(Niagara Falls, ON) – The City of Niagara Falls recently advertised looking for musicians to perform for one hour at the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings for 20 weeks beginning May 21 and running until October 8.
It seems like a great way to gain exposure and make a few bucks, right? At a pay rate of $50 per act the city is offering – whether it is one person or 10 – the pay rate would be the same and this has enraged a lot of local musicians, including Rita Carrey, a local musician for 18 years.
“The city put out in the newspaper that they needed musicians to send in their information if they want to play the Market Square and they are going to pay $50 to play for one hour. This is ridiculous!” Carrey said in a recent interview with Music Life Magazine.
Carrey, who is the sister of actor/comedian Jim Carrey, said the city hasn’t taken into consideration that out of the $50 they are offering, $10 of it goes towards taxes plus other expenses including gas and guitar strings.
“That leaves you with $28 dollars and it’s not one hour, it will end up being three (hours) with set up and tear down. So that brings us to $9 an hour.”
And to top it all off, each act must bring its own equipment and sound system.
Carrey wants to let the City of Niagara Falls know that this pay rate is unacceptable and unrealistic. She is organizing a rally called “Fair Pay and We Play” which takes place this coming Tuesday, April 12 at 3:30 p.m. on the steps of Niagara Falls City Hall. She is encouraging any musician who can be there to show up.
“Bring your guitars and let’s make some noise on the steps of City Hall,” Carrey encouraged, adding, ” I will be speaking to city council at their meeting after the rally. I want them to raise the rate to $100 to play at the Market Square.”
Carrey feels that if musicians were to accept the $50 pay rate then it may cause a ripple effect where club owners will want to pay the same. It would be like “Monkey see, monkey do”.
“The worst thing is, the musicians who will play for free or 50 bucks screws over all other musicians,” explains Carrey. ” Most musicians are rallying behind me because they believe as I do – something has to change!”
Carrey, who’s band is called The Rita Carrey Band, is encouraging anyone who can’t be at the rally to “email City Hall and complain.” It doesn’t matter if you’re a musician or a strong supporter in the arts.
“I hope this opens people’s eyes. Look at it this way. If a really good artist who is popular works for $50 a show and he works five nights a week, (this) is next to impossible. He would make $250 a week less taxes. (That) would be $200 x 52 weeks a year. That’s $10,400 a year. Can you live on that?” Carrey asks. “This doesn’t take into consideration all the practice time, clothing for the gigs and such.”
Let’s support Rita Carrey and all musicians as they rally for better pay.
“I am fighting for more money because I don’t want the younger generation coming up to be playing for free or standing on the street corner out front of the LCBO with their case open.” Carrey said. “There is nothing like the experience of learning and honing your craft in front of an audience, not people walking by.”
You can contact Niagara Falls City Hall here.
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Rita Carrey is the sister to comedian Jim Carrey. She is a Canadian television and radio personality. Born in Canada, she grew up in Toronto and Burlington, Ontario.
Rita is an accomplished singer/songwriter and public speaker. She is also the co-owner of a new organization called TriStream Entertainment which helps fund Parkinson’s and other fundraising charities in North America. Besides giving to charity TriStream is a high quality multi-media corporation.
Rita has been performing classic rock for many years now and is currently performing all over Ontario with her new band RCB the Rita Carrey Band. She has performed with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and has opened for Honeymoon Suite, Goddo and April Wine.
She loves playing intimate venues as well because it allows her to interact with her audiences more closely. It gives her fans a chance to see a her quick wit and talent with a show she calls Carrey On, Growing Up Carrey. In this show she performs big band, pop and sultry blues.
Rita comes from a musical background her father had his own big band and her mother occasionally sang in it. She is also in the process of writing a book called Growing Up Carrey, which she hopes will hit store shelves soon.
Last but not least Rita has her own online YouTube site which she calls Peet & Reet – www.peetandreet.com
She will put her two cents into every day topics from entertainment to politics and then some check it out.
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This protest is part of a larger issue in Niagara Falls. The city spent $75,000 on a consultant’s report that recommended the city should be spending between $200,000-$300,000 a year to support arts and culture for the citizens on Niagara Falls, not tourism.
The city’s answer to this was to come up with a $50 per week budget for entertainment for the whole summer at the farmers market and published it in the local newspapers. This amounted to an insult to performers and an endorsement to other entertainment purchasers that this was an acceptable amount to pay musicians.
Unfortunately the market became the flashpoint for the response of musicians because the farmers market in Niagara Falls has been doing some great things. So the issue is with the city, not the market.
The city of Niagara Falls only spends 48 cents per capita to assist and promote the arts which is far below the standard of Canadian cities of similar population. This has been an ongoing issue in Niagara Falls and in light of much larger investments by Hamilton, London and Kitchener, etc. It was time to do something about it in order to improve the quality of life for the people of Niagara Falls.
While I applaud the efforts of Ms. Carrey, it also needs to be noted that the issue of low pay for musicians is not just limited to Niagara Falls. There is a whole other contingent out there of club and restaurant owners who follow the same principles as the city of NF does. They will book young, eager musicians for nothing more than a couple of pitchers of beer and some chicken wings. How are the more established bands and musicians supposed to be taken seriously after that? We need a protest that is going to make a statement or have an effect on that corner of the market as well.