Canadian Queer and BIPOC musicians are underpaid, but Yang Chen of the band Tiger Balme has a plan to create economic opportunity by having ethical community standards.
Percussionist Yang said during a break at Tiger Balme’s Nov. 29 performance that more is needed to make the Toronto music scene more diverse.
“The city is very financially difficult to live in for most people, especially artists who are not doing high-paid commercial work frequently,” Yang said.
According to the city’s Music Office, live music venues generate $850 million annually and another $514 million in tourism.
But research led by the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) showed that BIPOC music workers earn about $11,700 less annually than white music workers.
Its 2022 report found persons identified as BIPOC are disproportionately represented as artists, with 28 per cent as owners or entrepreneurs. White respondents were evenly distributed across the roles of the artist at 40 per cent and 44 per cent as an entrepreneur or owner, the report stated.
“If IBPOC workers and artists currently in the community earned the same as their white counterparts, they would add $202.2 million to the industry’s annual contribution to GDP,” the report said. “In total, the ‘missing’ GDP contribution of missing IBPOC people and missing wages is an estimated $273.5 million.”
Yang’s East Asian Toronto-based alt-indie Tiger Balme celebrated the first anniversary of the release of their self-titled debut album they independently produced. However, amid the celebration, Yang has not forgotten the struggles in creating and promoting their work in the Toronto music scene.
Toronto remains a difficult place to survive for both queer and BIPOC artists, they said. While Toronto financially and culturally profits from live music venues and music production, the city’s many music workers often don’t directly benefit from these significant profits.
Queer and BIPOC music workers are far less likely to find financial stability in the industry, especially when compared to their white counterparts.
Tiger Balme has future goals to help promote what Yang calls “organic diversity” to address the inherent economic bias in the Toronto music scene, as well as how to move forward.
“I hope we will no longer need to think about, ‘Oh, this program only has white, men, et cetera (majority) artists. We need to program POC, queer, et cetera (minority) artists. Hmm, I wonder who we could choose,’” Yang said.
“If this thought process ceases to exist and programming is naturally diverse, it would mean that representation is more equitable, we are no longer programming to fill quotas, and the barriers around art-making for minority and/or disadvantaged groups are lessened or eliminated,” they said.
As Tiger Balme addresses alternative routes to avoid systemic bias, fostering a community space is one of the most important ways to build the music scene, Yang said.
“I often play in micro music scenes (free improv, non-western music), which I find are created by some of the strongest proponents and builders of community,” Yang said.
Fostering safe communities is just as important for Tiger Balme fans as it is for fellow musicians, who keep an eye out for economic opportunities for fellow community members.
“We always need more community; this life is too hard when lived alone and, at least for me, art is easier and more joyful when made/enjoyed with others,” they said.
The safe space Tiger Balme creates is one that specifically impacts East-Asian queer youth in Toronto, an often-underrepresented demographic in the music scene.
A need for music of a demographic similar to Tiger Balme’s is why Yang remains hopeful about the band’s future in the scene.
“Toronto is a dense hub of opportunity and communities of the most hard-working, inspired, and loving artists, and I am constantly grateful and surprised when Tiger Balme is asked to play shows and when fans come out again and again,” they said.
“This warm reception and continued opportunity indicate a need for this band in the Toronto music scene.”
This feeling of belonging is met with a plan to continually address adversity and to promote the change Yang wants to see both within their community and beyond.
Change begins on an individual level and can look like aligning workplace values with plans to make decisions aligning with those values, Yang said.
They said consequences are needed if workplaces are deemed unsafe and advocate for oneself but also for those who are not in the room.
Tiger Balme identifies a need for further opportunity in a competitive industry and plans to create opportunities out of adversity. As Yang transitions into full-time freelance music work, their goals to create a safe space where opportunities are achievable remain the same.