I received a message from a CPB reader considering staff accompanist position that would involve playing for an chorus at a university. The salaried renumeration from the university only includes rehearsals. The pianist would be responsible for invoicing the university for the performances, both on and off campus.The question is this: what amount should the pianist invoice for performances, both in town and out of town? Leave your comments below.
$50 for each rehearsal/performance/audition session + fuel reimbursement.
ReplyDelete$50 per session? Or $50 per hour for each session? $50 per session seems awfully low, especially if there is a drive involved.
DeleteI suggest two to three times the hourly rehearsal rate, with additional fees for travel.
ReplyDeleteEileen, I agree.
DeleteI generally charge a flat fee for choir concerts, which, assuming a max 2-hour concert for which there is no rehearsal immediately beforehand, works out to roughly 3 times my regular hourly fee. I don't charge extra for short (ie 15 mins or less) soundcheck, but if there is actual rehearsal involved before the concert, or if the call time is very early or there is a lot of waiting around, I charge for that at my regular hourly rate.
ReplyDeleteI set my current flat fee based on two things : 1- asking what other pianists in my city providing the same service were charging, as this can vary widely from city to city, and 2 - checking what union/guild rates were for this type of service, even though I am not a member. I have never had a problem with getting paid the amount of my flat fee - except - in a *school* setting. There, I had to get a bit creative and just bill them for a whole bunch of hours that worked out to more or less what I wanted to take away, even though the concert was only 2 hours long, because the administrators in charge of paying me refused to believe that my services for 2 measly hours could be worth *so much money*... (shakes head)
And, yes, you should absolutely charge for travel. Again, you could use union/guild rates as guidelines.
Thanks for the comment, Anonymous. How much do you think is an appropriate amount to charge per mile/kilometre for travel?
ReplyDeleteThere's a standard mileage rate in the U.S. and some other places. I don't know how that compares to what unions say.
DeleteIn the U.S., the federally approved mileage rate in 2012 is 55.5 cents per mile for business miles driven. That covers the cost of operating the vehicle only. The pianist should also charge for the time spent traveling.
Deletehttp://www.irs.gov/uac/IRS-Announces-2012-Standard-Mileage-Rates,-Most-Rates-Are-the-Same-as-in-July