to
survive on anything but the minimum.
In rock and pop, however, it is still the perceived view by
many in the industry, and certainly by agents, managers and
owners of live venues in the UK, that people ought to be grateful
to be able to play live and so they rarely get what s due to them
(Chapter 19).
In the case of a formal live performance, in an orchestra or a
cabaret for example, set fees will be paid and an additional
recording fee if the material performed is later used on an album
or for broadcast.
Becoming a session player 185
BECOMING A SESSION PLAYER
To become a session player, you ve got to play. You ve got to play
before breakfast, before dinner, before bedtime through the
night if necessary. You ve got to be very good at your instrument,
and this can only be achieved with practice. However instinctive
a player you are, you will want some formal training, because
session players will almost always stand a better chance of
getting work if they can sight read.
A musical qualification would help too, and will be essential if
you intend to become a session player in the classical field. If you
do attend a musical academy, then several months before you
qualify you should be putting yourself about. Speak to your
teachers and ask them for every contact they feel might help you
get work once you qualify. You might even consider forming
your own band or singing group simply to gain experience.
Having gained experience which you could use to prove to a
future employer that you re serious, your next step would be to
record a demo tape. This can be done in your own or a friend s
bedroom studio if the equipment is of a reasonable standard. You
would otherwise be advised to save up and get a professional
tape made, as the experience of being properly engineered
would be valuable to you anyway.
Next, you will need to acquire a list of names and addresses of
fixers, producers and arrangers. This could be obtained from
other session musicians you might have got to know through
college or from professional studios, which might make
available a list of people.
These fixers, producers and arrangers must then be sent your
tape, along with a professionally prepared CV indicating exactly
your qualifications and any professional or semiprofessional
experience you have had. They will then sit on your tape, and
possibly never get back to you, unless you get back to them first.
Keep on at them, get to know them, ask to sit in on sessions and
prove you re both an easy person to get on with and keen to get
into the business. It may take time before that call comes through
from the fixer but there will always be a time when, at short
notice, the fixer will need someone just like you, and that will be
when you get your lucky break.
19
On the road
Unless you actually get around to doing it yourself, you will
never believe the stories told to you about life on the road. Like
the one about the three female fans found by a roadie in the back
of the equipment truck with the bullwhip-wielding (male)
manager of the club; or the one about the band jumping into a
moving car in order to escape the club manager who wanted the
band s blood after they justifiably criticized his venue while on
stage; or the one about the club manager who when asked by the
band, which had just played a trouble-free well-received two-
hour set, for its meagre £25 payment told them to get out now
(without it) if they wanted to get out alive; or the one about the
band which was given a dressing room flooded by water from
the neighbouring toilet and who therefore had to balance on the
skirting boards of the room to stay dry while changing
The above represent a small proportion of true stories told by
one young UK pop band trying to play to its reasonable-sized
following when and wherever possible. This band almost always
filled places wherever it played (thus earning valuable door
money and bar takings for the venue), and neither its members
nor fans ever caused any trouble.
This is not a sob story on behalf of the band, however, rather
it is a sob story on behalf of the whole rock and pop music
business. With the risk of tarring all venues with the same
brush (and the authors apologize to those rare exceptions
where young and upcoming bands are treated with respect), it
is true to say that certainly in London and in most cities around
186
Shows and cabaret 187
the UK young unknowns will be treated badly by the
management of most of the venues they play in the early days
of touring. They will be paid a pittance too. Many won t be
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