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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
 Posted - 09/23/2007 : 09:04:30 AM
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3 hours your group will get about $400 + tips + comp. dinner and drinks.
Assuming it's a trio, that's about $45 an hour per person. I'll talk about the "comp dinner and drinks" in moment. Let's not forget that every hour on stage requires at least half that in rehearsal and preparation. That brings it down to maybe $30/hour. Not bad, but not fantastic, either, when you think about the time it takes to get to that level.
By the way, from what I learned, in Hawaii these days that pay scale quite high. Lots of hotels and restaurants have gone to outsourcing their booking services, which means that there is another layer between the musicians and their employers. According to one friend, that has cut earnings drastically.
And let us remember that Hawaii is not remotely typical of the rest of the country -- how many places can you think of in your local area hire musicians 7 nights a week? OK, 3 nights a week? 1???
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You could probably sell a few CD's on the sly while you're at it.
Indeed you can. Generally speaking, after production costs (rehearsal, recording, CD manufacturing), a run of CDs can factor out to maybe $7 a pop or more. Don't forget you have to include all the ones you don't sell... If it's a band CD, ideally you should be sharing the sales with the band, which cuts things down a bit. If you are buying the CD from the label, you are essentially paying the same as a wholeseller. With the same risks. Oh, how the money rolls in.
Oh, and then there are the ones you "trade" with some guy in the audience or at the festival who just released his first CD that he recorded at home. Over the years I've amassed enough LPs, cassettes and CDs of music I don't really want to open a store. 
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+ comp. dinner and drinks
Which might just about even out for the expenses of the self-emplyed medical insurance you have to carry. Not to mention the medical care to cover the effects all that funky food and drinks. 
Tips? Tips are nice. Ever notice those big bills in the tip jar? The musicians put them there themselves, to stimulate the audience to do the same. Still, tips are nice*.
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Not bad if you do have a day job. :)
No, it isn't. But why should we assume that a profession that requires years of training and apprenticeship, expensive specialized tools, constant practise to maintain one's competance, a degree of manual skill comparable to that of a surgeon and a memory base no less complex and detailed than that of an attorney should be a part-time occupation?
Oh yes, I forget, "But you musicians do it because you love it."
Yep, and my dentist loves his work, too. Only my dentist is about to retire so he can start start playing gigs and go on the road.... 
Tee hee. The inclusion of all the smileys was so you would know I'm not bitter about this state of affairs. It is what it is.
Like the saying goes, "You knew the sea was rough when ya set yer sails." 
*RE Tips: When I asked a bartender buddy about the best tip he'd recieved in his 25 years, he thought for a second and replied: "Never pet a burning dog."
Words to live by.
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Edited by - Mark on 09/23/2007 09:07:09 AM |
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sm80808
Lokahi
347 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 4:07:59 PM
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That was in a duo (occasionally a trio) where I played Hawaiian music and jazz. I agree that tips are not something you can count on. (I did have a drunk guy give me a $100 bill for playing "I'll Remember You". That was pretty cool.)
Playing in a big(fairly famous by Oahu standards at least) reggae band I made a lot more (about $200 a gig once or twice a week and about the same if we played a bigger show @ Blaisdell or the Shell). But those gigs we got paid based on cover charge and percentage of the bar. Those were the money gigs though*, not really my favorite, it was emotionally empty and rather stifling creatively... so anyways I kinda got tired of it despite the money. Suffice to say, I was really lucky and fortunate to have gotten the breaks that I did when I was younger so other people .
I really do prefer playing for the love of it as opposed to just making a buck, it keeps your music more honest.
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As far as CD's are concerned, you can get pretty far nowadays with a personal computer, decent recording equipment, and distribution online via CD Baby or the like. I know two guys making pretty good money recording in makeshift studios in their bedrooms... but they make reggae albums/mix tapes.
It may not sound polished like the classics, but if the music is good people will enjoy it.
(Also, as is discussed on another thread on limiting/compression by professional studios, chances are your mix will never sound as good as the ones we loved from days gone by...)
* The reggae band was talented, and the overall vibe of the music was interesting, but seriously rhythm guitar in reggae is really simple and boring. I could've trained a monkey to play my guitar parts... |
Edited by - sm80808 on 09/23/2007 4:20:53 PM |
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