Jazz Services - A voice for jazz

There's been a fair bit of talk recently about musicians not being paid when performing as part of the Olypmic Games celebrations.  According to various reports, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is claiming that the exposure offered by performing at the event is remuneration enough.

Naturally this has not gone down well with the musicians themselves and several discussions and online groups have been set up, particularly within the jazz sector.  Both LondonJazz and The Jazz Breakfast have good posts addressing the specifics of the deal, with LondonJazz outlining some of the key details in a response letter from LOCOG that has been made public - including the fact that musicians are "not permitted to sell or distribute merchandise or promotional material" or "accept money at any time".

There’s a recent report from the BBC News with comment from the Musicians’ Union amongst others, and you can watch the video here.  There’s also a Facebook group that’s gathering a large following and carries a lot of discussion on the issue – LINK.  Various polls and petitions have gone up too, and any interested readers can sign them at the following links:

Incorporated Society of Musicians

Corey Mwamba’s Change.org site