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OK When you want to make a living at this and provide a good alternative entertainment package come to Colorado. This thread was not started as an ego trip but was started to discuss different price plans and ways to compete with the bottom feeders.. I do speak english and at times can express myself very articulately. If you read something else in this thread then you are mistaken. I am sorry I even bothered.

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Why would you want to work more nights in the same bar and keep cutting your price? I would rather do 5 different bars at the higher price. You are doing the same quality show each night right? Doesn't make sense to me.

Each and every show I do has the exact same sound system and me. Less money ..more money, nothing changes. The quality doesn't change because of the price. I don't have different quality shows or anything i personally do different. Everyone of my customers gets the same high quality, period.

I have a set bar/club price & a private party price. Private shows are typically 3-5x the going bar rate (depending on the situation) as these are not steady gigs. A bar/club is more than often a regular weekly gig & if the bar/club wants multiple nights CONSECUTIVELY, then they will get a discount. If they want a night say on WED & another on SAT, then the regular price stands.

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Part of the cost of a show (at least with me) is set up & tear down, if i'm not doing that on a multiple (in a row) night show, they don't get charged the full price - although it's not a huge cut, usualy 10-20% off per night depending on how many nights they book.

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I consider myself as much if not more of my show than the equipment. I don't care how many nights a week a bar wants me. I am still worth my price on any given night. I would rather work in different bars and make my full money.

As far as moving the equipment around yeah it's somewhat of a convienence to walk in and not move all the equipment. But i do a back to back night now and the bar owner never mentioned me leaving my euipment set up for the next night. I think they don't want it in the dining room area taking up table space. I just pretend i'm doing a different job and i would have to tear down and set up anyway. I don't give them a price break either. But i wouldn't if i left the equipment.

I had a job i did 3 nights a week and the equipment came and went everynight. I also got full money each night. If it was in a booth or someplace like a booth it might be a different story but when it's in the middle of the floor exposed to all passers by no.

I have a set price that I would host for alone without even using my equipment. When I get a multiple night gig I still get more than what I would normally if I didn't have to set up./tear down, however I do not charge full price for that, I still get my minimum hosting fee PLUS! Maybe I am just spoiled having worked in the same club for 15 years - they actually help me buy new equipment & donate new music to the books.

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Exactly! A permanent set-up saves me an hour (sometimes more) on each end of the evening, that's worth a lot to me and it's incentive for the venue as well.

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EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ

Oh you bet!! Although I am totally mobile with light gear it is a joy to just walk in and power up and not have to tweak the system. For new gigs I sometimes setup at noon and relax for awhile. I had a gig where they actually stored the system.

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A word of caution here. If the venue has no insurance (it's happened before!) and something happens (like a fire), you will be out your gear!
Another scenario to think about:
I had a regular weekly gig and one night I showed up and the doors were locked. No warning, no phone call, no nothing!
Seems the venue owners were leasing from the building owner and the owner failed to make his mortgage payments for quite some time. The mortgage holder seized the building and all assets inside. Had my gear been inside, it would have taken me quite some time (weeks) and the expensive services of a lawyer to regain possession of my gear. Had that happened, I would have been seriously hooped. My other gigs would have been canceled and I would have been effectively out of business.

The fees in our area range from "Tips and Drinks" to $125 for a small bar and $400/night for a casino lounge.

I guess I see karyoker's pricing as saying he has a minium fee that covers his set-up/time, etc. and then he adds to that depending on the size of the venue. So if a venue has the ability to make more of a profit from his show because it seats more people than he wants a percentage of that higher profit, thus the sliding scale. He is not really devaluing his smaller shows as much as expecting more from the bigger ones. It is a way of being flexible in an iffy economy.

I charge between $200-$350 per night. A lot of variables come into play-# of nights,equipment,lights,time,travel ect.

Currently I have 11 steady nights a week I provide a bar/nightclub with some sorta DJ/KJ/VJ entertainment. Many small pub type places sometimes don't generate much income and its hard to get top dollar. I market my services to the places in my area that have the capability of pulling in some revenue.

