[Dixielandjazz] Decline in pay

Sat May 9 01:20:01 PDT 2009

The following was sent to me by a guy that plays with me here in St. Louis.  At the end Jeff from Austin Texas says: 
there are 3 issues here:
1)why did this happen?

There are a lot of reasons for the decline in pay over the years.  I calculate that I was making more when I was 15 per gig than most guys are making today.  One reason is that everyone wants to work including the garden variety musician who will take anything to get the chance.  You can't sell what someone is giving away.  The leaders from time to time try to get more money and they find bookings dropping off so they hold the line on the price so they can work.   The idea is that $90 a man is better than $100 a man if you work more often at $90.  Failure to price fairly among leaders is a problem.  

The next reason is that music is essentially free today.  Anyone with an Ipod and a PA system can out play all of us.  The advantage that a DJ or Ipod has is that they are capable of instant changes in style.  Today people are pretty hyper and want a lot of diversification.  Just watch the average guy with a TV clicker in his hand when a commercial comes on.  Let's face it, the same band playing the same style with the same sound for three or four hours is just plain boring.  Try to look at it the way a non musician sees it.

2)does it have to remain this way? 
No it doesn't but it does take some effort and thought.  I have tried to work around this for a long time and have finally hit on a plan.  Bands have to be able to be very versatile and capable of completely changing their sound and style maybe even several times.  I don't mean just changing tunes either.  I am doing 15 different shows and when I say different I mean different.  I can go from Dixie to 50's rock to swing to Latin, Country Western or German band.  I did two Cinco De Mayo parties this week with all Latin.  

Sadly I just can't give my larger groups away.  In this case smaller is better

To keep my pay up I do a lot of singles now.  Over the years the groups that I have played with have gotten smaller and smaller.  The result is that I make more money now for an hour than most guys are getting for four.  Being a good musician is like the ante in a poker game.  It will get you in but you won't stay long when the game gets tough.  You know, I like Bluegrass music for about 15 minutes no matter how good the players are.  The question is will people want to listen to you for more than 15 minutes?  

3)is there anything we can do about it?
Yes - don't be afraid to lose a gig.  Many guys just can't say no and let the customer dictate the price.  Truth is I almost never talk money or music until I have sold the gig, found out what they want and how much they want to pay.  I am about twice as expensive as other guys playing the same circuit which includes a lot of senior citizen groups and homes, all of which cry poverty.  Today I lose about one out of ten to fifteen calls where I used to only book one or two out of five.

At one time I sat down and wrote out all the questions that I could remember that people had asked me.  Then, I wrote out answers and posted them by the phone.  When I did that I started seeing patterns and started understanding why I didn't get the gigs.  You have to guide the conversation and make them want you.

Too many calls went something like this ---- Hello are you Larry?  Yes.  How much do you charge?  Three hundred dollars.  Thank you "click"  or Hello are you Larry?  Yes.  What kind of music do you play? --- long winded explanation of all the cool stuff I do --- Thank you. "click"  Sometimes it would be a combination or variation of these.  I was simply failing to find out how much they had, and a lot of details that would help me price the gig right and I failed to find out what they wanted in music and above all I didn't sell them on the entertainment aspect of live musicians.  Today with the incredible variety of music available it is a chance in a hundred that the unknown person on the other end will like the same thing that you play.  

The simple rule is get them talking and guide them with questions.  This is assuming that you have sufficient musical arrows in your quiver to do the job.  Today I sell my "Shows" not my music.  It's entertainment they are buying, not music.  Musicians get so myopic that they think that it's about music.  Today I sing, tell jokes, sometimes wear funny cloths and finally play my horn.  I also do my web site, art work, photography, recording, accounting, advertising, sales and generally everything else.

If you aren't booking most of the calls you get then you have to do some real serious thinking and analyze what is happening and why you aren't booking.  If you aren't getting the calls then examine your advertising.  Chances are you are spinning your wheels with ineffective advertising.  Two tips - stay away from the yellow pages and newspapers.  Develop a mailing list and this isn't always easy to do.  Figure out who uses bands.  First all the animal organizations - Moose, Eagles, Elks, Lions - are good then the VFW/American Legion and JC's -- Senior citizen groups and homes.  You should be able to come up with at least 50 pretty easy even in a rural area.  My mailing list to senior groups is 125 and every time I mail out a flyer or card I get anywhere from 5 to 10 gigs, often more.  Postcards are good and a lot cheaper.  You can get 100 from Vista Print for the price of shipping.

Larry
St. Louis

________________________________________________
This is depressing!

HERE'S AN EYE-OPENER...

  The attachment shows Paul Whiteman's band salaries 1928.
  (thanks to Dave Rudoph for the forward)

  the average among the 35 players was $206 a week
  that equals (x12.24) $2521.44 a week in 2008 dollars.
  even the valet made equiv of $612 (plus tips?)

  interesting site to compare purchasing power $ any years--
  http://www.buyupside.com/calculators/purchasepowerjan08.htm

  ok u want to say that's a nationally famous band?? sure..but
  you think today's Basie/Herman etc players avg $2521 a week?
  3/4 that ? 1/2 that? 1/3 that? keep going...and going...
  my father-in -law (bassist) made $300+ a week in the depression!
  that's $4600 a week today.

  when i openend my nyc loft Jazzmania in 1975, the standard
  bottom-line accepted pay around town was $100 sideman. $150 leader.
  and many considered that "chump change". (esp the "country club date" players)
  guess what? that $100 is now worth $25.66, and it's not considered
  chump change anymore, it's considered a GOOD gig! what is taking over
  today is the $50 gig..it's threatening to become the new standard here.
  (In Nyc $35 became the new low-end acceptable jazz gig 10 yrs ago!)
  so for $50 you are working for $12.33 in terms of 1975 $,
  when $100 was worth $389.78 today
  ...and was considered just passable or even chump change!

  there are 3 issues here:
  1)why did this happen?
  2)does it have to remain this way?
  3)is there anything we can do about it?

-- 
Jeffrey P. Flagg
907 Columbus Street
Austin, TX 78704-2364

E-mail: jpflagg at uts.cc.utexas.edu