What do you pay roadies?

[brianmole 0]

I am doing a marquee tomorrow, still have no roadie sorted - d'oh! It just made me think how much you pay your roadies, and what you expect out of them....

 

I generally pay about £40 to £80 depending on timing, if they drive with a load (extra speakers) etc...

[jackwabbit 0]

I’m roadieing for the wrong person, I don’t get paid & I still have to get the drinks. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/huh.gif

Mind you it is for my son & it does get me out of the house. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Come to think of it my wife says I’m never in the house. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

And she reads this forum all the time. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/scared.gif

 

[ChrisPointon 0]

I have a constant flow of trainee D.J's. They help out in return for learning the business. When I see how much some of the DJ Courses cost, just for a few weeks playing about with a set of decks, then I think that this is a fair trade for 1-1 tuition on all aspects of the industry including repairs, maintainance etc. I do pay their expenses and supply refreshments and if they are still helping out at Xmas they get a nice little DJ related Present to help kick start their D.J'ing career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BigBen 0]

My roadies get 25% of the takings, but they do 50% of the work!

 

By the way, the award for best use of smilies goes to Jackwabbit.

[YourBigEvent 0]

Do you want a roadie ?

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

depends on the night and how hard the load is but anything between £25 and £40

 

[The Spindoctor 0]

I'm with Chris on this one............. I pay my roadie nothing!

 

He's been with me ten years since the age of 15, has no desire to set up on his own, still insists on paying his way drink wise (although I don't expect him to) and at Christmas and birthday's he gets a very expensive present.

 

Worth his weight in Gold, the only time he will 'take' from my living is if we get tipped which is his, the better the show the more he earns in tip!

 

Just my 4d worth

 

Spin

[YourBigEvent 0]

Spin, no money and he has 145 light boxes to carry in at every gig http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fear.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

[ChrisPointon 0]

I often hear the words muttered "You can't expect people to work for nothing" and to some extent this is very true, however as I mentioned above, I see organised DJ Courses being advertised which offer 4 weeks basic tuition for as much as £300 http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/scared.gif . Now whilst I don't dispute that there is a place for workshops (I am involved in one myself), I do believe that a hands on approach to D.J'ing at an actual gig has more value to a Novice Mobile D.J than a few weeks in a college as part of a group of people.

 

Given that trainees stay with our Roadshow from anywhere between a few months to a few years if you do the math, that is a hell of a lot of money saved compared to a course or workshop where they would be paying for basic tuition.

 

 

 

 

[BigBen 0]

I guess the reason I give my roadies money is because they are usually late 20's/early 30's and I ask them to help me.

 

If a newbie offered their services in return for training then I probably wouldn't offer them any payment.

 

I like having 'company' at gigs but, thanks to this board and my growing confidence, I spend a fair bit of time in the audience. This has resulted in me doing the last dozen gigs by myself, so I don't even use a roadie!!

[C.S 0]

I give mine free sex http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

In the days when Iused to have a roadie, heused to get about £40 per gig, plus fuel costs.

 

In my rather weird and wonderful circumstances, being a blind person, it's essential to have someone with me at functions, for obvious reasons. However, now I choose not to have a dedicated roadie, rather I have a DJ with me and we share the workload. It works very well.

 

Darren

[YourBigEvent 0]

I do it for free sex http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Dukesy 0]

Depending on the gig requirements - £50 per roadie.

[C.S 0]

You are hired andy!

Edited July 3, 2004 by C.S

[YourBigEvent 0]

£50 around here is nearly 50% so it would be better to talk percentages rather than money.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

I am going to need a second roadie for December. would be nice to get a Free one if any one wants the job !

[Digital discos 0]

where you based? I will be happy to come along the odd time if your near ****

 

Admin Edit, Please read the safety rules regarding the posting of location or contact information for members under the age of 16. This is the 2nd time you've been warned about this. If you want to help an older DJ, I suggest you talk this over with your parents and ask them to be responsible for finding somebody local with whom they are happy for you to accompany, rather then posting publically and trying to make contact or arrange meetings over the internet. It's always a good idea never to give out personal information online and be careful around anybody asking you for this sort of info.

Edited July 6, 2004 by Chris_Pointon

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

Yes the man is right, anything could happen on a night out in london who knows what sort of woman could be trying to get you to come home with her after a drunken office party.

 

but on a serious note im happy to bring an extra roadie but things have to be arranged through the correct channels as we dont want to upset any one.

 

If any one is thinking of taking any job on no matter who they are its best to check out who your dealing with first!

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

but on a serious note im happy to bring an extra roadie but things have to be arranged through the correct channels as we dont want to upset any one.

 

Given DD's age I think it goes without saying that you should contact and speak to his parents, before discussing the matter further, if your post above is in any way an acceptance of his offer to accompany and help you.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

although i know the young mans offer of help is genuine. sadly anyone wishing to come along would have to be over 18 and also able to drive .

 

maybe ill have to get married seems like the only way to find a roady these days.

[YourBigEvent 0]

Then wait 16 years whilst your son grows up, costing about £25,000 per year for school fees, meals, pocket money, etc, far cheaper to hire me on £12,500 p.a, I will work harder, have experience, can drive and you will save 50%.

 

When can I start ?

[DJshaggy 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/laugh.gif hahaha. Nice one Andy

[Daz35 0]

I tend to agree with Chris.

 

Over the years I've trained many roadies who have then gone on to DJ for me, and when they were training didn't pay them, but did pay for refreshments.

 

However most, but not all, went on to earn decent money from me once they were cabaple enough of holding their own (ooh er missus!)

 

I've been Djing for 20 years this year, 15 years professionally, and to manage a living from this game I certainly couldn't afford to pay a roadie £50 a night as some people have mentioned.

 

Out of interest, you chaps paying this much for a roadie, are you full-time or part-time?

 

This to me would seem to make the difference on how much you could afford to pay.

 

After reading the thread on charges and prices, surely most of us out there couldn't afford this sort of price, unless you are gigging 4 or 5 times a week at full price functions. (rather than regular pubs, clubs and residencies).

 

I suppose if you take massive shows that take 3 or 4 hours to set up then you would charge accordingly and price in roadie costs, but for an average wedding or party, I personally couldn't see it as being viable.

 

Again, I suppose it depends on what you are charging the client, but that's another thread............

 

Anyway, in most of my regular venues I know the staff very well and would normally be given a hand in with my gear, so I suppose I'm fairly lucky!

 

I turn up to gigs and they must feel sorry for this 'old geezer' (35!) huffing and puffing, moving gear about!

 

Why didn't I find this forum years ago, it's great to talk about some of these issues with people who (possibly) know what I'm wittering on about!

 

My wife is safe from all DJ issues at last.......! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/beer.gif

 

Darren

[brianmole 0]

Well, saturday I ended up with 2 roadies, one free, the other got £40. I DJ part time, the gig was worth £275. On another point, I have been DJing very succesfully for about 22 years. 2 years ago, I went on a DJ training course at ACM in Guildford. It cost £250, I got 10 x 2 hour weekly lessons, and it did me a huge amount of good in terms of mixing skills, etc... Not much use for the average mobile DJ, but I have done quite a few club nights and residencies as a result. This was £250 well spent.