ProSoundWeb Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: 1 [2] 3  All   Go Down

Author Topic: clubs, bands, the economy  (Read 13165 times)

James Brooks

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 29
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2011, 10:15:27 AM »

Most musicians just don't get it!
It's all about business. Not music.
The club is there to make money.
There're not there to promote your band or start some kind of new music.
We do about 80 dates a year.
Among those dates are gigs at two local clubs.
We pack the place's each time we play and the people spend money.
Most seats are reserved, even the bar stools.
Gotta have a fan base and they have to show up and spend money when you play.

It doesn't matter what the economy is.
SOMBODY will be working.
You just have to decide if it's gonna be you,
or somebody else.

Jim Brooks
casperband.com
Logged

Chris Davis

  • SR Forums
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 340
  • USA
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2011, 12:40:41 PM »


    Hmm...I suppose that the New Club owners never really put much thought or effort into writing a business plan.   Any veteran business person knows that it takes a time period to decide whether their intention of providing entertainment will show a worthy profit. It takes marketing, proper employees and entertaining-entertainers to provide a draw to the door.

    Underfunded businesses are very common with inexperienced business people...while the "economy" is a factor, it is easy to blame gasoline prices for the lack of customers.

  Hammer

the new club that is already wanting to cut out bands, started out with some lousy bands, not in tune with the clientele. They just started using a booking agent that does well in the area, knows what works. Hopefully they'll give him a chance to get it going. Certainly, if the new clients came out to see a lousy band, it will take time to get them to try that club again. But it's more than just the one club having problems. The price of gas would have to affect turnout.

    Hello,

     Your response seems to verify that poor club management has been the biggest problem....lack of knowledge and planning.


   If the "economy" is part of the blame, then, it's more than just the increase in gasoline cost...it's the overall cost of everything.
 
     Hammer
Ahem...  When the price of gas goes up, the price of everything goes up...  It all eventually gets compounded by the price of gas.  Expensive gas = expensive commerce.
I am personally hearing more and more people around me talking about doing fewer activities these days, and for many of them it is due to the recent price of gas.  They are finding more things to do closer to home, or else just staying home altogether.
Then there is the problem of our national deficit. ::)  But I am on the wrong forum for that, possibly even the wrong website.


Most musicians just don't get it!
It's all about business. Not music.
The club is there to make money.

Some might argue with me on semantics here, but those people would not be musicians.  They are performers.  ;)
« Last Edit: April 18, 2011, 12:56:11 PM by Chris Davis »
Logged

Tim McCulloch

  • SR Forums
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 23736
  • Wichita, Kansas USA
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2011, 12:58:27 PM »

the new club that is already wanting to cut out bands, started out with some lousy bands, not in tune with the clientele. They just started using a booking agent that does well in the area, knows what works. Hopefully they'll give him a chance to get it going. Certainly, if the new clients came out to see a lousy band, it will take time to get them to try that club again. But it's more than just the one club having problems. The price of gas would have to affect turnout.


    Hello,

     Your response seems to verify that poor club management has been the biggest problem....lack of knowledge and planning.


   If the "economy" is part of the blame, then, it's more than just the increase in gasoline cost...it's the overall cost of everything.
 
     Hammer

Ahem...  When the price of gas goes up, the price of everything goes up...  It all eventually gets compounded by the price of gas.  Expensive gas = expensive commerce.
I am personally hearing more and more people around me talking about doing fewer activities these days, and for many of them it is due to the recent price of gas.  They are finding more things to do closer to home, or else just staying home altogether.
Then there is the problem of our national deficit. ::)  But I am on the wrong forum for that, possibly even the wrong website.

"Deficits don't matter."  I'll leave it to readers to form their own opinions based on their interpretation and what the original speaker of that phrase meant.... but not discuss it here...

As for the price of gas... well, who didn't see this coming?  Instability in the Middle East makes for uncertainty, and uncertainty drives up prices whether naturally or through speculation.

I think the bigger issue is that all costs continue to move upward while personal income for most working Americans is declining or stagnant.  People have to make decisions about their leisure spending, and staying home with one's Significant Other, a Netflix movie and a bottle of wine is cheaper than a night out in a club even before the gasoline price is factored in.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc
Logged
"If you're passing on your way, from Palm Springs to L.A., Give a wave to good ol' Dave, Say hello to progress and goodbye to the Moonlight Motor Inn." - Steve Spurgin, Moonlight Motor Inn

Randall Hyde

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 597
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2011, 04:32:35 PM »

David, I can say this, I did not have a show last night so I wanted to make some rounds. One place I work all the time and is packed most of the time, dropped the $5 cover they used to have. Then I went to a sports bar that has been having bands again, and they now have a $5 cover. I did not pay it as I intended to only stay 30min. I guess my point is yea, the economy is rough as times, and clubs need to adapt. The place that dropped the cover will continue to be "the" place, and the sports bar will drive away regulars that never had to pay $5 before. I mostly work with 2 bands that actually make $ and can pay me what I ask (still not worth it).

