Members Vito Corleone Posted May 1, 2013 Members Share Posted May 1, 2013 This thread is making me hungry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted May 1, 2013 Members Share Posted May 1, 2013 guido61 wrote: This thread is making me hungry Me too. Kostas who I posted a vid for in the local greats thread was playing in a local pizza joint. He has probably made more money with his music than anyone posting in this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted May 1, 2013 Members Share Posted May 1, 2013 Thanks for the compliments and critique. But the band gets $3500-$5000 an event. That you think we're only half that confirms my assessment that its time to upgrade our promo. Or maybe it's just regional thing? (Not sure where you're from). The 80s thing? Yeah, the singer didnt quite hit all the notes 22 years later. Especially on that last song of the set. Oh well...I flubbed a few parts as well. That was what it was---a one shot deal. Hella fun though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted May 1, 2013 Members Share Posted May 1, 2013 I'd go see a band named "We Blow". Well, depending on the lineup, of course,,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted May 2, 2013 Members Share Posted May 2, 2013 Wow... I haven't logged on here in a while, and it looks like I missed the 'fun'... or the debate. LOL. I can't contribute much to this discussion except to say that every market (regional, local) is different, with different rules and parameters for pay. We've been the highest paid local band in the area for many years. The only reason that's true was because we built a large following which helped us break the ceiling in pay and demand from club owners. And our name, and reputation keeps us in demand for private events as well. There is a baseline in pay for most local bands in the area and our goal from the beginning was to double or triple that. Is there still a ceiling on the local market? There may be a limit on what some venues can and are willing to pay but there aren't really any limits on what a band can earn if they manage and marketing themselves well. If you produce a product that puts people over capacity into venues and the bar is making a ton of money as a result, over time you can keep raising that $bar$. There is a ton of pressure to keep the turnout coming and over time it's a consistent challenge to incentives people to keep coming to shows while at the same point breaking in new audiences. I've noticed over the last year or two our attendance slide at shows however it hasn't caused rooms to drop us for that fact. One bad show or a few poor turnouts sprinkled over the year won't wreck years of successful gigs and solid relationships. Still the hard work never ends. You always have to keep the machine running at a very high level in order to keep the momentum going. Yes you have reputation that seems unbreakable... But age, repetitiveness, younger talent and the number of decent bookable rooms are constantly working against you. It's a lot of blood, sweat and work offstage to keep everything moving forward. That being said, we can't move into another regional market and command the same pay. By the same token the top bands in those markets can't travel here and draw the same crowds and pull in the same pay. We're lucky in that most of our market is indepent. Talent agencies don't exist here although some are trying to creep in. Most of the markets that surround us are led by talent agencies. They book in the same cookie cutter, image based pop cover bands that all throw on a decent show but are pretty indecipherable from one another. We make a great case for the 'alternative' to that. I've made quite a few friends with members of successful bands all over the Northeast. Most are making $800-1400 for a nightclub gig (these are A-B list agency bands that play 3-4 nights per week) and $2000-4000 for a wedding. Yet the reality for most of those bands are they have to travel... A lot. In most cases 90 minutes + to be able to play within a circuit of clubs... And because of competition many bands will accept less than $1000 to play more than 90 minutes away just to keep their schedule strong. Factor in 15% to the agency... gas, sometimes hotel... and a 5 piece band may be only earning $150 per man, per night. Additionally all income is reported. I mention this because we recently had a defection of a member to an agency band. His reasoning was he wanted more of a 'touring' experience but he frequently mentioned pay as a factor. Now he averaged with us $225 per nightclub gig and $300-350 for a wedding. However the band he left us for promise him $350 per show straight pay regardless of the event. This band is one of the highest paid bands in the northeast gigging 10-12 times a month. Until recently we averaged 7-10. I certainly don't blame him for leaving for what appears to be a better opportunity, however I really do think in the long term his strategy will work out well. All of his gigs are 90 minutes away at a minimum. That's gas, time and effort just getting to the gig, rehearsal etc.... He had to leave his day job (10 years with an express delivery company... 