Well, I can’t mention the name of the downtown club that reaps profits when the “open mic” sign goes up. Nor can I mention the organization hosting said ‘open mic night’ but the players in this town should know what they’re in for. Hell, as a non-participating resident you should be interested in this false advertising.
Come on in to open mic night, strut your stuff for free and play to a crowd of other starving musicians spending money and precious time while they wait their turn… but be prepared to pay your $40 membership fee if you want to do it again. “We operate on the honor system here. You can play this week without joining but…”
“Open” mic night… my ass. These people should get a dictionary and find a more truthful phrase like, “PAY TO PLAY” since the event is a membership drive and nothing more.
Perhaps the club should be clued into the fact that people come out, participate and like what they see until they learn they’re not welcome next week if they refuse to pay the required fee. “Open” mic, my ass!
This article appears in Apr 10-16, 2008.
Is this BillKidney?
Hello! Thanks very much for your interest in the Music Nova Scotia Open Mic Nights. Music Nova Scotia is a member-based, non-profit association that works to foster and develop Nova Scotia’s music industry. The Music Nova Scotia Open Mic is a wonderful community-oriented event is not meant to be an exclusion of non-members, but an opportunity that gives priority to our members who have paid to be a part of our association. We saw a need to offer venue space to our members to hone their stage skills and try out new songs. It is an added value to our membership, which offers several other services. We also draw enough people on Tuesday nights for The Seahorse to pay our guest performers, who are all members of Music Nova Scotia. There are many wonderful open mics in the city that do not have our requirements, if you’re not interested in becoming a member. But for those who do participate, we are pleased to fill the room with relevant industry folks. We have already seen several business relationships form, including two performers who were discovered by record studios at our event. If you’d like to find out more about what we do, please go to http://www.musicnovascotia.ca or email me directly – laura@musicnovascotia.ca. Laura Simpson Communications and Membership CoordinatorMusic Nova Scotia(902) 423-6271 ext. 2302-5516 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, B3J 1G6laura@musicnovascotia.ca
I don’t know if anyone else thinks there’s something wrong here, but i actually support the original post. I had no idea people had to pay memberships to play at open mic events.There aren’t that many places that hold open mic in the city on a weekly basis. Depending on how many members are with The Music of Nova Scotia Open Mic, it might not give the none-members a chance to play since you give preference to members.Laura, you said, and I quote: “The Music Nova Scotia Open Mic is a wonderful community-oriented event is not meant to be an exclusion of non-members, but an opportunity that gives priority to our members who have paid to be a part of our association.” Based on the number of members you have, doesn’t this statement negate the statement of non-exclusion within it? It’s really a statement negating itself. We won’t exclude non-members, but we will give our members the preference. Which to me sounds like the organization is somewhat excluding people from playing. I’m also wondering if the organization actually has to pay the pubs or bar for open mic events. If i was a club or pub owner, i certainly wouldn’t charge because having open mic brings in people, specially friends and family of the performers. If the organization doesn’t pay, where does the money go? The coast generally lists venues and events for every week, so performers would actually know where open mic is. Should those non-member people be able to play based on first sign-up first play bases instead of membership and preference basis? If you put a member on stage that sucks and you know for a fact that the non-member doesn’t suck, that’s completely unfair to the audience and performers. My main concern is placement of the funds. Could you please elaborate on that?
To respond to Coyotex:The Music Nova Scotia Open Mic is an event first and foremost to support the members of Music Nova Scotia. It is also a way for the public to learn more about what Music Nova Scotia does and for interested musicians to figure out if it would be valuable to become members. Therefore, we give priority to Music Nova Scotia members to play the MUSIC NOVA SCOTIA Open Mic. If you have a problem with it, you are welcome to visit or play at other open mics in town. The Seahorse does not charge to open its venue for the Music Nova Scotia Open Mic. It does pay our guest performer. The rest of the performers are volunteers.As for the revenue from membership fees: that money goes to Music Nova Scotia. Music Nova Scotia is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1989 with a mandate to encourage the creation, development, growth and promotion of Nova Scotia’s music industry. The revenue from membership is a small percentage of the associations’ total budget. It helps to further enhance the wide range of services that Music Nova Scotia provides. More information about these services can be found on our website: http://www.musicnovascotia.ca. Again, if you would like to contact me directly with your concerns, please do. You can reach me by phone at (902) 423-6271 ext 2 or laura@musicnovascotia.ca