The market in Ft Wayne had maybe 10 great bands of all varieties that draw OK, and make good money for the bars, and OK for themselves. I would like to step up to the next level, and could if I wanted to travel, but I do not.

I saw an add on CL for a $90 sound man. He would travel say 50 miles for an extra $10. Now you get what you pay for, but as a the owner of a big local shop says, it's a race to the bottom.

I still have fun, and do as good a job as I can, but I do not work for any old band anymore. I'm seeing more of the dark side of the bottom dweller market and it get OLD fast.
The first ever paid gig I did was $75. Now I can't afford to do one-person "speakers on sticks" PA jobs for five times that price. My pickup (with no trailer) gets 12 MPG, my truck gets 5 MPG. At $5/gallon (this is California here, premium gas costs that much); $10 buys me 10-20 miles and that doesn't include depreciation or upkeep.  Last year, I calculated my equipment "cost per gig" at about $200/show (wear and tear + loss on equipment).

Don't get me wrong, I'm a total anklebiter when it comes to pricing and I view this more as a hobby than a business for me, but now I'm paying employees, paying insurance, and trying to upgrade my remaining MI gear to (at least low-end) Pro stuff.   If someone can do a job for $90, I say more power to them. I'll be more than happy to subcontract them for some work I get :-). 

I used to rent a room to a musician. He gave me lots of great sayings to use over the years (like "the music business first, and foremost, a BUSINESS" and "I can stay home, watch TV, drink beer, and earn more money than taking *that* job"). He also taught me "gigs begat gigs."  I've been in positions where I've taken about 1/2 what I really wanted to take for a job; the end result is that I wound up with a lot more work. I'm willing to do a show at my direct costs as a marketing ploy if I'm fairly certain it will get me in the door for future work. Thus far, I've been pretty lucky with that approach. OTOH, I'm lucky enough to have a great day job so I don't have to depend on the sound business to make ends meet. I can understand someone who desperately needs $90 to fulfill some commitment doing a one-off job to get some needed cash. Advertising that rate on Craig's List, Hmmm.... I must admit, though, I see a lot of DJ ads for $150 in my local area. Fortunately, most of the types of jobs I do couldn't be handled by someone with DJ equipment, so I don't have to compete with that.

Good luck getting work and don't worry too much about the $90 competition. Base your prices on your costs (direct and indirect). If you *have* to work for less than that, it's really time to consider another occupation or, perhaps, to just do this  as a hobby. The  most important thing to do is to keep your existing clients (and new clients you get) as happy as possible. That's what will keep them paying $900 when there are $90 ads in CL. My niche is full production (power, stage, lights, and sound). I do shows that require anywhere from 4 to 8 people (road crew, lighting, sound crew). Someone with a DJ system and a pickup isn't going to be able to do that. I'm sure there are people saying "How can he do that for $1900?" about me, but the niche where I'm working seems pretty good; too much gear for a single person to do the show, priced at a point they couldn't afford to rent the non-sound stuff (e.g., stage, lights, & power). Unless you live in Riverside, CA ( :-] ), I recommend you find such a niche yourself.

Cheers,
Randy Hyde
Logged

Randall Hyde

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 597
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2011, 05:24:34 PM »

Just saw this on PSW today. Thought the information was timely:
http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/business_savvy_applying_common_sense/P1/
Cheers,
Randy Hyde
Logged

David Parker

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1198
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #15 on: April 18, 2011, 08:59:56 PM »

Most musicians just don't get it!
It's all about business. Not music.
The club is there to make money.
There're not there to promote your band or start some kind of new music.
We do about 80 dates a year.
Among those dates are gigs at two local clubs.
We pack the place's each time we play and the people spend money.
Most seats are reserved, even the bar stools.
Gotta have a fan base and they have to show up and spend money when you play.

It doesn't matter what the economy is.
SOMBODY will be working.
You just have to decide if it's gonna be you,
or somebody else.

Jim Brooks
casperband.com

I get it. But there are different levels of bands. Some play 15,000 seat arenas for $100 a ticket. Some have enough fans to play smaller venues and clubs and sell them out at $15-$35 a pop. Then there are the cover bands that basically are live juke boxes. They have a few followers who come out any time they play, but the bottom line is that the club has to feel that having live music, regardless who it is, will increase their profit.  All very different business models. One size does not fit all. There are a LOT of bands in the Houston area that play 2-4 times a month and do not have enough draw to fill a club, even with no cover charge. There are a lot of clubs paying $500-$800 for these bands. That's good money for bands to whom it really is about the music and the audience. But, if the club starts losing money, the first thing to go is the live music.
Logged

John Sabine

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 255
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #16 on: April 19, 2011, 11:38:36 AM »

I work with a band that gets paid pretty well for what they do. What a lot of bands don't understand is that they have to bring a product to the consumer. You can hear bands do various interpretations of cover tunes all over town but if you bring a show people come specifically to see that and, in turn, the band. The band I work with did 86 shows last year. On top of that they constantly practice, add material, learn that material in a way that is unique to them, and add things to and refine the existing show. When we show up I bring a 12" trailer packed with lights and PA and the band brings another 16" trailer loaded with backline, staging, more lighting, flat panel video screens and props. All of this goes into creating a product that people want and are willing to pay for. Most bands don't get this. The music is part of the product and if you don't deliver a quality overall product then people won't pay for it.


