Hey, you're worth it!   Article written by Arny Bailey       Back to Cover

Does anyone even keep _________

phone books anymore?  I don’t.  When I find them on my driveway in that wet plastic bag I simply walk them directly to the recycle bin and dump’em.  They always seem to arrive on trash day which means the bin is empty making for a long trip to the bottom and a loud thump.  It’s almost a religious experience. 

For my day job as an architect, the Yellow Pages were more a pain in the butt than a fruitful marketing tool.  They simply seemed to be a device for anyone “shopping” for the lowest fee and not actually looking for talent.  A couple times a week I would get a call from shoppers asking, “How much do you charge to design a house?”  My answer was stock, “A million ________

dollars…..but you should see the house!” 

If you merely look at professional services, like architecture, as a commodity then cost based selection would be an acceptable practice.  As with most professions, it’s simply not.  Who, defending themselves against a felony conviction would base their selection of an attorney merely on fee?  Certainly not O.J.  Professional service selection should be based on skill and experience first.  So it should be with hired musical talent.

Like most musicians, I started jamming with school chums informally in a garage or spare room.  It was fun so we did it again.  After awhile, someone decided to throw a party and __

have “the band” play.  Since we were playing for our friends, they loved us and the tickle of success made us change the name of what we were doing on Saturday afternoons from “jamming” to “rehearsal” and a band name was soon to follow.  A few rehearsals and equipment acquisitions later we were booked at our first “paying” gig.

That was then.  Decades later, I have a trailer full of sound gear, lights, _____

 

effects, risers and a crew to make sure I’m not dead before the show starts.  With 5 musicians and over 200 years of musical background combined, we’re definitely not that group that was “jamming” way back when.  In addition to the 150 songs in our catalogue, we generally add about 20 to 40 new songs a year, and probably drop as many that have reached their shelf life to keep our performances fresh. 

Then there’s promotion.  We maintain our band web site keeping this information, especially performance dates, up to speed.  We also have business cards for every band member, banners, a gigmasters.com presence and provide posters and flyers pre-gig at all the clubs we play.  This, in addition to producing demo CD’s and packaging these for distribution to agents and potential clientele, is a massive undertaking.

A couple years back I realized that doing all this while booking the band at clubs that paid $350 per night, simply didn’t make economic sense.  We do a few “benefit” gigs per year and chalk this up to promotion but now we try to take gigs that pay well and leave the marginal paying clients to others.  We want to feel valued and compensated for the level of talent and gear we provide.  This change limited our GPM (Gigs Per Month) but was welcome.  Still, even at the better paying venues, it’s difficult to justify the expense in time and gear these days with what’s being offered even at the better clubs.

Further impacting pay has been the demise of several live music venues and the plethora of acts marketing themselves to fill the remaining slots.  Simple economics dictate that more supply than demand drives the cost down.  This scenario has been the subject of frustration for many band leaders, including yours truly.

 

So what are acceptable rates for a musician(s)?  How do economic factors of supply and demand weigh in?  What $ amount per head count is reasonable?  These are questions we have all asked ourselves at one time or another.  They are questions we scratch our heads over still, especially considering that musicians are really making the same (or less) per night as we were 30 years ago! 

In this issue we’ll try to approach the delicate subject of pay.  It’s likely we won’t solve anything for you, but perhaps armed with a little more information, you’ll be able to negotiate a higher rate on your next gig….and hey, you’re worth it!

 

Arny W. Bailey
Editor

MEET THE WRITER - ARNY BAILEY

MEET THE WRITER - ARNY BAILEY

President of In Form, Inc. Media Design and Chief Editor of Weekend Musician is a licensed architect practicing in the Pacific Northwest and weekend musician currently fronting ABOUT FACE, a classic rock cover band and The Grand Delusion a Tribute to the music of Styx and Journey.

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