Twin Cities United Performers (TCUP), an organization campaigning for better working conditions at local music venues, held an official launch event at Green Room on Saturday.
Over a hundred musicians of all ages, genres and styles came together early Saturday morning to fill both floors of Green Room to learn more about the campaign and its goals. Several TCUP members spoke at the event about the importance of labor solidarity and how venues have mistreated artists.
“We are to demand a more transparent and equitable music industry for every performer in Minnesota,” said Nadirah McGill, TCUP founder and Gully Boys drummer. “We are here because we are fed up.”
Delicate Friend vocalist and solo artist Andrea Leonard recounted an experience playing at Day Block Brewing Company where she was not paid the agreed rate of $100 per performer after the show. When she first mentioned Day Block at the beginning of her story, several audience members booed the mention of the venue in solidarity with Leonard.
Leonard said Day Block cited low turnout for not paying the performers. She said TCUP helped her negotiate with Day Block, and she was eventually paid half the original rate.
Dante Leyva, a member of TCUP and several local ska bands, proposed the city take action and create a live music fund to guarantee performers are fairly compensated for their shows.
“Streaming platforms have devalued our art to the extreme, and payment for live performances has remained stagnant despite inflation in both ticket prices and the cost of living,” Leyva said.
He said if acts were paid $500 a show and about 60 bands played a night, the proposed funding would cost the city an estimated $11 million.
TCUP is currently developing a proposal for a work advance based on their own research and ideas from local musicians. A work advance is a contractual benefit where employers agree to pay workers part of their salary upfront and follow a mutually agreed-on set of professional standards.
Attendees were asked to sign a pledge to a shared set of communication standards between musicians and venues by using an advance from TCUP when booking their show. TCUP has yet to finalize a version of their proposed work advance.
At the campaign launch, TCUP members gathered attendees into small groups to gather ideas and ask questions about their work advance.
McGill said TCUP plans on publicly announcing their campaign and submitting an advance to venues when they reach 500 pledge signers. TCUP will host six pledge signing events at TakeAction Minnesota in St. Paul.
The campaign started in solidarity with striking First Avenue service workers in 2023.
A First Avenue bartender known as “Megatron” who led the strike in 2023, said at the campaign event on Saturday that venue service workers stand behind the movement of musicians.
Political non-profit organization TakeAction MN is behind the TCUP campaign. It funds and organizes several local political movements such as a tenants organization in Duluth and a campaign for healthier foods in St. Paul schools.
TakeAction MN also participates in electoral campaigns through its affiliated political action committee. In 2024, the TakeAction PAC contributed $171,000 to Democratic candidates running for federal office in Minnesota.
