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Financial Compensation

#61
modulusman said:
:D

But not good enough to make more than a $100.00 a gig.:p I guess if you don't consider drivetime and setup/teardown part of the gig that is up to you.
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Not good enough, I'm not sure, however you might be right.

In Milwaukee for blues/ rock bands $400.00 - $500.00 is top of the range no matter how good you are.

Now, in the summer when we're doing festivals and fairs the pay is significantly higher. But our bread and butter are those $400.00 for 4 hours gigs.

There are a lot of bands that can't even get the $400.00 and are out there playing 4 hours for $250.00

Blue
 
#62
nortonrider said:
I wouldn't consider drive time as part of job.
I think that the clock starts when you get to the venue and ends when you pull out of the parking lot.
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I would tend to agree. But if the drive is 1 1/2 or more hour both ways it is coming out of your profit. Plus practice time and other overhead should be included to get a realistic idea of the profitability of any gig. To me I don't really care as long as it's not costing me money.
 
#64
nortonrider said:
I wouldn't consider drive time as part of job.
I think that the clock starts when you get to the venue and ends when you pull out of the parking lot.
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Good point, I fill my tank at the beginning of each week and I don't have to add gas for gig travel.

Blue
 
#65
JumboJack said:
I would tend to agree. But if the drive is 1 1/2 or more hour both ways it is coming out of your profit. Plus practice time and other overhead should be included to get a realistic idea of the profitability of any gig. To me I don't really care as long as it's not costing me money.
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Of course location is a consideration. If your day job was 1 1/2 hours away from your house, it would quickly become an issue.

However, I don't think that most people consider their daily commute as actually being "at work".

When I was operating a crane, billing was from Port to Port. That meant that the clock started when I left the yard and ended when I got back.
Equipment rental should/does require transportation time and expenses to be billed. Not the case with a band.
 
#66
I used to play in a husband wife band (1st mistake) where they split the gig money this way. Everyone gets a cut. Since they are husband and wife that means they get 2 cuts automatically. Then the PA gets 2 cuts. (Essentially the band ended up buying them a nice PA system of which they kept and constantly upgraded.) Then the person who got the gig gets a cut. (Them). And they controlled the money. So essentially every gig we played they ended up getting 50% of the gig money. Boy was I glad to quit that band!
 
#68
Reading all this re affirms my happiness with our situation.

We are a three peice. We theoreticly split the gigs evenly.
However, many shows are more taxing for different people in the band in relation to travel time, and so sometimes they get a slightly higher cut.
This is esp true if we take lower than 100 bucks a man.
Were just starting to get our name out in a very competitive market. The bars here know they have the upperhand...and money is tight. They lowball the bands and know you will take it, so its a constant schmoosfest and back patting system to get shows here.
We do some shows in the 250 range...and in that situation, the person closest to the gig makes the decision to take the hit. If its not worth it to them, we decline the gig. Simple as that. We normally pull 50 bucks or so in tips anyway...and so the tips go to the person who took the hit up to a hundred dollars like the other two made. Then the tips are spread even. (They pay bar tabs, who am I kidding)
With us being a three peice, I think we get a few more gigs because were cheaper than most bands that want 100dollars a man.
Other gigs only pay 300dollars no matter how many people are in the band...and were fine with that...which cuts down a bit of the competition.

But then....were all friends and its a working relationship of friends. Rules are bent and compensation is offered and everyone tries their best to load and unload the p.a., book shows, network...etc.
 
#69
Axtman said:
I used to play in a husband wife band (1st mistake) where they split the gig money this way. Everyone gets a cut. Since they are husband and wife that means they get 2 cuts automatically. Then the PA gets 2 cuts. (Essentially the band ended up buying them a nice PA system of which they kept and constantly upgraded.) Then the person who got the gig gets a cut. (Them). And they controlled the money. So essentially every gig we played they ended up getting 50% of the gig money. Boy was I glad to quit that band!
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I don't blame you.

Blue
 
#70
kikstand454 said:
Reading all this re affirms my happiness with our situation.

This is esp true if we take lower than 100 bucks a man.

Were just starting to get our name out in a very competitive market. The bars here know they have the upperhand...and money is tight.

They lowball the bands and know you will take it, so its a constant schmoosfest and back patting system to get shows here.

