Council of Musicians, Instrument-Makers, & Choristers

The Council of Musicians, Instrument-Makers, & Choristers is a guild in Waterdeep catering to entertainers and those who fashioned musical instruments. It is commonly known as just the Musician's Guild. It is one of the more prominent guilds of the city.

Structure

Guild membership cost 30 gp, with annual dues of 25 gp for full members and 15 gp for apprentices. To become a full member, one had to be considered a skilled and accomplished artisan in their field.
Under the auspices of the guild were the majority of licensed and respectable entertainers in Waterdeep, such as musicians, singers, acrobats, jugglers, jesters, mimes, and other street performers. Although a significant number of non-guild entertainers (including amateurs and travelling bards and shows) worked in Waterdeep, and did so freely, the Council took the greatest slice of the professional entertainment industry for the city and upper classes. Therefore, an entertainer seeking to earn real coin needed guild membership to reach wealthy patrons and clients. Thus, owing to the dominance of the city's guilds, the majority of bards resident there were members of the Council, if they were not themselves already legendary minstrels. The non-musical performers, namely the acrobats, mimes, jesters, jugglers, and other street performers in the city were under the Council's control because they were not large enough as a group to warrant their own guild or union, nor quite fitted any other. Not liking how the Council handled their trade, they reacted in different ways, typically ignoring Council wishes or not even becoming members. Thus, the majority of acrobats and non-musical performers were not guild members. Meanwhile, those jesters who were in the guild established the satirical Ancient and Revered Order of Merrymakers.
Guild members had a reputation for quality, and thus could charge high fees for their services: a performer typically charged 6 gp a day, while an instrument-maker charged on average 1 gp a day for however many days it took to craft a custom instrument.
Bards and musically inclined adventurers could register at Halambar's Lute Shop.

Type

Guild, Craftsmen

Leader

Maxeene Rhiosann

Parent Organization

Guilds of Waterdeep

Location

Waterdeep the City of Splendors