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

[nreel]

What a dilemma, huh!

I know - I usually have a family member do my shows for me, and, in the beginning, I just let them have all the money and the use of my vehicle and equipment. But, I think $25 an hour would be fair.

When family members were not available, I have been known to hire a local KJ, which I could trust (yeah right), to do a show or two for me. This kind of worked out better with respect to fewer headaches. You will not have to worry about your equipment coming up missing or broke because the substitute KJ has a COMPLETE system.

Norm