Hey Bill........don't be "sorry for the long rant!" We do what we have to do to keep our brains from exploding!

I'm finding, myself, it's more therapeutic to "let it out" on someone or in a group setting than it is to sit and play music and try and forget what's going on around all of us like I used to do.

As men, we tend to hold things in, and "never let them see you sweat".......and that includes husbands/wives, partners, significant others, friends (and the IRS)!

Phooey with that! Lately I've been having "doom and gloom" dialogues with my GPS even to save the cost of a psychiatrist!

Seriously......some of us DO have it worse than others as we are in geographically undesirable locations to start with. You know I've heard you play and you're too good of a musician to be experiencing what you are! I can't think of anything worse (especially for a man) than to one day wake up and realize you suddenly have no control of your life anymore....that you're now at the mercy of the Gods and the aristocrats and a fickle public.

Whether one needs the money or not is irrelevant. It's about identifying as a professional musician all your life and enjoying the respect (and stage presence) and suddenly society shifted and you're now at the bottom somewhere between working in a fast food restaurant and panhandling.

Reference: Donny....I know the area real well. He's in the right place at the right time.....period! I don't know if that's from foresight or luck, but it's good (no, it's necessary) to remember that he's in the OMB "sun belt" when you read his posts. Otherwise, you can look at yourself and get mighty down wondering why you're not working as much as him.

Finally, I think if I had to go through this decimation of the music industry by myself, without the SynthZone members to comfort and empathize and relate their own stuff, I'd probably do what Hitler did in the end when he realized he was "losing his war".......take a poison pill!

Either that or we all move to "Donnyville" and get back to work!

Mark

Gary....they have a name for that.....it's called "propaganda."


Not only that....they're actually DE-creasing!


Does anyone honestly care about that? It all comes back to the "bottom line."


You did better than me, Gary! I had two accounts where I played monthly for about 15 years. Account #1 said: We want you to continue playing here but we have to cut your salary $25 and the bookings go down to 4x a year. Account #2 did exactly the same thing but, at least, there was no pay cut.


....and they do......say whatever they have to to stay in office.

Rush Limbaugh came up with a great comment in reference to the "appointed one" (who labeled himself the "appointed one"): Rush said: "stop and think about it....you can say whatever you want and BS your way through life, as long as no "calls" you on it. It seems that's exactly what the bureaucracy learned along the way!

Mark

Mark
Thanks for the supportive words. You really hit some points dead on. Your right, sitting around here in this long winter I've even lost the desire to spend time in my studio and just play. Good to talk to those who understand.

Just talked to a friend of mine in Northern NJ with whom I used to trade jobs with. He's from Nutley and between he and his wife's family he has a ton of big time connections. He's very good too so he's worked steady for years. In this economy he's still doing 2 - 4 gigs a week but most are restaurant jobs that don't pay near what he gets for parties so I think everywhere you go its the same story to a degree. He ditched his keyboard years ago and just does a Kareoke / DJ thing now. I don't think he even has his wedding band anymore. He makes most of his own backing tracks so he does sound different and high quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8fKR8peQVg

We've both talked about someday winding up in the "Villages" in Florida someday. Talk about a Gold Mine of musical opprotunity !!
http://www.thevillages.com/

LOL !!!

I have been blessed with the fact that since I was 15 years old I've always had a job of some sort, and once I entered the 'business world' at the age of 22, I have never been without gainful employment ...

A lot of the talk on this thread has been about LOCATION, and it is true that if you are in an economically depressed area (aren't we all ?!?), no matter how talented you are, jobs are hard to come by ... and as the economy declines, the 'extras' - music, art, sports - suffer first ...
Obviously, it is very beneficial to be in a place that supports your type of work, and as has been said, Donny is in one of the more lucrative areas for the entertainment he provides and the audience that appreciates it ...
BUT, that being said, I am sure that there are other OMB entertainers in the same geographic are who are not working anywhere near as much as Donny, if at all ...
I'm not here to do any 'back-slapping' (wouldn't want to be accused of that ! ), but from what I know about Donny's history, like some others here, he has cultivated his customer base over several years of effort, and no doubt at times when the ROI wasn't so great ...

