Today I was asked buy my client if I mind her magician an mind reading act contact me.

I replyed that if they are a real mind reading act then they would know the answer already (straight over her head that one).

now to the real point , do you guys let other acts plug into your sound system ?

Up until a while ago I would - thinking I had everything under control ..... but not now.

It's a 'risk' in my books.

funnily enough, Im letting the frank sinatra impersonator put his mini disc player and radio mic through my system... If its a professional act I cant see why not.. it saves time and more importantly, space - which many djs moan about not having! At the end of the day, if they are coming out of your system, then you are still controllling it, so I cant see what harm it can do. In fact, I often ask whether or not an act want to go through my system - unless of course its an act I cant accommodate.

Sometimes

Sometimes, I had a magician turn up at an outdoor gig with one of those Karaoke boom box things, Nah what I mean?
So as it was a large area thought I'd better offer.

I always charge for this.

My reason?

If an act turns up ( ie comedian) and goes down poorly through your rig, I have heard them say "It's the Djs sound rig, it doesnt suite my voice/ the accoustics"etc.
And they are on a huge fee for a 45 minute spot. So, I assure the client / Entertainer that as a professional engineer I will ensure that they have the best sound possible, and only charge them £20!!

Failing that they can get their own (usually cheap and inadequate) PA out, set it up, use it, take it down, carry it out and save £20 out of their £200+ fee.

I cant believe that as a business man you would let them make a bigger profit than you are and supply them with the means.YOU have invested in the gear to start with, why should they get a freeby?

PET HATE: Comedian on £400 for 45 minutes walked in with his mike and xlr to Jack lead and just said "is it ok to plug in?" with no prior courtesy call. I said " I dont use Jacks on my gear, but have a spare SM58 you can use for £20" and explained why.

Its just not on for ME!

I often do a caberet night in a large social club and allow the other acts to plug in...

I can see Kingys point, but I agree with Kaz and Chris.. Firstly if they did set up, its either gonna sound better or worse than mine, both options not really useful. Then there is the space issue and lastly the "you rub my back..." kinda thing - I dont like it and do tell them no if they are like the person in Kingys post who automatically assume they can use your system, but normally they are hardworking people who do get paid more, but if they entertain me for the 45-60mins they are on - hey its worth it...

Always let them,as ian states ,plenty of work comes in through that route.

wasnt a band called "soul agents" was it Ian?

I let people go through my system. The only restriction is that I connect it to my mixer, and I control the mixer.

I charge too.

Silly not too, I have what the other guy needs, If I say no, he can't go on, so loses his fee, travelling costs etc etc, so £20 or £50 well spent I thinks

As usual, I am in the minority...!!

Well if it works for you and it makes you a few extra quid, is being in a minority wrong?.

I always let them use my sound system and mic if necessary but on the terms that I control the sound.

I did a big 60's night a few months ago and they had a band play before me (but i did know them) and they didn't even have amps! So I had to rig them as well and there was no space left on stage. We also had to get it all off for me to start the disco!!

Good topic, and always good to get different points of view.

In the main I do think it's a bit of a p**s take for acts to turn up expecting to plug & play, do their 45 minutes and off they go getting a far greater £ rate than the DJ.
Worse still would be a band that wanted sound and light (especially if they didn't want to pay for it)
I appreciate the networking aspect of helping an act out and them recommending you, and I guess I would play it by ear, and I guess the 1st rule is - Keep control of your kit!
I do think that sometimes it's the amatures in the audience that can be the worse abusers, especially where mics are concerned, with speaches, if you don't tell them first, they all want to tap the mic (or bash) to see if it's working.

I always tell the client that they are liable for any damage to kit including mics and hike the percieved value, this encourages them to watch how the kit is used.



Vinnie

Totally agree, like when I always get to the venue and am set up well beforehand, the amount of times people come up and say, can youstart early as you are here, I always ask them to go to the local chip shop and ask for Plaice, but whilst that is cooking can you chuck me a few chips FOC ? See what the chippy says.