As a musician and band leader, sometimes I have no gigs, but will be contracting musicians for upcoming work. Other times, I have multiple gigs at various sites in the tristate area (my record is four gigs in one day, leaving before 7 a.m. and returning at 2 a.m.).
Why I like being an independent contractor: I can make a living playing. There are very, very few organizations that have the amount of work necessary to employ a musician full-time. The vast majority of highly successful music companies have enough work to employ musicians part-time. If I were employed by one office exclusively, I’d be working part-time, and not enough to qualify for any sort of health and retirement benefits.
What I want lawmakers to know: You need to talk to lots of people in lots of industries that consist of mostly independent contractors to understand why they want to be independent contractors.
I’ve built my entire life and career around being an independent contractor. Don’t devastate my livelihood.
Fight For Freelancers NJ 