"Charging for playing is a right": Music schools are standing firm and will not play at La Mercè.

BarcelonaStudents from the ESEM Music Workshop, students from the Liceu Conservatory, and the ESMUC Student Association (ASSAE) have decided to stand down and not play during Barcelona's La Mercè Festival. They announced their decision on Wednesday at a concert scheduled for 1 p.m. on the stage of the Doctor Pla i Armengol Gardens in Guinardó. The musicians, who were from XXL Collective, from the Music Workshop, took to the stage to denounce the precariousness of the sector: "Today we will be silent with our instruments, but we will make more noise than ever."

"Every year we are invited to participate in city events and to perform on public stages, but in many cases we are not paid or we are paid insufficient amounts, despite being workers with higher education and experience. Furthermore, previous agreements and commitments have been ignored, leaving us without guarantees of decent recognition for our work.

The musicians have wanted to make it clear that they have the right to be paid for their work: "Getting paid to play is not a privilege, it's a right. Music is our profession and our work has value: we are not decoration or cultural volunteers," they assure. In the same statement, they ask the Barcelona city council to guarantee a fair and decent salary, to respect previous agreements and commitments and to "put an end to exploitation disguised as celebration."

Barcelona City Council has offered to discuss the issue with the schools and, once La Mercè is over, "to assess the continuity and improvement of the project," according to BTV. According to the council, it has been collaborating with the four music schools for almost ten years and has agreements in place. "The schools are responsible for organizing the performances," the council states.