United Musicians & Allied Workers - Los Angeles

We spent the better half of 2022 collecting stories about your gigs, and we have a few suggestions for things we'd like to see left behind in the new year 👋 Check out our biggest takeaways in the 🧵below! Alt Text Available // Image descriptions in replies

We hope you will join us in creating a better LA music industry for all.

UMAWLA Musicians Demand for 2023: • An end to predatory pay to play practices. • No merch cuts, ever. (#MyMerch) • Fair pay in the form of a guarantee or equitable door split. • A safe, accessible, and welcoming environment for both performers and fans.

We spent the better half of 2022 collecting stories about your gigs, and we have a few suggestions for things we'd like to see left behind in the new year 👋 Check out our biggest takeaways in the 🧵below! Alt Text Available // Image descriptions in replies

practices are commonly cited. ...with some very notable exceptions! Alex’s Bar in Long Beach is consistantly cited as being among the best small venues to play, with equitable pay and excellent promotion on-par with many beloved DIY and all-ages spots. Kudos, Alex!

Takeaway #3: Bars and small clubs treat musicians terribly Bars and small clubs, especially those in gentrified neighborhoods like Highland Park and Silverlake, were consistently rated the lowest in all categories. Lack of promotion, difficult load-in, and weaselly payment

General rudeness from sound staff was also commonly cited. Venues who tolerate elitism and gatekeeping behavior have no place in our vision for a better LA music scene.

Takeaway #2: Misogyny is still commonplace, especially among sound staff A common trend in those surveyed were stories about women being made to feel uncomfortable, belittled, or ignored by sound engineers in comparison to their bandmates.

The most common form of pay-to-play in LA is the "presale” model, in which a band or performer is required to sell a minimum number of tickets in advance, leaving artists on the hook to pay the promoter out-of-pocket for any unsold tickets, sometimes totaling hundreds of dollars.

Takeaway #1: Pay-to-play is unfortunately still alive and well in LA Many historic LA venues, especially those that line Sunset Blvd, shamelessly take advantage of inexperienced musicians with these schemes based off their name-recognition alone.

Yellow text on a blue/pink gradient background. Each slide includes social handles and website at the bottom: "IG: @umawlosangeles", "Twt: @UMAWLA", "unionofmusicians.org" UMAW LA 2022 Venue Survey We asked LA musicians about how their gigs went in 2022. This is what we found.

Introducing our new campaign in collaboration with @FeaturedArtists and @cadenceweapon : #MyMerch 💯 Venues: link in bio to join the database of over 400 #MyMerch venues. Artists: link in bio to tell your #MyMerch story (can be anonymous if preferred).

the more we make it tenable for young and small artists to make a living on the road the more great music we will get

Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up.

The Taylor Swift presale didn't have to be a disaster, but Ticketmaster now controls 70% of the primary ticketing and live event venues market. This allows them to hike up prices with tons of hidden fees and still provide a terrible ticket-buying experience for music fans!

Announcing: UMAW raffle!! 18 incredible artists donated vinyl, CDs, prints, GUITARS, and more for the last week of our fall fundraiser. $15 tickets, unlimited entries, open worldwide. Raffle closes Nov 15. unionofmusicians.org/umawraffle

If you want to afford tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming Midnights tour, you need to get on board with the movement to break up Ticketmaster’s monopoly. Sign on here. actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-t…