Money For Nothing
“That ent working
That’s how you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ent working
That’s how you do it
Get your money for nothing and your chicks for free”
From back in the eighties above are the lyrics to a popular song by a band called Dire Straits.
That song epitomised what the average Joe or Jane feels about our entertainment profession in general, people who get money for nothing and chicks for free. (Chicks meaning women here not chicken)
That is how some people still feel today too. You hear comments like:
“You call singing and telling jokes work yuh idiot, you best go and get a job”
I sing in the shower, I sing at karaoke I sing when I am stuck in traffic you expect to get pay for that? There’s nothing too it….
Some times a person walks up to me and asks what you do?
I proudly say “I am an entertainer!” and they usually say “yeah, but what do you do for a job?
Entertainment is still seen as a hobby or as a certain NCF person said “what you do when you can’t get a real job”
Entertainers work working diligently for months at a time having meetings planning and conceptualising an event, no revenue comes in at that stage. When the event comes off the public assumes that you made a bundle of money over night for doing nothing with out seeing the months of unpaid effort which was invested in the first place. Nor do they consider the multiplicities of expenses which must be are generated to make the show a reality.
The same applies to recordings, when you are spending months writing songs, working over night in studios begging for sponsorship and investing your own money to bring music into this world people don’t see that. They hear a new album on the radio and assume it was done overnight.
In contrast to getting free money some times you are struggling just to get your own money back, or you end up not being paid for the time and effort you put in the first place.
So unlike what the song says its not “money for nothing” I wish it was though, and as for the chicks for free part I am still waiting for them.
If during the reading of this blog there is any thing I might have written which might have incensed or offended you, GET OVER IT! There are many things I read and hear in the media on a daily basis that I don't like either. SO DEAL WITH IT! You are welcome to leave your comments though. Make sure and come back yuh hear !!!...
May 15th, 2007 at 11:31 am
It’s a mind set thing and a backward one at that. Most bajans feel that if you are not out in the hot sun stiring concrete or nailing boards you are not actually working. But what else can you expect when it is set in the minds of children fron primery school stage? Math & English, that is what is important in life. Then comes secondary school & the other 11 or 12 accademic subjects are added on to the list. Among those are 1 or 2 subjects (depends on the school) that leans towards a trade type skill just incase you are not academically inclined e.g. home economics, woodwork & metal work. Music, dance or drama comes in the form of extra curricular activities. On the side. A form of hobbie. Not useful in the world of REAL work.
That is why I LOVE COMBERMERE. Show me another school in this country that can boast such a strong musical developmental program. Show me another school that encourages freedom of expression as far as theatrical talent weather be it dance, drama or otherwise is concerned.
To get the attitude towards entertainers & sportsmen as a whole to change, we have to start with the children. Don’t wait on government, they only get involved when they can piggy back on someone who has made it big (outside of Barbados) and see how much money they can get out of the deal. If you ask me they are the ones who gets money for not one DAMN thing.