My Facebook response to the Newsday article, "Panmen to get their $1,000":
Panorama is not really a "competition", although it is advertised as such. It's really a commercial event that produces millions of dollars (immediately and residually) to enigmatic and intangible shareholders. It's a corporate business venture, that uses cheap labor (the panist) in the production, packaging and marketing of it's product.
Now, I'm thinking (conservatively), that a panist can spend a total of anywhere from 100 to 500 hours during the "Panorama Season". Doing the math: $1000/100 = $10; $1000/500 = $2. (So, a local panist for Panorama really makes about $2 to $10 per hour.) I'm hoping that's US dollars and not TTD, otherwise that $1000 would become $156.36 US, and you would be making between $0.31 (i.e. thirty-one cents) and $1.56 per hour! "It don't get much cheaper than that!" Except slavery. Does it?
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,139714.html
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It sounds as though you are likening Panorama and it's Bands/players to Professional Sports and its Teams/athletes... if this can be the case then I agree, the co-relations can be made from the top to the bottom. If the "players" of "Panorama" are to recieve their share of the profits garnered from the success of this lucrative "commercial event" then the band leaders must run their "band" as a "professional business organization" and become one of the "enigmatic and intangible shareholders". Pantrinbago would have to step up and run their business as does FIFA, NBA, NFL, MLB, ICC etc... Even if you are not likening Panorama to Professional sports... it's actually not a bad business model to adopt... just my thoughts...
Next thing you know, we'll have to elect businessmen as band leaders.
Right.
I keep having mental images of Milton "Squeezer" Lyons in a band meeting after Carnival trying to explain to Southern Marines panmen waiting to get paid why there was no money in the till.
A more apt comparison would be to compare steelbands to Symphony orchestras, which are not businesses, but derive income from a variety of sources including wealthy patrons, public contributions ,performances and yes,from taxpayers dollars.
Even professional sports teams are owned by groups of millionaires who still look for public support in building their facilities.
Of course funds available to steelbands should be managed in a businesslike manner,but to expect a steelband to generate profits like a successful business is asking a lot.
The (US) Small Business Administration (SBA) keeps the stats on business failures and claims that more than half of new businesses will disappear in the first five years
We certainly do not wish that to happen to steelbands!
Peter Gray > Glenroy R JosephMay 2, 2011 at 6:28pm
Glenroy:
There seems little doubt that eventually steelbands will have to be run as business enterprises .... I think the original point implied that steelbands be properly run as businesses, not as failed scams. Corrupt leadership, though it has frequently been present in pan, should not be assumed to be the inevitable outcome of what you might call the "financial democratisation" of the industry. But I agree that your analogy to first world symphonies is probably the best model to follow.
Interesting but you must also check how they pay panmen who they send on tour for instance china India Japan .They pay in TT dollars what disrespect.
Cecil hinkson > kambiri de suzaMay 1, 2011 at 10:12pm
We are applying North American standards to Trinidad panmen, I guess much have'nt change over the years in that if the captain say the band going to Japan no one ask how much I would be making on this gig.
(1) The first prize for panorama 2006 was $400,000.
(2) in 2007 there was a 150% increase.
(3) With the Small and Medium Panorama more pannist can earn extra money .
(4) Young arrangers are now getting a chance to display their talents because of the one arranger per category rule.
(5) The Road Players were at the mercy of their respective Steel Orchestras for payment, now over 7,000 of both stage and road players are being guaranteed a fix amount.
(6) The prelims at the Panyards' means "money over glory". Playing at the bigyard is glory; playing at home is money. I.E., the prelims cost of transportation is now null, the sales are now at home, hence 100% profit so bands could now pay. What am I getting at you ask? As I stated before "JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT"
"Dat sound like one ah dem macrobiotic diets. Ah cyar eat dat food. Panmen and (eventually) panwomen are the ones who plant de corn, reap it, husk it, prepare it, cook it, and the government gets to decide how much they eat." Panists need to get off dependency habit, and ween themselves off the government and corporate sponsor pacifiers of social and class bondage. They also need to get off the "Panorama as the ONLY source of income" mindset. What is the "prize" for last place? Prize is exactly what it is, and I'm sure if they raised it to 150%, they found a way to increase revenues by 1500%. (I don't like arbitrary numbers and statistics.) I also don't support the idea of having a music "competition" at different venues, because, of course, acoustics vary from place to place, and will affect how a steelband sounds. That creates advantages and disadvantages, and all participants should have an equal chance. If you refer to my "blueprint", you will see that I address the issue of how bands can use their "panyards" as point of sales throughout the year, not just during Panorama. I applaud the increases, but I am one who opts for tradition; the ritual of Panorama should be left alone, just like New Orleans' Mardi Gras, with its logistical traditions. What needs to change is the power structure; a change of ownership, and a shift toward autonomy. A reconstruction of the business model that puts the interest of the proletarian local panist into the equation. Thanks for the update, Ian. I sincerely appreciate it. (Like the thousands of "pounds" from the iron ball that it takes to sink a steel drum, our collective concentrated efforts will mold the pan industry into the shape we desire. I believe that. Yours In Pan,
George D. Goddard
Keith K2 Kropf > Pan'tum - The Ghost Who TalksApril 30, 2011 at 11:19pm
George has a very good point. Panmen should be looking at Panorama as a prize, like Mardi Gras winners. They should be making money playing pan elsewhere. Dependency on the government for income is not a good thing at all.
