On musicians and dancers I charge $300 each and pay them $150. Adding a live drummer works well on weddings but you have to have a drummer who can play to a track. You'd be amazed at how few actually can.
Check out Marcello's promo vid
- Thread starter rickryan.com
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On musicians and dancers I charge $300 each and pay them $150. Adding a live drummer works well on weddings but you have to have a drummer who can play to a track. You'd be amazed at how few actually can.
I've been there and done it. I know what it costs and what's involved, right down to the last feather boa.
Frankly, it's none of your business who I am, nor do I care about your validation needs.
Disagree and then move one.
I think you're fantasizing a bit, and buying into an image - both on the business and the lifestyle. There's nothing unusual about the Caribbean, it's not that expensive to live there. Let's not confuse pretax $100k or a time share with keeping up with the Kardashians.
I'm not describing your 20 gig per year DJ or GC. Some of the local houses in this area do up to 300 Bar Mitzvahs a year. That's not done simply by subcontracting other vendors - especially in a world where all of these vendors can be readily booked directly. It requires in house control of a proprietary entertainment model and a core of employees trained for and exclusive to your model. It's an expensive proposition but, longer lasting and far more stable than trying to one-off $5k 20 times a year.
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Fair enough - the percussionist in that video has only a set of congas, a set of bongos and maybe some wind chimes. Is he a $600 percussionist? Probably not. Could you hire a better and more expensive one? Sure. John Donovan seems to do well with NY/NJ Mitzvahs, but he'll only let you take a 30% slice of the pie. Starting wholesale price: $600.
There are plenty of companies doing tons of events, and there are plenty of other companies supplying the stuff to make them happen. I can tell you for a fact that Marcello is not doing 100-300 Mitzvahs per year. He doesn't want to, and doesn't have to.
I could care less about the Caribbean, or Marcello's lifestyle. I consider him a friend, but he's a totally different animal and one of the most regimented people I've ever met. Would I enjoy a lifestyle and career that affords me three months in Costa Rica each year? You betcha, but I'm sure there are tradeoffs. Quite honestly, I like my year-round life here in New England.
I read your posts and think that A- this person has been around. They seem to have the wording to suggest that they have been in the biz and COULD be someone who's insight I could value... but then there is B- why hide who you are? If you are willing to sit here and spout your thoughts, why not back them up with some honesty? Personally I like networking with other DJs and the ones who have "been there, done that" are some of my closest friends. So come out of the closet and let us know who you are. Why not?
Everyone's idea is different but I find the notion of living in the Caribbean, 3 months out of the year, very unusual and quite exotic. Heck, even if I could just afford to take 3 months off I'd find that pretty exotic.
Bob's not hard to find .. a little Google of "proformance" and "dj" and he is right on top.
All my googles keep coming back with stuff about cross-dressing and women's under-garments.
Wow...you two need to meet in some dank bar and just hash this out like men.
Ohhh.... I know...have Macho Man find the proper venue, promote it, sell the tickets, MC it AND play the theme music!
Maybe he could finally make a decent buck offa this!
I take what people say as their income or specialty or such witha BIG grain of sale. Like a 10lb block of it.
I've attended numerous PPA (pro photogs of america) schools, conventions, etc and the key note speaker, whose been in all the magazines this year as as a 'wedding rockstar' and talks about his weddings, etc - get him in the hospitality room and 1/2 drunk and you find out he does 3-4 weddings a year the the 'big one' just randomly fell into his lap - his real money is made from the 30 schools his company shoots pictures for.
or the 'rockstar' photog is married to a CFO of some company so his 5 weddings a year mean nothing, income wise, to him. If had to earn a living at it he's soon starve.
Now all these folks are good at one thing - self promotion. And they do have talent in their field.
no doubt marcello is a great MC - but $7k isn't likley a common job (so he does 10 a year? And after paying all those folks makes what? Not enough to live on).
I've seen it all too often with photography - you get $2k for a senior (or $5k for a wedding) to my $700 senior (1500 wedding) but you do 3 times the work...so in the end you're not any better off than me, but you can brag about it more.
One big name photog is on tour 40 weeks a year...there's no way she's making th emoney for her business of 6 employees (the count i see in the video tour of her studio).
