At Tone Deaf, we’ve written a lot about the current state of the Australian music industry, particularly in regards to compensation for the work of musicians. We’ve managed to cover a lot of different ideas and potential solutions, such as instating a musician’s minimum wage.
However, one idea that’s recently gained traction is the live music tip. It would work in much the same way as a traditional tip, only instead of handing your coin over to the person who served your table, you’d be leaving a few extra dollars for whoever entertained you.
It sounds like a great idea in principle. But as Philadelphia Magazine reports, one venue that’s instituted the practice, Chris’ Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia, has stirred controversy among local musicians, with opinions divided about how effective music tipping is.
Bar manager John Jordan raised the idea at a staff meeting after being inspired by a post on Facebook. Owner Mark DeNinno decided to implement the concept immediately, using it as a way to let customers leave a gratuity for musicians and to offset customers who refuse to pay a cover.
“Some people come here and refuse to pay a $5 cover,” DeNinno tells Philly Mag, who adds that in the first week, over $500 in live music tips were left by customers. “This way, we tell them to have a seat, and when they’re ready to go, they can choose to leave something at the end.”
So why the controversy? Well, it all comes down to how a venue decides to implement their policy. In many cases, all of the tips left will directly to the musicians who played on the night, but in some cases, they will not.
It works like this: if a patron has paid the cover charge in advance and leaves a live music tip, the band gets the full tip. But if they refuse to pay the cover and leave a tip, then two potential avenues of action arise.
If the deal for the show is a door split — most mid-week shows are a split of door sales with 70 percent going to the band and 30 going to the venue — the tip is divided according to those same percentages, 70 percent to the band and 30 to the house.
“Including [tips] for musicians is not a positive move. It’s insulting.”If the deal for the show is a flat fee and door sales haven’t yet hit that mark, the amount left as a tip will go to the venue until the house is able to recoup the remainder of what it must pay the band at the end of the evening. That is, of course, if the customer doesn’t pay a cover.
“The most expensive seat in a restaurant like this is the empty one,” says DeNinno, adding that if a prospective patron turns around and walks out upon hearing that there’s a cover, then neither Chris’ nor the musicians have a chance of seeing any money from that person.
Many musicians are happy with the arrangement, some calling it “a worthy experiment”, and saxophonist Victor North adding, “The tips are a good idea. As long as it doesn’t… replace the idea of paying musicians who get a guaranteed amount of money.”
But then there are the critics, who say the idea of a venue taking tips is unfair. For example, if you’re a four-piece band with a $10 cover, and only 20 punters pay the cover, your payout at the end of the night with a 70/30 split is just $140.
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For the club to take 30 percent of the live music tips left by those who didn’t feel like paying the cover charge seems unfair to some musicians, like one player speaking to Philly Mag who opted to stay anonymous. “I already feel like I’m being robbed,” he says.
“To me, the entire concept of tipping is backwards and has no place in what is supposed to be Philly’s last surviving jazz venue,” adds Philadelphia musician Anthony Tidd, Creative Music Program Director for the Kimmel Center.
“Professional musicians… should not have to play for tips. People tip because they know that the server or bartender cannot survive on what the restaurant is paying them. Period! In other words, the restaurant passes on the cost of service (having a staff) to the customer.”
“Then if the customer doesn’t want to tip, they get bitched out by the staff for being stingy, when the staff should really be looking at the owner who is underpaying them by at least 20%. Including this for musicians is not a positive move. It’s insulting.”
