Very interesting topic as I am also looking at getting into nursing homes etc.

I am planning on playing acoustic guitar and running a drum maching when I go solo to at least add a beat. I also have a buddy that I can call to play lead guitar and then I would have the option of playing bass to round out the sound.

My question is how do you approach pricing if you are unfamiliar with "the going rate"? I live in a rural county with a small population but there a few guys doing this type of thing already but I have no idea what they charge.

Thanks for any help you can give.

One thing around here that makes Nursing Homes hard to book is the number of musicians that play them for free. They think they are "helping the old people", but in reality they are helping the people who own the NHs and who have plenty of budget to spend on entertainment. Most of the time they get what they pay for though!
I've had better success with nursing homes in small outlying communities. They are pretty much starved for good entertainment.
It seems all the NHs get a lot of church groups and Gospel singers, and this is good, but shouldn't have to be their only entertainment, music-wise.
As far as price goes, if you can get $100. for an hour show around here, you are way ahead of the game. I'm sure it's different in larger areas. $100. for an hour sounds o.k., but you have to really allocate 3 hours to allow for travel, setup, teardown visiting with residents, etc. Anything much less and it gets marginal really quickly.
The exceptions are for events such as annual Christmas parties or Octoberfests, etc. They are accustomed to paying a little more for these.
DonM

Don pretty much nailed it.

I work a large triangle between Cincy/Columbus and Lima Ohio (Which is an hour north of Dayton)...$100.00 is a good wage for many of the NH's.

With regard to using agents...most of the agents around here are also musicians...so I learned very quickly that I was only getting the gigs they didn't want. No thanks...IMO, Agents often inflate the cost of entertainment for venues to the point that they cease using live music.

On a different note, adding additional musicians to your act will only make you LESS desirable to nursing homes because your cost is higher than a solo act's is. So, its cool to add this or that, but if you're trying to establish a client list that keeps you working on a regular basis, stay small as possible. Add the other pieces in for special events for an extra fee...

Bill in Dayton
www.billcorfield.com

Thanks for the advice guys!

I will keep the second guitar as an option only for longer jobs/larger venues. I plan to book mostly as a solo.

The going rate here for nursing homes, etc.. is $100 to $125 an hour, but as Don says, you gotta figure an extra couple hours for setup and drive time.

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Thanks Gary!

BTW, I want to thank all the members here for the help-I used the search function to do research on a small PA for nursing homes etc. and would up with a Yamaha StagePAS. It has enough power for these type of jobs and the sound quality is excelllent. I got the suitcase and stands too and it is a really nice outfit. If I expand later I can use the StagePAS as a monitor system.

Guys,

I've done senior centers and homes and I find them depressing (no matter how lucrative) and here in Hawaii they are very few of them and they want to hear 'Hawaiian music'. Besides I don't think ZZ Top and U2 will go over to well!

Thanks for ther other stuff tho...

Surprizingly there are really no talent agents here either. I think agents earn their 15% and like Gary as long as my fee is met just tell me when and where!

Heard of the 'pay to play' scheme? You basiclly buy the room... Club sez OK you give us $500-1000 then YOU sell tickets and once you meet your nut (500-1000) after that we split X% on the door (50/50 but mostly 60/40) If you are lucky you might bet a % of the bar and other than getting listed on their web site and putting up a flyer YOU are responsiable for all promo costs.

ya know I've been in this crazy business called show for over 25 years... played Vegas, Cruise ships, Europe, USO, Opener, Headliner, dives, bars, car shows... but I've never seen it like this and Hawaii is a micro of the mainland as its happening in SF, Miami, Detroit.

Is it me or do they think they are doing me a favor by 'letting' me play?

Rock on

Tom

A few other things for discussion:

Are ads in local 'alternative' papers worth it?

Are yellow pages ads worth it?

What do you do to promote?

Which is most important:
DVD or Video Demo
CD Demo
Brochure
Web Site
???

Is it ever worth it to play for free?

Tom,

Newspaper advertising is expensive, yellow pages ads are as well, and I equate both to firing a shotgun up in the air and hoping one of the tiny pellets falls on the target--it just ain't practical--at least not in this part of the world.

Web Sites must be promoted with print media or no one will ever find you, even if you use dozens of keywords. Yes, you can find companies that will register you with the search engines, but that too can be expensive, and to date I have never booked a job directly from my web site and I just renewed the site's .com for the fourth time. This is not to say that people have not booked me after looking at the web site--they have. However, what led them to the site was printed information with the site address--not a search engine.

For me, and many other OMB entertainers, direct mail is the best approach when followed up with a phone call, and finally personal contact with the prospective clients. Direct mail targets your clients, thereby eliminating the shotgun approach. It has been the most effective form of advertising that many business owner use, and it's one of the least expensive. The trick is to develop a mailing list, which can easily be done using Google's search engine.

As for media, DVD's can be effective, but most of the folks doing the hiring are very busy and don't have time to watch a DVD. For me CDs seem to work best because they can listen to me whild driving home in their car, or while they are doing something else on the job. A neat thing to do with the CD is to print your phone number and web page information on the label when you make them. Just one less thing that person has to look for.

Brochures must be very professional looking, and while this is not a difficult task, they are somewhat expensive, averaging about $3 each, plus another $1 to mail them. If you have 100 perspective clients, this translates to about $400. Fortunately, this can be written off in your Schedule "C" when you do your taxes at the end of the year.

Playing for free has both positive and negative aspects. Yes, it can open lots of doors for you, which could potentially result in long-term employment. The trick here is not to do this regularly or you'll quickly develop the reputation among club owners as the guy who plays for free.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

When I switched to OMB, I took a job at an after hours restaurant. There were two in town, and the one I went to was the newest one, with no business. Within a month, we were kicking the other places ****!. All musicians, bartenders, and more important, owners and managers, plus frequent restaurant and club customers went to this place after the regular clubs/rerstaurants closed. I worked from 1:00 to 4:00 AM 6 nights a week, and from 5-9 PM on week-ends and went to my day job at 7:30 AM. The week-end band, run by an old friend I had worked with before hired me to play 9:00 to 1:00, so weekends, I worked from 5:00 PM to 4:00 AM. That was in the mid 70's, and I haven't had to look for a job in the last 30 years. I have no promo package, photo, demo c/d..nothing, and I work as much as I want to....5 or so jobs a week.

The after hours clubs are gone, but this approach established me with the area decision makers. I now go to lunch and an occasional dinner at the upscale restaurants I work (quit working bars when I quit drinking in the 80's). I never approach owners/managers, but they stop by the table, appreciate my business and call me when they need me. This approach worked GREAT for me...still does, thankfully. Now, I book corporate communications work (video and print production, research, etc.) plus corporate playing jobs at the upscale restaurants,all of which pays much better than restaurant jobs.


Russ