A few years ago I worked at Six Flags, and it was an excellent gig. It consisted of three 30 minute shows with a 90 minute break between sets. The hourly compensation was good. I logged six hours a day even though most of the time was spent riding roller coasters or sitting in the trailer watching movies.
I didn't run sound, however. I played guitar. When I asked the entertainment company about potential sound engineering jobs, the reply was, "you don't want to do that, it pays half of what you're making now".
As I scan the classifieds I see that nothing has changed. I eagerly clicked on the "Six Flags seeks entertainment technicians" ad only to find that compensation equals $7.50 to $8.25 an hour.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cwg/840754639.htmlWhat gives? The show that I played involved mixing a live band in addition to tracks. It was no different than running sound in any other environment. Why the substandard pay rate?
-Matt
(grammar edit)