Dave Horne Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 I played a retirement party almost a month ago. I submitted a bill that asks to be paid within two weeks. I spent about 30 minutes today contacting the hotel where I played to see if they had any problems getting paid from that job and they still hadn't been paid. I wound up getting the address for the head office of the accounting firm I played for and submitted yet another bill. The lesson I'm learning is this - give them two weeks to pay and then in bold type indicate that a late payment incurs extra costs. I know I will be paid but it seem sometimes that those with the most money take the longest time to pay. If I go a restaurant and order a meal, I either pay cash or charge. The restaurant gets its money immediately after I finish. Why does anyone have to wait so long to get paid? Sorry ... had to rant. No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message. In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Sorry to hear about that. 95% of the time, my band gets a 50% deposit up front, typically months before the gig happens and then we require the remaining balance the day of the gig. This is spelled out in the contract and it has not failed us, other than a couple of times when there is an agent as the middleman and we wait maybe a week to get the final payment. You may want to consider a different contract in which you can get some payment up front and require the balance at the gig. Regards, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 The problem here is, once you have played the gig the value of your services has decreased, almost to zero. If they don't pay you, it's not like you can come and take your performance back!! And legal recourse can be expensive and time consuming enough that it is not worth it. I am in a service-oriented field, and I have found that the only way to get paid and avoid all the billing hassles is to demand payment up front. 50% down and 50% immediately prior to the gig seems like an excellent way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guestuserguestuser.com Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Yeah, dammit, I haven't been getting any... wait... is this... oh, getting PAID! ... Never mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pierce Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Late fees can be effectively, but the connotation is negative for the client. A good way to accomplish the same thing is to offer a "discount" for timely payment. Of course, your fee will be slightly higher so that the discount is what you really want. --Dave Make my funk the P-funk. I wants to get funked up. My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pim Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 Dave, call the hotel and tell them they have to pay within two days or otherwise you will hand it over to an "incassoburo". This works. Always. Sorry for the Dutch, but I guess Dave understands it... My Music I always wondered what happened after the fade out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Horne Posted November 5, 2003 Author Share Posted November 5, 2003 Originally posted by Pim: Dave, call the hotel and tell them they have to pay within two days or otherwise you will hand it over to an "incassoburo". This works. Always. Sorry for the Dutch, but I guess Dave understands it...Pim, the job was given to me from the hotel, but I booked it myself. I'm friends with the folks at the hotel and just wanted to know if they had the same problem I had. I'm not so concerned about the payment as it comes from a well known accounting company. I'm just pissed that I have to waste my time when I am always prompt with my payments. No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message. In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasher Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 True story from my early years playing the "chitlin' circuit" as the white boy organist with Spider Martin: We frequently would come up against club owners who refused to pay at the end of the gig. The bandleader was prepared - he would say to us, "OK. guys, it's time to 'walk the bar.' The drummer would go behind the bar, where the rows of liquor bottles sat, stick his arm out to scoop them up, and 'walk the bar', spilling and breaking booze bottles on the floor as he went. Two people, usually the bandleader and the singer, both pretty strong dudes, would follw the club owner as he went to the office to get either a) the money, or b) the gun. If he got the money, (usually) we called off the barwalker, took the money and left-we would never play there again anyway. If he went for the gun, (happened twice) both of our guys pulled their own handguns and convinced him to open the safe and pay us. My job was to be the driver, out in front with the Caddie and trailer, to get the heck out of Dodge if something went really wrong-fortunaley it never did... The only time this failed was when the owner had already taken all the cash out of the building before we were packed (moving a B3 is NOT quick.) We wound up with a couple cases of booze (and a hell of a hangover the next day!) Today, we have contracts, and Small Claims... Dasher It's all about the music. Really. I just keep telling myself that... The Soundsmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fortner Posted November 6, 2003 Share Posted November 6, 2003 We too have a 50% deposit up front, and fine print affirming our right to go to a collections agency, etc. As we play a lot of events, we took our business model fron other event vendors: caterers, florists, lighting contractors. Some people do seem to have a lack of respect for musicians: they'll play the shell game with the band as to where the money is, but wouldn't dream of doing that to the venue, caterer, etc. Definitely get a contract. and make sure it's signed by the same person who's authorized to sign the check. We once worked for a very well-known non-profit, and because of this, took the event co-ordinator at her word that the treasuerer (who had the checkbook) had left for the evening due to illness. She cheerfully gave us the phone number of said treasurer, who proceeded to hide behind voice mail for the next three weeks. Finally, a personal visit to their office, complete with walking by a receptionist who was saying "You can't just go in there," yielded the truth: There was a "miscommuication" and the event co-ordinator had overstepped her fiscal authority in negotiating our deal, and for this reason they tried to say the contract was null and void. One letter on law office stationery explaining to them that precedent was on our side got them to cough up, but man, what an uncomfortable situation we would have all preferred not to deal with. Dasher, your anecdote reminds me of that scene in Buckaroo Banzai where all the members of the band (actually Billy Vera and the Beaters in that film, I believe) are armed onstage with Uzis and the like. Doesn't George Thorogood have a song called "Where The Hell's My Money?" about the same problem? It does seem there were once rowdier times in real life. In any place I've played though. no matter how much we've been tempted to get a little Samuel L. Jackson on some scumbag club owner, even a hint at physical intimidation would have likely resulted in unwelcome interactions with law enforcement and the court system. Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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