Costs Are So High We Can't Work the Way We Used To!

"Six months of the year have already passed, and this year's number of performances has fallen to a quarter of past years' levels, or perhaps even less." This is what Azadeh Amiri, a composer and musician, says. She believes rising costs have reduced the production of musical works and performances, to the point that "costs are so high we can't work the way we used to."

According to Ambassador Arjan, he wrote:

In a situation where it seems that the production of musical works and live performances has decreased due to the economic impact, this issue has been investigated in an interview with Azadeh Amiri - composer, string player and music teacher.

- Due to the economic and social conditions that have been passed since last year, statements have been made regarding the reduction of the production of music works and performances. What is your opinion and experience about this?

Music, because it is a collective art, is considered an expensive art all over the world; Whether in the form of performance or recording, when a work is produced, a composer and a number of musicians must be involved. The performance of the work requires a leader, singer, orchestra members and hall. On the other hand, band members need a place to practice for concerts.

Booking a studio to record a work is expensive by the hour. Now, in addition to that, the work needs mixing and mastering and other works, all of which increase the cost of music production, which is extremely high in the current situation. For example, the sound engineer has to increase the cost of the studio, because the cost of water and electricity, repair of microphones and sound systems has gone up.

This situation has imposed a double cost on music, although everywhere in the world, music enjoys government support. Managing music privately is very difficult and financial resources should be injected into this area to support it and allow it to continue.

Unfortunately, there is no support for music in Iran. As a result, the costs are transferred to the audience and the audience likes music that is more general, understandable, tangible and accessible. Now this process makes private orchestras work, which in this situation, work in such a way as to generate income for the sponsor.

In such a situation, serious music gradually gives way to popular music, because music that has a larger audience can generate ticket sales and a financial return for the sponsor.

In recent years, especially this year, we have moved towards a more abandoned music, resulting in a disastrous and very worrying state of performance, recording and concerts.

On the other hand, many music activists who have recorded and published works in the past, when they examine the financial situation, they realize that if they perform those works with the same number of musicians and in the same studio and hall, they will no longer be able to pay the fees. The reason is that the wages of musicians, the cost of renting a hall and studio have increased a lot this year, and if those works were not recorded and performed in previous years, they would not be able to do it again today.

And this means disaster; This means that music production will decrease day by day, the number of concerts will decrease, and finally, only music can continue to exist that is accepted by the public, and that is pop music.

Compared to recent years, has there been a significant change in the number of projects you worked on or even the concerts you attended?

Very much, especially projects that are proposed from abroad, due to the difficult financial conditions that exist, the high costs of traveling and obtaining plane tickets, the difficult conditions of obtaining visas and the projects that are being held inside Iran, this change is quite noticeable.

Now we have passed 6 months of the year and the number of my performances this year compared to previous years has reached a quarter and maybe even less. The number of studio recordings is the same.

In the education sector, the costs faced by schools have become very heavy. For example, tuning a piano now costs millions. The repair of the machine and the removal of the tar is worth millions, and many of these costs have multiplied compared to last year. Now, when the costs for the maintenance and repair of instruments, school rent, and water, electricity, and gas costs increase, we also have to raise tuition fees, but the students cannot afford it.

I know many schools that have been forced to close and have not been able to continue their activities, or continue their work with great difficulty, that is because they have worked hard for years to set up a complex and now it is difficult for them to close the school, if their expenses are equal to their expenses and it does not bring financial profit.

- What effect has the decrease in the production of musical works had on the working conditions of musicians?

Musicians in Iran make a living in different ways; They teach, perform, work in the studio, and some of them do all these activities at the same time or are busy composing.

When all these activities are affected by the economic conditions, the income generation in the music field has also suffered greatly. I mentioned earlier that the production of music works has decreased greatly due to the increase in costs, now in such a situation, musicians should be paid more.

The cost of renting concert halls is also constantly increasing, which causes the price of tickets to rise so that an independent group can cover the cost of musicians, singers and conductors or composers, and at the same time, the price of tickets is such that people can afford it.

In fact, we are facing a very difficult cycle that desperately needs support; But it is not supported. The situation is very critical and there is a huge pressure on music activists.

Considering the economic situation, have you come across projects that prefer to use fewer musicians to reduce costs?

yes An orchestra may need 16 string players, but only 6 can go on stage in order for the musicians to be paid accordingly. While in order to provide sound for the performance of 16 string musicians, the pieces are pre-recorded and the recorded performance is played during the performance, and 6 musicians are only symbolically placed on the snare.

When the number of musicians reaches real size, it becomes difficult for that orchestra to travel, it costs more to transport them, and it becomes more difficult to find a place to practice. Because of all these costs, the fewer musicians there are, the easier and cheaper it is to find a rehearsal space, the easier it is to get a sound engineer, and the lower the cost of microphones and other equipment. In fact, all costs go down as the number of musicians decreases.

- Has the reduction of performances and the conditions we are in now made musicians limit their music activities or even go to other businesses?

According to what I have heard, such incidents have happened, sometimes they have even sold their instrument or due to the difficult situation of one of the artists, others have decided to help.

It is natural that in this situation, if an artist earns a living through teaching, the tuition fees not increasing in proportion to the increase in costs, will cause his income to not meet the cost of living.

On the other hand, a musician who used to have concerts four times a month, now goes on stage once every four months, part of his income has been cut off. So it is natural for him to look for another way to support his living expenses so that he can continue his life and activities.

How much has the current economic and social conditions affected your motivation to continue your professional activity?

I entered the music academy in 1969. At that time, many of my peers had no idea that one could study music, to the point where they asked me, "Do we have such a field?"

When I was going to the conservatory, we had a card that was always with us so that if we were stopped on the way because of transporting the instrument, we could show the card and the instrument would not be confiscated. I want to say that we did not enter music from a stable and calm situation and we are used to challenges in the field of music and performance. A lot has happened over the years and we have always waited until the last minute for our permits.

As a result, the path we have taken has not been easy. This path started from my education in the conservatory and continues until today. We have seen many dissolutions, demises and re-formations.

As a result, we've had such a rough ride that I always tell my students and friends that we've kind of hardened and learned to motivate ourselves to keep going. as if we are the narrow water that passes through the stones; It erodes rocks, pushes away soils and creates a narrow path to continue.

I don't believe that the work of an artist is only to create or show beauty, because everything exists in the world and beauty and ugliness coexist.

The fact is that in the 30 years that I have been active in music, there has not been any significant support for music. If music has continued, it has happened only on the shoulders of individual musicians, with their own financial conditions and with their own support.

When I write a piece as a composer, from the moment it's created in my head to the time it's on paper, to production and release, all these steps happen without the slightest support and it's all on us.

In these years, we have gotten used to creating motivation and hope for ourselves and imagining a future in which music continues, breathes and continues to live; Hardly, but it has always been like this and we have continued.

If the situation continues like this, how do you see the future of musicians' professional activity?

hard I can't make an accurate diagnosis about the future, because people who have always been motivated are no longer motivated. Even myself, who may have been known as a motivated and hopeful person, I have lost a lot of motivation. We have all become much less productive, isolated and bored.

Finally, whenever we are producing a work, doing a task or carrying out a project, in the corner of our mind there is the question "So what?". Where is this work going to be released? How many audiences have the capacity to receive and support it?