Thoughts on this venue's conditions for a gig?

[RichardW]

A community near me has concerts at a gazebo in a local park. I inquired to the organizer about playing there and his response is below (lightly edited to remove irrelevant info and protect the innocent). I'm curious about reactions to this.

...you provide sound system, we provide lights, you provide sound for opening act, first $400 goes to [name of venue], you get 75% of the balance, and……….95% of our patrons are here for the performer - if it’s [name of performer] nite, 95% of the patrons are here to see [name of performer]. So, do you have a following? If you get 150 at $15 per person, that’s $2250 minus $400 x 75%.
If that looks good to you, I’m interested…..AND one last thing - almost all the local acts get me sponsors…….the sponsors keep the admission at a low $15 and kids free. If any guys in your band can find a sponsor, that helps. I hope this does not sound too harsh, but the music business has changed, and the business side has to work, or……..the venue is no longer in business.​

I should add that the venue in question is a Township-owned park, not a private enterprise, and the local Township is a sponsor and there are multiple other corporate sponsors already in place.

After discussing with my band mates, we decided to pass. It didn't feel right to us.

Thoughts?

 

[Oddly]

You decided correctly.

 

[DoctorZee]

I’ve never heard of a town-run park concert doing it this way. I would have passed, too.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Seems like a lot of kickback and money splitting for a municipal gig. And you hunt for a sponsor?

We play an annual park/gazebo gig and that one is simple. $100 per musician/performer in the group, sound and lights provided by the city, and every gig has a local business as a sponsor.

It draws good crowds and has been fun.

 

[Febs]

No way.

 

[D-Smith]

"...the music business has changed, and the business side has to work, or……..the venue is no longer in business."

How exactly does a gazebo in a public park go out of business? Do you have 150 people willing to pay $15 to see you or does the venue attract that many people regardless of who is playing?

 

[musicman7722]

No No No

 

[ArtechnikA]

Are there actually bands that fall for this ?

$15 isn't "low" and a band that can draw 150 doesn't need to play a park...
It sounds like all you're getting is lights and *maybe* some promotion (i.e. - they'll put it on their web site in case anyone happens to check it out...)
If it's a park, what's to keep me from just showing up, listening to the music for free, and going about my business?

For $400, you can rent a real venue - you're doing everything else anyway...

But welcome to Philadelphia - 350 years of tradition unhampered by progress.
They'd rather have an empty venue and a quiet night than be reasonable on conditions.

 

[Element Zero]

I mean, I’d play it if I got the call... but I wouldn’t be doing any of the leg work. I come to play. Not run a business.

 

[QweziRider]

we decided to pass.

Good decision.

 

[RichardW]

Are there actually bands that fall for this ?

Believe it or not, they've got a full schedule this summer. For us they were talking about next summer. Current list of performers includes some national, though lower level, touring performers.

 

[RustyAxe]

Oh hell no. First off, if I'm gonna supply all the sound reinforcement there's a flat fee for that. If I have to run the board (or hire someone) there's a flat fee for that. I've never heard of a community concert that worked on a profit basis. Nor one that would charge admission (how do you do that in a public park?). $400 to the venue? What venue? That's probably the fee being paid to the town by this promoter. Sponsors? What the hell is that about? If the promoter wants 'em, let HIM get 'em. I'm not in the fundraising business. My reply would have been harsh. I don't take kindly to being "taken".

For contrast, in two weeks my band is playing a free concert on the green (large!) of a small town about 10 miles from my home. We expect about 1000 in attendance if previous performances are an indication. I show up an hour early for stage setup (professional portable stage/lighting), soundcheck (professional sound company), play for two hours, strike the stage, collect my pay (in cash, about $300), and go home.

 

[GBBSbassist]

I inquired to the organizer

...you provide sound system, we provide lights, you provide sound for opening act, first $400 goes to [name of venue], you get 75% of the balance, and……….95% of our patrons are here for the performer - if it’s [name of performer] nite, 95% of the patrons are here to see [name of performer]. So, do you have a following? If you get 150 at $15 per person, that’s $2250 minus $400 x 75%.
If that looks good to you, I’m interested…..AND one last thing - almost all the local acts get me sponsors…….the sponsors keep the admission at a low $15 and kids free. If any guys in your band can find a sponsor, that helps. I hope this does not sound too harsh, but the music business has changed, and the business side has to work, or……..the venue is no longer in business.​

organizer

What exactly is this guy organizing?

 

[denhou1974]

Originals? I'd rather play for exposure dollars than deal with the accounting. The venue pays the production costs (sound/lights).

Covers? No. Guaranteed rate only regardless of who shows up.

 

[MDBass]

A community near me has concerts at a gazebo in a local park. I inquired to the organizer about playing there and his response is below (lightly edited to remove irrelevant info and protect the innocent). I'm curious about reactions to this.

...you provide sound system, we provide lights, you provide sound for opening act, first $400 goes to [name of venue], you get 75% of the balance, and……….95% of our patrons are here for the performer - if it’s [name of performer] nite, 95% of the patrons are here to see [name of performer]. So, do you have a following? If you get 150 at $15 per person, that’s $2250 minus $400 x 75%.
If that looks good to you, I’m interested…..AND one last thing - almost all the local acts get me sponsors…….the sponsors keep the admission at a low $15 and kids free. If any guys in your band can find a sponsor, that helps. I hope this does not sound too harsh, but the music business has changed, and the business side has to work, or……..the venue is no longer in business.​

I should add that the venue in question is a Township-owned park, not a private enterprise, and the local Township is a sponsor and there are multiple other corporate sponsors already in place.

After discussing with my band mates, we decided to pass. It didn't feel right to us.

Thoughts?

“The music business has changed: we’ve decided to do no work on our own and leave our income completely in the band’s hands.”

That’s a dumb plan, and exactly why many music venues fail.

 

[ahbass2500]

The real reason to not work with them is that they are bad at math... Their example is wrong. $2250 Minus 400 x 75%... so 2250 - 300 = 1950 . Should have been (2250-400)*75% = 1387.50. Never trust someone who is paying you and bad at math.

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

There's a bit of worked up people here, but the main question bouncing around my head as both a member of a band and as a venue is -- CONCESSIONS! If you are allowed to organize the concessions, then the proposition may not be all that shabby. If they are asking for all the above and keeping 100% of the concession revenue, you're getting the pionty end of the stick.

 

[Mugre]

No. Screw him and the horse he rode in on.

If your band is good, you'll get exposure in other ways.

Mugre

 

[RichardW]

Screw him and the horse he rode in on.

LOL. This is almost exactly what our BL said, though in a slightly more colorful way.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

The real reason to not work with them is that they are bad at math... Their example is wrong. $2250 Minus 400 x 75%... so 2250 - 300 = 1950 . Should have been (2250-400)*75% = 1387.50. Never trust someone who is paying you and bad at math.

So they didn’t put parenthesis in their example, but the description at the beginning made the formula clear.

If you have a good following, $1400 for an early gig that’s probably only two hours long isn’t bad at all. I can see why their schedule is full.