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<\/a>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.<\/p>\nLots 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…<\/p>\n
I added up the total hours that I, as the bandleader, put into the show, and the breakdown is as follows:<\/p>\n
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- Day 1: 3 hours playing through charts finding out which would work for a 2-piece combo<\/li>\n
- Day 2: 7 hours – 2 hours organizing; setting up; and playing through charts, before a 5 hour rehearsal with my vibes player<\/li>\n
- 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<\/li>\n
- 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.<\/li>\n
- 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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.<\/p>\n
As the bandleader, my total time for this show was 30 hours. That works out to a grand total of $3.33\/hr\u2014and 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.<\/p>\n
Music Econ time warp<\/h2>\n