The consultation table Popmusici (Pop Musicians) is launching the Fair Pop Pilot. From September to November 2024, fair pay fees will be paid to performing artists and musicians at eight participating pop venues. This will be done using the previously presented Rekentool Popmusici (Pop Musicians Calculation Tool), developed with musicians, venues, managers and bookers to set fair fee guidelines. During the pilot, Erasmus University Rotterdam will investigate the most effective funding method and the effects of fair pay on the sector. The pilot and the practical research are funded by the Fonds Podiumkunsten (Performing Arts Fund), Cultuurfonds (Culture Fund) and Fonds 21 (Fund 21). Implementation is in the hands of Platform ACCT.
The pop venues
The eight participating venues are Hedon (Zwolle), Doornroosje (Nijmegen), Neushoorn (Leeuwarden), Melkweg (Amsterdam), EKKO (Utrecht), Paard (The Hague), Patronaat (Haarlem) and Effenaar (Eindhoven). The selection took into account diversity in programming, genre and regional distribution. Acts programmed in small to medium-sized venues are eligible to participate in the pilot.
Practical research into effective funding routes
Erasmus University Rotterdam's research focuses, among other things, on what is the most effective route of payment to performing musicians and artists. Therefore, in the pilot, some acts and artists receive additional fair pay compensation through the stages and others receive it directly, without stage intervention. Researchers Prof Dr Pauwke Berkers and Frank Kimenai from Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication look at the impact of both routes on the natural dynamics of programming. They examine how a fair pay payment affects the professional practice of pop musicians and the management of venues. The calculation tool will also be widely implemented and tested.
Fair pay fees for performing pop musicians at five career stages
The Rekentool Popmusici (Pop Musicians Calculation Tool) gives pop musicians and their patrons insight into what constitutes fair pay and helps negotiate appropriate remuneration. With the tool, 11 objective criteria can be used to determine which career stage an artist or act belongs to: starting, upcoming, developing, mid-career, arrived. Based on the respective career phase an artist or act is in, it indicates what a fair remuneration would be for a live performance on stage. The figures are based on established standards around minimum wage, modal wage and welfare and research into pop musicians' earnings and hours. This research was previously done by consultancy firm Berenschot which resulted in the report ‘The gap between commitment and income of pop musicians’.
Presentation pilot at CPFE and results at Eurosonic Noorderslag 2025
On 16 September 2024, the consultation table will present the pilot during a session at the CPFE congress in TivoliVredenburg. The first results of the Fair Pop Pilot will be shown at Eurosonic Noorderslag in January 2025. Earlier there in 2023, the consultation table Pop Musicians handed over Berenschot's report ‘The gap between commitment and income of pop musicians’ to the then State Secretary of Culture, Gunay Uslu. Then, in 2024, the Pop Musicians Calculation Tool was presented. With the Fair Pop Pilot, all these steps will be put into practice and examined.
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