i don't remember the exact figures but i was shocked to find out how little the winning samba school in rio carnaval gets as its prize money. makes panorama seem like a jackpot
Replies
Run steelbands like businesses.
Next thing you know, we'll have to elect businessmen as band leaders.
Right.
I keep having mental images of Milton "Squeezer" Lyons in a band meeting after Carnival trying to explain to Southern Marines panmen waiting to get paid why there was no money in the till.
A more apt comparison would be to compare steelbands to Symphony orchestras, which are not businesses, but derive income from a variety of sources including wealthy patrons, public contributions ,performances and yes,from taxpayers dollars.
Even professional sports teams are owned by groups of millionaires who still look for public support in building their facilities.
Of course funds available to steelbands should be managed in a businesslike manner,but to expect a steelband to generate profits like a successful business is asking a lot.
The (US) Small Business Administration (SBA) keeps the stats on business failures and claims that more than half of new businesses will disappear in the first five years
We certainly do not wish that to happen to steelbands!
Glenroy:
There seems little doubt that eventually steelbands will have to be run as business enterprises .... I think the original point implied that steelbands be properly run as businesses, not as failed scams. Corrupt leadership, though it has frequently been present in pan, should not be assumed to be the inevitable outcome of what you might call the "financial democratisation" of the industry. But I agree that your analogy to first world symphonies is probably the best model to follow.
Peter
interesting... I made this exact statement at the symposium a day ago..
there must be something in the water..lol
JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT MY FRIENDS
(1) The first prize for panorama 2006 was $400,000.
(2) in 2007 there was a 150% increase.
(3) With the Small and Medium Panorama more pannist can earn extra money .
(4) Young arrangers are now getting a chance to display their talents because of the one arranger per category rule.
(5) The Road Players were at the mercy of their respective Steel Orchestras for payment, now over 7,000 of both stage and road players are being guaranteed a fix amount.
(6) The prelims at the Panyards' means "money over glory". Playing at the bigyard is glory; playing at home is money. I.E., the prelims cost of transportation is now null, the sales are now at home, hence 100% profit so bands could now pay. What am I getting at you ask? As I stated before "JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT"
"Dat sound like one ah dem macrobiotic diets. Ah cyar eat dat food. Panmen and (eventually) panwomen are the ones who plant de corn, reap it, husk it, prepare it, cook it, and the government gets to decide how much they eat." Panists need to get off dependency habit, and ween themselves off the government and corporate sponsor pacifiers of social and class bondage. They also need to get off the "Panorama as the ONLY source of income" mindset. What is the "prize" for last place? Prize is exactly what it is, and I'm sure if they raised it to 150%, they found a way to increase revenues by 1500%. (I don't like arbitrary numbers and statistics.) I also don't support the idea of having a music "competition" at different venues, because, of course, acoustics vary from place to place, and will affect how a steelband sounds. That creates advantages and disadvantages, and all participants should have an equal chance. If you refer to my "blueprint", you will see that I address the issue of how bands can use their "panyards" as point of sales throughout the year, not just during Panorama. I applaud the increases, but I am one who opts for tradition; the ritual of Panorama should be left alone, just like New Orleans' Mardi Gras, with its logistical traditions. What needs to change is the power structure; a change of ownership, and a shift toward autonomy. A reconstruction of the business model that puts the interest of the proletarian local panist into the equation. Thanks for the update, Ian. I sincerely appreciate it. (Like the thousands of "pounds" from the iron ball that it takes to sink a steel drum, our collective concentrated efforts will mold the pan industry into the shape we desire. I believe that. Yours In Pan,
George D. Goddard
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