Posted on 09/25/2003 3:22:43 PM PDT by weegee
THE POP LIFE Royalties From PBS Dismay Bluesmen By NEIL STRAUSS
Published: September 25, 2003
On Sunday PBS is scheduled to begin its weeklong documentary series "The Blues," with Martin Scorsese as executive producer. In the episodes, directed by Clint Eastwood, Wim Wenders, Mike Figgis and others, the past, present and future of the blues are honored, explored and explained.
But some record labels and music publishers say there is one old blues tradition being honored by PBS that would be better off left in the past: underpaying the artist.
Randall Wixen, president of Wixen Music Publishing, says PBS offered a bluesman he represents, Robert Wolfman Belfour, $500 for the use of a song on television, on DVD's and in promotions worldwide in perpetuity. That falls far short of the $8,000 to $12,000 that he said was the standard industry fee just for using a song in a DVD.
In an e-mail message sent last month to a producer of the PBS show, Mr. Wixen rejected PBS's music-licensing offer. "If your true purpose is to honor the blues and those who make it," he wrote, "why devalue it so by continuing to treat its creators as if they were worthless?"
Producers who worked on the series said in interviews that what they called a "favored nation" system was devised to pay for music. The same nonnegotiable amount was paid for every performance and song, whether popular or obscure.
Clarifying Mr. Wixen's figure, they said that Mr. Belfour's music was intended only for use on the DVD box set, for which he would have received $500 in compensation for the first 200,000 sets sold. Artists whose music was also selected for the television broadcast were to receive an additional fee. The producers said every important artist who performed was paid $500 for his time, whether the film clip was used or not. (A song's writer or copyright holder and the performing artist are not always the same person.)
"I think the musicians deserve much more than we paid," said one executive who worked on the series, speaking on condition of anonymity. On the other hand, he added, the series could not have been completed if the fees had been higher.
Alex Gibney, the series producer, said the budget presented a challenge. Some involved with the series said $450,000 was allotted for each episode, but Mr. Gibney said the actual budget was higher. "There are over 500 songs in the series," he said, "and the only way to make it work was to come up with a fee that was the same for everyone and low enough to allow us to do the series in the first place. At the same time we wanted to make sure that if these artists appeared on a CD, or if the films themselves ever made a profit, as unlikely as that may be, then there would be additional compensation for these artists."
Mr. Wixen said he understood the constraints the show was under. "But then you're shifting the cost from the show to the people who make the music," he said. "So it's just telling the musicians, `Stand in line,' again. And it didn't feel right."
Robert Kenner, who produced the episode Mr. Belfour would have been in, said: "I think it's really sad. Not just for the movie, but it would have been really helpful to him. Here's a guy who is talented and wants to be heard." Mr. Wixen said the decision not to participate was made after consultation with Mr. Balfour's publisher, Mockingbird Blues.
Reaction to the compensation among record labels and managers ranged from pleased to disappointed, though most said they were happy for the chance to be included.
The larger debate is over the advantages of compensation versus promotion. Artists are often persuaded to waive or lower fees to appear in television, film and commercial endeavors because they provide good exposure. Though most who worked on "The Blues" said they wished the musicians had been paid more, they also said that those who appeared would have the advantage of increased CD and concert-ticket sales.
In the early days of blues and R&B, musicians were typically unaware that they were being taken advantage of by managers and record labels. Most artists today are more savvy.
"Now we know that black guys didn't get paid and made no money," said Bobby Rush, a blues singer and innovator who is featured in the "Road to Memphis" segment, which is scheduled for Tuesday. "Skip James cut 28 songs and made $45. I can show you another Skip James. Every time I look in the mirror, I see a guy who didn't get paid for what he did." (Skip James was one of the most influential Delta bluesmen of the 20's and 30's, though Mr. Rush's figures could not be confirmed.)
Nowadays, he continued, things aren't necessarily much better. "We know that record companies today are like they were yesterday," he said. "They may pay a little more, but they're still not paying what they should. So you get what you can."
Thus he knew exactly what he was doing when he agreed to appear in the PBS blues series. "I'm doing it not for the cash money upfront," he said, "but for the clout it brings me. Because the more people know of me, the more value I have."
He explained that he wasn't necessarily talking about cash value, but the power to speak to a greater range of people through his music.
As for regrets, he said he had none. "I think it's the best thing that ever happened to Bobby Rush in his career," he said of his inclusion in the series, "because it gave me a chance to display what I do, and nobody told me what to do and how to do it."
Mr. Gibney said that in addition to the PBS programs, the producers of the series put on a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall in February that was filmed for a forthcoming documentary. All the proceeds from the concert and film, he said, will be donated to the Blues Music Foundation, a charity benefiting music education and blues musicians who have fallen on hard times.
Matthew Johnson, founder of the Mississippi blues label Fat Possum, expressed the mixed feelings some had about the project. "I'm glad they're honoring the blues," he said. "We just do that in a different way."
I'd be singin' the blues, too.
Or get a day job.
(big blues fan)
PBS does sound pretty cheap here, $500 for the first 200,000 DVD box sets sold, but I get real tired of hearing guys complain that they are not getting paid what they should.
If the artists are being cheated so badly, why doesn’t he start his own company and pay the artists what they should be paid. All the artists would flock to his company and then he and the artists would all be very rich overnight!
They're that good, eh?
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