We make the noise!

Through sheer luck (and allegedly some talent), I was propelled into the Luxembourgish music scene as a teenager through the Screaming Fields festival, one of the many initiatives in Luxembourg that aim to give young musicians the opportunity to develop their talent for music into a professional career.

I suddenly found myself surrounded by hundreds of music professionals of all kinds: songwriters, performers, sound engineers, event organisers and producers. I was immediately informed and educated about all the ways I could monetize and protect my work, where to rehearse for cheap, how to play shows abroad and where to go to finance my projects. All of this was thanks to previous generations of Luxembourgish musicians who had established cultural institutions since the ‘90s, leaving behind thriving networks that stood the test of time.

I fell in love with Luxembourg in a way I had not expected. People might boast about the country’s beautiful landscapes and architecture, as well as its safety and quality of life, but will usually complain that it’s a boring place… what I found was not boring but actually kind of inspiring. A community of people that share the same passion, working independently and collectively to make the local music industry stronger: Is that not something worth staying and fighting for?

When I came back to the country after pursuing higher musical education abroad, I realised I wasn’t going to be able to sustain my career by myself. From making rent to paying back student loans and contributing to social security… there was simply no way for me to play enough gigs throughout the year to support myself. The reality is that, right now, earning a living exclusively from music in Luxembourg is a privilege reserved for the few. Hence the necessity to establish more networks that can push the industry forward and improve the material con­ditions of our peers.

FAMIL, Fédération des Musicien(ne)s Interprètes au Luxembourg, is the newest addition to the list of associations working to defend the rights and interests of independent workers in the music sector in Luxembourg. While FLAC (Fédération Luxembourgeoise des Auteurs et Compositeurs) represents composers and songwriters and ASPRO (Association luxembourgeoise des Professionnels du Spectacle Vivant) protects a wide variety of theatre workers, our advocacy focuses on the previously unrepresented performing musicians: individuals who play in studio recordings and those who perform in live settings, the people who actually make the noise!

Our board is comprised of people with strong ties to the Luxembourgish music scene and years of experience working in the sector: Tun Biever (President), Ema Macara (Vice President), Serge Tonnar (Secretary), Tom Karier (Treasurer), Jana Bahrich, Martina Menichetti, Pol Belardi, Stéphane Colling and Josh Oudendjik.

During our first official meeting, something important became very obvious rather quickly: The participation of our members and other associations in our current and future actions was going to be our greatest asset. Beyond talent and passion, our peers are extremely knowledgeable and versatile. We are composed of and surrounded by professionals who take on more than one role, who have started booking agencies, record labels, production companies, and work in other associations and cultural institutions. Their diverse experiences are the foundation of our work; their different approaches and opinions are what will lead to the successful realisation of our collective goal: to redefine the role and reality of professional musicians in Luxembourg.

Therefore, our goal is to set reasonable and sustainable standard fees that we ask people in the industry to respect, while taking into account the different factors that affect the fair price of a performance […].

Although musicians still flee European markets for the much larger North American one, Luxembourg’s situation is much more volatile. Musicians quickly find their way out of our small circles, sometimes completely bypassing them, abandoning the country altogether as they do not find sustainable income here. The cost of living is one of the biggest burdens on their financial situation. Our little nation is seeing a lot of expansion. It is a running joke that no matter what town you go to, you can drive past dozens of construction sites, popping out new builds here and there, propagating like dandelions. However, we’re still far from reaching one million inhabitants. Compare that to France’s population of 66 million, Germany’s 84 million, and Belgium’s 11 million.

Exporting our musicians is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our industry. Thanks to cultural institutions like Kultur | lx (Arts Council Luxembourg), artists can secure funding to finance their ventures abroad. However, there are opportunities to build strong fan bases in Luxembourg. It’s not like the biggest concert venues are empty; plenty of people go to see some of the world’s most successful touring artists play in Luxembourg. We must keep in mind that these artists have access to budgets that are orders of magnitude larger than the DIY nature of many local projects. They can afford to pay decent wages to the musicians performing on stage, they have robust promotional budgets, and access to some of the world’s most connected labels. Private venues do not have to find ways to justify platforming their shows; the math is much simpler when you can guarantee a crowd. Although natural, this feedback loop is unhelpful: If we can’t get paid, we cannot afford rehearsal times and spaces. And if we cannot level up our shows by buying new gear, we’re limited on how much we can experiment with marketing options. And if our audiences don’t see us improve, it’s all of a sudden much harder to get people to come back to see us year after year.

We’re here to promote our presence on stages and recordings. Talent and creativity are not lacking, but visibility, connection, and expansion are. And as always, there is strength in numbers. Networks, that focus on the collective push forward, lead to more involvement from individuals who might otherwise feel powerless to bring their ideas to life. Together we can find new ways of being seen and heard, not just by audiences but by private entities, who usually have a harder time choosing local when they could choose international. The Ministry of Culture in Luxembourg, beyond offering funding for projects that meet their criteria, also supplements self-employed individuals’ incomes in two ways: artist status and intermittent status. These programmes can prevent people from finding themselves in precarious financial situations due to the industry’s seasonal nature, with spring and summer being the busiest periods. Unfortunately, there are some counterintuitive criteria to qualify for this financial aid. The most challenging requirement is being registered as an independent worker and having paid one year of CCSS contributions before being eligible to apply for this aid. These restrictions are eased if the individual holds a bachelor’s degree in an artistic or relevant field. This stifles the possibility for performing musicians to graduate from being “hobbyists” to becoming full-fledged professionals who can do their work full-time, once again harming our cultural richness and industry by preventing highly talented and trained musicians from entering and staying in our music scene.

Another obstacle that stands in the way of being fairly compensated as a performing musician is the scarcity of fairly paid performances that account for the work that often goes unnoticed. When it comes to playing live at festivals or concerts, we’re usually talking about a performance that lasts 30 to 60 or 90 minutes. But before we get to that point, depending on what kind of performance we are giving, there are days, weeks, and even months of preparation that go into these shows that aren’t directly paid for. This includes everything from writing new live arrangements to figuring out the best technical setups and rehearsal days. An initiative we are working on is recommendations for fair pay. We are not looking to set unobtainable standards; we know different venues and festivals have different goals, forms of funding, and capacities. However, we cannot keep ignoring these concerns and hoping that others will make those changes for us. The people whose job it is to organise the best shows and festivals, or whose goal it is to extract the most money possible from these capital ventures, have completely different priorities, that sometimes do not neatly align with ours. Therefore, our goal is to set reasonable and sustainable standard fees that we ask people in the industry to respect, while taking into account the different factors that affect the fair price of a performance, such as the nature of the event (private or public), the number of musicians on stage, and the size of the audience. It is only fair that we all get paid for our work.

We will work alongside all other interest groups within the Luxembourgish music industry and the general cultural landscape to achieve these changes. Through targeted working groups, we encourage our members to join the causes they are most interested in helping with. Whether it’s neighbouring rights, positive sector action, or social security and legal status, their input will strengthen our case and cover any blind spots we may have.

Our non-profit association can be joined by performing artists for an annual subscription of 30 euros, or 50 euros for supporting members, who are not performers but wish to support our mission.

We believe that advocating for performing musicians in Luxembourg will elevate us all, paving the way for a more visible, dignified, and lucrative future for the local scene. Solidarity has always been at the core of our progress. I want a future where performers like me have the chance to discover a community that shares insights with each other as well as a network that gives us a voice, amplified by our collective power that can facilitate change.

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Ema Macara is vice-president of the Fédération des musicien(ne)s interprètes (FAMIL) au Luxembourg.