AIBU to think this "wedding pianist" is unbelievably rude?

[Bamsmam]

We are getting married in April and have found a lovely venue which allows us to source music ourselves. I looked around options locally and they all charge a fortune for 5-6 hour packages which we don't really need - just someone to play a few tunes as guests arrive and during and after the ceremony, nice and quiet, nothing complicated.

A friend told me about a friend of hers who plays for weddings sometimes, not as a full time career because she does other music work too. So I got in touch with her, mentioned my friend's name, said what I wanted and asked for a quote. She came back to me with £220!! For a couple of hours piano playing! Surely this is money for old rope.

I wrote back and said I thought it was a little on the steep side and this is where the rudeness comes in. She actually messaged me back and said I should start taking lessons now myself and in ten years I'll be as good as her and can play for my next wedding! AIBU to think that this is extremely unprofessional and also a very unpleasant way to communicate with prospective customers?

I certainly don't charge my employer for all the years I have done my job previously

You don’t think that employers pay a higher salary for people with more experience? What about a newly qualified doctor compared with a specialist surgeon with decades of experience? Do you think they get paid the same? This thread has to be a wind up.

What was your point of saying it? Expecting her to say “ok sure I’ll go lower?”

She was spot on. You are so unreasonable to argue with her, just decline politely. On top of that you made your friend look horrible too. The pianist rightly told you off. You started the argument, not her. She just finished it and rightly so. And who cares if it is a nice place? If it is that nice than you shouldn't be so damn skint paying for a pianist. Perhaps next time you will think twice about being so condescending. Judging from you lack of self awareness and inability to admit you are wrong you certainly are not the nice person you claim to be.

The OP’s posts are killing me. Best thread I’ve read in years. Almost as good as the people are having sex in my hedge one.

Wish I could be a fly on the wall at this matrimonial extravaganza.

It was to call her out and make her feel insecure, apparently.

Me too! It’s such a nice venue after all…maybe we could pay the OP to attend?

£220 is cheap for few hours of professional playing. If you didn’t want to pay you should’ve walked away rather than haggle.

Airline pilots

You absolutely deserve that, how rude of you. She has taken years to train and my God, £220 sounds like a friggin bargain for a wedding musician... Shame on you ....#Teampianist

It has too. No other booking will you have the client contacting you 50 bazillion times before day to change things because its "their special day" and has to be perfect.

This is a corker of a thread hey?! 😂

No way is it a reverse, the OP would have said by now.

I really do believe it's genuine.

Best thread for ages. 😆

Why should your friend's friend give you mates' rates? She is a working pianist and two hours playing is more than two hours work. She will have to practice what you want played, for a starter.
In my other post I have explained how much you would have to pay for bells, if you were marrying in church. It's not a £100 and it's not for 2 hours either.
In both cases you are paying for expertise (just like the plumber - and I'd like to know where you live that plumbers charge less than £110 an hour!).
NB Your friend's friend does do it all the time - she works in the music industry and playing at weddings is one of the strings to her bow.

on which planet is 57k a "very high salary"?

It's bad enough on MN all the arguments to decide if less than £150k a year can be considered "very high", but if we are now including way less than 6 figures, we'll never hear the end of it 😂😂

Ok but presumably you’re happy for your employer to offer you below the rate you currently get paid for it? If not, why your outrage here when you’ve done the same?

Of course not, an office junior is always paid exactly the same as middle management. Sheesh, don't you know anything?! ;)

Mother of a professional musician here - minimum rates are set by the Musicians Union so that musicians can afford to eat a couple of times a month. Musicians are self employed. The OP is beyond unreasonable and exactly the sort of person musicians loathe. Four years at a conservatoire have to be paid off somehow.

😆 Good one, OP.

Tell you what, you bring your triangle, I’ll bring my five year old and her ukelele, and my clarinet (grade 2 in 1989 I tell you, totally more qualified that the supposed pianist) and we’ll do the gig for free with slice of cake thrown in. Mates rates.

Lol, am new to MN so missed that, but that sounded fun!

Newly qualified solicitors can expect starting salaries of at least £45,000 and in London up to £90,000.

The OP is one of the most rude and ridiculous AIBUs I've seen in a long time.

Only if you take no holiday. £52k for 47 weeks.

If you don't want a skilled musician, I'm sure you could advertise on a local facebook group and get someone who will do it for you for £20 an hour. Then they would have minimum travel too.

Team pianist 1 Bridezilla 0 YABU

How entitled are you! That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. I’m shocked you think she’s rude. But you seem like one of those posters who won’t listen to the 95% of people telling you you’re being a twat and will keep insisting you’re right!

Bloody hell, I'd book you and I'm not even getting married.