"What's the difference between a pizza and a belly dancer? A pizza can feed a family of 4."
It doesn't matter what artistic genre you are in, you will be asked to perform for exposure. Some non-artists think that art is a hobby and not a profession. They seem to believe that artists live on air and sleep on their rich friend's couches. We don't need money, we have our art.
What is exposure?
The idea behind exposure is that it's "free" advertising for you and your business. You perform for free at an event, people see you and then want to hire you.
The reality is exposure is a myth! Not only is it not "free" advertising, it's not advertising at all. You are essentially paying (your money lost by you dancing for free) to dance at someone else's event. Of the people that attend the event, if you are lucky, maybe 1% will actually ever think about hiring you for an event. 1% of those people will get hold of you for a quote, and maybe half of those will actually hire you. You will have more success in advertising by having a website or Facebook page, than dancing at events.
Another side to this is the expectation of dancing for free for other events. If you danced for free at event X why wouldn't you at event Y? Someone who heard you danced for free at their friend's event, will expect you to do the same for theirs. When you quote them your standard fee, they are less likely to hire you than if you had been paid for your other event.
There's a third side to exposure. If an artist performs for exposure they are making it difficult for other artists to earn money. When Diva 1 will work for exposure, and Diva 2 won't, then Diva 1 will get "hired" (you aren't really getting hired if you aren't being paid) and Diva 2 will not. Nobody wins in this situation. No one is making money.
So should you dance for exposure?
No. No. No. No. NO!
By doing so you are cheating yourself, your fellow artists and the entire industry. A athlete wouldn't race or play a match for exposure ("You might get a sponsor"). A politician wouldn't do what ever politicians actually do for free ("You might win voters and become president"). Neither would an architect, interior decorator, author or film actor. So why should a dancer, musician, painter or disc jockey?
We've been asked to do gigs for exposure fairly often. The answer is always no. This is our fee and that's it. If they can't afford us then that's okay. Hopefully, next time they'll budget more for entertainment.
Melanie shared this great video about exposure with our studio today. It's a good laugh and very true.
Enjoy.