Hiring and paying KJ's

[dlessnau]

I use a laptop with Holster for my shows. However, I feel that if I want to hire a KJ to take my place for vacations or whatever, I would have him or her use my CDG's, rather than the laptop, as it would be far to easy for the KJ to copy my harddrive and get about $15,000 worth of CDG's for free. Plus the danger of losing or ruining the equipment.

My question is, how much is typical to pay a KJ who uses all my equipment on the job?

If I would get a KJ with his own equipment to cover for me, is it the custom to give them all the money from the job, or should I try to keep a percentage? It seems that in my area, which is SW Florida, most people that are playing at various clubs are only getting about $150.00 for four hours.

We are getting $50.00 per hour for our regular gigs. I have decided, that for less then that, I would rather stay home.

Dave