The Professional Musician Uses Discretion

“Leave your home life at the door” 

As with any profession, you are expected to behave and perform your task in an appropriate professional manner. “Office politics” exist, it is a consequence of being the animals we are. However, and organisations spend a lot of money on this, management of self and others is critical to success, especially in small interconnected, highly reliant groups. 

At all times when you are with the band, you are representing yourself as a professional therefore behave as you would in any other paid employment.  Therefore:

• Criticism must be constructive, not a whinge;
• There is no room for negativity in the workplace;
• Always seek an answer;
• Never argue in public – when you are on stage, you are very much exposed, if the band is bickering they will see it;
• If you have a problem with a band member, discuss it with them, not with everyone else.

Notwithstanding members will come and go, bands will form and disintegrate, that is life. However, what you can ensure that you do, is always be respected for your professionalism and never burn a bridge.

The Professional Musician is Always Prepared

As Robert Baden-Powell suggested: “Be Prepared” 

For Rehearsals/Performances
Bring everything you need, from the massive to the minutiae.

• Do not be that guy/girl who forgets their strap, or has “lost” their sheet music.

Make sure your equipment is in working order

• Check fuses, wear, electrical contacts, pins and plugs – ensure that your equipment is up to standard and can be relied upon.
• Expect the unexpected
• Have a backup plan for worst case scenario.
• Prepare an equipment “first aid” kit and have it to hand.

Check out the room

• Is your equipment suitable for the room you are going to play?
• What equipment does the venue offer?
• What are the acoustics of the room like?
• Do you need to be amped, or perhaps does it require an unplugged session?

Do your homework

• Rule of thumb – be able to play new music by second rehearsal
• Do not be the guy/girl who still needs to work out their parts.
• You will find very quickly that you are no fun at work with and people will stop asking you to play with them.

Practice

• You must be technically competent before you can add flavour and nuance.

Meeting Client/Employer Expectations 
Get to know what your client really wants from you/your band. 
Do not sit back rely upon the tired old cliché – “I am a musician/artist”. It really does not cut it now-a-days. Client’s expectations include but are certainly not limited to:

• Desired atmosphere
• Desired volume
• Crowd participation
• Finance and Band Management

Remember you are being paid to perform a task for them, ensure that you meet their requirements, not your own. 

Supplier Payments 
Make sure that your suppliers are paid on-time and the amount that was agreed. You will struggle if you become known as a band that does not pay for rehearsal time, or makes fill-ins and session musicians wait for payment. If you need to hire a venue or get a fill-in, make sure you have the money first. 

The Professional Musician Is Never Late

To be early is to be on-time; 
To be on-time is to be late; 
To be late will never do.
 
From the organiser’s/your employer’s perspective, you are contracted to perform between A – B. You are not being paid to warm-up, set-up, sound check, find your music and generally get organised – ensure that you are ready when you said you would be.
 
From a band’s perspective, always be on-time to rehearsals, meetings, and gigs. No-one wants to work with a person, irrespective of how good they may actually be, who is always late, unprepared and has not “done their homework”. Not only does this attitude lack professionality, it also lacks common courtesy and respect for other professionals/band members, and most importantly yourself as a professional musician.
 
There are numerous reasons why a professional is never late, however they all boil down to a couple of core reasons:

• You are being paid to perform a task; and
• Your brand either individually or as part of a team(band) lives and dies by the respect which you can generate for it.

The Professional Musician

We cannot tell you how many times (suffice to say – too many) a band has either made or destroyed an evening/function/corporate event, and in doing so has either reaped the rewards or caused irreparable damage not only to themselves and their act, but more-so the live music industry.

In holding events ourselves and by working with venues we have come up with a list that hirers and event co-ordinators consider as the “bare minimum” expectations from bands/musicians, and over the course of this series of blogs we will discuss these under six headings, they are:

1. The Professional Musician is Never Late;
2. The Professional Musician is Always Prepared;
3. The Professional Musician Uses Discretion;
4. The Professional Musician is an Ambassador of Music;
5. The Professional Musician is Musically Educated;
6. The Professional Musician Realises that His/Her Job is No Excuse for a “Rock n’ Roll Lifestyle”.

Part Five: Real Life Case Example

Real life example of application of the tax law in relation to an ‘arts business’

The following is a case example of a situation you may indeed find similarities with:

Case R96 84 ATC 637 - public servant and musician

The taxpayer was a clerk employed by the public service. During the tax years in question, the taxpayer engaged in the writing of lyrics, the composing of supporting music and the rehearsal and recording of those works with a succession of bands and incurred losses from this activity in each of the years. One question for decision was whether the taxpayer was carrying on a business as a musician.

The Board of Review made a number of findings of fact, including that the taxpayer's activities were undertaken on a continuous and repetitive basis, without interruption throughout the years in question. The taxpayer devoted considerable time and effort to the activities and having regard to his financial circumstances, the capital employed was substantial. The activities were organised in a businesslike manner and the operations involved in the venture were of the same kind, and carried on in the same way, as those which are characteristic of ordinary trading in the line of business in which the venture was made.

The Board of Review held that the taxpayer was carrying on a business in each of the income years under review in their final finding (at ATC 640):

...the absence of profit could create the impression that the activities lacked a significant commercial purpose or character (see Thomas v. FC of T 72 ATC 4094 at 4099), and yet we are satisfied that on the balance of probabilities the taxpayer possessed an expectation that profit would eventually be earned and that the methods employed by him were directed more to making profits than deriving pleasure.

If in the above case, had the taxpayer not been able to produce adequate evidence of standard business control measures, an ongoing verifiable history of continued professional minded conduct, the result may have been vastly different, and the taxpayer may not have been able to claim the deductions they did.

To discuss further please do not hesitate to contact us at Financial Control and Management

Part Four: Implementation of Administration Controls

Good administration and business controls are key

Regardless of your profession, the ATO takes a negative view of disorganised administration, and you may quickly find yourself categorised as a “hobby/pleasure activity” if you do not comply with ordinary commercial principles.   A businesslike manner will be demonstrated by the presence of factors such as:

·       good record keeping of sales, expenses, invoices, receipts and accounts;

·       presence of formal, written contracts to record agreements to supply art works or services;

·       a portfolio or other appropriate evidence of a body of work that demonstrates a record in the particular field;

·       use of an accountant, lawyer, business manager, agent or other appropriate source of commercial expertise;

·       membership of a recognised organisation or professional association;

·       presence of a written business plan (that is, a written description of the intended future direction of the business and how that future direction will be realised), perhaps developed in consultation with the taxpayer's accountant or manager;

·       maintaining insurance in respect of their arts products or performances for public liability where their work is being shown or performed;

·       renting exhibition space, use of publicly funded exhibition space, or use of public space for other types of public presentation (if appropriate, depending on the type of arts activity being carried on);

·       advice from professional artists who have succeeded in their industry sector;

·       keeping relevant qualifications and skills up to date (for example, through taking relevant courses, subscription to journals, attendance at conferences);

·       systematic and researched attempts to bring the art work to suitable markets; and

·       use of traditional business structures (like companies, trusts or partnerships). Lack of use of such a structure however is merely neutral in deciding whether an arts activity is being carried on as a business, as many professional arts businesses are carried on by artists individually as sole traders.

For further information please feel free to contact us at Financial Control and Management.