Karaoke Forums

My biggest client just sold their bar. As of this Friday the new owners take over. I'm pretty sure I still have a job but I wonder how others would work the situation. I do 3 shows a week for them. At this point I do not have a contract with the old owners. Should I try to sign one with the new owners or just keep things the way they are? If so, when? Should I wait until the old owners are completely out of the picture or try to get locked in right now? The old owners pay cash and I haven't talked to the new ones about how they plan on paying me. Would it be wise to ask for a raise to cover that aspect just in case? I don't want to lose the gig but at the same time I don't want to put myself in another position where I'm not making what I should. Any input would be nice as I have never been in this position and I'm sure some of you have.

In my experience, new owners will usually keep everything as it is for a while until they feel they want to start doing what they as owners had envisioned. Asking for a raise now will probably backfire more than likely as you hadn't asked for one with the previous owners. If the new owners plan to pay you legit with a 1099 at the end of the year, then you either deal with it or ask for a raise & hope you don't get canned for some other company that will most likely offer their services for much less which is more appealing to most 'new' owners majority of the time.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I would discuss it with the new owners, tell them you were not happy with your new pay situation and explain how, mid-year, they suddenly told you they would give you a 1099 (which may have been a result of the ownership change.) I'd also tell them you have been considering going to another venue or asking for a schedule change so you no longer work on weekends when you often have the chance to do lucrative private parties. Perhaps that will give you an opportunity to come to a better agreement with them.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

I would have the old owner introduce me to the new owner in order to have a smooth transition and settle pay, contracts or what have you.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Business 101

Sit down and discuss with the new owners once they get settled. ( don't wait to long)
It's important that they understand your expectations for your karaoke show and also that they advise you of their expections.

Don't ASSUME the old owners will do anything for you.

These are the times to iron things out ......

Absolutely try and have the previous owner introduce you to the new owners - I am assuming here that you have a good working relationship with the previous owners and that they are happy with your services? It can only help to have them 'on your sde' during the transition. Don't assume anything.

Usually new owners get hit by lot's of offers.
Not the best time to ask for more money.

May be good to see them before the offers start.
Ask them if it is carry on as normal.
Three nights would be a lot to lose.

I think a lot of the questions in your mind will be settled once you talk to the new owner. You don't know what he's thinking until you speak to him. I'd say build a rapport with him first and let him see what you are capable of before asking for anything. Some new owners have big plans in their minds when buying a bar. Make sure you are part of his plans.

Last time I had a new owner take over he thought bands were the way to go. He did a lot of bands at first then those nights slowly drifted away to all karaoke.

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

Karaoke guys are a dime a dozen, and i'll bet a person could call three of their friends and have at least one KJ's phone number that comes with a personal recommendation within an hour.

New ownership generally comes in two varieties:

A: The new owners want to leave things pretty much as they are for a few months to see first hand how things are running and what the revenue looks like. Don't fix what isn't broken. After a few months, they start making tweeks and changes to suit their personal style and preference.

B: The new owners come in and clean house. They hit the proverbial ground running with changes, staff shake ups, stuff like that.

In neither case would I mention raise. Asking for more money right off the bat.. especially if you're already making decent money for your market, is a sure fire way to find yourself out of a gig.

I would have the old owners introduce you to the new owners, and sit down with the new owner and discuss his/her immediate and long term goals for entertainment and how your show can help them achieve those goals.

Again, thanks for all your input. I did get a little face time with the new owners on Tuesday and they are supposed to come out tonight to see my show. I'm just hoping it's a busy night! Unless they are friends with another local KJ (which is quite possible) I'm pretty confident they will keep me at the current rate. I agree that I should just probably keep things like they are at least until the dust has settled. We'll see what happens.

I could be wrong but I think I saw something somewhere that if a venue pays you over $600.00 a year they must give you a 1099 under some new law that was instituted this year.

of course if it's all under the table they are probably ignoring a lot of other laws too and really don't care.

