How much money are you making as a KJ?

[cidvalue]

Hi all,

I'm curious as to how much all of you are charging per show as KJs in order to determine if I'm charging too little or too much.

Let me explain my situation: Right now I'm charging $200 dollars for a set of 5 hours. This usually includes both KJ and some DJ work (when people are getting ready to sing or I don't have enough singers, I end up being a DJ)

I also charge $300 dollars for private parties (usually at a customers home), and although these end up being about 7 hrs long, I do get free food and drinks.

How does this sound to all of you? Some people tell me I'm charging too little. Mind you, I live in Florida. Miami to be exact.

And another question that I have for those of you who have several employees running your shows, how much do you pay them and still make a profit? Someone told me to charge customers $200 bucks, and then give my employees $150 and keep $50 per show. However they are using my equipment and songs.

As you all know, this is quite an investment, and I've been doing the math and at $50 bucks per show... it would still take me many years to get to a break even point before I see some profit from each employee's shows.

So either I'm charging too little, or there is something that I'm missing... can anyone who is already successful at doing this as a KJ chip in their 2 cents on how they make a profit? Or is my KJing doomed to be a one man show business?

Thanks!

[marklwood]

I can't tell you about your club gigs because I own the club.
As far as partys go, If I book the gig, I give them 30% of the price. If they book the gig, I give them 50%. That makes it a lot more attractive for them to promote and book gigs on their own.

As far as pricing, I base that on the size of the show.

A full show with lights, stadium quality sound gear, & full monitor setup starts at $500 for 4 hours and $100 per hour after that. If it is a small party at their house, I only take a minimum of equipment, use their TV and stereo, run off a laptop, single mic, small unpowered DJ mixer and one mic. I will do this for $150 for 4 hours. If more equipment is needed, the price goes up accordingly. I have even thought of using my old JB-99 and just renting the machine for $100 and let them run it themselves.

Edit: If you don't know what a JB-99 is, it's a piece of crap I wasted a lot of $$ on before I discovered Hoster.

[Skybird74]

Location & Venue is the Key! It also depends on whether you are working in a public environment or in a private club! Sometimes you have no control over the price if you want to work. Many clubs all charge the same price for all their entertainment (whether someone singing with their guitar or keyboard or doing karaoke). They also tell you how many hours they want & sometimes will not allow you to work more than the scheduled time. I have been doing this for almost 15 years now on the West Coast of Florida and each area has an amount they can afford. Miami is a large city & surely can afford more than Pasco County which is primarily country with a lower income population. So pricing is "relative". The going rate on the West Coast averages $50/hour. Some places include dinner & drinks, while others do not. Private parties are always more because they are "occasional", rather than "weekly" or "steady".

As for employees, that depends on what you personally want from your business. I do this because I truly enjoy it. I would not even consider allowing someone else to run "my Show" with "my equpment". Everyone runs their Shows differently due to their own personality. If you just want to make money while someone else does the Show, then I still would get more than you are - afterall, it's your money that is invested & your time to keep everything running! All they have to do is show up & run the Show - the fun part!!!!!