Dealing with money

• who will you be paying? Who thinks they are being paid?

• What are your expenses?

• Benefit events

• paying touring people (how far are they coming from?)

• giving money to the space, the organizers, etc

• how much do you want to charge?

• Donations vs mandatory fees

•  

 

Money... yikes. Well I suppose the first thing to think about is if there's any need to involve money at all, right? If you have participators or performers coming from out of town it's a nice and wise thing to collect a little money to help cut their costs, especially if they're on an extended tour. Otherwise you might want to consider other ways of "payment" - making them a meal, providing showers & laundry & a place to sleep, back massages, etc.

Really, the major consideration should be about supporting the people who make these events happen and keep it a sustainable effort. That means that all parties who are putting their sweat and effort into the event should be compensated in some way that makes them feel appreciated and encouraged to continue.

 

So first things first: identify everybody who you're planning on paying. Be up front about this and communicate this to everyone, including telling the people who you won't be paying. It sucks for people to expect a little money and to get none.

 

What are your expenses? Total all the amount of money you're putting into the event - money spent on food, electricity used for the event, rental costs, etc. Remember that doing all this is a labor of love, and you can't always expect to get paid back for all your costs. It's best to assume that you're going to lose money on an event. Still, you don't want to burn yourself out, so make sure you're taking care of yourself.

 

Once you know exactly who you'll be paying and what your expenses are, give yourself a rough idea of how much you'd like to give everyone, based on how far away touring people are coming from and how much further they have to go. This can help you determine the price of the event; it's generally good to keep it at $5 - it's an easy amount for most people to pay, and you won't have as big of an issue making change for people. You can break out a calculator and do a little math to figure out how many people it'll take to make it to your ideal amount.

Also, keep in mind that not everyone will be able to pay the full price. Sometimes people are either poor, or have to spend money coming from far away, and you shouldn't deny them a good time because they can't afford it.

 

That brings up an interesting point - should you set a hard price, or should you base it on loose donations? There's benefits to both. A set price can give you a better idea of exactly how much you'll make, and is especially good if you're desperate to make a lot of money. Donation-based is a good call if you have few to no expenses, and it often makes people more comfortable by given them fewer obligations.

 

But what do you do if your event makes no money? Eat the cost, pay what you can to the touring people, and hope that you can make the money back another time. If you're doing more future events, don't feel bad about taking a little more from the door at well-attended events as a way of compensating for past loses. HOWEVER, be really clear that you're doing this with all parties. Be completely transparent with how money is being handled.

 

 

 

from Dan:

 

DETERMINING A PRICE

 

If you’re doing an all-local show at a space that you

don’t have to pay for, you can decide whether or not

you want to charge anything at all (but check w/ the

bands first to see if they want to be compensated).

As for touring bands at a free venue, I usually charge

$4 for the first and add $1 for any additional ones.

 

If you have to pay for the venue, get a calculator and

figure out how many people would need to pay to break

even at $5 a head.  Hopefully you were smart and did

not rent out a place that is too huge or that you

can’t afford.

 

A note on price: figuring out how much a show should

cost can be a tricky balance between making sure the

bands are fairly compensated and also being fair with

the kids who come out, especially any that might have

driven from several hours away.  Furthermore, I think

it sucks that the kids who try to get out of paying to

get into shows (and you know will spend the money they

saved on beer or clothes) make things worse for their

less privileged counterparts who may be less able but

more than willing to pay full price.  If this concerns

you, you might try using a sliding scale system

(though this also has potential for abuse) or offering

a discount for kids that live several hours away.

 

Keep in mind that bands from the opposite coast, and

especially bands from outside the US, most likely have

to cover airfare as a touring expense.

 

 

 

PAYING THE BANDS

 

Things to consider when deciding what each band should

be paid: How far did they come to play the show?  Are

they on tour?  If so, how far into the tour are they,

and has anything happened to them (vehicle problems,

theft, serious injuries) along the way?  Did they fly

from the opposite coast or another continent to do

this tour?  Are they getting label support for their

tour?  If you know that one band you’re booking is

made up of middle class kids who live off their

parents, while another is made up of working/lower

class folks with more bills or who might be parents

themselves, you might also take this into

consideration.  If a bill has two or more touring

bands, it’s not unreasonable for any bands that lives

in the same city as the show to play for free. 

 

Once you’ve figured out what you think it’s fair, get

at least one member of each band together and make

your proposal, but let the bands collectively have the

final say.  IF THE SHOW HAS TOURING BANDS BUT DID NOT

BREAK EVEN, PAY THE TOURING BANDS AND EAT THE COSTS

YOURSELF UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT AFFORD IT.

Conversely, if there’s zero or only one touring band

and much more money than you expected, it’s not unfair

to compensate yourself for the cost of making copies.