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I renegotiated all of my bars over the last few months as contracts were up. They could sign or I walked. All 5 signed.

I was making $175 to $225 a night. Now on a good night I make $400. But I never make less than $175.

My contact states:
A register reading must be taken at the begining of my show. When the evening is finished I will be paid on the final sales of the bar that eveing at a rate of 14%. In the the event sales are under the total of $1250 I will be paid the minimum of $175

I chose 14% because it's 1% under the standard of a good tip and that is how I explained it to the owners.

Tuedays my pay was $200 now my average is $230
Wedneday $225 now average is $290
Thursday $180 Now $195
Friday $200 Now $175 ( I was being Overpaid)
Sunday $250 (8pm to 2AM My Biggest Show) Now $360 Average.

Last week I took home over $1500 working 5 nights it was a good week.

My record is $5200 in bar sales in 6 hours I made $725 that night.

I never have to ask for a rasie again I just keep advertising and get my nights as big as possible. Any time I break $400 in a night the next week I buy $100 in free beer for the crowd. With the tax the 1st 25 singers get a free beer.

I have worked at all of these places for over 3 years. they are 3 differet bars. Tuesday is one bar and Thrusday and Friday is another but they are the same owner. Then my 3rd bar I work there Wednesday and Sunday.

All had sales under $600 a night when I stared there.

Now I have a second DJ for bars we are starting to kill.

[quote="lyquiddye @ Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:17 am"]I renegotiated all of my bars over the last few months as contracts were up. They could sign or I walked. All 5 signed.

Good news and congratulations! Your venue and market is probably one of the few good ones left. Bars giving a percentage of sales these days are harder to find.

3 good companies i know who worked percentages, started out great, then as the sales went up, so did the owners GREED and the managers either falsified or refused to show the z tapes anymore. I've always worked for flat-rate myself.

I certainly hope this doesn't happen to you! It's really smart that you contract your venues also! Good Luck and congrats again!

...perhaps next negotiation i'll inquire into the possibility at my venue, who knows, it may pay-off likes yours did.   Best, J.R.

Absolutely true, the owners get greedy.  One of my very first gigs was in a pretty nice place that had had a burned out KJ hosting there for a year. They weren't the only gig in town so their place was often empty. Owner found out through a friend that I had new equipment. At that point I was doing private parties to get up to snuff for doing shows. He calls me. We agree that since there were so few people in his place that I'd work on a percentage. I took a minimum of $125 a night, plus a percentage of anything they made over $400.  After six mos, I was making $325 a night. I knew the manager who always showed me the tape from our Thur night show. The place had an upstairs and downstairs, and people flowed freely up and down. Often if the bar was too many people deep upstairs, people would go downstairs to get their drinks. Well, imagine my surprise when the owner says to me, "We never agreed that we'd count downstairs."  I looked at him in utter disbelief. I withheld the temptation to blurt out 'LIAR' at him. That was strike one for him. BTW, after six mos, it was SRO, and if you didn't get there by 8, you had to stand, or wait for someone to leave. We shoved people out the door at 12:15 or so. They sometimes made $1600-1800 in those four hours, consistently - often more than they made on Fri or Sat night...

He blew it with me when he told me I couldn't take a gig in any other place in town. He told me that it wasn't us they were coming to see, it was his antique-filled bar! I could not BELIEVE he truly believed that himself, but he did... I called his bluff, blew him off, the place is now near bankrupty.  The cook, who has stayed there all these years, through 2 subsequent owners, stopped me in the street and we remnisced about how great those times were.  He wants us to come back on Thursdays.  I had to chuckle.  Seems I always end up cleaning up someone else's mess.  Funny what greed does to people's judgment.  :yes:

I refuse to work from a tape ever again.  I know of too many dishonest bartenders.  The tapes are never accurate.  THEY STEAL MONEY  If you think they don't, you're an idiot.

I remember a saying from years ago...It's a poor bartender that can't open his own bar in five years."    Where do you think they get the money?  

Someone elses bar.  :O

I know a KJ right now that is doing the tape deal.  Their bartender got fired from another bar for...guess what???   Their tape is always lower than what it would appear from the size of the crowd.   Now the bar owner says he's going to deduct a new 10% drink tax from the bottom line, making the tape total even less.

