I'm intrigued by Mike Miller's comment, "I am pleased to pay to showcase (these people are doing me a great service). I am pleased to pay a fee to be considered for showcasing (I am confident that I will be selected)."

Certainly there are many contests (not just competitions for showcase slots) for which one must pay an entry fee. In this case, the "prize" is the opportunity to showcase, which may or may not include payment but definitely includes the allure of "exposure". The losers, of course, lose their money but can console themselves with the thought that at least they've had "exposure" to the judges, who might select them in for future showcases.

This is all well and good in a situation in which there are regularly scheduled showcases (especially if one has only to audition once to be considered for several showcase dates) that are part of a prestigious festival such as Kerrville, or that have some prestige (or, at least, a "following") in and of themselves. But in a one-time-only situation such as Marion described last October – a spot on a local cable-TV show – the ethics of the situation are less clear. Local cable stations simply don't have a very high viewership as a whole, so what's the carrot they're dangling? What "great service" are those people doing for you? To whom will you have "exposure" even if you win the contest and appear on the show?

For my own part, I've been taped for a couple of cable-TV spots by arrangement with the local "active figure" but, in this case, the guy would sign up whoever wanted to do it, and the service was free (you had to pay a small price for your own tape of the spot, though, which I thought was fair!). The spots have been aired so I can mention in my press kit that I've appeared on local cable TV. Somehow I don't think that's going to impress anybody, since anybody who wants to can do it for free... but I think people might be even less impressed to learn that a musician had paid to be considered for an appearance on local cable TV.

One final thought, with regard to Mike's comment about his confidence that he would be selected for a showcase for which he had paid to be considered: many entrants who are not selected for such showcases have entered the competitions with the same confidence, and the same level of expertise. Naturally one has to enter such a competition with a positive attitude, or one is simply throwing away one's entry fee. The tough part is losing out to one's "business" competition while retaining a positive "business" relationship with the people to whom one has just lost money!