Re: [Callers] Caller Fees

Hi Sue, At the Eugene, Oregon dances, pay is as follows: Caller: $75 guarantee, travel guarantee based on distance, 20% of profit (if any - RARE!) Musician: $75 guarantee if fewer than 4 in band, else split $300 guarantee, travel and profit share similar to caller. Sound person: a flat $150, to load his own gear, drive an hour, set up, work all evening, strike, lock up, drive an hour home, and unload. Our rent has been $114/night, but will go up to $138 in the fall. Attendance varies, based on weather and conflicting events. We hold dances on 2nd & 4th Saturdays, September to early June. Losses are too high to dance in the summer, and we lose the use of our regular facility, as the school system does not rent it out if school is not in session. We charge $8 for non-members to attend, $6 for members, with reciprocal discounts for members of other nearby dance/folklore societies that provide dance discounts. Only two or three dances a year make profits and generate any profit share for the talent. Wild Asparagus comes out annually in November and negotiates a different deal. They run their own sound, and ask for 90% of the net door receipts, after fixed expenses (rent, insurance, etc.) are paid. EFS charges a higher admission price for this dance. The Corvallis, Oregon dances work slightly differently: The caller gets a guarantee of $50. Each musician (up to 4) gets a guarantee of $50; more than four share $200. The sound man gets $100 (he's local). The hall costs $80. Insurance is covered by the parent organization. Any profits above the guarantees and fixed costs gets split between the performers and organization. Profits happen much more regularly in Corvallis than in Eugene, due to the lower fixed costs and lower guarantees. Wild Asparagus negotiates an agreement essentially identical to the one used in Eugene when they come out. On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 7:32 PM, Sue Robishaw <sue(a)manytracks.com> wrote: -- wjw1961(a)gmail.com This is my bulk mail / mailing list address. use "williamcallscontras" at the same host in order to reach me more directly. William J. Watson