After Juan Miguel Severo called out a mall for requesting his services in exchange for a free meal, he has taken to Twitter again to issue an apology for not handling the situation as gracefully as he admittedly should have.
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“Hello again. First of all, I wanna apologize for the way I snapped at you. I know you’re just doing your job and I didn’t realize I was shooting the messenger. I’m sorry,” he wrote in a post.
However, he still expressed concern over local artists not getting the right compensation they deserve for their craft.
“That said — and this goes out to your superiors — I remain firm in my stand. Artists should not be taken advantage, exploited and given less than they’re due, especially by big companies and corporations under which establishments such as yours belong.”
(ALSO READ: This Is How Juan Miguel Severo Dealt With A Mall Asking Artists To Perform For A ‘Free Meal’)
He also acknowledged that he wasn’t able to give his contact a chance to “properly negotiate” their terms, but he believed that negotiation isn’t even supposed to be necessary “when asserting how things should be in the first place (i.e. artists are to be compensated for their services.)”
He advised other establishments that asking favors like this is not acceptable.
“When the event is funded by a company with your means, it definitely is not. Trust me, if an artist wants to waive their fee, they will offer to do so. But if you truly want to support an art form, support the artists. Make paying them your default,” he continued.
He did, however, appeal to fellow artists to remain open to performing in malls and event spaces provided that they are properly compensated.
(ALSO READ: The Beauty of Filipino Spoken Word Poetry According to Spoken Word Artists)
Read his statement in full here:
About that mall:
They replied to my messages and this was what I had to say. Posting this here because I know this issue is ever-recurring for artists of every discipline.
I appreciate your sound suggestions on how I could’ve handled the situation better. Thanks! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/zIMmLsqEw4
— Juan Miguel Severo ?️? (@TheRainBro) August 4, 2019
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