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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

No, that's always been the number and the requirement -- for services. The difference this year is the new health-care bill in the U.S. added a requirement that not only services but goods be reported on a 1099.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Just an update... I was DJing a bike night and running 2 shows a week for this place. The other night the new owner came up to me and said he was cancelling my Thursday show and starting an open mic night. One of his employees offered to bring every instrument and a sound system to facilitate the open mic night and is doing it for free. This employee was my "friend". Bike night was cancelled due to the weather and won't start up until about March. I'm now down to 1 karaoke show a week that pays $100. I'm actually going to turn this one into a positive though. Immediately after the owner said I was done on Thursday I told him that my pricing was based on having so much work and that we'd have to re-negotiate if he only wanted me there one night a week as I charge every single one of my other clients more than him. I'm actually meeting with him today and I'm going to shoot him an offer of $150 a night if he wants to pay night to night and $125 a night if he's willing to sign a 3 month deal. If he balks at both, I'm out. They've had two so far and I've heard that the first open mic bombed and that now my "friend" who was eager to bring in his stuff for free is asking for money. I had to laugh at that one. In a way I want them to succeed because if they can bring in a bigger crowd than me I really need to know how they did it, but I know they won't. This particular night in my city is over saturated with club nights and near free drink specials. Ideally the open mic will bomb and the owners will ask me back on Thursdays, then I can up the rate for that night too The honest truth is that as KJ's we're the parasites. We own our own businesses, we care about our businesses, and we take them seriously, but we're just another means to an end for the places we work so hard to promote. I've had owners that were cool, but when it comes to dollars and cents, cool or not the money wins every time. I'm at the end of my rope with these guys and what's funny is that I just picked up a couple other shows at $150 and they THANK ME when they pay me. I AM worth at LEAST $125 a night, and if I can't get it I'm headed on down the road. We'll see...

I wish you good luck! But... don't sell yourself cheap. If you can get $150 at other places and they're happy with you, why would you?

Sounds like a good turn of events! The story you tell about the "open mic night" is all too common.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

One of my venues did that to me a while back . Some guy who fancied himself a musician went to my venue owner and proposed an acoustic jam which he would host for dirt cheap, instead of having to pay my fee for karaoke, so I was sent packing.
Three months or so later, the owner called me up and asked me back because he was tired of the immediate sound of crickets in his place. I was able to use it as a negotiating tool to wrangle myself a raise. I got it, and the owner has since taken my advice on several key points in the business. He doesn't dare try to do anything that would kill karaoke night anymore, since it took nearly a full year to build it back up again.

Love it!
Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves that the owners are business people and everything has to be driven by profits. But to be let go and then asked back because it didn't work out,,,,, how sweet that must be!!

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

Ok, here's the update. I actually didn't get to sit down with the owner until today. When we sat down I told him that I was asking for a raise but I had come up with two options. I would take $150 a night if he wanted to go week to week or $125 a night if he wanted to sign a 3 month deal. He told me he would have to think about it and that he had other options. I have been there every Tuesday for a year + and I said it was fine if he thought about it, but what about tonight? He said "What's it going to cost me?" I told him I was willing to negotiate with him for that particular night but I wasn't able to do it for $100 anymore. He said "Let's give it a rest this week." I said okay, got up, and left. I then called one of my regulars who was planning on having 15 people there tonight for her b-day and let her know we wouldn't be there. I really wanted to blast it on facebook and let everyone know there was no karaoke, but I also know that would have been really unprofessional and they would find out anyway. Long story short... I lost. I'm sure I could have gone about things differently but I'm really tired of busting my (@$%&#!) when the people I'm working for don't really care at all. Later tonight I get a call from another place wanting me to do a halloween party and I booked it for a good rate, so that made me feel good... THEN I get a call from my Saturday gig telling me they want to keep me on Saturdays but they are trying a new guy out on Tuesdays who has offered them the first 2 nights free AND only charges $50 bucks a night after that. Basically, if he does any good I'm out of that gig too! I do this full time and rely on the income from it to pay my bills and support my family. I'm thinking about hanging up the mics, getting another job, and just doing gigs on the side that I can charge whatever I want for. Piracy is rampant in my area, and I don't see it getting any better. Hmmm, maybe I can start hiring these guys to work for 50 a night and make them sign a non-compete! Lmao! It really is sad that any douche with a couple mics and a laptop can ruin an industry.

This is why I have a lot invested in things newbie KJs can't go out and pirate -- sound and lighting. It's pretty hard for someone just getting into the business to compete with an experienced KJ with an established crowd and a bunch of expensive gear.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