Questions About Musicians Payment Plan

[CRYCHI]

Good day, LGM!  I have a question for you regarding musician's pay,

1)  If your musician cannot play for a certain Sunday, and he arranges for a replacement, do you still pay him, and expect that he pays the replacement out of that portion?  Or, should you play the replacement the set price (which may be reduced from the regular weekly pay)?

2) If someone originally designated as the official drummer plays the keyboard/organ as a replacement for an absent organist (also the MOM) for a given Sunday, should he receive the full pay that designated for the organist for that Sunday? 

3) Should the weekly musician's pay automatically include afternoon programs and weekly events, or are should they paid extra for events outside of rehearsal and monring service?

Would any one be able to provide a sample musician's contract or payment plan to use as an example?

Also, any comments or feedback welcome!

[under13]

1, the church should pay the substitute musician. Whether the regular musician still gets paid or not, depends on what the two parties agree to.

2,  Probably not, unless it becomes a regular thing.

3 It depends on what the two parties agree to. If you want the weekly pay to include special services, you would just have to add up the total number of services you plan on having that year, and factor that into the weekly payment. I think that would make it easier for the church.

[CRYCHI]

Thanks, under13, for your response. 

A further question, should the pay for the substitute be the same as the regular payment for the musician, or a reduced price (right now I think it is currently 2/3s of the regular pay)?

[under13]

Thanks, under13, for your response. 

A further question, should the pay for the substitute be the same as the regular payment for the musician, or a reduced price (right now I think it is currently 2/3s of the regular pay)?

You're welcome.

That sounds ok, as the guest musician is probably not going to be at rehearsal, and that is usually part of the weekly pay.

[sjonathan02]

Good day, LGM!  I have a question for you regarding musician's pay,

1)  If your musician cannot play for a certain Sunday, and he arranges for a replacement, do you still pay him, and expect that he pays the replacement out of that portion?  Or, should you play the replacement the set price (which may be reduced from the regular weekly pay)?

2) If someone originally designated as the official drummer plays the keyboard/organ as a replacement for an absent organist (also the MOM) for a given Sunday, should he receive the full pay that designated for the organist for that Sunday? 

3) Should the weekly musician's pay automatically include afternoon programs and weekly events, or are should they paid extra for events outside of rehearsal and monring service?

Would any one be able to provide a sample musician's contract or payment plan to use as an example?

Also, any comments or feedback welcome!

1. That can go either way depending on the arrangement between the musician and the church.  I can see the church making the musician pay the sub (especially if it's a last-minute replacement).   

2. Again, that depends on the arrangement made between the musician and the church.  FWIW, I believe the musician should simply cover the instrument for the day without compensation because they'd get paid for their service for the day anyway (unless there is a different rate of pay depending on the instrument played).

3. Again, that's between the musician and the church.  At a previous church, it was a part of the pay for the musician to be at church anniversaries, afternoon services, etc.


For your last question, I can see a diminished payment as the musician is covering for the day.  Hope this helps.

[gtrdave]

It's been a while since I got paid to play per service, so I can only answer based on that experience.

1. Pay the musician directly, regardless if it's the regular or the sub. The responsibility to pay is on the church, not on the musician.

2. We used to be paid an amount for the service and an additional amount for making rehearsal. Since everyone was an artist-for-hire, we all got the same.

3. When I wasn't already on-staff and paid an agreed upon monthly amount, I was always paid per event; paid for rehearsal, paid for Sunday, paid for wedding/funeral/etc...all treated individually. When I was on-staff I got paid a flat fee regardless of how much I served per the contract terms.

I wish I had something to share, but it's been a long time since I was a musician-for-hire.