Its called AMERICA you can be whatever you want...its YOUR Choice!

Diki ... NOTHING can be properly painted with a broad stroke ... there still ARE companies that value their employees - I worked for one for 40 years - ... and as far as unions go, there are still some doing some good but unfortunately many have priced their members out of jobs in various ways ... and here in RI the State employees unions just about hold us hostage to their demands ...

There is both good and bad in EVERYTHING ... how many here have 401k and pension plans??? what keeps them going? - stocks in corporate America, that's what ...

Unions didn't price their workers out of jobs... greedy corporations bought enough politicians to get them to allow them to offshore production, but still be allowed to charge full market price in the American markets.

Look at the garment industry. In the 70's, the majority of clothes worn by Americans were MADE by Americans, in America. Since NAFTA, the industry has basically collapsed, and 90%+ of all the clothes worn by Americans are made by wage slaves in other countries. Once upon a time, there used to be trade tariff's, to allow American workers to compete with overseas workers while still living in the MUCH more expensive USA.

Largely gone...

Unions didn't price them out of a job. Their livelihoods were sold out from under them in the name of corporate profits.

Wage inequality is the biggest pressing problem facing us, these days. No country is as armed and volatile as we are, if you discount some African lawless areas. Sooner or later, we wake up to how we have had our futures sold out from under us by greedy corporations, and we are living harder lives with less prospects than our grandparents. And what do we do? The laws limiting corporate influence in Washington have all been gutted, and unions have had their power stripped from them by 30 years of political skulduggery.

Look at how many BILLIONS are spent on political process these days. You think that's affordable by some Wal-Mart worker paid so poorly they work 40hrs a week and still fall under the poverty line? Politics has been sold to the wealthy, and they control the news (or what passes for 'news' these days), education budgets (plenty of studies show, the dumber you are, the more you are likely to vote for measures that actually HURT you, like tax cuts for the rich!), and the laws that protect them from punishment when their wild gambling on futures and bubble stocks destroy our future...

The mad thing about the whole issue is, ask any Tea Party nut about when they thought this country WAS great, they'll tell you the 60's and 70's... But those are the years when regulation of corporations was at its highest, when tarrifs protected their jobs, when their unions were allowed to negotiate with management with enough clout to not be a straw puppet. Taxes were higher, immigration was freer, and there were STRINGENT regulations preventing corporate money from corrupting politics.

They remember them as great because that was the last time the middle class got wealthier at about the same pace as the rich (and poor). A rising tide is supposed to lift ALL boats. Since then money has influenced politics to the point of absurdity (corporations have the same rights as PEOPLE? The day they kill one for murdering someone will be the day that is true!), and we have witnessed the largest migration of money from the poor and middle class to the ultra wealthy in this nation's history (the Wal-Mart heirs make the Carnegies look like po' folk!), and we are all still sitting around going how GREAT it all is.

You can find exceptions to any generality... Sure, there's the odd good employer. Heck, there are some very generous drug dealers, and Hitler liked Eva Braun! But there's no denying this shift in the wealth and power base in America.

Unless you only watch Fox, LOL

Oh for goodness sake! This post has gone so far slanted it's ridiculous. The TV company wanted to appeal to a younger demographic. According to the news report when the orchestra tried to play top 40 songs they just didn't sound right . Literally all that was required is to add one Synth workstation to produce a more modern sound to supplement the orchestra not replace it.

The requirement for fully orchestrated pieces with live music may still exist. But we will only know by the reactions of the people that watch the show. And if they are satisfied with what they see and hear, then why should any business employ extra staff at extra cost for no extra benefit ?

How many of you guys would take an18 piece band to a gig that requires only five pieces and split your fee amongst the other 13 just to keep them in a job?

This isn't a case of nasty corporations trying to screw people out of jobs it's simply a case of economics, the same economics that you and I use every single day in our business decisions.

Getting back to the subject line. Here in south NJ another small club got a visit from the BMI/ASCAP police. Pay $1200 a year or you can't have live music. Or even put on the radio ! The live music there, like most places down here is DJ's or Kareoke/Guitarists. And the place they went after is called the "Villas Fishing Club" Great place to target ???
Last year is was an upscale restaurant between towns call the BLue Claw which had a piano player in one of its dining rooms.
Why these certain places I don't know but it another blow against "Live" music.

It's the same called GEMA in Germany. Every restaurant etc. has to pay contributions in order to be allowed to play CDs or have live music with cover songs. But songs composed by yourself are free of course. But ADDITIONALLY, there is a compulsary old age insurance for musicians, which applies for the VENUES even if a musician only plays there ONCE. Crazy! These things destroy live music.

BTW, I even got a copyright note from BMI for my Roland-Integra version of a Johann Strauss waltz on Youtube, although it's public domain since the composer has been long dead; I objected and the claim was eliminated.

Much copyright protection is done by automated programs, these days, due to the sheer scale of the issue. Hardly surprising when they mess up a bit. Trust me on this one, I worked for a few years for one of the first companies doing DMCA takedowns and copyright infringement notification.

BTW, the comparison between one of US taking an 18 piece orchestra on a gig and a multi-million dollar earning show axing their entire orchestra when all that was needed was to get a hipper keyboard player in is utterly absurd!

But not nearly as absurd as
1 ) a musician living in a capitalist country and benefiting from the capitalist economy,
2 ) and leveraging their skills and labour for remuneration as a keyboard player ,that plays an instrument which in effect replaces an entire orchestra ,
3) and then criticising a corporation for hiring a musician just like this to replacement the orchestra !

You have to pay ASCAP and BMI for recorded music as well as live music.

Absolutely! Most people think music in an elevator is free - it's not! Someone has to pay for that music.

Gary