Mojo

I would like to move around to a diff bar each night too, but regardless, if you don't have to tear down, it's a convenience and you have less time involved. I am set up before I even show up tonight since I DJed last week. I will be there 30 min before and be done in 15 min. When the owner asks me to play 3 consecutive nights, I give him a price break as there is no set up other than my laptop which I never leave.

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Set up and tear down is the cost of doing business. You still have gasoline, insurance, travel time, vehicle & equipment wear & tear, slips, books and pencils, calenders plus your skills your time. That doesn't change whether i work in your bar 1 night or 7.

I'm pretty sure my price will stay the same. Doesn't matter if i leave the equipment or not. The bar owner will make the SAME amount of profit . It doesn't matter to his cash register if your equipment slept there over night. Cutting him a price break for babysitting your equipment?

I'll hire you 5 nights a week and you can leave your equipment and i'll pay you less money per night? How is that a bargin? For him yeah. For you i don't get it. I work for money not convienence. All the convienence in the world won't pay my bills.

How about i'll do you a big favor and work here 5 nights a week and you will make a killing. I'll leave my equiment as a sign of my commitment to you as a sign of good faith. I hope you have insurance. Some policies won't cover equipment if you leave it somewhere other than your residence over night.

I would rather move the equipment to a different spot every night. I still have to drive there. Still bought gas and paid my insurance. Still had to do some set up and tear down because I don't leave anything out that can be easily stolen or damaged. So my prep work to leave my system and hook it back up again takes as much time as bringing in the equipment every night.

Because I am considered nothing but a vendor by the suits at corporate headquarters. Sure, I like to get full price every night but I'm willing to negotiate my fee if I can get multiple nights at the same venue.

You may disagree angel but it works for me.

Mojo

Wait a minute.

They want you an extra night. That makes you suddenly more valuable to them, not less. Sure i like working here. But for less money i like working at another bar that i can charge my full rate. We don't get paid enough as it is. You want me? It's full money.

I don't have to work here that bad. I can get a full paying job anywhere. Now do you want this extra night or am i shopping it down the road? That works for me.

An extra night tells me i should be worth more money. You are telling me that because if i wasn't worth it you wouldn't have asked. Supply and demand. You have other bars that will pay you full money for your time. I can only be so many places at once. They pay for my being there. I'll move the equipment again. It's not worth losing money. I put the system together and me and the system work as a team. It's nothing without me and i am everything with it.

Ok so charge full price if that's what you like to do. I like to give a break to the clubs that want me more than 1 night in a row, and have actually got extra nights because of the break and been able to negotiate higher later on. It doestn't hurt me in any way.

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...obviously doesn't get it or hasn't dealt with the bar business very long...and i'm too tired to explain it. anyone else care wanna try?

Nope. Already tried in another thread on a different topic. Argumentative people aren't my bag, these days. Debates, on the other hand, are entirely different!

I will charge less if the venue is close to home or I can leave my equipment. I guess it is what your priorities are. Angel you'd rather make more money by doing seperate gigs. I value driving less than a mile to work and taking 5 minutes to setup and tear down because my equipment stays at the bar.

During my busy season at my day job I couldn't do these gigs otherwise. Working 12 hour days I wouldn't have the energy or time to setup and tear down. Let alone drive an hour to a gig. I value the convenience of it all. Charging the bar $50 less a week for a 3 night gig is well worth it to me !

Being in the same place 3 nights a week for years I also enjoy the stability of always knowing I have gigs and when they'll be. Not to mention I don't have to spend time or money looking for new gigs. If I give a discount for multiple nights it is in my best interest money wise also. I'm sure I'd make up the money I'd lose a week for not having to advertise for new gigs and not sitting at home because I didn't book that night.

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I must say in reference to anyone who's full time, I do understand maximizing your revenue; especially with business being what it is these days. A body still has to eat, have a roof over their head, and pay expenses.

For those of us who happen to hold a full time position elsewhere, we have the flexibility to offer these reductions should we decide to employ them. I would hope that no one feels threatened, or would view the action as an attempt to undercut the full timer.

With that being said, I personally don't view offering special pricing for such consideration as devaluing myself.

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EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