[Dixielandjazz] Re: Admission prices and pay for gigs

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Larry:

Without wishing to start a War here, the longer musicians sit back and 
work for lower than today's standard offered prices the longer it will 
be before they see those $200.00 per gig checks.   They have to go out 
and Promote themselves shamelessly and convince folks that they are in 
deed worth more money that what they are being offered.


If you have situations with two three or four or five bands playing for 
organizations that only charge $3.00 to $8.00 admission.

You simply can't support musicians with respectable living wages on 
that kind of income unless you are promoting heavily and attracting a 
lot more folks to the events to hear them.   These things all have to 
work together to accomplish this or the situation will simply continue 
to deteriorate.   We continually hear things that old folks can't 
afford any more, but they are paying $30,000 or more for an auto that 
used to cost $3,000.00  selling houses they bought for $30,000.00 for   
$300,000.00  $500,000.00  own more fine clothes that they could 
possible ever wear out, pay a heck of a lot more money than a concert 
admission to play a round of Golf,  Pay $85.00 an hour or more for auto 
repairs,  $120.00 + an hour for plumbers, and on and on and on,  but we 
are told they won't pay more than $2.00 to $3.00 an hour for hearing 
and dancing to Professional Musicians ,,, who's fault is that if many 
of the musicians keep agreeing to work for them without fair 
compensation just because they love to play the music so much.    And 
of course many of the musicians are Older folks too and have plenty of 
money so they think it's ok not to ask for higher wages and just go 
along with the Status Quo.   I am very upset having just filled up two 
gasoline tanks today, one for $27.00   that two years ago cost me 
$13.00   and the other for $48.00  that two years ago cost me $24.00 to 
fill.   Both vehicles get about 300 miles per tank.   Now I have seen 
one  regional Band leader branch out to throw their own dances at 
$12.00 a person with only one Band on the Bill  they seem to be doing 
just fine.

What is indeed wrong with this PICTURE ?
See I stared in this business having dances many years ago and did it 
that way "ONE GOOD BAND" sold out every Friday night at $2.00 a person, 
  along came a guy who wanted to compete and rented the same hall and 
put on two bands the next night for $2.00  I was forced to add another 
band and double my overhead.   He went to three bands for $2.00  I gave 
him the Friday night too and moved my business to another town and went 
to $4.00  for one Good band.   This guy is still working in Oakland for 
the same kind of money he made back in 1968.   He simply never learned 
and changed with the times.


You need to know what your show is worth and charge accordingly or 
don't work until you can get it, folks do eventually understand that 
you get what you pay for and there are always Good Paid Gigs for Good 
Professionals who go out and market themselves Professionally.   Once 
people know you are That Good and that you will not work for chump 
change they will pay you or simply use often less professional bands 
that do not perform to your quality level.

If you needed Brain Surgery would you question the price of the top 
rated Surgeon or would you go see a guy working out of a Hotel room in 
Winnemucca  because he was cheaper ?

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins




We have met the enemy and he are us "Again" ..  Still !!





-----Original Message-----
From: Laurence Swain <l.swain at comcast.net>
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 15:54:31 -0500
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Admission prices and pay for gigs

   Tom Wiggins recently said:

> The good news however is that Admission prices will remain at 1935
> levels.

A recent post about the JRM LOC recordings put the price for the full 
set of
records in
1947 at $120, and reported that would be about $1000 in 2006 dollars.

Using the same inflator, the $25 each man in my small combo used to get 
for
playing
high-school dances in 1952 would be a little over $200 in today's 
dollars.

How often do most of us see a gig paying that?

Larry Swain




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