Music Econ 101: A Reality Check

Music Econ is not a pretty picture

With yesterday’s show for the 150+ Meals on Wheels clients over and done with, I thought it might be a good time to provide a reality check for younger musicians about the amount of time that goes into these things, and what a pro musician really gets paid for their time.

Lots of people think that just because you charge $X/show, you are well compensated for your time. That is in fact incorrect. Music econ is not a pretty picture, here’s why…

I added up the total hours that I, as the bandleader, put into the show, and the breakdown is as follows:

• Day 1: 3 hours playing through charts finding out which would work for a 2-piece combo
• Day 2: 7 hours – 2 hours organizing; setting up; and playing through charts, before a 5 hour rehearsal with my vibes player
• Day 3: 4 hours writing out all the arrangements we came up with the day before, and beginning the scanning process for all the charts
• Day 4: 10 hours – finishing the scanning process; putting together the set list; printing, annotating, and organizing all the music for both of us; playing through all the charts to get all the notes under my fingers and get familiar with all the chord changes; and finally packing all my gear.
• Day 5: 6 hours – loading; driving to the venue; unloading; setting up; performing for 2 hours; tearing down; loading unloading; driving back from the venue.

The going rate for musicians in the Metro Vancouver region is $100 per person/show. Now you do the math. As a hired gun, my vibes player made out better since she put in a total of approximately 13 hours. That works out to a grand total of $7.69/hr.

As the bandleader, my total time for this show was 30 hours. That works out to a grand total of $3.33/hr—and that’s before expenses. I printed all the materials, and did all the driving (about 20 miles). Then there is the wear and tear on my horns and reeds that adds up to their annual service costs and expenses.

Music Econ time warp

When I graduated high school in the 1980s, I was making $100/show. According to the Bank of Canada’s Inflation Calculator, those $100 are the equivalent of $225.93 in 2015. In other words, I’m making $125.93 less per show today than I did when I first started playing professionally, and was studying music in university. Go figure.

Years ago I worked with a killer blues guitarist who grew up in the Vancouver music scene. He told me that in the 1970s the rate in Vancouver was then already $100/show. The same inflation calculator from the Bank of Canada tells us that those $100 would be $426.85 in 2015! That means that every time this guy steps on stage, he is making $326.85 less per show than he did in 1975!

Can you make money at this?

Now here are a few things that do make things profitable:

1. All the prep work isn’t lost. In the future all the work for these arrangements has already been done, so for the next show all that’s needed is practice time. This will reduce the hours needed to get ready, and in theory at least, increase my hourly pay.
2. Normally a bandleader will take more money than their players for all the work that they do. It is after all their band; their name; their rep that’s being hired. I have generally chosen not to go that route. YMMV however, and likely will.
3. Charge more. This sounds simple enough, but the reality may be quite different. People have a fixed amount that they are willing to pay, or have budgeted for. You may be the best band in the world, but if you’re over the price that they’re willing to pay, you won’t get the gig. Know the local market, and know how much you can charge. Try to for the max, haggle, but don’t give your music away for free to commercial or corporate venues—charity events are different. EG. Don’t work at a club for beer money. If you get caught in that age old race to the bottom, you’ll never get the proper recognition that you deserve, and likely won’t get a good paying gig when one comes up.

Postscript

Here’s what didn’t work for me – and just me:

• My health. I put in too many hours in too short a time before the show, and my performance suffered. My neuro problem is a serious health issue that prevents me from working. Period. Stop. If I had done this over a period of a few weeks I would have been fine, but given the seriousness of my neurological issue, my tremors—including those in my diaphragm and fingers—were noticeable. I will spend days recovering from this show. I hope to be back to what is my normal by the weekend.