Members TheLuxLife Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Anyone have a link to the current rates? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 It varies by local, doesn't it? At least , it used to. Back in the day when I was a union musician in my home town, scale was 50 bucks a man per four hour performance. When I moved to Boise, it was 60. My buddy in Vegas made more, but they had a tier system, that is, some clubs were "c" clubs, where you started, then you went to "B" and then "A" and "AA" clubs, which were hard to get into because they were mostly show bands who backed up stars and had to read everything. I'm not sure what it is anymore, except pretty much irrlelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheLuxLife Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 http://www.promusic47.org/wage2/wageSR.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 http://www.promusic47.org/wage2/wageSR.htm Yeah, that's recording scale for one local. Here's a live performance scale for another. http://www.afm257.org/scalerateslive.html It's about 35 bucks less than I'll leave the house for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jalfredprufrock Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 Are unions even a viable option outside of established entertainment areas like vegas, branson, etc.? I guess it would be useful if you played riverboat casinos and such? Looking at these figures, it seems like you're better off on your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 30, 2007 Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2007 Rates are local to local, and as BS mentioned there is a tier system in most major markets like NY, LA, Vegas, ...good money to be made at the upper levels...getting there is the secret The union generally takes your money, and provides you with a sense of security...but ask the long time Las Vegas AFM membership how they liked their last contract... I have been in the AFM, but have not been a dues paying member for many, many years. They don't guarantee you gigs, and whether you are gigging or not, you still need to keep your dues current. Most smaller venues are non-union, so unless you are making a living at it, the Union isn't going to be much good to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheLuxLife Posted January 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 I started the thread b/c a producer heard me playing at a random music store, gave me his card and said "I need you...call me ASAP". Just wanted to get an idea of the scale in L.A. and it seems that would be Local 47: http://www.promusic47.org/wage2/wageSR.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 30, 2007 Moderators Share Posted January 30, 2007 I started the thread b/c a producer heard me playing at a random music store, gave me his card and said "I need you...call me ASAP". Just wanted to get an idea of the scale in L.A. and it seems that would be Local 47: http://www.promusic47.org/wage2/wageSR.htm yep, that's our local...but is this producer willing to pay scale? I worked for a lot of smalltime producers in the 90s, and they had no idea what union scale was, so I charged them a flat half day rate, even though I might be there an hour or less...generally the 'top' producers here won't pick someone up who is not on 'the list'... good luck, though...studio work can be a real grind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheLuxLife Posted January 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 yep, that's our local...but is this producer willing to pay scale? I worked for a lot of smalltime producers in the 90s, and they had no idea what union scale was, so I charged them a flat half day rate, even though I might be there an hour or less...generally the 'top' producers here won't pick someone up who is not on 'the list'... good luck, though...studio work can be a real grind... Thanks It was a weird thing meeting him. I'm in AL for a few days, and he's here visiting family...I went in there to pass some time, and as he was on his way out he decided to ask me if I'd be willing to be part of his "team" because he just put together a "state of the art" studio. I guess he was very impressed with my skills on the keys. I have heard quite a few people say that I play very differently than lots of the pros they know -shrugs-. I hope it works out well. He says he has tons of work he needs me to do ASAP and he's willing to pay scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrbass Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 Good luck. Stranger things have happened, but he might be totally blowing smoke too. The rule of thumb is that a real producer would hire you for a lower priority session and see how you handle yourself before offering you a slot of his "team". It's sort of like dating. You don't meet a woman in a bar and proposing marriage after a half an hour. A seesion player needs to have chops, flexibility, professionalism, and interpersonal skills. There is no way you can tell me that he was able to satisfactorily and accurately assess all of those varied elements about you during a meeting at a music store. If he's so quick to pull out the welcome mat, he'll be just as quick to yank it away. Somethin's fishy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheLuxLife Posted January 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 Good luck. Stranger things have happened, but he might be totally blowing smoke too. The rule of thumb is that a real producer would hire you for a lower priority session and see how you handle yourself before offering you a slot of his "team". It's sort of like dating. You don't meet a woman in a bar and proposing marriage after a half an hour. A seesion player needs to have chops, flexibility, professionalism, and interpersonal skills. There is no way you can tell me that he was able to satisfactorily and accurately assess all of those varied elements about you during a meeting at a music store. If he's so quick to pull out the welcome mat, he'll be just as quick to yank it away. Somethin's fishy... Yes, well...we'll certainly see. I'm supposed to meet up with him next week, and I'll be back to post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scafeets Posted February 9, 2007 Members Share Posted February 9, 2007 Yes, well...we'll certainly see. I'm supposed to meet up with him next week, and I'll be back to post. If he has his own studio, I can almost guarantee he'll want you "off the clock" most of the time. When he sells a master or gets a label deal, he'll probably have to file a union contract. So, if he's like the producers I've worked with, he'll ask you to work on a flat rate or project basis until he has to file with the union. There's a lot of "looking the other way" in NY, LA and Nashville when it comes to studio work. That's a good thing, because, IMO, the unions are a bigger pain in the ass than the producers and labels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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