Karaoke Forums

Here's the report on my anticipated gig from last night.

When I walked into the room the brand new stage that I had anticipated on using was full of the upcoming Saturday bands set up. The owner apologized and said this wouldn't happen again. So I had to set up on the dance floor and also had to set up my rack behind the system instead of in front of it.

I had planned to set up my rack facing the singers so I could hear the system and make adjustments. For the first time I used a stage monitor and also a 2nd lyrics monitor facing the audience. The owner who had hinted strongly that this could become a weekly gig has requested lights. I told him beforehand that usually that costs extra (otherwise only used for dj gigs) but that I would bring them this time for the one time promo price of $75.


At 9 o clock sharp, we had finished sound checks, everything was set up, we turned down the house lights, started up my lights and announced the beginning of the show and pumped in some 80s rock music as the bar theme is 80's music.

Started out slow, never did get packed. Longest rotation was about 7 and towards the end the place emtpied out. Lots of good songs, a few talented singers and everyone was polite and having fun.

I had one song come up that wasn't what it was supposed to be. My computer froze up once during the night (first time that's happened) and a little feedback.

My friend who is an experienced dj/kj showed up and showed me the feedback issue in the instance was that I needed to turn my low down on the mic channel.

The music filled the place to the brim. Many compliments on it. Even the bartenders said they wished the owners would have turned their music off in the other room as their Bose system did not compare.

I only had one suggestion, get more music!

Towards the end of the night, the owner pulled me to the other room and offered me a weekly gig thru September. Price per gig, $75. I calmly told him I would think it over and get back with him the next day. His reply was that he really wanted me but if I turned it down, he would find another karaoke outfit. (Good luck at that price!)

The owner of the first bar I ever played at was there, sang, and approached me and told me he couldn't believe my new sound and set up! That felt good.

So, here I am still with out a weekly gig as I am not going to go set up, play for 4 hours, tear down, and get up at 4:20 in the morning for 75 bucks per gig. At that rate, my library will never get big. Thoughts? I haven't called him yet.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Well, as I see it, he's heard the best; but @$75 I'm sure he'll have to listen to the rest. At least until he hears the error of his ways.

_________________
EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ

Just one thought:

Don't do any more 4 hour gigs for $75.00.

Even the lowest payed KJ I know gets $25.00 and hour.

If he does get another KJ at $75 a night ask him if the KJ is running a legal show, and then explain the ramifications of hiring an illegal KJ.

Lone Wolf

_________________
I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

$75 for the night ! Ouch !

I'd do a 4 hour gig for $100 if I could leave my equipment setup at the bar, with an agreement stating any missing equipment is the bar responsibility.

That bar owner is asking a bit much. That is way to much work and money invested for $75 night. Good luck trying to find someone else to do it. Around here you couldn't even get a monkey with a radio for that much money.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

My promo offer was for $75 so that he could try me out and see that I have a high quality setup and that I am good with people. I think that showed. I had told him my weekly rate is $125 and weekends are $150 without lights.
I just sent him an email thanking him but declining him and reminding him in detail that he could lose his license if he hires someone with an illegal digital libary. I told him that if they brag to have 50,000 to 100,000 plus songs, ask himself if he felt they had a buck per song invested. If not, probably not a legal library. I also told him that he should ask to see their disks one time and if they said some songs were legally downloaded, ask to see proof.
I didn't want to leave him with a bad taste in his mouth so if he changes his mind or when it is all said and done and he's tried others or can't get anybody at that price, he will come back. This is a really nice bar.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I told him in my email that the going rate depending on area is $100 to $250 per night depending on location and circumstances. The good thing about this bar is that there is a green room coming off the back side of the stage and I can store my equipment there. Though I wouldn't have been able to last night since Saturday's band had the stage full of their equipment.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

That's the karaoke roller coaster--sounds like a great thing going in, you get your hopes up and then the rug gets pulled out from under you. If you take the $75 (which is pirate's pay) then that could keep you from lining up something better for that night. Plus it will get around that you work for $75. Then you get stuck in low pay, low respect, low spirits hell. You've put too much into it for that. It sounds like you have all sorts of good adervisting ideas so something is bound to come up if this doesn't pan out.

By the way, I forget how many songs you say you have. Just wondering what "isn't enough."

this is where having the terms in writing helps a tremendous amount.

You state clearly what the promo is, the length of that, and then what your normal terms are, and the length of that. This wouldn't be a contract enforceable by law, but it does stop the "oh, I thought you said it would be $75 EVERY night, not just the first night!" kinda garbage.

Congrats on a successful night. It's up to you on how you run your business, but bar owners like that once they even SMELL a bargain will nickel and gouge you penny for penny (to really screw over the sayings there! !).

I know I won't even open the garage for less than $100 a night. I did that at a gig when I hadn't had one in a few months, and it took a long time to get the owner comfortable with going to a hundred, and then a hundred-twenty-five!

Counter offer at 200 and settle at 125-150(more if u can) since he's offering multiple nights and storage. Try to meet him half-way.