We do some shows in the 250 range...and in that situation, the person closest to the gig makes the decision to take the hit.
Click to expand...

I understand where your coming from.

I think there are some high rollers here that don't understand those of us that work on the small club $400.00 a show market.

Blue
 
#72
Our band is a 4 man band, and we do the equal split method. We don't really have a band leader per se in our band. I have gotten gigs before, and others have too. I co-manage our FB page, and we all haul about equal amounts of gear (except the lead singer/guitarist who has no car). We all set up and tear down. We usually get between 350 to 400 for a gig. I am happy with the way things usually get done. Occasionally, we get a check that gets dispersed at the next practice. Mostly though, it's cash or check that's cashed out after the bar is closed.
 
#73
whitedk57 said:
Our band is a 4 man band, and we do the equal split method. We don't really have a band leader per se in our band. I have gotten gigs before, and others have too. I co-manage our FB page, and we all haul about equal amounts of gear (except the lead singer/guitarist who has no car). We all set up and tear down. We usually get between 350 to 400 for a gig. I am happy with the way things usually get done. Occasionally, we get a check that gets dispersed at the next practice. Mostly though, it's cash or check that's cashed out after the bar is closed.
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Again the $400.00 range comes up again.

It amazes me that the high rolling TBers can't believe we play for so little and consider it low compensation.

It's relative to a lot of factors, type of band , location, venues, local economics ect . . .

Blue
 
#74
JumboJack said:
It's that kind of math that puts many a small business out of business.
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The OP fits the profile of an employee, not a business. If you go to work for The Man, you don't get paid for your transportation to work.

OTOH, like running a small business, you have to decide whether the pay justifies the total cost.
 
#76
My cover band is a 5 piece. I own and lug most of the PA, so I get a bigger cut for most shows, usually $120-$200. So do the other 2 guys who bring PA and lighting gear and do booking. The 2 guys that never bring anything extra and rarely book get the smallest cut. The singer, who is talented but brings absolutely nothing, not even a mic, and sets up absolutely nothing, but sometimes helps break down, gets the smallest cut. None of us ever make less than $100, unless it's a rare charity show. I'm mostly ok w/ this, especially when I also get free beer. I feel that we're worth more, but the market just isn't there unless we're willing to woo a big agency and work 3 or 4 nights a week. Most of us have decent to good day jobs, and the one or two that have sub-decent day jobs still don't want to have every weekend + controlled by an agency.

My original band frequently works for free. Last gig was a battle of the bands that we lost, to an acoustic cover duo. Very depressing, but I still got paid $10 for gas, so I have delayed my plan to piss in their private lake.
 
#78
The bar band business is tough. Many of you are ok with the 100.00 per man shows. Some of you are happy to get them.

What gets me is in most areas 400.00 - 500.00 is the top of the range yet TBers will put their nose up to it?

Blue
 
#79
bluewine said:
The bar band business is tough. Many of you are ok with the 100.00 per man shows. Some of you are happy to get them.

What gets me is in most areas 400.00 - 500.00 is the top of the range yet TBers will put their nose up to it?

Blue
Click to expand...

Show me someone that has said they turn their nose up at 100.00 per gig. I know I have not. That is pretty normal and normally what is see. I do get a little more doing sit-in/sub work at a few churches I play at.

I just think most understand that 100.00 a night ain't nothing to brag about. And when it comes right down to it after factoring all the time vested into a normal 4 hour gig it's just peanuts. And dare I say we all deserve more. But most do it for the enjoyment, not the "business"...

Because if your "business" is bringing in that kind of dough well......

Now granted, there are many TB'ers here that make a living from giging... I just think they don't chime in to these kinds of threads as to not hurt anyones feelings... :)
 
#80
bluewine said:
The bar band business is tough. Many of you are ok with the 100.00 per man shows. Some of you are happy to get them.

What gets me is in most areas 400.00 - 500.00 is the top of the range yet TBers will put their nose up to it?

Blue
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Just TB'ers trying to be "elite". That's what prompted me to start the "I will NOT play if...." thread.



You make $100. a night in the front of the house playing music whereas at the exact same time you are on stage,
that dishwasher in the back of the house making minimum wage would trade you in a minute!

I remember $70./day carrying bundles of shingles up a ladder stocking roofs. That was some major suckage!

$100. a day for essentially a part time job ain't that bad!
 

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