The following is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the semi-innocent.
Much as the conventional wisdom holds that being the middle child sucks, those in the middle of the live event audio world may be feeling that the world is lined up against them right about now.
A few months ago, we ran the news that San-Diego and Nashville-based Sound Image had aquired Chicago's db Sound, instantly rocketing them to at least the number two spot when it comes to pure size among national sound companies. At the same time, larger regionals are moving up to be considered by many as national companies. (Thunder Audio out of Detroit is a good example. Although they were nominated for a "Hometown Hero" award this year, with clients including Metallica and Garbage, many readers feel Thunder no longer qualifies as a regional company.) This consolidation and growth at the top of the food chain means that the big companies are taking gigs they might not have considered just a short time ago. More gear, more employees and, in some cases, more debt from big purchases means they need to keep those employees and boxes bringing in dough. The gigs they are "slumming" for are the same ones that were the big money gigs for the mid-sized guys.
Logic would follow that the mid-sized guys would take what were once the big money gigs for smaller sound providers, but it ain't neccesarily so. You see, the small guy operating out of his garage can take gigs the mid-sized guy can't. The small guy does not have overhead like rent and payroll to worry about. The result is a squeeze of the middle–regardless of what "the middle" means where you live and work.
One non-coastal city I know of has three "big" companies all fighting it out for a pool of gigs and installs that is now seeing competition from some national companies. The guy working alone out of his house with beat-up MI-grade cabs and a 24-channel mixer with a couple of auxes for FX and one more for monitors is still getting the $300- to $600-a-day gigs. But the mid-sized local companies with real systems are seeing the gig supply dwindle as the three bigger companies take the gigs the mid-sized guys depended on for "gravy"–and they can't afford to take the cheaper gigs.
On one hand, this creates some real opportunity for the guys on the lower end of the scale. As more pressure is put on the mid-sized guy, the little guy may be able to step into some bigger gigs. (For more on this approach, see The Anklebiters on page 35 of the issue you hold in your grubby mitts.)
So what is the middle guy to do? There is a way out, but it ain't easy. One of the most helpful and popular of the panels at Pro Production 2005 was titled "Expanding Your Offerings: Becoming a One-Stop Shop." And that may just be the key for the mid-sized company. Especially in the corporate market, most of the successful folks will tell you that bookers and planners do not want to deal with one vendor for sound, another for lighting and another for staging, etc. If you cannot offer all of those services yourself, then it may be time to look for partnerships so it looks to the client like you are a one-stop shop.
Of course, partnerships have their dangers, too. I was talking recently with one large local/small regional company owner who had just dissolved a partnership with the company that was his "lighting division" for a number of years. Seems the squint decided to buy some sound gear and start doing the gigs on his own. So this soundco owner was in the middle of investing some serious dough in lighting gear and hiring an LD-type to head up his new–and real this time–lighting division.
We are right in the middle of getting the tapes of that panel and all the others transcribed , and next month you will see a piece on the one-stop shop and how to do it. Sorry for the wait, but if you had been at the show you would already have the answers (hint, hint…).