Thats what he actually expects to pay(and he did hear u the first time that it was a one night only demo price).

He knows already what the going rates are around town.

The 75 was just an initial negotiating position.

U say u had 7 singers---but how many were in your KARAOKE room crowd total. And how full was the ENTIRE BAR?

To try to gauge what kind of money the bar was making as a result of your show.

Obviously it was enough for him to make u that offer after only one night.

A rousing success I'd say.

And far more profitable for him than paying 3-400 or more for a band that may or may not pull any kind of crowd.

_________________
"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Holy smoke $75. I have been doing this a Looooooong time 20+ years and 20 years ago I was getting a minimum of $150 always a 4 hrs nonstop.

Today We get $250 min 3 to 4 hrs. and have had to mix in the latest Dance music.

When I was exploring new business on occasion I would offer a progressive rate Ex: first 2 weeks $100 next 2 weeks $150 and then full price there after.

This is my first day here in the Forums and I am enjoying meeting many new people who share the same interest

i'm not sure i would want to store my equipment in a new place until i knew for sure it was stable and like Babs, have a written agreement.

Most shows in my experience take 8-12 weeks to establish themselves in a venue that's never offered karaoke before. the owner needs proof that it can be profitable. this takes time.

i was wondering what your freind kj said to you about the pricing? i think the safe thing to do is to not overprice yourself, but space it out, as someone mentioned. perhaps $125 for 8 weeks then as your crowd builds and the z tape naturally gets bigger, stipulate a raise to $150. Good Luck!

I'm kinda conflicted on this one. It's great that you broke in your new equipment and seemed to get some great response and feedback. The flipside is the cheapskate owner. To me, 75.00 is an insult. I know I dont know you personally but you seem to have your sh!t together and put on a decent show. You sound professional and also like you have a passion for this.
I, personally, would walk away. It appears you guys are too far apart to even negotiate. A friday night gig with professioal sound, lighting, etc. is worth 200.00 just about anywhere. Don't barter with this owner. You are worth what your mind is telling you to charge. GET IT!!!

When I "interviewed" with the owner the week before, I had nearly 2900 songs. When I did the gig, I was closer to 3300. This does not include dupes.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Trust me knight, he knew that was a promo price and also what my regular prices are. He was just trying to negotiate. My prices are not negotiatable. Now if he wanted to pay me 3 bucks per song slip, a little risk/reward, maybe that would be fair? Anybody ever done that? I'm sure there are pros and cons.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

You are right Kurt. He did know that was a promo price. I sent it to him in writing. At times there were maybe 20 in the room. I'd say another 20 to 25 in the other room. This is a brand new establishment, just opened 5 or 6 weeks ago (grand opening tonight with Miller Lite sponsering, bud light girls there, dwer and michaels the quad cities famous djs there) and this was the first time there was entertainment in the brand spanking new black room (other room is the red room). Hard to gauge how much was spent. Money was definely made, even after paying me. If he doesn't know what the going rate is around town, he will after doing some investigating.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Progressive rate idea has merit.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

My friend is mainly a dj, has 3 rigs, been in the business over 10 years but also does karaoke. He was the first person I told and he just smiled and shook his head and said he couldn't believe it. He tried to look at it from a positive side, in other words take the $75 knowing that this place is new and could turn into something special and ask for more down the road.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Thanks spotlight. I can't prove to anyone on this forum that my show is good, but I've learned most everything from this forum and I've had great advise. I mingled, showed people how to use the books, encouraged applause, put in extras like 3 led lights and a set of par can lights, the extra monitor, used small carpeting to cover up all wiring, used some of my video bites and sound bites on compuhost to get some laughs. My equipment is top notch in my opinion with the Yorkville NX55Ps, Carvin LS1801NA, and SM58 mics. I'm still learning on the mixing but I'm getting lots of compliments on my sound. So at $75 with all the time, effort and money I have invested is just not feasible.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Paying per song slip is definitely incentive but too much of an accountability nightmare--"What do you mean you counted 20? I got 15?" etc. Plus we sort of sank into that same psychology of being too understanding about being paid when the crowd count wasn't yet high. I have a different thought about that now.

I think that you took a big risk in investing in your equipment in hopes of getting a return on it. I think the owner needs to share some of that risk by investing in paying you in hopes of getting a return. If there is no risk on the owner's part, there seems to be less incentive for promoting you, etc. and it all falls on you. I may be wrong on this but I'm coming to that conclusion having done it "the wrong way."

Oh--thanks for the song count--we are going to take a suggestion from a Big City KJ who visited our show and try to move up from our small dive and I wasn't sure how many songs would be enough. The big guys advertise 16,000 legal, no dupes. We started like you in the 2700 range and are now up to 4500. But we keep a request list and I always write down when anyone asks if we have a song and if we dont then I buy it. That way we may not have the most songs but we have what they want to sing.

Good luck. It's hard getting started but it sounds like you have what it takes to make it.

Thanks jr!

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]