Letter: Musicians deserve our support

Re: “State launches ad campaign,” The Advocate, Feb. 14.

I salute Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and the Louisiana Department of Tourism for investing in promoting the music of Louisiana and New Orleans as a means of attracting tourists to our state. Nowhere else in the country is music more ingrained in the culture of a people. As the poster states, “Where the music never stops, and most of it started.” Nothing could be truer.

The article didn’t mention that the average musician in New Orleans earns $12,000-$15,000 per year, well below the poverty level. They rely on the New Orleans Musicians Clinic for health care, where 85 percent of them are treated for chronic conditions such as hypertension, depression and diabetes.

These professional musicians in New Orleans are exposed to serious risks to their health including hearing loss, carpal tunnel syndrome, first- or second-hand smoke and lung problems and psychological depression. They are under a lot of pressure to support themselves and their families in a profession that seems to be able to skirt around the issue of a minimum wage or any benefits whatsoever.

While we invest in the music, shouldn’t we also be investing in the musicians who create it? Without the musicians, there is no music. If tourism is indeed a $10 billion industry, certainly the musicians who help create it should not be in a position of struggling to survive.

We do need to invest in the music, but I think we should also be investing in our musicians. They are one of our greatest resources. Let’s show them.

Dave Holt

construction specialist

New Orleans

Comments

1) Comment by bourbon-soda - 21/02/2013

There is probably also a near-limitless number of people who could by some stretch be classed as "musicians." In addition to the occupations listed below are doctors, lawyers, dentists, engineers and accountants not to mention their spouses. Health care is a separate issue from a specific occupation or avocation.

2) Comment by InPVille - 20/02/2013

@bourbon-soda: "If the article is about government funds" Very likely this is the case. "Let government do it" has become the bad idea whose time has come of a generation all too willing to punt what they should be doing into the hands of someone/something else. Given there is a nearly limitless number things that can be advocated for that can be signed on to, determining where to draw the line becomes less and less likely to decided.

3) Comment by bourbon-soda - 20/02/2013

Then I don't know who we are talking about. The letter seems to be about those who have no other source of income, but made a personal choice of "_l'art pour l'art_" knowing the economic odds and consequences. If the article is about government funds, then someone in government has to decide who is a musician and who is not in order to allocate the funds. This reminds me, to an extent of the teachers who don't go into it for the money but are always lobbying for a raise.

4) Comment by nimby? - 20/02/2013

the majority of musicians are plant workers , plumbers , turtle farmers , fishermen , salesmen , firemen , etc. whenever there is a benefit , fund raiser , an event for a worthy cause bands , musicians are the 1st contacted . they donate time and effort without thought . what an old cajun fiddler from Mamou told me , " everybody wants to dance , but no one wants to pay the band . musicians do work ; there's a lot more than just showing up , playing a few songs then going home . this is not the entitled crowd looking for a hand out but artists seeking recognition , acknowledgement , or maybe just a simple thank you .

5) Comment by bourbon-soda - 20/02/2013

@nimby - I should also say your comment brought back my first image when I heard Pelosi - an oil field hand on a rig being presented a bill for some washboard player's medical insurance.

6) Comment by bourbon-soda - 20/02/2013

Then they all deserve our support; why the special pleading for musicians?

7) Comment by nimby? - 20/02/2013

bourbon-soda , you just described most of the people providing a food source for the country ; farmers , ranchers , fishermen , etc.

8) Comment by bourbon-soda - 20/02/2013

I shall look forward to the Jubilee when it kicks in and I can relieve my conscience of the weight of medical care for people who chose an occupation at which they cannot make a living.

9) Comment by MBW - 19/02/2013

@bourbon--- There is no need for "a separate solution" from Obamacare. Most of the major provisions of Obamacare haven't kicked in yet (the medicaid expansion, the exchanges). So you can't say "Obamacare was supposed to take care of this" when it hasn't really been implemented yet.

10) Comment by tradewinns - 19/02/2013

dang it DMJ, while what you say is true (i'd like to think not, but i'm a realist) i still hold on to my fantasies. that girl over there is an actress. i can tell because i know she wants me, but if you just watched her you'd never know it. she's a great actress.

11) Comment by Scrooge - 19/02/2013

InPVille, I appreciate the reiteration of my point it really wasn't necessary

12) Comment by DMJ - 19/02/2013

prbeav, you reading is not culturally enriching entertainment, so no.

13) Comment by prbeav - 19/02/2013

Actually, Mr. Holt could have written a letter of gratitude for the only facility of its kind in the United States. See their history at http://www.neworleansmusiciansclinic.org/about/history-of-the-nomc/ . Furthermore, it is a story of some of the best in the business taking care for the rest. See that part at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Musicians%27_Clinic . It would be a shame for Obamacare to interfere with such a good charity.>>>>I thought Bighug started the comments in the right direction and am wondering why Mr. Holt's letter had no mention of gratitude to the providers, including LA taxpayers.>>>>By the way. Would anyone care to send me some money so that I can have more time to learn by reading? I'd like a little red wine from time to time to go with my book.

14) Comment by DMJ - 19/02/2013

Tradewins, you doing those things doesn't bring joy and satisfaction to anyone other than you (the women included, probably). Music does. Try again.

