In n Out, Billion dollar Co- asks bands to pay for gig and no pay

[JohnH]

I posted this on my FB page when a band member that wanted to play there told me about this . My post has generated a lively debate and even a couple of friends that seemed to think this is ok . My band- no, we will not be doing this . 
 

Wow , really In-N-Out Burger? In order for the privilege of playing and getting paid NOTHING , you want bands to pay you $75.00 which is donated to charity just to be considered to play your 75th anniversary show at the LA County Fairgrounds in October ?  Although this fee goes to charity , once again , here's an example of treating musicians who will do anything " for exposure " and " they're just musicians , let's get them to give money to charity and work for free , while we PAY all the other vendors that we are hiring to work this event."

 

https://www.ocregister.com/2023/06/26/in-n-out-burger-launches-battle-of-the-bands-contest-for-its-75th-anniversary/amp/

[Docbop]

Once the daughter took over in n Out the place has never been the same.   I quit spending my money there years ago. 

[Baldwin Funster]

In n Out screwing people.  Appropo.

[CHarrell]

6 minutes ago, Baldwin Funster said:

In n Out screwing people.  Appropo.

 

[o0Ampy0o]

It is common for snobby hobby charities to sucker visual artists into the privilege of donating time and skill to their cause like it is a big career opportunity. Typically these charities make you earn every penny you are not getting paid, never satisfied always wanting a bunch of revisions to remind you how it's your privilege to help The Pope manifest his great idea.

[Delaware Dave]

Tell them no thanks and move on..... If everyone said no then they'd pony up money but, some idiot will say yes.  So blame the musicians who say yes.....

[CowboyNQ]

I went and watched a very high profile act (you all know this artist) play a charity gig a few years back.

 

The same charity approached a band I’m in to headline the same show the next year.  This is when I discovered the gig attracted no pay but secured their artists by laying on a heavy guilt trip.  “Are you telling me you don’t care about kids who suffer from…?”  You get the idea.

 

Disgusting behaviour.  We did not do the gig.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

They can get stuffed.

[TommyRude]

I don't know anything about the charity involved with this event, but hearing about fraud and greed with other charities, REALLY sucks.  And you're right, forcing bands to pay a $75 fee?  That's such a tiny drop in the bucket for the the In & Out folks, and every penny counts probably for some of the folks wanting to play.  Would be a nice gesture if In & Out dropped the fee, and actually provided some niceties for the entrants, like burgers... jeez!

[MathOfInsects]

Gross and not the least bit surprising. 

[TommyRude]

A sample of FAQs from their website:

 

Will any equipment be provided at the Festival for winners’ performances?

The winning band is responsible for their own instruments and amps, but sound equipment will be provided.  Dang - you won, but you have to drag your own amps to the gig!

 

If we win, will my band members and I get free or discounted tickets to the festival?

The winning band members will receive event prizes and free admission to the festival areas.  Well maybe some nice prizes.

 

If needed, will my travel and lodging be paid for?

No, winners are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements and expenses.  I noticed that In & Out has their own band (.48 Special), and In & Out's owner is the bass player.  They are playing at the festival, and looks like they have ZZ Top playing as well.  Wonder if they're having ZZ Top schlep their own gear and pay for their lodging & travel?

[Baldwin Funster]

44 minutes ago, TommyRude said:

A sample of FAQs from their website:

 

Will any equipment be provided at the Festival for winners’ performances?

The winning band is responsible for their own instruments and amps, but sound equipment will be provided.  Dang - you won, but you have to drag your own amps to the gig!

 

If we win, will my band members and I get free or discounted tickets to the festival?

The winning band members will receive event prizes and free admission to the festival areas.  Well maybe some nice prizes.

 

If needed, will my travel and lodging be paid for?

No, winners are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements and expenses.  I noticed that In & Out has their own band (.48 Special), and In & Out's owner is the bass player.  They are playing at the festival, and looks like they have ZZ Top playing as well.  Wonder if they're having ZZ Top schlep their own gear and pay for their lodging & travel?

So the winning band may get an opportunity to get a selfie with a marquee that says ZZ Top. There's some bragging rights  

[JamPro]

12 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

If everyone said no then they'd pony up money but, some idiot will say yes.  So blame the musicians who say yes.....

I recently got out of a "band" situation that was headed by one of those idiots.  Damn fool was convinced he was the second coming of "insert famous lead guitarist here", and so he had no need to listen to any of his band-mates - not in band discussions, and not when actually playing music either.  I quit, and 4 months later everyone else in the band quit.  A few weeks after that, Mr. Legend-in-his-Own-Mind had recruited some other suckers.  "And there is no shortage of tyrants and no shortage of fools."   