I get it. But there are different levels of bands. Some play 15,000 seat arenas for $100 a ticket. Some have enough fans to play smaller venues and clubs and sell them out at $15-$35 a pop. Then there are the cover bands that basically are live juke boxes. They have a few followers who come out any time they play, but the bottom line is that the club has to feel that having live music, regardless who it is, will increase their profit.  All very different business models. One size does not fit all. There are a LOT of bands in the Houston area that play 2-4 times a month and do not have enough draw to fill a club, even with no cover charge. There are a lot of clubs paying $500-$800 for these bands. That's good money for bands to whom it really is about the music and the audience. But, if the club starts losing money, the first thing to go is the live music.
Logged
"I think it needs more barn"

Tracy Garner

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 354
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #17 on: April 19, 2011, 12:31:57 PM »

Most musicians just don't get it!
It's all about business. Not music.
The club is there to make money.
There're not there to promote your band or start some kind of new music.
We do about 80 dates a year.
Among those dates are gigs at two local clubs.
We pack the place's each time we play and the people spend money.
Most seats are reserved, even the bar stools.
Gotta have a fan base and they have to show up and spend money when you play.

It doesn't matter what the economy is.
SOMBODY will be working.
You just have to decide if it's gonna be you,
or somebody else.

Jim Brooks
casperband.com


- I have been noticing artists with VH1 and BET video rotation and they are not priced much higher than the local bands who come with absolutely zero drawing power. Just this past weekend, there was a well-known artist in town and cost $25. which is just $5.00 more than the cover charge at one of the popular multi-level nightclubs in town that charges $7 for a domestic beer.  At this other venue, you could even bring in your own alcohol...security was handled by the local sheriff's department augmented by a few of the local gym regulars.

- I have been noticing many artists who are now doing "track" shows for about 20% of what it would have cost to bring their whole band. You hardly ever see the band unless its a festival or marquis club that has that $10 cover charge.
Logged

Stuart Pendleton

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 187
  • Colonial Yorktown, VA
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #18 on: April 20, 2011, 09:57:54 AM »

I can only speak for the band I generally work with. We are getting more calls than ever.  We can't even play them all and have started to tell people no. We are a cover band that plays bars, parties and small festivals. We have filled every available date and the phone is still ringing so I think bars are still booking. 

Interestingly enough for us, it is word of mouth from one bar owner to another that is making the new shows happen.  We aren't even trying to find work, but clubs we never heard of from cities in a 200 mile circle of "home" are finding us. We have somehow moved from local to regional without trying. We charge double what most bands are charging here, but we bring "the show" as mentioned in a post above. It separates us from other bands in the area, aside from the music we play. We want folks to leave the bar feeling like they just left a concert.

I know other bands in this area are not doing as well, and some clubs have scaled back from bands to duos/trios but they still have entertainment on all the same nights.  I think it has been a modest slow down, but appears to be getting stronger again. The clubs that are going strong are hiring bands that bring the show and crowds.  If you can pack the bar, you can find all the work you want, and folks are still packing the bars often, but have become more discerning of who they will pay to hear.
Logged

Charlie Zureki

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1244
  • South Eastern Michigan (near Windsor)
Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #19 on: April 21, 2011, 03:24:05 AM »

[quote author=Charlie Zureki link=topi


   If the "economy" is part of the blame, then, it's more than just the increase in gasoline cost...it's the overall cost of everything.
 
     Hammer
Ahem...  When the price of gas goes up, the price of everything goes up...  It all eventually gets compounded by the price of gas.  Expensive gas = expensive commerce.
 [Chris Davis]


  Hello,
  Yes, and that is what I wrote. 


   But, I still believe that the poster may be under a misunderstanding. He believes that the turn-out may be poor due to higher gasoline prices.... and while we don't know all of the circumstances....the low turn-out may be due to bad planning and marketing, or terrible entertainment choices.

   Hammer



Most musicians just don't get it!
It's all about business. Not music.
The club is there to make money.
[j brooks]

Some might argue with me on semantics here, but those people would not be musicians.  They are performers.  ;)
[Chris Davis]




   Hello,

   I got the impression that Mr. Brooks was speaking of the club and not the musicians when he wrote " It's all about business. Not Music. The club is there to make money"

 Hammer
« Last Edit: April 21, 2011, 03:30:23 AM by Charlie Zureki »
Logged
Do it the right way....don't be a Dino!

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: clubs, bands, the economy
« Reply #19 on: April 21, 2011, 03:24:05 AM »


Pages: 1 [2] 3  All   Go Up
 



Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.045 seconds with 22 queries.