And if you are that big then handholding the client isn't YOUR job - you have someone for that. If you have to do the work, the marketing, bookeeping, etc AND the handholding you've not got the time to do tons of gigs and promotional stuff.
What do you think the cost of that 1:28 of video was? I'd love to have something like that but I can't do it (while working the event( so I'm gonna have to 'have a friend' or pay $500-1500 for it (to get a 30 sec commerical done here is $800-1000)
I've attended numerous PPA (pro photogs of america) schools, conventions, etc and the key note speaker, whose been in all the magazines this year as as a 'wedding rockstar' and talks about his weddings, etc - get him in the hospitality room and 1/2 drunk and you find out he does 3-4 weddings a year the the 'big one' just randomly fell into his lap - his real money is made from the 30 schools his company shoots pictures for.
or the 'rockstar' photog is married to a CFO of some company so his 5 weddings a year mean nothing, income wise, to him. If had to earn a living at it he's soon starve.
Now all these folks are good at one thing - self promotion. And they do have talent in their field.
no doubt marcello is a great MC - but $7k isn't likley a common job (so he does 10 a year? And after paying all those folks makes what? Not enough to live on).
I've seen it all too often with photography - you get $2k for a senior (or $5k for a wedding) to my $700 senior (1500 wedding) but you do 3 times the work...so in the end you're not any better off than me, but you can brag about it more.
One big name photog is on tour 40 weeks a year...there's no way she's making th emoney for her business of 6 employees (the count i see in the video tour of her studio).
And if you are that big then handholding the client isn't YOUR job - you have someone for that. If you have to do the work, the marketing, bookeeping, etc AND the handholding you've not got the time to do tons of gigs and promotional stuff.
What do you think the cost of that 1:28 of video was? I'd love to have something like that but I can't do it (while working the event( so I'm gonna have to 'have a friend' or pay $500-1500 for it (to get a 30 sec commerical done here is $800-1000)
I think in the greater NYC area, there are PLENTY of Mitzvahs year round .. and if you are THE go-to guy, as Marcello appears to be (at least one of them) .. I see no reason to doubt the numbers.
As mentioned, many Mitzvahs are simply about IMAGE.
As mentioned, many Mitzvahs are simply about IMAGE.
Somebody said earlier in this thread that he probably makes $1k after expenses, and puts another $1k back into the company. I suggested that $5k to $7k is probably a better after-expenses estimate, but after further consideration, I wouldn't be surprised if it's an even higher amount. When you're in the right social circles and have connected with some well-to-do clients and rock their parties, the cost to them doesn't matter. Who does a better, more polished job emceeing a Mitzvah? Probably nobody. In New Jersey you could hire Ultrax, Ultimate Sounds, Golden Note, Elite, Rock-It, or one of hundreds of other companies - they're all very good companies providing very good service for lots of people. Marcello caters to a smaller segment of the market that demands nothing but the finest and is willing to spend whatever it takes to make it happen. As Steve mentioned, it's all about image:
This thread is enlightening, if only because it shows that some people don't believe that Mitzvah entertainment like you see in that video can actually run into the tens of thousands of dollars, and that one very skilled emcee can live a comfortable lifestyle without taking on hundreds of events.
I went to a batmitzvah about 17 years ago for my dentist's daughter .. I know they spent close to $60K on the Titanic themed party (my wife did the wife's books and my cousin worked for him). And that was here in the New Haven, CT area .. a step down from NYC. It's a right of passage for the kid, but it's a competition for the parents. My wife is Jewish and I've been to family ones (more low keyed), but even some of those rivaled weddings. I know one of my nieces had dancers, a game room for the boys, multiple personalized presents for the kids, etc. Had to be close to $10K.
Some 'club' VJ's make 5k (or more) per show and they go on 'tour' to various locations. 5K .. and all they bring is themselves and their pre-practiced pre-made sets. Minimal equipment. No speakers, no amps, none of the big stuff.
DC has had some large Mitzvah's as well. They rent out facilities (entire restaurants) and the kids have run of their 'area'. I personally witnessed kids ripping apart a chandelier in one particular venue and using the glass beads to throw at each other or kick on the floor. When the parents were made aware, they did nothing to calm these children down.
That was a small Mitzvah. It only goes up (in price and space) from there.