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

14 hours ago, JohnH said:

Wow , really In-N-Out Burger? In order for the privilege of playing and getting paid NOTHING , you want bands to pay you $75.00 which is donated to charity just to be considered to play your 75th anniversary show at the LA County Fairgrounds in October ?

They can't even find it in their hearts to pony up $75 per band to give to charity?  That's the lowest part of this story in my opinion.  I've been to In-and-Out....  It's like watching a machine printing money come lunchtime.

[Adan]

Battle of the bands events, where everyone plays for free, are old hat are they not?  It's completely different than playing a gig for free that someone else (arguably) should be getting paid for.  It's a bunch of wannabee bands having fun inside their little bubble of optimism-untethered-from-reality.  Seems harmless to me.

 

I wouldn't get near something like this now, but I probably did some kind of battle of the bands things in my late teens and it was probably an expansive experience.

 

If you start focusing on corporate sponsors . . . that's kind of a black hole of anxiety.  What do you do if you get on stage and the banner behind you says "Budweiser" or whatever.  Do you unplug and leave?

 

 

[Bobbo Fett]

One group I've been playing in for nearly 30 years did a couple of freebies for charity back in the day. Once you do that around here, you're on a list, and they're ALL calling you. I would balk when one of these shows came up, and the drummer's stock reply was, "Oh come on man....YOU'VE got healthy kids!". I finally had to reply, "Yes, I do. Do you know WHY they're healthy? Because I make enough MONEY to feed them." Hasn't been an issue since.....

[ProfD]

3 hours ago, Adan said:

Battle of the bands events, where everyone plays for free.... It's a bunch of wannabee bands having fun inside their little bubble of optimism-untethered-from-reality.  

Exactly.

 

This type of gig is aimed at bands filled with musicians under 25 years old.  They still believe in the dream or just want to have fun playing music.

 

If a band consisting of musicians over 25 years old still plays battle of the bands and charity events, they might want to re-evaluate their long-term goals.

 

However, if the bands goal(s) is to have a bowling night or get out of the house or play for free beer and food and hook-ups, etc., these types of gigs might pay off.

 

Established artists and bands can do charity events for a number of reasons i.e. tax write-off, favor to a friend, maintain relevance, etc.

 

The Super Bowl halftime show is a non-paying gig but it provides exposure for the artist/band to millions of people around the world.  It adds legs to a tour and/or leads to one-off gigs anywhere on the planet.

 

The only exposure an artist/band will get to an In-N-Out Burger charity gig is mad cow disease.🤣😎

[surfergirl]

We did some battle of the bands, all while in school. My favorite was when we were 13 and naive enough to think everyone would be 13, they weren't. We didn't understand why 20 year olds would want to play at a teen center. We finish 4th out of 4 but got got 2 gigs, as far as we know 2nd and 3rd got zero.

[CHarrell]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

However, if the bands goal(s) is to have a bowling night or get out of the house or play for free beer and food and hook-ups, etc., these types of gigs might pay off.

 

Whoa whoa whoa, wait, playing music can actually get you laid???

[ProfD]

7 minutes ago, CHarrell said:

 

Whoa whoa whoa, wait, playing music can actually get you laid???

Absolutely.  Especially those who are under 25 years old.🤣😎

[Moonglow]

Seems like a good time to trot out this gem, from a Cragslist ad a while back. Warning: NSFW

 

I'll Play For Free (But Someone Will Pay)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Date: 2012-07-27, 12:39PM MDT
Reply to: rgnfg-3166841261@comm.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

I'll gladly do this show with a couple of buddies. Here's how it's going to go: We're going to bring a deluxe reverb with two pedals, a Yamaha bass amp and a tiny drum set, one microphone and one powered behringer speaker - it all fits in a minivan and it will sound fine for a bunch of tossers on a backyard porch. We're pros. We know 200 plus songs between us. We'll make it sound good enough. But, here's the dig - we're all decent looking skinny guys in our thirties and... we are gigging musicians. We are going to suck up your booze so fast you'll think you were struck by alcoholic locusts. And then, we're going to outwardly and openly hit on every single upright piece of puzzy that dares enter the property. If they dance, they're getting a guitar between the thighs, at least. We're going to comment on their breasts, their butts, their dance moves, their honky tonk badonkadonk, etc., We'll try to coax them in to a back bathroom for a little oratory or in to the bedroom for a little stinky. If their fat boyfriends or husbands object, oh well. It's ladies choice - and it's doubtful we'll ever see these people again. Besides, we have to get something for our time - it's sex, drugs and rock and roll after all. One of us will find some over-served, already committed soccer mom who wants to relive her glory days in the back of our minivan... it happens at every show.