There are a myriad of factors that go into being successful, especially as a musician, - it is not just LOCATION, or JUST talent, or JUST marketing ... and sometimes, it is also a little to do with luck ...

But as Branch Rickey said "Luck is the residue..." you know the rest ...

Also sorry for the rambling ... I'm sitting in a hotel with nothihg to do and my KB is at home, playing by itself ...

BTW ... went back to the 'Louisiana style' restaurant next door to the hotel last night
http://blackeyedsallys.com/
and it was 'blues jam' night ... there's some really good talent out there ...
And the "shrimp po' boy" sandwich I had in honor of our 'Cajun' friends here was pretty darn good too! ...

Tony, you are absolutely right on the money - it's a combination of everything that makes this business gel into a lucrative income. I talked with a young man in southern California last night. He was going to do a music job with his band at an upscale country club. Now this guy has a long history as a band member, playing bass guitar for many year with some of the top bands in the nation. The band he is associated with right now plays several night a week. However, he had to drive 45 miles each way on the freeway to and from the job and his pay will be $50 for the four hour performance.

He asked my help about getting into the NH circuit in Southern California and didn't think there would be many opportunities. I sent him a link that I posted here many years ago to find the locations and he was flabbergasted. There were 50 facilities within 10 miles of his home. Unfortunately, he's not a people person, in that he tends to be somewhat shy around people he has never met. This is something he will have to overcome in order to be successful in the NH circuit. I sincerely hope that I was able to help him, and with any kind of luck he will soon be able to make a decent living in musical entertainment. He has a Tyros 4 that he can play very well, but it never goes on the job with him unless he uses it as a piano.

For anyone that wants to find out where the assisted living and retirement centers (independent living) are in your area, go to http://www.assistedlivingsource.com/find/index.php

Cheers,

Gary

That is only partially correct Tony, I'm only living in this area 25 years,......But, I have been busy all my life growing up in NY since I was 14 yrs old playing in bands and as a solo act as long as there are people living where you are your can be lucrative in the music business if you know what your doing, do it VERY well, & fill the nitch & demand. Its out there EVERYWHERE if you know where to look. Everyone has birthdays, almost everyone gets married, couples have anniversaries, engagement parties, people retire from work, corporations have dinners & awards, people get old and retire to 55+ communities, assisted living facilities, pool parties, restaurants, etc, etc, etc, people are people & where ever they live a musician/ singer entertainer/ DJ/ can earn a living if they are good enough, have a product that is consistently & repeatedly above the rest,
and play "for the peoples needs" not themselves. Dont think your good.....let the people tell you your good, & if so they WILL come for you not the other way around.
It can be done, believe me.

Take care.

Where to begin?

I've not heard anyone say everything is "fine and dandy." Was there an example of this you could share?

As far as no one's paychecks increasing, if we look back to January 2009, the economy lost 800,000 jobs in one month. Now, I understand President Obama is a secret Kenyan, Muslim, Socialist, "fill in the blank" etc...But we're not suggesting he was to blame, are we? No, let's not do that.

After hitting 10% unemployment in the second half of 2009, unemployment has steadily declined to its current level of 6.6%. 40+ consecutive months of job growth. No, we're not at full employment, and yes, there's a lot to be said for how the unemployment rate is calculated, but Obama didn't make up the calculation-he's using the same one that we've used for years. Quite a few people have jobs they didn't back in 2008/2009. "Jobless recovery" is a scary sounding term that tests well, but I think if we asked the millions of people who are working now who weren't then, they'd see it differently.

The stock market continues to break records on a regular basis. Not weekly or monthly but all-time records. It is a great time to be in finance, banking, big business, major corporations, etc.

What about Nursing homes, specifically?