Here is my price pay it, or get someone else.

Funny!  LOL  LOL

..but the "idiot" part wasn't necessary was it? You mentioned etiquette a few times in other posts. No need to be like, um.... ******** here....

I do hope Liquidye succeeds and makes lots of money!  :oh yeah:

I speak from my experiences with tapes and what i've heard from other KJs.

You are free to work based on whatever you want.  I'm telling you a very good reason not to.  :yes:

The digital registers would be harder  to cheat on.  By the time they are zeed out we are loaded up and home already . I have seen hosts wait until 30 minutes after closing time to get paid. That's another reason why not  to do it.

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$0 going in the register won't be on the tape.   $100 going into the bartender's pocket won't be on the tape.   $0 is $0 whether it's entered on a tape or digital.

That takes away from your pay.   You can't watch the owner or the bartender all night long.  If the owner tells the bartender to clear the till and start over 1 hour in to the show, you will never know it.

They know how to throw you the bone....you have no argument.   They will even show you the register.    Doesn't mean a thing.

Our bartenders are fired on the spot for giving away free drinks.

The registers are computer. The entire invetory is taken daily and every bottle is accounted for an weighed. There are no free drinks in the bars I work that are not paid for, the owner even must pay for his drinks to keep inventory straight.

I am paid on a weekly basis I get a check at the end of the week. I leave the moment I'm done packing up. Sunday when I walk into work I get paid for the Previous Wed and Sunday. Thurday I get paid for last week Thurs and Friday and tuesday I get paid that night it takes about 5 min fo me to get paid. They are waiting on me to finish packing up for me to get paid.

Bartenders who rip off the bar are not tolerated (unless they own it, but the IRS would be interested).  Most bars have cameras inside and one is always pointed at the bar/till.

If you have concerns about honesty, why work there?

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FINALLY- a place that does it RIGHT!  :oh yeah:

congrats again on finding an honest bar in this day and age  :wave:

there's no way that i can agree that with talent comes higher paying job's and less talent less pay....if it were a fair world i would agree that it could and should work but not in this world...
that's like saying every very good talent that goes to nashville will make it because .....well because they have more talent then someone else, bull.
if everything is working together u may get more money but rare is that the case....
i'm not a k j but i have been in music a while, i honestly think it's more about greed than anything else, coming from club owners. they seem to learn the hard way with everything...
years back we were making for 3 nights what everyone else was making for 5 r 6 nights, and the club only sold beer, and they still made plenty of money, even at today's standards it was good money,  the owners just weren't as greedy as the others....

for me the owner has it made,  for a few dollars a night he gets his entertainment.
and i'm betting if all clubs started charging to sing people would still pay, so now u have the bar owner getting his entertainment for free, so there's no way he can lose....but yet he will still try to get u to work cheaper, they always have always will, nature of the beast.....

the karaoke club i used to go to the k j was really good  he made it look so simple, nothing was rushed, well they changed owners and the new owner kept him on long enough to learn how to do it and let him go,  well that was about 6 mo. ago and the bar is fixing to close their doors, the k j was there life blood, without him it was just another bar....but as good as he is he's not getting what u should....because others r working so cheap,  there should be a karaoke union, set a standard of pay for everyone, push come to shove bar owners would pay, be crazy not to,  still cheaper and more popular then a band...

k j's  talk about working 4 hrs a night, i'm betting if u kept up with it ur putting in much more than that and not getting paid for it...when i worked on the road it was 2 week gigs then move on, i hatedddd packing up everything, how ya'll do it every night ya'll work i'll never no....jmo

No singers i know would pay to sing karaoke night after night.

They can't even afford to go out as many nights per week now because of the gasoline price and DUI laws.  So paying to sing will never happen.

Talent does attract more people to listen.   Even singers like to listen to other talented singers.   Would you rather hear noise all night or talenetd singers?

If you want to get business into bars that aren't right in a city, or college area, find a means of getting FEMALES to the bar.  That's what draws.   Just drop the music and give two gorgeous females that money, free drinks and set up a tub of jello for them to wrestle in.  If you want variety to get males back,  change the flavor of the jello...Seems so easy to increase revenue in bars if  an owner really wants to.

