Social Post March 26, 2015 at 10:15PM

#LateNightRant So, yeah, this is the thing, stop asking artists to work for free. I’ve been holding this in a while, but can’t, anymore.

Artists, you shush now and let me defend you. I know you are all of good hearts and want to help, and that is great, but you need to pay your bills, too.

I have seen this trend growing and it is really getting out of hand. We should be doing fundraisers FOR artists, not taking their work for free. Yes, anytime you ask an artist to donate work, they probably will, but that does not make it right.

I’ll first talk about all of you for-profit people, who come and ask me to find an artist to work for you for free, for “exposure”. No, I absolutely will not do that. You’re getting paid. Your boss is getting paid. The shareholders are getting paid. And, yet, you cannot find a few bucks to pay a struggling artist? Get in your beemer and drive the hell out of my sight before I pop you. That’s all there is to that.

If, on the other hand, you understand the value of skill and creativity and are happy to pay for that value, then I am your guy. I will happily supply you with the exact artist you are looking for.

Now, you fundraisers, of which I am one. When you ask an artist donate, and they almost certainly will, you are asking for hours of their lives just to create the art, not to mention the time and effort it took to build up the skill. Do not ask me to find artists to donate work because not only will I not do that, but you will get this lecture all over again.

But, as you know, I am a man of solutions. So, instead, go to the airlines and ask them to donate tickets. It costs them almost nothing to donate those. Plus, they are more saleable. It is much easier to sell a couple tickets to anywhere. Go to the hotels and ask for room nights. Go to the movie theaters and ask for tickets. Go to restaurants and ask for gift certificates. Not only will you make more money, but you will not be asking struggling artists to give away their time.

You see the difference here? Artist = costs them hours of work, already struggling to pay bills. Airline/Hotel/Restaurant = costs them almost nothing, already making tons of money. Who should you ask to donate?

And do not talk to me about “exposure”. Not to be mean, but nobody at your little fundraiser is looking for a new artist to follow. The art is always poorly presented, there is no one there representing the artist or properly selling the art, and inevitably the art sells for way less than it should. You are doing the artists a disservice when you just throw their work out there on the table or string it to the wall with a barely readable bid sheet.

So, just stop it. Stop asking artists to give up so much of their time and talent. There are much better ways for you to raise money. As I said, we should be raising money FOR artists, not taking it away from them. via Facebook