ADCARE

States with Adcare-owned facilities (AL, AR, GA, NC, OH, OK)
Source: http://bit.ly/adcareq22012

Second quarter highlights

Record Q2 revenues of $55 million, up 10% from Q1 and up 60% from Q2 2011
Income from operations surged 398% from Q2 2011
Record EBITDAR from continuing operations, up 28% from Q1 2012 and 89% from same period in the previous year
“Second quarter results … reflect record revenue and operating profit that has exceeded all expectations.”
Key executive compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$2,592,708 (+ 114.42%)
CEO compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$995,529 (+ 224.26%)
Facility staffing

27% of facilities rated “below” or “well below” minimum staffing requirements


ADVOCAT

States with Advocat-owned facilities (AL, AR, FL, KY, OH, TN, TX, WV)

Source: http://bit.ly/advocatq22012

Second quarter highlights

Sequential adjusted EBITDA grew 73% from $1.6 million to $2.7 million
Medicaid rates increased 1.8% sequentially and 4.8% year-over-year
At the facility level, operating margins increased by 130 basis points generating an additional $7 million in operational profits
ROI on renovated facilities has been measureable, occupancy rose 670 basis points with average Medicare census increasing 17%
Key executive compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$3,511,268 (+ 55.20%)
CEO compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$2,221,684 (é 202.71%)
Facility staffing

25% of facilities rated “below” or “well below” minimum staffing requirements


ENSIGN GROUP

States with Ensign-owned facilities (AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, NV, TX, UT, WA)

Source: http://bit.ly/ensignq22012

Second quarter highlights

Consolidated revenues hit an all-time high at $204.3 million, up 9.7%
Record adjusted earnings per share exceeded the prior year quarter at a record $0.67 per share, compared to $0.63 per share
“Second quarter saw performance running ahead of schedule in nearly every corner of the organization, skilled nursing…gained strength and outran our fairly aggressive projections.”
Key executive compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$5,678,544 (+ 2.38%)
CEO compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$1,583,158 (é .18%)
Facility staffing

49% of facilities “below” or “well below” minimum staffing requirements


KINDRED HEALTHCARE

States with Kindred-owned facilities (AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, GA, ID, IN, KY, MA, ME, MT, NC, NH, NV, OH, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WY)

Source: http://bit.ly/kindredq22012

Second quarter highlights

Consolidated revenues rose 19% to $1.5 billion
Operating income jumped 7% to $71 million from $61 million last quarter
“Great momentum, high degree of confidence in guidance and delivering in back half of year”
“Short-term Medicare rate outlook is much better”
Key executive compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$15,010241 (+ 17.01%)
CEO compensation (2011 and percent change from previous year)

$6,426,120 (+ 15.02%)
Facility staffing

39% of facilities rated “below” or “well below” minimum staffing requirements


...

Donny is right about that. There is still a demand and especially for OMB's that will always be there. The qualifier is that it's not as prevalent as it was just a few years ago. That translates to that although the work is out there, you have to work harder to get it.

Lately, in dealing with other issues I have, I've been thinking about one of the basic rules of success:

DECIDE WHAT IT IS YOU WANT, DECIDE ON WHAT THE PRICE IS TO OBTAIN IT, DECIDE DO YOU WANT TO PAY THAT PRICE!

I'm saying right now, with me, I know there is plenty of work out there for a good OMB, but I'm not sure I want to "pay the price." The price for me is having to deal with the complexities of hustling bookings these days, dealing with obnoxious clients for events and inexperienced AD's at the nursing homes, the agents who will rip you off financially and violate your talent, making the requested and required demo's that you never needed before, doing auditions for nothing, and, most of all, reminding myself how bland an audience can be nowadays (relative to the party moods of yesteryear when you often had "doubles" on weekends, 30 jobs for every Holiday and you booked New Year's five years in advance.....and......how the success of the party landed on your shoulders and you came through like a "champ" and felt important 24/7...from one gig to the next).

That was my OWN rant.

But, again....there is almost as much work out there still, if you want to pay the (current) price.