Sorry,  I'm typing in my sleep, see you folks tomorrow when I'm awake.   Forgot - scene, I was having the coolest dream !

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First night of the price increase.   All the jobs but one are paying it.  One quit.  He has been replaced.  So no sweat.   That's a $6,000 a year raise.  Better in my pocket than theirs.

Bottom line is what the till is doing. In our little bar (barely seats 100) we have built up to $1500-$2500 Sat. One reason I am working with them the space next door will seat over 300 which our goal is to move into.

My host out of winter construction work is helping another bar owner expand his building to a similar size. He has already put in a bid of $200/fri.

With my experience in sales and PR in many other businesses I will not work with drunks or bar owners with negative attitudes or poor business practices. If a higher potential isn't there then don't bother. Believe me it will just burn you out.

This is the morning after a gig WE were packed out steady until about 12p then it tapered off but we shutdown at 12:30. I was up at 7:30 and ready to go with energy and positive attitude from last night. In other words I'm still fired up.

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I have decided that i am a $200 night KJ from here on in and the bottom line isn't going to matter.  If they want me and they can afford me, they will pay it.    It all comes down to a persons worth.   Some people (KJs) are not worth $200 a night.  Some aren't worth $100.   Depending upon their equipment, song selection, the way they run their show and their popularity.    Why are there high paid sports figures and some not so high paid ones.  It's their worth .  Can they perform?  Are they a major asset to the team?    Do they win whenever they play?    Well why should i or anyone else (KJ) be any different?   Some bar owners will never pay that much because they think a cheap KJ is a good KJ.  Then there will be a direct reflection on their bottom line.    Some bar owners will pay that and more depending upon the bottom line.    It's up to them to decide.  I can't tell them what their bottom line should be.   Can they make a living paying out everything that needs paid?    I don't know the total of the bills they pay.   All i know is how valuable my time is to me.  And what my presence does for them by the size of the crowd.   If it's almost always full, my worth is higher than if it's always empty.  They will say we can afford you or they will tell me bye-bye.  One bar owner did tell me she got someone else.   I heard tonight that her crowd is getting smaller every week.   In the end she will find out she really could afford me but she was stupid and got someone cheaper to put her out of business.    A person (you) should always know their worth.

The bar owner is not my enemy. We work with and have formed bonds with all staff  (including security who love their job because of the abundance of hot women) and owners and consider them friends. One owner is a regular singer, another owner waits tables or cooks on a regular basis. We share common goals and communicate when necessary.  That is why we are packing out (SRO) People are in a habit of checking for empty tables before entering.

The KJ down the street is not my enemy In fact I have helped and advised many wannabes. They try to emulate me but realize they have  to invest a lot of money an it will take years to get the experience I have. This is a rural area. When I walk into another show, the owner, the host, and the singers know I have a system that will blow it away and all know I don't work for peanuts.

I have never done it because of the heat but next 4th of July we will setup in the park with bands. WE have done many benefits with top bands. When we were on stage there was no degradation in the  sound If anything we had better singers.

I reached this by asking those that have been down the roads of success and learning from them. Any vocation requires playing a role emulating the real ones. Then at some point something happens and it is no longer a role. I hav't played a role for years. I am an MC, KJ, entertainer, singer, and part of the staff. And I do not need to verify self on a forum such as this. The smile on peoples faces when I am singing or hosting and the compliments I get on a regular basis is the proof.

At my age I get tired and cranky. That is why I hired the best karaoke host I have known for for 15 years or more. I make this statement to the owners and the customers (singers and non) and they all love us and show us respect and admiration.

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Wait till you get the $10.00 an hour karaoke junkie playing the house system calling himself a "KJ". We have 6 of them in the area. have ruined the business for  tghe real kj's

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

They dont last. The singers and the crowds that frequent good karaoke bars support the best.  Even the most naive bar owners realize this after watching their business go down. After this trend karaoke gigs are very lucrative. The honest hard working established hosts are the ones that stand the test of time and prevail.

There are wheat farmers (just one example) that lose money for six years Then that seventh year they are blessed with perfect weather rain with no hail and make a fortune. This is business This is life. There are many that think karaoke business is different than any other. It's not.  Right now we are having perfect weather and it is a good ride.

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