Campaign to improve artist treatment at music venues launches, Raise The Bar

A significant initiative aimed at fundamentally improving the working conditions and financial sustainability for musicians performing at live venues across the United States has been officially launched. Titled "Raise The Bar," this comprehensive campaign is the brainchild of United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW), an organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and welfare of music professionals. The campaign emerges from a growing consensus within the artist community that current industry practices often disadvantage performers, leading to unsustainable careers and an inequitable distribution of revenue from live performances.

At its core, "Raise The Bar" articulates four crucial demands designed to establish a set of baseline standards for venues nationwide. These demands address some of the most persistent and financially detrimental issues faced by touring musicians: the elimination of merchandise cuts, the prohibition of "pay-to-play" schemes, the abandonment of "door polling" as a payment metric, and a commitment to greater transparency in contractual agreements. UMAW emphasizes that these standards are not merely aspirational but represent fundamental shifts necessary for fostering a healthier, more equitable live music ecosystem.

The Four Pillars of "Raise The Bar": Detailing the Demands

Each of the four demands put forth by the "Raise The Bar" campaign targets a specific area where artists frequently find themselves financially exploited or operating under unfair terms. Understanding these demands in detail is crucial to grasping the campaign’s potential impact.

1. No Merch Cuts: This demand addresses the practice of venues taking a percentage of an artist’s merchandise sales. While seemingly a small detail, merchandise, or "merch," often represents a vital income stream for musicians, particularly those operating outside the top tier of commercial success. These sales, which include t-shirts, vinyl records, CDs, and other memorabilia, provide direct revenue that can cover touring expenses, fund future projects, or simply supplement a meager income derived from streaming royalties or performance fees. Historically, venues might charge anywhere from 15% to 25% (or even higher) of gross merch sales, ostensibly for the privilege of selling goods on their premises or for staffing the merch booth. For artists, who bear the upfront costs of producing this merchandise, these cuts significantly erode their already thin margins. UMAW argues that merch sales are an extension of an artist’s brand and direct relationship with their fans, and therefore, the revenue should wholly belong to the artist. Eliminating merch cuts would directly inject more capital into artists’ pockets, offering a tangible improvement to their financial stability.

2. No Pay to Play: This contentious practice involves artists paying venues, promoters, or even other bands for the opportunity to perform. This can manifest in various ways, such as purchasing a certain number of tickets upfront to resell, paying a flat fee to secure a slot, or being required to guarantee a minimum attendance figure that, if not met, results in a financial penalty. The "pay-to-play" model places the financial risk squarely on the artist, turning a performance opportunity into a costly gamble. It disproportionately affects emerging artists or those with niche followings, effectively creating a barrier to entry into the live music circuit. UMAW views this as an exploitative practice that devalues artistic labor and prioritizes venue profits over artistic development and fair compensation. The campaign advocates for a model where artists are compensated for their performance, rather than paying for the privilege of performing.

3. No Door Polling: Door polling refers to a method of determining an artist’s payment based on a count of attendees at the door, often taken at a specific, arbitrary moment during the show. This practice is fraught with inaccuracies and can be easily manipulated or mismanaged, leading to artists being underpaid. Factors such as audience flow, varying entry times, and simple human error can result in a significant discrepancy between the actual number of people who saw a performance and the polled count used for payment. Furthermore, it places the burden of proof on the artist and lacks transparency. "Raise The Bar" calls for more robust, transparent, and fair methods of calculating artist compensation, ensuring that payment accurately reflects attendance and the artist’s draw.

4. Greater Contract Transparency: The demand for greater contract transparency addresses the often opaque and complex nature of agreements between artists and venues. Contracts can contain convoluted clauses, hidden fees, or terms that are difficult for independent artists to understand without legal counsel, which many cannot afford. This lack of clarity can lead to unexpected deductions, disputes over payment, or artists unwittingly agreeing to unfavorable terms. UMAW seeks to standardize contracts, making them clear, concise, and easily understandable, ensuring that artists fully comprehend their financial obligations and entitlements before agreeing to perform. This demand is foundational to building trust and fostering fair dealings across the industry.

A Growing Coalition: Early Adopters and Call to Action

The "Raise The Bar" campaign is not merely a set of demands; it is an active movement building a network of venues committed to ethical practices. Organizers have already compiled a directory of venues that have proactively signed up to adhere to these standards, demonstrating a commitment to supporting artists fairly. Among the initial wave of signatories are prominent independent venues known for their community engagement and artist-friendly policies, including The Lab (San Francisco, CA), Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), The Pinhook (Durham, NC), and Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, PA). This initial cohort serves as a proof of concept, showing that financially viable operations can indeed embrace these fairer terms.

UMAW is actively encouraging all venues, regardless of size or geographic location, to follow suit and join the growing list of "Raise The Bar" certified establishments. To facilitate widespread participation and advocacy, the campaign has also provided resources for artists and allies to engage directly. An artist petition allows musicians to collectively voice their support for the demands, while an email template empowers individuals to easily contact local venues and urge them to sign up. This multi-pronged approach aims to create a groundswell of support, leveraging both collective artist power and direct community pressure to instigate change.

