State of the Industry 1/2011

Re: State of the Industry 1/2011

I am a smaller provider in a smaller market (outside seattle), its OK but pretty rough. Charity auction work is way down, projector subrentals are way down, and ''concerts in the park'' have disapeared entirly or way way reduced.



I had to get leaner last year, and had to do more gigs myself.

The bright side is dry hire rentals are up.

I am really looking hard @ my inventory and what changes need to be made and how to do them without Killing my budget.



There are no more local ''punk Rawk'' shows, since a permenent venue went in, the kids dont want to work that hard anymore.



We have grossed less money for the last 2 years yet out profitability is up.



And the anklebiters are in full force.
 
Re: State of the Industry 1/2011

I feel very fortunate to be in such a small niche of sound persons who do what I do. And even more fortunate that I've earned the trust of some pretty big players who like to keep me employed and available for their projects. Even with all of those things on my side, it is starting to get a little scary in my corner of the industry.



There are a ton of touring musical theater shows right now. Unfortunately, not very many of them pay very well. The only upside is that almost all of these tours are IATSE staffed so there is at least a floor to how little the new guys can agree to. The days of $2500/wk + per diem are pretty much gone. Tours like mine are still paying well above the minimum but there are a lot of shows out with guys making $800-$900/wk. On the non-union shows without IATSE minimums I'm sure there would be guys lining up to take the gig at $500/wk. The new guys don't seem to understand that we are an ''above scale'' industry and that they are allowed to negotiate for more money. This makes producers very happy but it makes it more difficult each time I go to sign a new contract.



It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. Good luck in the search, Mike.

 
Re: State of the Industry 1/2011

As a regional live and installation company 2010 was our biggest year to date. More shows than ever and our biggest install year ever. Better still 2011 looks even better!



We did write a ton of install bids, a couple didn't go through but most are still outstanding, mainly because we've worked with a lot of churches. We've got about 90% through December 2011 but they all took months to actually happen. I'm hoping that a bunch that we put in in December and this month will be coming through soon. I figure that if we get a steady flow of bids going out and now older ones accepted by the time we get the new ones we'll be just wrapping up on the older ones. As Caleb said there really seems to be a lot of pent up demand.



It's all been a great learning experience though and I figure now, while I'm in my 20's, is definitely the time to be with a young company and hopefully as I get older and have less energy things will be nice and big to the point where I have some breathing room.



So yeah, definitely looking like it's going to be a great year!
 
Re: State of the Industry 1/2011

I think some of what Jake is seeing in theater is push back from the glory days of the big contracts. The pendulum has swung way back but it should steady out. It's not going to be the big bucks that it once was but I don't expect it to bottom. I do think the low end truck and bus will grow with non IA crews. As for the rates, the touring themed entertainment guys, Feld, etc have been working at those low rates for years.



 
Re: State of the Industry 1/2011

As I freelance in many different fields, I don't really see a general change. Just business as usual, clients try to cut on budgets, freelancers and rental companies try to raise budgets. Sometimes it turns to the left, sometimes to the right.



The touring sector, however, took a few hits. The biggest one: tours are not sponsored by the record companies as a promotion to sell records anymore but have to make money on their own.



The corporate sector took a big hit at 9/11, most companies did cut down significantly on in-house events, stock holders events etc.



After all, it's a market and it's showbiz, with its glamour. That is not driving freelancer's value up.
 
Re: State of the Industry 1/2011

Hello Mike,

I have found its a great time to be a bottom feeder.

Seriously.



Over the last decade it has become harder and harder to make any money here in the large format sound board market.



So I have gotten smaller and smaller. One benchmark I have is a series I used to do. I got underbid. So I started bidding lower and lower to see where it was coming in. Last time I bid $1135/day on a 48x48/12mix line array gig. Load in ~9:AM load out 10:30PMish.

Didn't get it.



My usual set up is a full range system (IE, no haystack subs), one rack with everything in it, pulled in a trailer behind my Saab. It is a lot easier to make return on this size system, and we bid labor at the going rate. No way I could make/pay the same hourly wage on the forementioned show.



I also have a trailer stage that I built in 2008. So this has been helping out. It is very small, also pulls behind the Saab.



The only dip I have encountered is in the company party market.

Even if they have the cash, they are not showing it right now.



Regards, Jack
 
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