Date: February 29, 2016
Subject: Testimony of Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (founder of Musicians for Musicians)
In support of the Freelance Isn’t Free Act before the New York City Council Committee on Consumer Affairs In Relation to Establishing Protections for Freelance Workers

Speech Content:

“February 29, 2016

I’m Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, founder of the musicians’ non-profit organization Musicians for Musicians, Inc (MFM).

At Musicians For Musicians, we believe that a musical career is a respected profession.
Our membership is composed of musicians from all genres, backgrounds and skill levels from opera singers to composers to recording artists. We’ve come together as a group to encourage musicians everywhere to stop working for free.

Music provides significant value to human life and yet skilled practitioners of music go largely unrecognized and grossly underpaid. There is a common assumption that insists that because an individual chooses to pursue music or the arts, he or she should expect to struggle to make a living. Meanwhile, every day, musicians log long hours at various gigs, providing texture to daily events that many of us take for granted.

And yet, musicians are frequently treated as an expendable commodity, while others profit from their work. This is a huge systematic problem in the music industry. This is unacceptable and must stop…enough is enough!

Musicians for Musicians is a business league aimed at helping its members understand their passion as a business as well as an art. MFM believes that musicians deserve the same respect, representation and opportunities that all professionals enjoy.

According to a 2015 Freelancers Union study on nonpayment, 79% of musicians face nonpayment. All too often, the band is the last contractor to get paid after a big event, the singer finds that the hours she spent learning and practicing a piece aren’t billable, or someone assumes that musicians will just work for free.

Finally, it should be noted that almost all of MFM’s members also take on side-gigs to support their music careers. This makes the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” doubly important to musicians who may also face nonpayment in what may be perceived to be a more “steady” pursuit.

All this said, MFM seeks to empower musicians to realize the true value of their work to raise their standard of living and provide adequate working conditions in collaboration with other labor organization such as Freelancers Union. In working together in solidarity, we can improve conditions for musicians as well as other freelance workers.”