Getting Paid

[Bozozoid]

With the saving of receipts..mileage accounted for..depreciation..stage clothing..buying gear not needed to counteract earnings all to be a weekend warrior made me rethink playing at all. The older I get..the amount earned is NOT worth the 4-15-?. headache.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

With the saving of receipts..mileage accounted for..depreciation..stage clothing..buying gear not needed to counteract earnings all to be a weekend warrior made me rethink playing at all. The older I get..the amount earned is NOT worth the 4-15-?. headache.

man...reading a bunch of the stories/situations on this thread has me thinking:

- none of my bands go through any of this turmoil...even my band that almost ended up getting signed back in the day did not seem to have as much angst about doing what we did. Maybe that is why we didn't get signed?

- even the bands I play in now don't have as much trouble keeping the non-music side of things going

there has never been an incident with a band that made me think of not playing out anymore. There have been reasons I have left bands - almost all related to outrageously stupid drinking and drug use - but none of that ever made me want to stop playing at all...

maybe I am lucky?; maybe I have a high tolerance for snafu's?; maybe I am an idiot?

I could not imagine there being a time where I would rather not play out...other than summer outdoor shows...the heat sucks

 

[doggyd69b]

With the saving of receipts..mileage accounted for..depreciation..stage clothing..buying gear not needed to counteract earnings all to be a weekend warrior made me rethink playing at all. The older I get..the amount earned is NOT worth the 4-15-?. headache.

I don't need to play music to make a living so the reason I played live was just for fun. Regardless of how much I like the bandmates, if it starts being a thing that I dread (every single weekend rehearsals) or it just becomes a chore, I don't do it anymore. The band doesn't need a member who's hearth is not in it. We usually made some money on every single gig that I have played.. with many different bands some where I was their drummer and some where I was just temporarily.
There was never an argument with the finances, or who was going to load what, we all helped and we all mingled with the patrons after setting up. There was never a singer or guitar player setting up their stuff and then abandoning the other members to connect everything else, sound check and more while they mingled, a few singers tried but they quickly got corrected or canned.
The many red flags in Rhumbagirls's story are signs to get out of there and the sooner the better.
yes she mentioned that this is now an important source of income and that she wanted to keep that... but she also mentioned that there was an offer from another band that she might like better... I don't know about you but if I feel that something is not right it usually isn't.
Sometimes you have to be realistic about your situation and confront those who wrong you. I hate confrontations, but I hate being taken advantage even more. Now I force myself to say something every time bad things happen because if I put it off, people conveniently forget or they choose to think that I was ok with it since I didn't say something sooner. A lot of people don't want to be the bad guy that puts out the dirty laundr but if you don't do it you are just supporting what you are against....

 

[rhumbagirl]

Last night's gig was the first our frontman-bookee did not pay us. Our band has been paid by check in the past, but the check was immediately cashed by the bartender and everyone was paid on the spot. This time is different for some reason. There was a good crowd and everyone loved the music, so I don't think it was a financial issue, although it could be.

I'm supposed to get paid on Monday, so we'll see what happens. In the future, whoever books our gig should bring cash in case we're getting paid by check. But then they're taking the risk should the check bounce, so I don't know. Our price is low enough that the bartender's drawer should cover it, so there's that to consider.

 

[No Way Jose]

There is always the risk that the venue or booker or promoter won't pay, or pays less than promised.

 

[rhumbagirl]

There is always the risk that the venue or booker or promoter won't pay, or pays less than promised.

Last week was a dream gig. Private party with free food and drinks and the guy offered to pay us after the first set. We politely declined but that was a first.

 

[calan]

The check at the bar and cashing it is pretty common. That way there's a paper trail for both parties.

It's possible the drawer couldn't cover it for whatever reason. Sometimes the commerce is done in plastic and the drawer is cash poor. Or an employee made a safe drop before the check could be covered. It does occasionally happen. It's just so bizarre that you seem to find yourself in these outlier situations so frequently.

In any case, if you don't get paid on the Monday, tell them to get fucked. If you do get paid, it may behoove you to set boundaries for the future ("I will get paid end of gig, period. Figure it out"). Or you get paid and take that as a sign of good faith that this guy isn't out to screw you.

 

[BruceW]

In my experience, not every venue will cash the checks out of their till, for whatever reason. If in your case, this is a venue that has done so before, but not last night, I'd certainly be wondering what was going on.

I realize that your situation seems different than mine, but I totally get having to get a check cashed. In our case, our band leader usually comes up with enough cash to pay the guys that live out of town, then catches up with the rest of us that live locally throughout the week. Worse to come to, he'll pay me at the gig the following weekend. Then again, I trust my guy...

Sorry you're having struggles

 

[rhumbagirl]

In my experience, not every venue will cash the checks out of their till, for whatever reason. If in your case, this is a venue that has done so before, but not last night, I'd certainly be wondering what was going on.

It was a different venue.

We actually haven't reached rotation yet - maybe it's time to keep a spreadsheet on venue, price, payment method, date, manager name, etc for when we do hit that milestone.

Or you get paid and take that as a sign of good faith that this guy isn't out to screw you.

I'd like to get in on the booking thing, if only to give some balance to ownership of the band. Giving too much responsibility to one person can create a false sense of ownership and cause conflicts later about the direction of the band.

 

[Yamaha Rider]

Your suspicions of the singer remind me of a Radio DJ talking about Morrissey of The Smiths; who'd spent a decade or two secretly ripping off extra royalties from the other band members.
The DJ said 'Isn't it great when you find your heroes turn out to be exactly like you always hoped they'd be in real life'.
(Implying that Morrissey was exactly the supercilious, contemptuous misanthrope he'd always seemed to be.)