401K, health etc...) and it's strained his relationship at home. He's also going to have to pay full taxes on that income as he's an employee of a business and is subject to full accounting of income. So that $50,000 he will potentially make will be subject to Fed, State, Soc, FICA..Etc. He's in for a rude awakening next January. By my estimate he will be traveling 3 hours plus for every show and at the end of the year net only $10K extra in earnings. And he left a good paying job to do so. So life lessons will be learned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted May 2, 2013 Members Share Posted May 2, 2013 Maybe he'd rather work a little harder for a little less money to be able to play music full time as opposed to working for a delivery company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted May 2, 2013 Members Share Posted May 2, 2013 And good to see you again, Grant! You were really living up to your login name for a while there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted May 2, 2013 Members Share Posted May 2, 2013 guido61 wrote: Maybe he'd rather work a little harder for a little less money to be able to play music full time as opposed to working for a delivery company? I'd say that could be true... and he's at an age and space (early 30's, not married, no home ownership) where driving 2 states away to play in a bar is still sexy and feeds the ego. Maybe I would have made the same sort of decision 10 years ago. My point is: the grass is rarely greener though when you attach long term finacial goals to anything in music. The fact is this band he's playing for has been around for 20 years and have had about 30 different lineups. Players usually last a year before they bolt or get fired. Nothing wrong with it, it's just not a very sustainable career choice. The same is true for most agency bands. The lineups are ever changing. Distance, time, behavior, promised income, agency directives... and all plays a toll on musicians it seems. Personally I feel lucky I can make nearly the same level of pay just 20 minutes from my house. It might not be as sexy playing at a Fireman's 'WetDown' opposed to playing on stage in a different city every night with lights and sound provided by the 'house' but I did the travel thing a few years back and to me a bar, is a bar, is a bar... no matter where you play it. I woiuldn't want to leave a good paying job to do it when I can have the same experience and maximize my income. But that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted May 6, 2013 Members Share Posted May 6, 2013 It was a good weekend for my "horn band" project as well. Got a call last Monday to play a 40th birthday party for a "1%-er" on Saturday night. We set up under a tent in what was essentially a brick pavered courtyard in between the guy's house and garage (garage in name only ... it's really a showroom for his car collection (his & her's Vettes, his & her's Mercedes 6.3's, Porsche Spyder, Lingenfelter TransAm, Rolls Royce limo, etc.). Live-in staff quarters upstairs and a beautiful entertainment room downstairs - complete with a walkout to the pool deck. Top shelf food and liquor. Roughly 100 guests. The last minute nature of the gig required that we bring in a sub female vocalist and a sub sax player - both of whom turned out to be excellent musicians. We played a bunch of stuff we haven't done before. The crowd weren't big dancers - but they were definitely appreciative. Everything combined (the setting, the new faces on stage, the sound) seemed to kick everybody in the creative butt such that the band was simply ON. The night turned out to be one of our most energetic performances in a few gigs. Our host was gracious as can be - invited the band to eat and drink with his guests. One of the best paydays we've had in awhile at the agreed upon price - which got sweetened with a $100 / man tip at the end of the night. Better still we booked to more events with him over the summer. Slowly but steadily - we're starting to see similar gigs coming our way. Our decision to add a trombone player and a trumpet player have definitely opened doors for us. While we were a solid rhythm section before - expanding to add a 3 piece horn section of solid horn players has helped us up our game to being a "show band". We've got our fingers crossed that each of these performances will continue to open doors for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted May 6, 2013 Members Share Posted May 6, 2013 Nice, SpaceNorman! I love those sorts of gigs. Easy, fun and rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted May 6, 2013 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2013 SpaceNorman wrote: Our host was gracious as can be - invited the band to eat and drink with his guests. Ever since we didn't get fed at an anniversary party we played with the last band a few years back I always put something about being fed in the contract for privates (especially weddings). The Anniversary party was a LONG day.gigs like that usually end up being closer to an 8-10 hour day than a 5-6 hour day. Congrats on a great gig though! Hope you guys get more and more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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