Dilemmas, conundrums and building a mystery

I came across an interesting dilemma today. A sort of variant on the lawyer’s ‘no-win, no fee’ offer. Do you take it? Despite the fact you know you're really being ripped off.

What do you do? You’re not sure whether what you’ve got is worth spending money you don’t have to make sure you’ll get a good deal but on the other hand the other party is loading their risk (time and possibly money spent) into the equation and you’ll end up paying a lot more if you do win than you would otherwise if you’d just chosen a flat fee, whether you win or not.

Now this dilemma is slightly more complicated in that it doesn’t just involve an enhanced flat fee for the risk taken, it’s locking the individual to a profit share thereafter as well.

To illustrate the point, let’s assume I fancy myself as a bit of a multi-instrumentalist (I’m not, I hasten to add but……;). In those quiet hours after work, I’ve composed a lovely piece of music, about an hour long, very melodic, a 'Koyaanisquatsi' for guitar, melt your heart stuff; ideal adolescent ‘making love to’ music. Trouble is, in my head, it’s all a bit ‘symphonic’, multi-tracked guitars, multi-tracked keyboards, multi-tracked didgereedoos, out-Olfielding Oldfield, that kind of thing and I cannot afford the kit I’m going to need to make a half decent multi-tracked recording and mix with which to pitch my demo to a record company.

Now I know someone who works for a record company in A & R. He likes the raw material and seems to have an inkling of what I have in my head but knows that there’s a good chance no-one’s likely to buy into it in its raw state. So he offers me a deal, He’ll let me use one of the company’s studios when its not being used by anyone else. He’ll give me an unpaid janitor job and I can ‘live’ at the studio and use the facilities when they’re not being used by anyone else.

Once I’ve finished, he’ll get a cut of any advance I get if I sell the idea to his or any other record company and he gets 10% of any future royalties. Good deal?

At root, it depends, I think, on how much I believe in my work; in its value and my commitment to it. If I believe I’ve no alternative, that this is the only way I’ll ever get the music as I envision it ‘out there’, then it’s a good deal. Actually it’s the only deal! After all, anything else is no deal and my music gets put in with the ashes and buried in the ground when I die.

On the other hand, if I believe in what I’m making, if I believe I am doing something worthwhile, something of value, not just another counterpoint to juvenile fumblings, then surely I owe it to myself to hang out for another way, make that other way happen, somehow? Even if I have to wait?

The regret that I might feel if I cannot make it happen may be more than I would want to bear but isn’t that better than the regret that I know I will feel at knowingly and willingly being ‘ripped off’. In the end we are only victims if we choose to be. There is always another way!

I have spent this afternoon being seduced (not literally but that’s a thought for later :) by hours of Sarah McLachlan. Strange to spend an hour each day being seduced by the same songs (it’s a favourite where I eat) and not to listen at home. Well, that’s all changed! Perhaps I need to revisit Paula Cole. Oh, and Koyaanisquatsi really is the most divine music to make love to! Thank you, Mr Glass. I know most hate you but I have yet to meet a woman who didn't melt to 'a world out of balance' and I adore you! Me and Keith! And it seems you are being repurposed for the 'Watchmen' if the trailer is to be believed.

I promised I would post a couple of links so here they are:

Fees Guide

Fees Guide (2)

If anyone stops by and has an opinion on the dilemma please feel free to leave a comment. It’s a bitch being a freelance anything!

"Don't give up on the search for ghosts in the park!"