Jazz in the Neighborhood believes all musicians deserve to earn a fair working wage.
Musicians have for too long relied on bar or restaurant sales, the varying generosity of the audience, or the benevolence of the venue to earn any pay for their work, let alone fair compensation. With the understanding that music is a profession and musicians are providing a service, this is a widespread, outdated, and exploitative practice.
The Guaranteed Fair Wage Program (GFW) from Jazz in the Neighborhood supports musicians and venues in the Bay Area by providing subsidies to musicians’ pay. This temporary subsidy helps venues to achieve a minimum guarantee without a tip jar, while providing support and strategies to eventually meet that minimum without our help. We believe that every musician should earn a fair living wage for their work, and hope to promote that through this program.
A guaranteed wage for a professional musician does not include reliance on a tip jar because, obviously, tips are not guaranteed. Additionally, many musicians find tipping for performances demeaning. It is an axiomatic reality of business that employees who are fairly compensated in a decent working environment are better employees. Musicians are no different.
program process
Venues: If you are interested in participating in our program, please email omar@jazzintheneighborhood.org to schedule a meeting.
Musicians: If you are interested in playing a GFW gig, visit our Musician Interest form.
If you have any questions about our process or booking, please reach out to omar@jazzintheneighborhood.org