The Economic Imperative: Why Artists and Venues Are Struggling

The launch of "Raise The Bar" comes at a critical juncture for the music industry, particularly for the live sector. The financial landscape for musicians has been increasingly challenging for years, exacerbated by the shift to streaming-dominated consumption, which offers notoriously low royalty rates. Consequently, live performances and merchandise sales have become indispensable for artists to sustain their careers.

A recent report by the Music Venue Trust (MVT) in the UK, for instance, revealed that over half of UK grassroots music venues reported making no profit in a recent fiscal year (likely 2023, correcting the original article’s likely typo of "2025"), highlighting the precarious financial state of the sector even for the venues themselves. This data underscores a complex ecosystem where both artists and venues are often struggling, leading to a race to the bottom that disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable — the artists.

The COVID-19 pandemic further devastated the live music industry, halting performances globally and pushing many venues to the brink of closure. While recovery is underway, the economic aftershocks persist, leading to increased operational costs for venues (inflation, staffing, utilities) and continued financial precarity for artists. In this environment, every dollar earned from a live show or merch sale becomes even more critical for an artist’s survival. The "Raise The Bar" campaign aims to rebalance this equation, arguing that a sustainable music ecosystem requires fair compensation for all its participants.

Market Consolidation and the "Live Nation Monopoly"

UMAW’s statement explicitly calls out "large corporate venues, like those owned by the Live Nation monopoly," for making these detrimental practices "too common across the country." This reference is significant, touching upon a broader industry trend of market consolidation in the live entertainment sector. Live Nation Entertainment, through its vast network of venues, ticketing operations (Ticketmaster), and promotion arms, holds a dominant position in the industry. Critics, including UMAW, argue that this level of market power allows such entities to dictate terms that are often unfavorable to artists, particularly independent ones, who have limited leverage to negotiate.

The concerns surrounding Live Nation’s market dominance are not new. The company has faced antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice and various lawmakers, especially following high-profile incidents such as the ticketing chaos for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The argument is that with less competition, venues and promoters can impose practices like merch cuts and pay-to-play with little fear of losing talent to more artist-friendly alternatives. By highlighting this issue, "Raise The Bar" positions itself as a grassroots counter-movement, advocating for independent artists and independent venues to collectively push back against what they perceive as systemic imbalances created by corporate consolidation. The campaign seeks to empower smaller venues and artists to collectively define new, ethical standards that can eventually influence the entire industry, regardless of market power.

Parallels Across the Atlantic: The UK’s "RAISE THE STANDARD"

It is noteworthy that the "Raise The Bar" campaign in the US shares conceptual similarities, though distinct objectives, with an initiative recently launched in the United Kingdom. The UK’s Music Venue Trust (MVT) recently unveiled "RAISE THE STANDARD," an initiative supported by LIVE Trust, focused on funding equipment upgrades at UK grassroots venues. While "RAISE THE STANDARD" directly tackles infrastructure and operational quality, aiming to improve the physical environment and technical capabilities of venues, "Raise The Bar" directly addresses the financial and contractual terms for artists.

Both campaigns, however, underscore a shared global recognition of the fragility of the grassroots live music sector and the need for concerted action to support it. Whether it’s through improving venue equipment to enhance the artist and audience experience, or ensuring artists are fairly compensated for their work, these initiatives reflect a growing movement to fortify the foundations of the music industry from the ground up. The challenges faced by artists and venues in the US regarding fair compensation echo the operational struggles faced by their UK counterparts, indicating a universal need for reform and support within the independent music scene.

The Path Forward: Implications for the Live Music Ecosystem

The launch of "Raise The Bar" marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing dialogue about artist rights and industry ethics. If successful, the campaign could lead to several significant implications for the live music ecosystem:

• Elevated Industry Standards: By establishing clear, ethical "baseline standards," "Raise The Bar" aims to normalize fairer practices. As more venues sign on, these standards could become an expected norm rather than an exception, potentially influencing even larger corporate entities to reconsider their policies to maintain a positive public image and attract talent.
• Empowerment of Artists: The campaign provides a structured avenue for artists to advocate for themselves and their peers. By collectivizing their voices and offering concrete actions (petitions, email templates), UMAW is fostering a sense of agency among musicians who often feel powerless in negotiations with venues.
• Strengthening Independent Venues: Venues that sign up for "Raise The Bar" stand to gain a reputation as artist-friendly spaces. This can attract more talent, foster stronger community ties, and differentiate them from venues that continue exploitative practices. It could create a virtuous cycle where artist-centric policies lead to better bookings and increased audience engagement.
• Sustainable Career Paths: By ensuring artists retain more of their earnings from merch and performances, the campaign directly contributes to making a career in music more financially sustainable. This, in turn, can lead to greater artistic output, more diverse music, and a healthier cultural landscape.
• Consumer Benefit: Ultimately, a healthier ecosystem for artists and venues benefits music fans. When artists are treated fairly, they are more likely to thrive, produce better music, and deliver more engaging live performances. A robust network of independent venues, supporting diverse talent, enriches the cultural offerings available to the public.

UMAW’s "Raise The Bar" campaign is a bold step towards reshaping the economics of live music in the United States. By advocating for fundamental changes in how artists are compensated and treated, it seeks to build a more equitable and sustainable future for musicians and the venues that host them, celebrating those already doing the right thing and pushing others towards a commitment to basic, fair standards. The success of this initiative will undoubtedly hinge on the collective commitment of artists, venues, and music lovers to champion these essential reforms.