MUSICIANS opposing a "pay to play" gigs policy staged a protest in Glasgow city centre.
Dozens of performers attended a weekend rally in George Square to call for an end to the practice. "Pay to play" is when musicians are asked to hand over money to promoters to be allowed to play at certain venues.
Opponents say musicians are being forced to sell tickets for their own gigs and hand over the majority of the money to promoters, even if they do not sell all the tickets.
Yesterday's protest was organised by folk singer and songwriter Vivien Scotson and was backed by world renowned jazz guitarist and composer Martin Taylor. Vivien said the problem was widespread in Glasgow and exploited musicians.
She added: "Musicians from Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Ireland feel put off coming to Glasgow because our music scene is being polluted by these people."
Pay to play has been around since the 1980s, but there is no legislation to regulate such deals.
Martin Taylor said: "You wouldn't ask anybody in any other profession to pay to do their job. You wouldn't say to a plumber 'come round and fix my bathroom sink but you have to give me some money for doing it'. It's crazy."