Musicians group brands Breakout festival as ‘unfair’

A contract dispute is threatening to disrupt the annual Breakout West Festival being held in Edmonton this September to celebrate the Western Canadian music industry.

The Canadian Federation of Musicians has placed event organizer the Western Canadian Music Alliance on its “unfair” list and prohibited members from accepting engagements with the group because it says the alliance won’t negotiate an agreement that includes paying performers.

“We can’t enter into an agreement with them when they refuse to acknowledge there should be some kind of compensation for the players,” Alan Willaert, vicepresident from Canada for the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, said Tuesday from Toronto.

“They weren’t willing to negotiate anything at all. They just put up this blank stare and said, ‘This isn’t a paying gig anymore, it’s a networking opportunity.’”

The Sept. 13-17 event will feature a conference, two nights of musical showcases at 10 downtown venues, and the Western Canadian Music Awards reception at the University of Alberta’s Dinwoodie Lounge.

Alberta award nominees include songwriter/roots soloist Corb Lund, urban artist Nuela Charles, rock group Scenic Route to Alaska and instrumentalists Kent Sangster’s Obsessions Octet.

Willaert, whose organization represents 17,000 professional Canadian musicians, said people are typically paid about $100 for sets in a musical showcase, plus another 10 per cent to 15 per cent pension contribution.

He estimated two-thirds of the performers at Breakout West, including headliners, will be members of his federation.

While he couldn’t say what impact the prohibition will have on the event if an agreement isn’t reached, he said his group would likely stage information pickets and try to get support from the rest of Alberta’s labour movement.

“I would deem (the festival) would be quite unsuccessful. I think revenue would be way down … It would deter people from going if two-thirds of the acts weren’t there.”

Robyn Stewart, executive director of the Winnipeg-based music alliance, said they haven’t paid performers in the past and don’t have a budget for it this year, although the non-profit group has been talking about how to move toward a model where performers could be paid in future.

“We showcase emerging young talent. The point of the event is career development … We have been in negotiations with them and we finally hit an impasse on fundamental differences.”

Most of the alliance’s efforts at the 15-year-old festival, held in cities across Western Canada, are geared toward ensuring wide exposure for young artists, including flying in international music industry officials, said Stewart, adding almost 300 people will play in the showcases.

The issues are more complex than simply whether performers should be paid, she said.

One concern is that artists would have to at least temporarily join the federation and would pay into pensions even if they aren’t members, she said, estimating 20 per cent of the performers are part of the federation.

Stewart, who said 3,000 spectators attended shows last year in Regina, doesn’t think the “unfair” designation will have much impact on the festival.