Karaoke Forums

The average bar around me makes 125-175 I've seen and heard also. Yes I am in Alaska. When I told someone that I would do a gig for $250 at one gig. They said wow you are cheap! I still am very surprised at how much more I have been making above others and it makes me clueless at times on getting rates

Always price your gigs for what your show is worth, then prove to them why you are worth the pay. If you are a have a good business plan you will be able to stand above the competition

Also, stick to your asking rate. Do not agree with the promise of ‘take less for now; we will meet your asking price when business picks up & we’re running solid’. When that time comes to ask for a raise it will be synonymous with when hell freezes over. It will never happen.

How about percentage from total bar receipts? Depends on how many percent they’re offering & if the bar owner is honest. I worked for percentage once, and the barmaid I hooked up with told me I was being cheated on. They have 2 ticket sales printouts. First was the real sales for keeps, 2nd printout, a trick, an amount finagled into the bar’s favor to show me a lesser total. And all that time I've been wondering why total sales were not commensurate to that of a packed club.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

There's nothing wrong with offering an introductory price. However, a recent pitfall I encountered was that I offered introductory pricing for a 3rd night at the bar where I currently do Fri & Sat at. At the introductory rate, they were barely hitting the break even point. I couldn't raise my rates - and they wouldn't drop the show. I spent much of this past winter "stuck" there on Weds. I finally got them to drop it and now I have a new Weds show.




I would almost expect a bar to cheat me out of commission. I would only recommend this system if 1) If computerized cash registers are present, get the sales data at the start of the show, or 2) if not computerized, witness the bar Z-ing (not X-ing) out the cash registers at the start of the show.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

I have tried the "introductory" rate tactic. In both cases, I walked away from the gigs when it came time to raise rates to my normal price and the venues refused.

From now on, my introductory rate will be what I plan on using for the next year at that venue.

-Chris

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-Chris

I've had BOTH things happen in the past.

Introductory rate for 4 weeks that didn't go up so i walked after the 6th week.

At two places the introductory rate went up as planned.

Haven't and won't offer any "special deals" as i've been established and doing this way too long. I know what ($) i need and want and will ask for it.

Most places (18 venues) negotiated a flat-rate and 5 went for the 15% of the z-tape total.

3 lived up to their promise and two crapped-out and made BS excuses and claimed customers as their own and not karaoke-related so they didn't want to pay as much.

For me it has come down to:

Dive Bars suck and the poor owners will whine and try and rob everyone out of everything. Trying to get anything (parking validation, comped drinks, simple flyers made, etc..) is futile.

Decent bars and owners are iffy at best and need to be watched with the % take. They will pay but expect it to be packed with karaoke singers from start to finish and each week they expect more and more new singers. They will also get signage from beer vendors and free giveaways, but dealing with many different managers is a p.i.t.a.

My higher class expensive venues before (usually chain restaurants or french/italian restaurants) usually had zero problems with payment, periodic raises, and providing free food and beverages.

Through all the BS from before, i just ask what i want ($) and know i can get it elsewhere.

I always include free food and beverages in all of my contracts (written or handshakes).

Other kjs i know that didn't/don't negotiate food, usually get only 40-50% off, and that sucks.

All the customers that come in and buy drinks are the bar's customers. Whether you drew them or the bar did really shouldn't be the factor. The factor is, did they stay, buy drinks and have a good time. If they can't understand that then I would have walked regardless.

I walked on both places because nearly every large birthday party group or bachelorette party that came in, the bar would subtract their tab from the z-total, THEN pay me the percentage. EVEN though they SANG karaoke.

Ah, the % thing. I thought you were talking about the promotional thing. I had that thought in my head for some reason.

But it's good to get it out there how bars may short change things so I'm glad I got screwed up in the head..

That's because those bars are used to getting exactly what they pay for. If a KJ is working that cheap. He's not purchased one bit of professional equipment. They've got their home stereo amp hooked up to their computer and a $10.00 Mr. Microphone and a hard drive filled with torrent downloaded Karaoke.

Anybody like Myself whose got thousands involved in Discs and Equipment isn't going to work that cheap unless They've had the equipment for years and are bored and got nothing better to do but make a few bucks and get out of the house. (IMHO)

I forgot to mention: I don’t know if you are willing to do it, but I wouldn’t mind doing a 2 hour freebie night prior to telling them my asking rate. Sort of how to get my foot in the door & justify the amount I’m asking. In more cases than not, I’ll get the gig, and that’s after seeing my set-up and observed what I can do for his club. I'll end up getting compensated for the 2 hr effort, little cash, dinner, drinks, or any combination thereof.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Brian,


I 've done that before too. I did that for my last venue and man it blew it out of the water and they want me every week.

Congrats on that! They want to see the quality of the merchandise before they buy.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

One DJ in town here in Salina KS gets paid $200.00 for four hours

Is this your pay?

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

And that is what I get paid when I do a 4 hour show (the few that I ever do in the year).

Any bar that wants to only pay $50.00 a night I would stay away from. I make 300.00 a night at two different casino's and $ 240.00 a night at a major hotel. I earn every penny of it setting up and tearing down (by myself) in addition to putting up with drunk and impatient people. Don't prostitute yourself out there( IF YOU RUN A GOOD SHOW) I;E Good equipment, good hosting etc. your worth it!!!! If you run a half-ass show then your probably worth about $50.00 a night.

Around here, it's hard pressed to find ANY place willing to pay over $150 - pirates saturated the market in the early-mid 2000's and screwed up pricing big time - for all!
1 example I worked in a club before I sold off my mobile system to fund another business, we were making $150 per night - had the till on Mon & Tue ringing up $2000-3000 Z's. The bar switched owners, after two weeks of working, he thought he'd get the same results with a $100 kj. The guy had full burnt (disc) library. Set up on the stage where there was hardly room for the singer where I was set up where the engineers for the bands would be. He didn't connect into any of the house TV's where as I had not only the 72" projection tv connected, but 2 19" that were facing the audience. He never used the house lighting, but brought a makeshift light tree with two clip on lights pointing at the singer. And had a crap system with (what sounded like)) blown speakers.
So they saved themselves $50 per night. Their till went from $2000-3000 down to $200-300 during the karaoke hours - I stayed friends with the bartender and manager. They tried to call me back a few weeks later - but wouldn't agree to my $25 raise per night. Matter of fact he didn't even offer the $150 I WAS getting, he said I could have $125 - no. They shut their doors a few months later.

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

Well Karaoke lovers, I did gigs in Quincy, Il. for 10 years and with the undercutting that went on made me say, WOW! Went from $275.00 a night all the way down to $25.00 a night. Glad I got out when I did. Today there are some want-to-be kj's that are doing shows for $20.00 a night and they think that their really doing something. I wouldn't even unload my equipment for less than $250.00 a night. just not worth it. Moved to Oklahoma for Sis's health reasons. So glad not watching that degrading of my love of Karaoke going on anymore.

I know rates in Quincy, Il went from $275 down to $20 a night. All the bar owners are going broke. They say.