[HAM] Is there a going rate?

[Dave Zierenberg]

Alicia wrote:

> I don't belong to the musician's union in LA and I didn't in FLA,
> either - unless you are an orchestra player, you're basically paying
> not to work...I do belong to SAG and AFTRA for TV, movie and radio
> session work - very worthwhile and the health insurance is second to
> none (although they're making us pay a small premium for the first time
> ever, it's still the best.)

My wife and I are not members either, but most of our gigging is bluegrass,
and I have only met one bluegrass musician that was a union member, and he
joined because he was doing a lot of film stuff and he felt it opened some
doors.

But we've thought about joining just for some of the insurance benefits.
Not so much health insurance, (although maybe we should, we're paying big
bucks for that out of pocket) but for instrument insurance.  We have a bunch
of instruments that are not covered by anything.  Homeowners ins. won't
cover them because we use them professionally, and the carriers and brokers
I've talked to couldn't give me any options.  And some kind of coverage
would be nice.  My C2/720 and my A100/147 combined cost way less than what
my wife's banjo is currently worth.  Then there's fiddles, acoustic and
electric guitars, mandolin, pedal steel, etc, etc.

So does the list have any thoughts regarding instrument insurance?

Z