MR

I would like to know how much Styx charges per concert...... And How much each member themselves make...

styxdudebrandon wrote:I would like to know how much Styx charges per concert...... And How much each member themselves make...

There was an article recently about their performing in Iowa. It said they were paid $50,000. How it was divided is anybody's guess.

I believe It would also depend on the length of show and attendance numbers based on the type of show. The 2+ hour show would obviously cost more.

styxfanNH wrote:I believe It would also depend on the length of show and attendance numbers based on the type of show. The 2+ hour show would obviously cost more.

I think there are a lot of variables that factor into the amount the band gets paid and how it is distributed. I cited that one as it was a recent concert. Certainly, I'm sure they have some sort of sliding scale.

Sliding scale is appropriate. Their collective paychecks have taken quite a hit since...oh...about 1999.

Most bands in Styx's boat have a guarantee. Typically there is no sliding scale. The last I saw Styx had a $50,000 guarantee. I'm not saying that they don't cut some bookings some slack but that is not typically the way the industry works.

Eric

Yeah - you get a guarantee and then you may have certain incentives where if you sell beyond a certain # of tickets or whatever, you get rewarded.

Basically in this day and age no one - band or venue - is out to lose money.

Let's face it - on any given night Styx or DDY can play venues ranging in size from 500 to 5000. They'll do better in some markets than others.

The problem with Styx moreso than DDY is that they never really went away, so I can see them probably 2 - 3 times a year somewhere near me. DDY only plays weekends, so I may be able to catch him less depending on what part of the country you live in.

The other issue you have is that the guys in Styx make less money to some degree because most of the hits were written by DDY, so he gets royalties on those that the other guys don't. JY may make money on each copy of Greatest Hits sold, but he's not getting what DDY gets even if they are equal in what they're getting per CD, tape, or LP sold. Touring is where Styx is making its money, and arguably JY and Tommy get most of that.

So if they're making $50k per night, I would argue that JY and Tommy get 1/2 of that (so $12.5k each), and Todd/Ricky/Gowan get the rest (so just over $8k a night). That's still not bad money (touring even 100 days a year if you make $8000 a night you make $800000 per year). I would venture, though, that Ricky, Gowan, Chuck, and Todd are salaried and not necessarily getting per show. Heck, even if they make $200,000 a year playing 90 minutes of STyx each night, that's not bad.

Just speculation of course knowing how things work out there.

Allan,

Would there be an additional charge for the production side of things - llights & sound, etc? or would that come out of the $50,000 in this case?

and also don't forget that they sell a ton of shirts and stuff at the shows.

SuiteMadameBlue wrote:I would think out of that $50,000 or whatever is set up, that the road crew, sound engineer, lighting, bus drivers, etc. would be paid out of that money.

If I'm not mistaken, with Dennis touring out of the money that he receives, he pays out his band and crew before his receives his money. I know that he pays for their transportation to all the gigs, flights, car rentals, motels and all the food. So I'm thinking this is probably the same for Styx.

At some of the venues, they use their in-home sound engineer that's paid for by the venue and sometimes the lighting person.

and Glen brings his amp with him in the back of a cab.

True on that one Chicago..

When I saw DDY in Calgary, it seemed like Tom, Hank and Glen were lugging around all their own equipment, setting up and tearing down. No roadies here!

StyxCollector wrote:Yeah - you get a guarantee and then you may have certain incentives where if you sell beyond a certain # of tickets or whatever, you get rewarded.

Basically in this day and age no one - band or venue - is out to lose money.

Let's face it - on any given night Styx or DDY can play venues ranging in size from 500 to 5000. They'll do better in some markets than others.

The problem with Styx moreso than DDY is that they never really went away, so I can see them probably 2 - 3 times a year somewhere near me. DDY only plays weekends, so I may be able to catch him less depending on what part of the country you live in.

The other issue you have is that the guys in Styx make less money to some degree because most of the hits were written by DDY, so he gets royalties on those that the other guys don't. JY may make money on each copy of Greatest Hits sold, but he's not getting what DDY gets even if they are equal in what they're getting per CD, tape, or LP sold. Touring is where Styx is making its money, and arguably JY and Tommy get most of that.

So if they're making $50k per night, I would argue that JY and Tommy get 1/2 of that (so $12.5k each), and Todd/Ricky/Gowan get the rest (so just over $8k a night). That's still not bad money (touring even 100 days a year if you make $8000 a night you make $800000 per year). I would venture, though, that Ricky, Gowan, Chuck, and Todd are salaried and not necessarily getting per show. Heck, even if they make $200,000 a year playing 90 minutes of STyx each night, that's not bad.

Just speculation of course knowing how things work out there.

most bands that do not have original members pay their musicians by salary. i doubt todd, ricky, gowan, glen etc are making 8k a night. then again, origninal member status does not always guarantee a nice cut of the profits. on the last van halen tour, michael anthony was paid a salary. (nice of eddie & alex, huh)

Typically the overhead (road crew, lights, sound, etc...) is paid out of the guarantee. With that said Styx doesn't have a real elaborate stage setup and it hasn't changed much in several years. I'd be shocked if they didn't own most of the lighting. Sound is usually subcontracted. I do not know how big Styx's road crew is but it's probably fairly small. I do know they use the local stagehand union to get temporary workers for load in, setup, and load out. Bands like Styx have all this down to a science and a very good at maximizing profits while minimizing overhead.

Another thing to remember is that a lot of the state fair type of gigs are subsidized. Ticket sales aren't relied on entirely to pay the bands.