Or, you could just pay us a couple hundred bucks, get a professional sound system, a professional attitude and leave the police and attorneys out of it.

What time should we show up?

 

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

42 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Absolutely.  Especially those who are under 25 years old.🤣😎

 

Everyone, or just the guitar players?  🎸

[El Lobo]

The last time I was in a battle of the bands, it was 60 years ago. There were a lot of local bands. My band came in 1st place - but tied with my younger brother's band. I don't remember what the prize was. 

[JohnH]

Although this is misleadingly titled a "battle of the bands" as far as I understand there is no actual "battle" where you show up and each band plays. It's just submitting videos. So no, this is not a battle of the bands the way you are thinking. The OC register also mentions it: "The contest will take place online" So it's just her and her husband sitting there looking at videos submitted. I went on their FB and saw their post on this- there seems to be no shortage of suckers willing to do this and people tagging their friends. It's a ticket to nowhere, playing at the fairgrounds or at the dragstrip is not any kind of special thing or big deal. I saw a friend's tribute band there and there were just a few people watching last month, it's really nothing. If it was the Greek Theater or the Forum or whatever they call the US Festival location amphitheater now, I would get it, that would be some kind of bragging rights.   Ha and this- how ironic, since I think they are treating the musicians as slaves: Entry fee is $75 with proceeds benefiting the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation . You can't make this stuff up!

[El Lobo]

21 minutes ago, JohnH said:

Although this is misleadingly titled a "battle of the bands" as far as I understand there is no actual "battle" where you show up and each band plays. It's just submitting videos. So no, this is not a battle of the bands the way you are thinking. The OC register also mentions it: "The contest will take place online" So it's just her and her husband sitting there looking at videos submitted. ...
Ha and this- how ironic, since I think they are treating the musicians as slaves: Entry fee is $75 with proceeds benefiting the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation . You can't make this stuff up!

Good point. Not a battle of the bands. And you have to pay $75 for them to look at your video? It's even worse than I thought. I have a friend who likes to call me up to go for an In-And-Out burger. It's her favorite treat. I'm going to have a hard time with that the next time she calls.

 

And the article says "the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation, an organization set up by Snyder-Ellingson and her husband Sean Ellingson to combat human trafficking and addiction." How the feck does this org combat human trafficking? I won't even bother to look it up to find out what their programs are and how much of the donations go for "administration." The more I look at it, the more squirrelly it becomes. I don't think I want to support more grifters and exploiters.

[Docbop]

Most nonprofits are for profits in sheep's clothing.    Yes the basic business makes no profit and typically some small percentage of what they take in go to whatever cause they claim to support, but the bulk of the money that comes in goes to paying the higher management crazy high salaries and perks.  Add to that most bigger nonprofits part for profit business they muddy the line between them.  So the public buy from the business thinking they are helping the nonprofit but are just padding the pockets of the higher up again.    These thing go deeper and deeper as government investigations discover that swag and etc sold by the nonprofits are usually overpriced goods from small companies owned by friends and families of the main people behind the nonprofit.    The big nonprofits have many layers making lots of profits off the other layers.   

 

There are lot of nonprofits out there these days simply because there is a lot of money to be made being "nonprofit".   As the old saying goes follow the money.    

[Stokely]

Ah the old 'playing for exposure' or in this case 'paying for exposure'.

The bad thing about many of those multi-band things is the bands end up sounding like crap, so your exposure can be bad exposure.   My band's biggest gig ever was a city street party, huge sound system and a whole team running it--and my musician friends in the audience said it sounded absolutely terrible.  That isn't on us--we use the same exact rigs at every gig and know there's nothing wrong there, and we made sure we picked the tunes we were most solid on.

[CHarrell]

11 minutes ago, Stokely said:

Ah the old 'playing for exposure' or in this case 'paying for exposure'

 

One thing so many musicians must know is the difference between general and targeted exposure!

[Joe Muscara]

2 hours ago, surfergirl said:

We didn't understand why 20 year olds would want to play at a teen center.

 

 

"I've been out combing the high schools all day!"

[Joe Muscara]

2 hours ago, Moonglow said:

I'll Play For Free (But Someone Will Pay)

This is the funniest and best thing I've seen in a long, long time!