Equal Pay Equal Say but not Equal help and not Equal investment.

[Aunt Flo]

We have (had) the exact same problem in our band. It happens when you have five people with five different agendas. We sat down and talked about it and here's what we came up with (remember we are a 100% cover band that plays weekend shows--everyone has a full-time job elsewhere):

 

1. First and foremost, we all agreed that we do this because we love it first, and to make money second. No one is getting rich from this. That being said, we agree that our pay is to cover the {censored}ty aspects of the gig--namely, setting up and tearing down--and we play for free. Each band member gets 50% of their share of the pay for set-up and the other 50% to tear down. If you choose to miss one or the other, then that member's 50% gets divided equally among the other remaining members that have to pick up the slack. If you miss both load-in and load-out then you get nothing for the night (exceptions are below).

 

2. We all own various amounts of mutual gear. We take a flat rate $100 off the top of our shows and it gets divided--by 5% increments--and paid out to those band members that own community PA/lighting/FOH equipment. Your own equipment is your own equipment and you don't get reimbursed for that. For example, I currently own 35% of all the mutual gear which means at the end of the night, I get an extra $35 added to my split for the gig.

 

3. Trailer owner and driver (also band members) get compensated. Trailer owner gets $25 rental fee per show, trailer driver gets $25 gas/mileage fee per show. If it is the same person, then he gets $50. Gigs outside our normal travel area will earn more for gas. Even though others may drive to the gig as well, they get no reimbursement for it.

 

Remember, this is for club shows where the average pay is $600-$1000.

 

Example: $1000 gig

 

$100 off the top for PA fee

$50 off the top for trailer/truck fee

$75 off the top for briefcase soundman

 

That leaves $775. Divide by five members = $155 each. Which means you get $75 for setting up and $80 for tearing down.

 

The PA percentage breakdown for my band goes like this:

 

Keyboardist (me): 35%

Bass player: 25%

Drummer: 20%

Guitar player: 15%

Singer: 5%

 

The drummer usually drives the truck and the bass player owns the trailer. So we get paid as follows:

 

Sound guy = $75 flat rate (he doesn't set-up/tear-down)

Keyboardist: $155 + $35 = $190

Bass Player: $155 + $25 + $25 = $205

Drummer: $155 + $20 + $25 = $200

Guitar Player: $155 + $15 = $170

Singer: $155 + $5 = $160

 

Let's say the guitar player can't be there for teardown. He would get $155 + $15 - $80 (teardown half) = $90. Everyone else would get an extra $20.

 

We rarely have to split forfeited money since it is incentive enough to lose half your pay to be there for the load in and out. So everyone is there.

 

It may sound like splitting nickles and dimes, but it is a very fair way to ensure everyone helps load in and out and is duly compensated for shelling out big bucks for community gear, as well as transporting the band to/from gigs. We've got just about every price point for a gig broken down in a spreadsheet that we have printed out in a binder so we don't have to try and do math at the end of the night. Just look it up.

[PJR]

It all boils down to clear communication among band members.

 

If everyone in the band is a member , and not a hired gun , I see no reason why everyone wouldn't be on time for the unload / and load up after the gig?

 

I see no reason why 1 member should be up @ the bar after his stuff is set up , while the rest keep working.

 

Somewhere along the line, it was communicated ( or lack of ) that that behavior was OK.

 

The real answer is whatever works for the band as a whole, there's not going to be 1 stock answer that fits every band situation.

 

However, all this needs to be hashed out between the members, and not let to stew...because in the end the pot will boil .

 

( man, that came out kinda gay.... )

 

Communicate !!

 

PJR

[vanlatte]

 

Originally posted by PJR I see no reason why 1 member should be up @ the bar after his stuff is set up , while the rest keep working. Somewhere along the line, it was communicated ( or lack of ) that that behavior was OK. ... Communicate !! PJR

 

 

I have seen this more times than I care to remember. The way it usually goes is the offender wanders off and does his thing, be it not helping set up or showing up late, and the other members take up the slack. More often than not, the guy being the idiot never has any idea the rest of the band is pissed at him. Why? Becuase NOBODY freaking tells him. They just bitch about it to each other.

 

I went through this in a band; one of the members was notorious for showing up right before gig time, never helped with loading up/tear down. The other two guys would bitch up a storm non stop but never to his face. After this happened a few times I got sick of it and said "Look, if this is a problem then lets TALK to him and let him know how we feel. Otherwise, stop bitching and just do what you have to do"

 

Not to excuse the slacker, but sometimes I see people bringing this on themselves. Seething about something but never bringing it up is the opposite of communication.