big city pay scale

[swillafew]

I have an offer to book 8 piece band for a winter parade (on a float). What's the rate you would expect to get for this? Population of city is 200,000.

[OldHorn]

Call it a TubaChristmas event and they will pay you $80.

[tofu]

You're in Aurora -so can I assume this is somewhere between Chicago and the far western burbs? The answer depends on a variety of factors. How long is the parade/how expensive is it going to be to park/time getting there/what is your bottom no go price/how flush is the town/your relationship with the town (does the city pay you for other gigs) etc. Parades are weird animals and when you throw in maybe having to deal with really cold/wet weather you may want to add in a hazard premium.

Drum and bugle corps are getting $5,000 to $6,000 around these parts for parades. About 10 of us do the Parade of Lights Xmas parade in the town next door to you gratis because we ride inside a heated trolley (paid for by a sponsor), the crowd is huge and really into it, it's a lot of fun, the town supports our much larger group to the tune of about 250K yearly, its very good PR and the parade raises funds for a really worthwhile charity.

My 5-6 piece jazz band would ask for $2000-2500 with a minimum bottom line of $1200 (if everybody really wanted to do it and it's an hour in and out type of deal) but we're all very well paid professionals at something else and not starving musicians -so we can afford to be choosey. Really flush deep pocket towns like Hinsdale will pay you really really well for parades and if they like you will ask you back again and again.

[swillafew]

Thanks for all that information. I have played for the city in better times and been paid pretty well. It has been hard times for musicians in the Chicago area lately.

[Steve Marcus]

It has been hard times for musicians in the Chicago area lately.

Trust Fund gigs in Chicago were fairly plentiful years ago. Now they rarely exist.

[EdFirth]

At the risk of over simplifying if it's three hours or less scale here in Orlando is 160.00. And unfortunately, most here would do it for less as the union is weak and doesn't encourage people to hold out for scale OR not work with non union players. In fact, the only ones who always get scale and get paid in a timely manner are at Disney. I'm not a big union guy but the Chicago local could give you a figure for there. I first got forced into the union in Joliet to play at a now defunct shopping mall/ amusement park called Old Chicago in 1975. Good luck with your parade. Ed

[Tom]

Drum and bugle corps are getting $5,000 to $6,000 around these parts for parades.

No kidding?!?!

Who is actually paying those prices? Cities? Corporate sponsors? Individual 'patrons?' of the arts?

I've never heard of payments for parades for those kinds of groups. Around here it's all high school bands, a college/university band every now and then, etc. I don't know of any of those sorts of groups getting paid to do it to the tune of $5-$6k though. Wow.