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On Saturday, January 4, 2003, at 02:13 AM, Catilyne wrote: > France: I'm sure there are lots of people who can speak firsthand on > living in France. While we've got a real draw to the country itself > (property costs in Southern France are at an all time low, as well as > Paris probably being one of the easier places for me to find a job), > the politics seem to be following the United States' lead in rolling > back privacy and rights. Although it would still be an improvement > over where we are now. Hey... I go away for a week or two, and all hell breaks on the list :) Happy new year to all. Re: France, let me just say that for music, it is very hard to make a living. The venues pay badly, and all the good gigs are 'white work', which means that you have to go through all the cost and beaurocracy trying to get the right papers... This is France.... its all possible though if you don't mind an eternity of waiting, arguing, form-filling and frustration. The tax/benefit system works against anyone not in mainstream work... to get the benefits of being an artist, you have to have 'x' amount of hours of proper contracted work from the previous year. Then you can join this elite club where they help you find work. To get contracted jobs, you often have to belong to this elite club.... All the job adverts are coded, and you can only get the contact details of the employer if you are a member of the club. My previous touring was black work.... I was screwed. Beware of taxes. I'm paying a huge tax bill, even though I have no access to any benefits of any kind, and have paid income tax the entire time I've been working over here. Re: the scene.... The police are now breaking up 'illegal concerts'. In other words, the venue owner has to contact the prefecture and obtain permission for every concert (live music). This involves form filling, time, money, so the venue owners are resorting to installing CD players. Too many musicians with not enough venues = people offer to play for free, which completely kills the market. "I've got a band of 19 year olds who are offering to play New Years Day for free, why should I pay you?" was the response from one gig I was chasing that went from 500 to 300 to 200 to 100 and then to no Euros.... for a 5 piece band. Accommodation in the cities (Paris, Marseilles etc) are small, expensive and not easy to make noise in without legal problems. They are also very hard to get . For a studio apartment, you often have a queue of 20 other people viewing at the same hour, all clutching thick files including photocopies of payslips, tax returns, bills, bank statements, birth certificate, id cards, parents' bank statements, parents' driving license, parents' DNA samples.... etc. etc. If you don't have all the papers, then you have little hope. Re: the parents stuff, this is for people up to the age of 30 or so.... no kidding :) I'm rambling. In other words, France is not good if you want the artists life. But if you have money.... then it could work :) -- Stuart Wyatt (Solo String Project) - http://SoloString.com