15) Comment by nimby? - 19/02/2013

schools are downsizing , eliminating music programs . ever attend a benefit or fundraiser where there was no music ? consider a world where the only "muzak" is created by geeks with laptops , computer generated tones to a mechanical drum beat . a mixture of new age/techno/rap/hip hop where everything sounds like lady gaga ...

16) Comment by tradewinns - 19/02/2013

gimme, gimme, gimme. does it ever stop? if you cannot live on what you want to do, you have to change what you are doing. what i'd love to do (and is bad for my health) is eat rich foods, drink alcohol and make love to lots of different women. without even trying i can tell you my income from such actions will be well below the poverty level. so what level of income should someone have to pay me so i can do what i love and prosper at the same time?

17) Comment by InPVille - 19/02/2013

@Scrooge: What form of musical expression, artistic painting, print making, sculpting, dance, and etc. has been lucrative for "the majority of practitioners"? You can also make that "labor of love" point probably for the huge majority who don't make it big. A late friend of mine who was a painter said more than once "artists create because they are driven to do so". In other words they do it whether it pays or it doesn't. -[**]- @MBW: Let us consider an economy where people are free to pursue whatever interests them without any consideration for whether it is valued enough by anyone else to warrant their shelling out a dollar for the product of that interest. It sounds to me like the world in one of Isaac Asimov's SciFi Robot novels. Perhaps one day we will have an economic system that can self support and be able to indulge idle fancy. But that day is not this day.

18) Comment by DMJ - 19/02/2013

By the way, Obamacare does help with this by expanding access to Medicaid.

19) Comment by DMJ - 19/02/2013

Right on, Dave!

20) Comment by phil - 19/02/2013

I believe we can invest in our musicians by going to listen to them or by buying their music if they have any original music for sale. However, if this letter is setting the stage for the State to subsidize musicians with tax funds then that is not an option in my opinion. I think Louisiana taxpayers are already subsidizing things to the point of creating more poverty. As someone who likes music, I will say that I always wanted to be a rich rock star but soon realized that I had to get a real job to support myself. If you cannot make a living being a musician, then I suggest getting another full-time job or a second job, and do not expect anyone else to support you. But I will also add that I think there are some amateur musicians who have more talents than some of our professional politicians.

21) Comment by bourbon-soda - 19/02/2013

@MBW - My point was that Obamacare was supposed to take care of this, and now it needs a separate solution? @Scrooge - asking for money for health care is not econocentric on the part of the musicians or their advocates, but deciding to keep one's earnings is econocentric? What's the difference? Both sides are trying to get or keep money.

22) Comment by MBW - 19/02/2013

If we're using income as a measure of how good a musician is, that's sad. By that logic is Lady Gaga really one of the best musicians in the country?

23) Comment by MBW - 19/02/2013

@bourbon-soda: You clearly fail to understand the meaning of Nancy Pelosi's comments. Her comments could apply to anyone who is a freelancer, not just artists and musicians (whom it seems you want to denigrate). Most small business owners at some point had to make a decision to leave their past "day jobs" in order to focus their attention on their new business. Having portable health insurance (which Obamacare provides via the exchanges) means that entrepreneurs and freelancers could get health insurance without seeing their premiums skyrocket by going to the individual market.

24) Comment by Scrooge - 19/02/2013

One revision: there is probably no other media better than the internet where mediocrity is more handsomely rewarded and freely expressed.

25) Comment by bourbon-soda - 19/02/2013

Not to worry; Obamacare will take care of this. " Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or, eh, a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance... " - N. Pelosi

26) Comment by Scrooge - 19/02/2013

"good musicians make good money" there is probably no other profession where mediocrity is more handsomely rewarded at the expense of expertise and that is directly a reflective expression of our culture. Its like politics, one does not need talent or intelligence to be successful, only good propaganda. InPVille "the form of musical expression" you refer to has never really been lucrative for the majority of practitioners, it is a labor of love, a foreign concept for the econocentric but even the econocentric listen to music (if there is the capability) which is heavily indebted by this "form of musical expression". That is the flaw with the obsession with the golden calf, not all human existence and happiness is reconcilable or justifiable by the pursuit of profit.

27) Comment by nimby? - 19/02/2013

we have become a plastic , throw away world where quality and craft are no longer appreciated , even frowned upon , a state of mediocrity . talent shows featuring singers who can't sing , stars lip-syncing , music made by computers . in 5 years live music will be limited museum pieces ...

28) Comment by Bouncer - 19/02/2013

It's a tough, ultra-competitive existence, kind of like trying to make it as an actor. Often, until that big break comes (if it ever does), it's necessary to supplement your income through a second part time job.

29) Comment by InPVille - 19/02/2013

People support things and institutions with their hard earned dollars according to their priority of value. Apparently the form of musical expression Mr. Holt discusses isn't that highly valued anymore. When the automobile was invented it put a dent and eventually ended the business of those building horse drawn carriages and the making of buggy whips. You also don't see as many opera houses as there used to be. When the world changes, you have to change with it.

30) Comment by Bighug - 19/02/2013

As with any art or trade, good musicians make good money. Is the writer suggesting that citizens should be taxed to support musicians who aren't good enough to make it on their own?