Self-management for musicians

Nobody hands a freelance bassist a manager. The booking, the invoicing, the tax mess every spring, all of it lands on you, and most players learn it the slow way. You trained for the playing, but that turns out to be the smaller half of the work. Everything that pays the rent comes from the other half, the part no conservatory teaches.

Where the work comes from

The work comes through people who already know you can play. A contractor needs a bass for Saturday, so he calls whoever he trusts to turn up sober, on time, in black, with the right book. Contractors all talk to each other. You climb onto that short list over years of small favors, and one cancelled booking can knock you off it. I watched a solid player vanish from every call sheet in town after he dropped a confirmed wedding for a better offer.

A fast yes matters more than people expect. The contractor who calls at nine for a noon downbeat will not wait while you check your week and ring him back. Either your calendar is clean enough to answer on the spot, or the date goes to the next player on his list. If you have to say no, give him a name. Any sub you send carries your judgment, so pass along players you would book yourself.

The bass world is small, and it survives on favors that cross oceans. Two players who have never met will lend each other an instrument across a strange city. The alternative is paying a fortune to fly your own bass, or arriving with nothing to play. Treat that network the way you treat your own name, since they amount to the same thing in the end. Return a borrowed bass in better tune than you got it, and the loan turns into a reference.

What to charge

Most new players give their money away on pricing. Union scale sets a floor for orchestral and recording dates, and your local can quote it, so never agree to less without a hard reason. You price casual gigs by the service or by the day. The rate goes up with the drive and the dress code, and a midnight finish an hour away costs more again. Move a bass, and you have a second cost most price lists ignore. You pay for a bigger car and more fuel than the guitarist beside you, plus a load-in that takes twice as long. Build all of it into your fee before you quote, because the client will never offer to cover cartage after the date.

Invoices and payment

Money is the part that separates the working players from the hobbyists. A booking happens on a handshake, but the client will not pay until an invoice reaches him. Hand it over on the day you play, or email it that evening while the music is fresh. Late checks are rarely a personal matter. They usually mean your invoice is buried on somebody’s desk, and a polite reminder a week later brings it back up the pile.

Weddings and private clients are the exception. There you want a deposit before the bass even leaves the house. Half the fee up front covers you the day a host cancels with two days’ notice. The invoice itself stays short, with the date you played, the fee you agreed, your name, and where the check should go. Net 30 is a fair term to print on it, and most orchestras and contractors will pay close to that without being chased.

Taxes

Nobody withholds tax from a casual paycheck, so the full amount lands in your account and the government still expects its cut every April. The trick is to set aside a quarter of each check the day it clears, which turns tax season into a non-event. Players who pull serious income from music owe estimated tax four times a year. An accountant who knows the field will tell you where that threshold lands for you.

Receipts are the other half of the job. A freelance career is built out of small deductions, and they pile up faster than most players expect.

• Strings, rosin, and rehairs. The consumables you replace all year.
• Cartage and mileage. Every mile you drive to a paying date.
• Lessons and coaching. Study that keeps you employable.
• A share of the instrument. Depreciation on the bass and bow.
• Recordings and sheet music. Whatever the work requires you to own.

A good accountant returns more than the fee every year, because the ones who know musicians find deductions you would walk past.

Promotion

Most of your work comes by word of mouth, but a contractor who hears your name still wants to find you online inside a minute. A single clean web page is all you need. It holds your name, your instrument, one good recording, and a phone line that reaches you. Skip the autoplay and the splash screen. The person who listens at midnight wants the music and a way to reach you, and an animation gets in his way. Your recording carries more weight than the design ever will, so post a minute of the exact work you want to be hired for. A flashy solo impresses other bassists and books you nothing. Players who want pit work post pit playing.

Contracts

A one-page contract settles the argument before it ever happens, and an email both of you keep counts as much as anything notarized. People forget the same handful of details in conversation, so a written confirmation should pin them down.

• Date and downbeat. The call time, and the hour the music begins.
• Location and load-in. Where to park, and which door to use.
• Dress. Black tie, all black, or business, spelled out.
• Fee and terms. The amount agreed, and when it will arrive.
• Cancellation. Who pays, and how much, if the date is called off.

Take a deposit on anything private, and a signed contract on anything large. The handshake is fine for a contractor who has paid you on time for years.

Travel with a bass

A double bass makes travel a logistics problem before it makes music. Air travel is a decision in itself. A flight case tough enough for the cargo hold is a major expense on its own. The airline can still charge an oversize fee in each direction. Most touring players leave the good instrument at home and arrange to borrow one wherever they land.

A borrowed bass makes more sense than a flown one for most single dates. Email a bassist in the destination city a week ahead. Tell him the date and the music, and ask what he can lend. Offer the same when somebody lands in your town. The system holds as long as every borrowed bass goes back the way it came.

Insure the instrument for what it would cost to replace today, well above whatever an old receipt says. A musical-instrument policy covers theft and the cracked rib a baggage handler leaves behind, which a homeowner’s policy will deny. Photographs and a current appraisal belong somewhere other than the case they describe.

When to say no

The hardest part of the trade is saying no. A date that pays little and leaves you an hour from home at midnight will cost you the next day’s lessons. Add the drive and the load-out, and a thin fee becomes a loss. I have taken the cheap gig and missed the better one often enough to feel it. Turn the date down with a name to hand over, and the contractor hangs up satisfied anyway. The booking you regret most is the one that blocked the date you wanted in the first place.