Janne Schaffer est un guitariste suédois. Il a joué dans 55 morceaux du groupe ABBA, publié 12 albums solo et pris part à plus de 5.000 enregistrements.
« As is the case with most professional guitar players, I constantly travel abroad.
There is actually no other way for a musician to develop an international reputation : you must be ready to move as soon as your phone rings, especially at the beginning of your career.
But there’s a problem… You think you’re well prepared because you’ve been practicing 12 hours a day 7 days a week and your public will love your playing. But you’re not quite ready yet : you need to be authorised to fly with your instrument in the cabin and that is often a big challenge…
Un instrument de musique n’est pas un simple bagage
A musical instrument is not a piece of luggage. Not at all. I and my colleagues regard it as part of the musician’s body that you can’t allow to be transported in the cargo hold of a plane. It is absolutely vital to professional musicians that appropriate rules apply to all airline companies which ensure that they receive a fair treatment when travelling on planes with their instruments.
I strongly support the FIM campaign and encourage all musicians to do the same. I also urge European Commissioner Siim Kallas to listen to our request. It is time for airlines to be fair to music performers ! »
Janne Schaffer