[The Regional Slants piece written by Larry Hall in the May 2006 issue of FOH generated more mail than anything we have run in a very long time. The story about losing the gig because of an uncooperative engineer who did not advance the gig well, coupled with some discussion about growing your company evidently hit a nerve. At the same time, the Anklebiter duo was getting ready to discuss the topic of cheap gigs. Because Larry came up the ladder from musician to anklebiter to strong regional soundco, we asked him to sit in on the discussion here as well. Enjoy. –b] I own a small sound company with no debt. I am tired of doing $150 to $300 gigs. How do I get bigger gigs? Promoters keep telling me that they only have these small amounts to pay for a gig. What do I do?
Pete Bennion
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Paul H. Overson: As an anklebiter, it is really hard to get something going. I have the same problem: My bosses think that if they pay me $500 it is top-of-the-world wages. They also expect a 24-foot truck, full monitor rig, FOH and monitor consoles as well as 10 boxes for FOH. I also have to supply a load-in and load-out crew. If I don't take these gigs I don't have anything but $150 weddings.
Larry Hall: First off, show me a promoter who says "money is no object"! The only way you can get more is to stand your ground. Promoters don't care about this name brand console or speaker, only about how much will it cost to get the job done.
What I have found, whether it's $200, $2,000 or $20,000 per show, once you have accepted less than what you wanted in the first place you might as well get used to getting less. And you might as well get used to every other sound company in your area being pissed about your "low balling."
On the other hand, Pete, you need to be prepared to lose work to hold your price. In other words, instead of dragging all of your gear out for $200 if you want $400, stay home and watch TV. Eventually the guy who did the show for $200 will do something wrong or cut corners. The promoter will be happy to pay you more after a show or two tanks because of production. Kind of a "you get what you pay for" thing. Be the guy in your area with the reputation of not being the cheapest anklebiter, just one of the best. In doing this you will create a demand for your services: "Yes, Pete costs more, but he gets the job done right."
H.A.S. has been around for about 10 years. I started out as the $200-a-night anklebiter, and now we do seven figures a year. Through it all, especially in the early years, it was hard to turn a job down because the money was wrong, and it was even harder to explain it to my wife! In the long run, I have seen a lot of "low ballers" of all sizes come and go. Mostly go.
It is a lot easer to "advise" you to turn work down than it is to actually have to be the one who lets the other guy drop the ball and hope the promoter will call again. You know what your financial limits are far better than I. You need to decide what your absolute low price would be and stick to it.
I just turned a $15,000 job down out of town because my computer and I decided it needed to be a $20,000 minimum job. But some other guy grabbed it. Shit happens. If his crew drops the ball, maybe the promoter will call me again.
Everyone at all levels of this biz has the same issues. It's just a different set of zeros on the checks. There will always be "that guy" who will do the job for less than you. The question is: Can you make yourself afford to wait them out? They never stay long.
Also, once you have gotten through all that, it does become more about gear. What I did when I started was sit down with my wife and figure out what we needed to get by. So say we figured we needed $600 a week to get by. The first $600 earned was taken for that. Every dollar after that was spent on gear. If I made $700 that week I bought another SM 58. If I made $2000, I bought power amps. And so on.
Well, Pete, that's my $4 worth, hope it helps.
Brian Cassell: When you're getting paid $300 or less for a show, you really need to step back and take a look at your expenses. All of them. You can't forget any little detail or you'll lose money. Then it's not a business, it's called a "hobby." I'll bet that if you are doing shows for $150 to $300, you are losing money.
While just about everybody in this business does it because it's what they love doing, we can't let ourselves do it just for the fun of it and not make any money at the end of the day. You've got to pay for the trucking to get the gear there and back, the labor to set it up, mix the show and tear it down, rentals if it's a sizable show; whatever you want to charge to rent your own gear to the client, and don't forget the time and travel to pick up and return the rentals and prep the rig for the show. And when you figure your labor costs, don't overlook your own labor and just pay your help. Hmmm. Add that all up and it's well above $300, isn't it? So you are rightfully frustrated about only getting small amounts of money to do shows.
Now what to do about that? My first instinct is that the promoters you are working with aren't doing some part of their job right. They are likely doing one of three things wrong: 1–They aren't charging enough for tickets; 2–They aren't selling enough tickets; or 3–They aren't budgeting enough for proper production. You need to approach this from two directions. I'd start by looking elsewhere for work. You need to find other promoters and different events to do work for. There is more work out there beyond the clubs and bars, you've just got to find it. Pick a niche in your area and fill it.
Now, I wouldn't necessarily stop working for your existing clients. You just have to educate them a little along the way. Show them why you are worth more than the next guy. Give him better service than anyone else and help him understand all the expenses you incur. One of the simplest ways of doing that is to itemize your invoices. List the labor, the trucking, the equipment, the backline… all separately. This will give him some idea of why proper production costs big money. Of course, you've got to work with these people. Bring your price up gradually if you need to. Give them a little more each time. Unfortunately, if you're already giving the world for $300, you're in a real tight place. You can't step back and go, "Here's all you really get for three hundred," and just bring a Fender Passport and two rusty SM-57s.
The $300 Gig: How Much Do You Really Make?
Even if you're running a cheap Carvin or Peavey passive system with a16 channel mixer and three or four mismatched homemade wedges, just the basic rental on the system is worth at least $200. (Remember, that rental money is what you need to upgrade and replace gear and grow your business.)
Say the venue is 15 minutes away from your place. Thirty minutes round trip in a crappy 15-year-old van or a truck pulling a trailer sounds like $10-15 in gas to me–maybe more ant $3+ per gallon. Lets say $10.
Unless you are still young and more agile than smart you are not going to want to hump all the gear yourself so you give a buddy or if all else fails the barback $20 to help you stack/unstack the PA.
OK, so you need to be on site at 4 p.m. From 2-3:30, you get it all ready and load your truck/van. Get to the gig at 4, set up, sound check around 6. From 8 until 9 you chill and try to get a bite to eat. Show starts at 9 and you do 2-4 sets or bands, load out and go home. Maybe you unload then or maybe you are lucky enough to have a secure place to park and leave everything in the van. No matter want, you don't "clock out" until at least 2 a.m.
Seems like a 12 hour day. Let's do the math and see what you made per hour.