You can even "invent" work. There was a period when I was doing "singing telegrams" with my accordion and making a lucrative business out of it. Mmmmm...$50 a pop for 30 seconds of work! Now that I think about it, I just might go back to doing that again.

Mark

Margins aren't great (2-4%), but as new construction of long term care facilities across the country to meet growing demand, this isn't a business that corporations are running away from.

The cuts we're facing as entertainers are in part attributable to changes in Medicare funding for these type places. For years, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates were based on estimates of what the various services actually cost providers. As public tax dollars are involved and as we finally begin to grapple with our out of control healthcare spending, this area of tax dollar use was reviewed. Turns out that the estimates the industry provided CMS several years ago was much higher than what it actually cost for the services. To no one's surprise, the LTC companies didn't bother to inform CMS of this better than expected performance. There was, in their defense, a reasonable concern about the overall economy and what the future held. That explains some of it.

Part of the Affordable Care Act addressed this over-payment for
services. Reimbursement are now more closely aligned with real costs, saving the US taxpayer millions of dollars.

Facing less reimbursement dollars, many LTC companies looked for ways to cut a comparable amount of spending from their operating budgets. Many find live entertainment to be an easy thing to cut.

Bringing this back to its effect on nursing home entertainers, yes, its very real. In my market, the biggest change has been the elimination of some of the more marginal acts. I've been told repeatedly by both Activity Directors and Administrators that as CMS tightened the LTC belt, there wasn't as much money to go around. Some places have reduced the amount of live entertainment during the month. With less demand, that means some acts are going to be left out. That results in the better acts working like crazy and the lesser acts struggling.

The industry is in a flux, to be sure. More and more Assisted Livings are popping up as families find AL's preferable to putting a loved into a traditional nursing home. The audiences in most of my AL's today look a lot like the audiences in my Nursing Homes 15 years ago. Some see that as a good thing. I do not.

We're also seeing a big increase in the number of people receiving in home care whereas they would've been in a facility a decade ago. That isn't great for our business, but it is probably better on a human level.

My advice to anyone who's seeing their business slip away? Be excellent at what you do. (Gary sets a great example for us all with his attention to detail and organisation.) Get out and see what the competition is doing. Not to mimic but to see what's appealing to the AD's in your area. I also think updating your repertoire is essential for today's OMB-ers. If you can't play songs from the 60's and 70's in a quality fashion, you're going to have a hard time. The audiences are getting younger in many cases and they will not always respond well to "sing-alongs" and tin pan alley stuff.

Bill, don't want to hijack the topic, but you have nailed the major reasons, and several of the organizations (especially Kenton...UGH!) why I'm an ardent advocate for Nursing home Reform.

HOWEVER!

I do want to comment on MarK's excellent subject:

The numbers don't lie; there has been a noticeable and statistically significant improvement in the US economy recently...just not in all sectors.

Especially in the music business, you have to change as the factors in the business change.

I used to love to play with good horn players. At least in small lounge setting's they're GONE.

Same with bass players.

B3-s, my favorite instruments of all times, are GREAT, but they're expensive to maintain, heavy, fragile and hard to pull off a single....thus the advent of arrangers and other forms of automation used in "live" performances.

I sold out. Instead of trying to play what I wanted and starving to death, I researched the market and discovered that you can make $100,000.00 plus as a producer of top end commercial music. It's BORING...the deadlines are RIDICULOUS...the schedule is SPORADIC, but, if you are up to it, and really want to work in music, you can and live well doing it.

Same thing in copy...graphics...lot's of "creative" fields.

Top industrial writers make $1.00 a word and more for their work. A national one page publicity release pays $750.00.

Problem is, this kind of work is BORING (believe me, I do it every day).

That's the conundrum: GREAT, creative, fun stuff that doesn't pay well (or at all, sometimes) or really boring work (eg. big format photos of electrical parts) that pays a lot.

The trick is to find out where the cash is, and then decide where on the income spectrum you want to be.

Then, GO DO IT! And, do it in a manner which will make you feel good about what you're doing.


Russ