Some people get a lot of what they want from secrecy. I don’t. I believe that we miss out a lot on capitalization by keeping secrets. We bring a lot to the world of entertainment when we get paid for services instead.
For example an organizer wants a band. They go to a producer. The producer goes to the band. The producer might charge $10,000 and give the band $5000. This is fine. If the organizer and band don’t know this the case, that could be fine. If the producer keeps it a secret, it’s kinda messed up.
There are some relationships that are worth $5000. If the producer is able to get a band way better than the organizer could get on their own, in a faster amount of time, and do other things to facilitate and make the booking process smooth. That might save the organizer serious money. If the producer makes it easier for the band to do the booking, clears headaches for the band and gets them in a good situation to be able to absolutely kill it at the gig, this is worth money too. The value is in the service. So, if the producer is actually worth this money, they have no reason to keep a secret.
If the band doesn’t know they’re being booked by the organizer for $10k they might not know how much they’re worth, this is detrimental to the band. If the organizer doesn’t know the amount the band’s getting, the organizer is also off track with budgeting for the future.
I would encourage people to talk about their contracts more. Producers, agents, gatekeepers, curators, and other middlemen have value. If we’re transparent about that, we can understand it and everyone can thrive.