Strictly Comes Dancing Refused To Pay Musicians

2020 is a difficult time for all of us, including professional musicians. They can’t afford to make and produce new albums, so the music can’t be sold, gigs are canceled, and festivals are not happening. Contrary to what BBC thinks, though, it’s not THAT bad for the musicians to play for . . . food.

This is the actual experience of the artists from Amaraterra, a traditional southern Italian music band. They were asked to perform in It Takes Two, the companion show to the popular TV dance contest, Strictly Comes Dancing. After asking for a day’s work fee, they were told that the show didn’t have enough budget. Instead, they were offered free lunch and ‘a decent amount of screen time.’ When the band insisted on getting paid, according to relatively low rates agreed with the Musicians’ Union, they were ignored for a couple of days only to eventually hear that the show had dropped them. Meanwhile, the judges and hosts are being paid far more than Amaraterra ever requested. 

The BBC spokesperson maintains that the band was dropped for editorial reasons; otherwise, ‘they would, of course, have been paid for their appearance.’

Currently, many musicians are either furloughed or on universal credit. The Covid allowance for the self-employed equals 20% of income, while 56% of musicians make less than £20,000 a year, according to Cassandre Balosso-Bardin, the band member of Amaraterra.

Unfortunately, Amaraterra’s experience is one of many examples of professional musicians not being paid. To stop this trend, the Musicians’ Union launched Fair Pay for Musicians, which enables the artists to share such stories. You can also help to keep music alive by supporting Fix Streaming Now.

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