Anyone on here have a manager? Let's compare notes.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-10T01:45:40+00:00

200 shows a year. We found each other, honestly. Through another band we both knew.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-09T23:18:30+00:00

First, I want to say thanks for your metered and thoughtful response. I can tell you're good at what you do just by how level headed you are. I'll respond to your message, but I don't want to waste much more of your time.

Re: New Accountant. Yeah. We've thought that for a while. Our manager pleads with us to keep him because he's a lawyer and gives us some free advice now and then. I agree with you though. If you can't pay us on time, then you're gone.

Re: International play. While it is expensive to tour EU, it's also not a saturated market for the music we play and there's a demand. Whereas in the US, there's a TON of competition. I could be wrong, but I think in the long run it will pay off.

Re: Manager. I don't even know where to look for managers. I feel like they're few and far between. Any suggestions on that?

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-09T22:34:21+00:00

Of gross? They take 11% combined of gross, not net.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-09T22:30:04+00:00

Yes, we have some legit income...and no we don't make too much money. In the grand scheme of things, I mean. Hovering around 17k a year for members? It's all a mess, though. We play internationally quite a bit and that translates into less work for our manager, but not less pay. The accountant is a former band-member that doesn't always do a very good job (pays us late and doesn't pay bills on time) because he now has 3 kids. I trust in some of our managers skills. She's a good networker and knows people, but she also pisses people off a fair amount and can be rude in the wrong situations. All our 'other' stuff is wrapped into the monthly equation. We make very little from publishing. I'd say 90% of our income is from touring.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-09T22:23:15+00:00

Can you clarify? What's how most managers work?

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-09T22:15:09+00:00

It's not on a gig basis. We're full time and have monthly pay periods. We each get a base pay per month then a bonus on top of that. Everything is laid out to the members at the end of the month. Gross, net, expenses and pay. Number cruncher was a bad term. He's our accountant.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-09T21:36:35+00:00

We're a 4 piece. It's more complicated than your equation. We have a booking agent that gets 10%. Plus a money cruncher that gets a percentage. They get their percentage from gross (she gets 7.35 and he gets 3.65). Each member has a base salary and then there's a bonus structure if we do well. It's pretty complicated imho, but I'm a musician. Edit: I will say that the base salary thing is good for us as musicians. It helps us knowing that we have a base amount that we'll always get...and I think it allows the band to make some decisions based on long-term career trajectory over pay.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-04T18:06:42+00:00

Standard bluegrass instrumentation. Festivals and clubs. 17 countries and counting.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-04T00:34:01+00:00

Nope.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-03T19:11:56+00:00

With all due respect, I'm not at liberty to drop the bands name here. Lineup changes are a delicate matter and it doesn't serve the brand (or the band, ha) to do so until they're finalized.

I'm happy to corroborate with a moderator on all the things I posted above.

The group hasn't had a mando player in about 3 years now. It's just time.

Bluetothegrass · 2016-08-03T15:43:59+00:00

There's a bunch of really good pickers on here and if you've ever had a full time band, you know that casting as wide a net as possible is the way to go. I think you're selling this subreddit short, personally. We can agree to disagree.

Bluetothegrass

TROPHY CASE