Is There Any Way For a Musician to Ask for Money In Advance?

Rav Yosef Kushner

Question: Workers often need cash upfront and cannot wait until the job begins. Is there any way for them to get around the problem of pesika?

Answer: In a case where an item is for sale and there is a clear market price for that item, it is very difficult to get around the problem of pesika. If the item has a set price and one is offered a possible discount to prepay, that would be highly problematic.

In the case of the musician, however, there is no real set price. Every musician has his own rate, which can vary based on experience, skill set, and other variables. Since there is no clear price, the prohibition of pesika could possibly be avoided if the musician were to ask for only one price, even if he requests that he be paid in advance.

While it would be prohibited for him to offer one price for prepayment and another price for payment on the day of the simcha, it would be permitted to ask for one price and tell the customer that he is expected to pay upon booking. Even if he knows he is offering a cheaper price because the customer is prepaying, and he would have asked for a higher price if he were being paid later on, as long as he doesn’t clearly state that he has a two-price system there wouldn’t be a problem of pesika.