Open Letter to Mayor de Blasio - The Lack of Opportunities For Musicians To Make A Living in NYC

Here is a letter I sent recently to our new Mayor about the state of the Arts in NYC and the oppressive practices towards musicians:

Dear Mayor de Blasio, 

Musicians and musically creative people in the "musical capital of the world", NYC, need your HELP.  For many years, the musically talented community in America has been ignored by politicians mainly because they are considered to be extremely intelligent, culturally educated and tolerant, nice people who tend to vote liberal or progressive.  The result has been the lack of opportunities for musical performers and music artists to make a living all over the country.  This is especially true in NYC, which, was once known as the musical capital of the world.  Anyone who ever dreamed of making it big came here with their talents and they STILL flock here with the distant promise of success in its great concert halls with a long legacy and history of making or breaking an artist. 

Sadly, talented musicians and bands cannot find decent opportunities to perform today in NYC and it is getting WORSE and OPPRESSIVE.  Many are relegated to busking in the subways or the park or endlessly searching for a venue that would actually be interested in their music and performance and many have to leave the music world or find themselves homeless with no way to support themselves or their families from being a musician.  The reality of the harsh economy of the past few years (and a bit of ignorance from politicians) has forced Venue owners (ie. bars, nightclubs, restaurants, etc.) to refuse to pay musicians more than the cost of a taxi ride to the venue and strike deals with the artists where the artist/band would have to bring in 25 paying people for which the artist/band would get paid only after the first 20 paying people who arrive.  Many great venues have also gone the cheaper route and have become Sports Bars instead of Live Music Venues totally killing the culture of the Arts in NYC just to sell a few more beers.  As a long time resident of NYC (Brooklyn born and bred in the 1960s and 70s), I miss the days when I could see and hear live music EVERYWHERE in New York City and I must admit that I get jealous when I read all about the culture and support of the Arts in communities like NASHVILLE and AUSTIN. 

SUGGESTION: Find some way to give INCENTIVES to venue owners like bars, nightclubs and restaurants (perhaps with tax rewards and/or less restrictions on getting live music (caberet) licenses) and have a campaign to encourage a culture of supporting live music in New York to bring it back to at least what it was in its hay day.  It’s a win for the struggling venues, a win for musicians if enforced properly (with punishment for venues that take advantage of musicians), a win for the music community in New York and a win for all New Yorkers.  Imagine an educated, culturally gifted, artistic, intelligent and creative community thriving once again in the Big Apple and the benefits to NYC it could create. 

Make a commitment to bringing the Arts back to NYC as you are currently promising to do in the public schools, and allow the artistic and musically talented community to flourish once again. Thank you Mayor.  Keep up the good work and thank you for your dedication to making this city a great place to live for ALL once again!