What would your daily rate be?

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Ronen Kelman

Freshman
Apr 9, 2014
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I currently am running a show and would like to know how much would you charge for this gig. It's interesting to know what are the daily rates around the world.

So, what I do:
- It's a daily gig, and every day it's at a new location.
- Driving: I do the driving, from 30 min to 3 hours each direction, let's say about 1.5 hours on average which means 3 hours total every day.
- Setting up equipment: sound (L-R PA + 1 monitor, 5 wireless mics), lighting (19 par cans + 8 par leds, dimmers and patch), video (1 projector) and FOH (mixer, dvd player, laptop and all cables).
- And after all the above: running the show (sound, lighting and video), from 1 to 4 shows every day, 2 on average.
- Tearing it all down and driving back home.
- Average of 10 to 12 hours a day.

So, how much would your daily rate be? Or would you charge per show?
 
Re: What would your daily rate be?

Many factors involved here. What general area does this take place in? Who owns the gear? Personal vehicle or company vehicle? How long is this string of gigs expected to last for? Is this Monday-Friday? What's the pay system (W2 or 1099)? Any benefits (e.g. health insurance)?

There's a very good chance that neither a day rate nor a per-show fee are the right choice here, unless you are a company providing equipment and services to a client.
 
Re: What would your daily rate be?

Are you trying to estimate a bid on the entire show, or just for the labor portion of the show?

A show with sound, lighting and video I'd want to have a crew of more than 1 to handle the job, so that would have to be taken into consideration.

The standard IRS deduction for driving is .56 per mile. At 3 hours of travel average, estimate 60 mph, the mileage driven is about 180 miles. The cost for the vehicle would then be just over $100 (not including the operator driving it) When I bill this to the customer, I charge $1 per mile driven, so my charge to the customer is $180.

When I'm billing for my audio services, I bill in 3 time blocks. Half day, full day, or extended day. Half day covers up to 4 hours of time, full day covers up to 8, and extended day covers up to 12 hours. Any event requiring overnight stay is billed as an extended day. The rates for the time are $225, 400, and $600. So in your case, the average being 10-12 hours, that puts us into extended day rate. Driving time does count as work time.

So, if I were to do this job for the customer, with just me and no equipment, I'd be looking at billing $780 per show. However, as I stated, I wouldn't want this size of show with just one man, so you'd be looking at $1380 for a 2 man crew for a one off show.

Now, those are the rates I have for one offs. When I'm working with a client that wants to do multiple jobs, I can have some flexibility in the rates. If this were a longer term 4-5 day a week job, monday-friday, and it could be handled by one person, I could see the rate being around $500 per show as reasonable.

If hired by the company as an employee, you could expect to be paid anywhere from $15-40 per hour. With an average of 12 hours per show, that comes to $180-480 per show, plus $100 for mileage reimbursement. They also would then have the added costs of taxes, insurance, unemployment, etc, to pay. Keep that in mind when quoting any jobs.
 
Re: What would your daily rate be?

Justice C. Bigler said:
I'd charge about $800 per day for just the labor.
Click to expand...
For 12 hours, that would be $66.6 per hour, the "mark of the beast" ;^).
Although some (few) can get that much hourly, there are still plenty of people doing gigs like Ronen describes for $10 per hour.

The rate for equipment and transport could easily vary by similar percentages. From price quotes for a system similar to the OP, operator(s) and transport I have seen a range in the USA from around $400 to $3000, depending on location.
 
Re: What would your daily rate be?

Art Welter said:
For 12 hours, that would be $66.6 per hour, the "mark of the beast" ;^).
Although some (few) can get that much hourly, there are still plenty of people doing gigs like Ronen describes for $10 per hour.

The rate for equipment and transport could easily vary by similar percentages. From price quotes for a system similar to the OP, operator(s) and transport I have seen a range in the USA from around $400 to $3000, depending on location.
Click to expand...

I can attest to his 10 hourly thing. I just did one like that a few weeks ago, but then again I am an hourly employee for the company, granted without too many benefits.
 
Re: What would your daily rate be?

Justice C. Bigler said:
I'd charge about $800 per day for just the labor.
Click to expand...

Most people are reticent to get specific WRT to pay, but... As a freelancer I charge 600 a day for a ten hour maximum with OT beyond that. So a twelve hour day would be 780. That buys you me with a sharpie and maybe my tool bag. I don't care what you have me do. I'm not above driving, or lights, or whatever. But I make the same regardless. Most people have me stick to audio. They also tend to send me home before OT kicks in.

Some long term clients get a price break, but they've usually earned it

All expenses are extra including travel, miles, extra gear, lodging, etc. For out of town gigs Per Diem is usually also charged.


FWIW, I'm in the DC Metro area with over 20 years experience and I specialize in corporate work.

(Any potential clients please note that rates are subject to change in the future :). )
 
Re: What would your daily rate be?

Art Welter said:
For 12 hours, that would be $66.6 per hour, the "mark of the beast" ;^).
Although some (few) can get that much hourly, there are still plenty of people doing gigs like Ronen describes for $10 per hour.

The rate for equipment and transport could easily vary by similar percentages. From price quotes for a system similar to the OP, operator(s) and transport I have seen a range in the USA from around $400 to $3000, depending on location.
Click to expand...
Gotta remember, also, he's doing three jobs for the price of one here. That means a bump for each additional job.
 
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