"And I would let capitalism work or not work."

I don't think so.
I went to a concert in Kirkland (east side of Lake
Washington) last night at their brand new Performance
Center, because several of my good music friends were
performing. Tickets were a bit steep - $22.50, but
they must have had a huge overhead - ushers, ticket
takers, CD sales people, box office personnel, a
couple of stage hands, sound and lights technicians,
etc. A state-of-the-art-theater, a grand piano on
stage, plush seating for 400. But there were not
more than 50 people there. I can't see how anyone
made any money, particularly the musicians. But
it was a great concert.

In order for that operation to succeed they need to
book acts that will fill the house rather than the
best music or performers. That's the capitalist
approach.

On the other end of that spectrum is our other
folklore society here. I just produced a concert
for them. The hall seats a max of 120 and costs
$6o or $1 per attendee, whichever is greater.
Subtract that from the gross door, minus $20 for
insurance, $50 for the sound person, and 20% of
the remaining for the society to give the net
take for the performer. At a ticket price of $17
($2 off for members), and only 40 in attendance
my performer got about $400. For the society it
was not a capitalistic success - they need at
least an audience of 60 for a successful performance.
So there is a strong incentive for the concert
committee to only book performers who they know
will bring in a good audience. My performer was
great, but not well known to the community -
he came from England and this was his first time
in the Pacific NW. And for similar reasons the
society seldom books local performers, even though
we have some great local talent - they are not the
"big-name, audience-drawing" acts.

What the PNWFS is trying to do is showcase the
local talent, which is often much better than
that from out of town, and do this at an
affordable (free, or what you can afford to pay)
price. If we paid the "volunteers" I'm afraid
the musicians would not even cover their own
expenses. It's a dilemma - maybe there's no
solution.

"I would focus on perhaps recording them and
putting them on you-tube. "
There's nothing like a live audience to bring
the music alive.

"I like the idea of a monthly or oftener thing
in the libraries..can they accept donations there?"
Our libraries don't allow tip jars, can't afford
to pay the musicians anything with their budgets
drastically cut, and many are operating under
reduced hours.

S. in Seattle