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Hiring a Musical Group
Hiring a Musical Group
Date Posted: October 08 2008
Written By: Mike Jeffers
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Hiring the Perfect Musical Group in Hard Economic Times
Many people and businesses feel that in these tough economic times there is a need to cut expenses. Sure you can cut back on hours, mailings, extra travel but the one thing that should not be on the list is the company holiday party. I know this seems to be the easiest way to save a good chunk of money at the end of the year but the holiday party is crucial to businesses in many different ways.
For one it boosts the moral of your employees. Many employees, even if the employer doesn’t know it, look forward to this annual event to mingle and network with there co-workers outside of the office. They build relationships and talk about something other then work, which creates a stronger bond in the office and makes them more productive.
But even more important then building your employee’s moral, a holiday party can help you say thank you to your customers that have done business with you throughout the year. Plus as an extra bonus if the party is a hit your customer will be talking about your company and your party to everyone, including other potential customers, throughout the entire year.
So not only is your holiday party important to your employees it is also an incredible marketing tool you can use to develop new relationships with current customers and even potential new customers. Really the holiday party could be an essential marketing tool for a business throughout the entire year.
Now that you can see the importance of the holiday party, let’s talk about planning it!
The Entertainment
After the obvious details for the party are confirmed such as the location, date, time, cuisine, beverages, timeline of the evening and other essentials it is time to hire the perfect entertainment that will help to combine all of the essentials together and create the perfect atmosphere.
Hiring a live musical group is the key to an effective holiday party. When a guest arrives and you have a wonderful location for your event, cocktails, hor dourves and dinner are waiting for them but the music is either piped in from the banquet hall’s speakers or a DJ is playing the same old songs everyone has already heard but at a deafening level, your atmosphere is ruined.
In order to bring everything you have planned so hard to create together you need to have the perfect musical group performing at just the right volume, looking incredible and performing the right repertoire for the evening.
For example a traditional holiday party usually begins with hor dourves and cocktails followed by either dinner or serving stations with entrée items. It is essential to have the right music performed during cocktails and dinner so that you can create an exciting atmosphere to welcome your guests but not at an overwhelm volume so they can still mingle and network. After all it’s important for your guests to be able to build relationships with you and your employees because strong relationships often result in more sales throughout the year.
A great entertainment option is a jazz trio for this type of event. The trio will be able to perform a mixture of “Jazzed Up” holiday songs as well as the music that Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat Cole and many others made famous. This way as your guests enter they will be treated to some exciting music to get them in a festive mood.
During dinner the group should then perform similar styles but perhaps slower and quieter selections so that your guests can still mingle and enjoy a conversation without having to yell over their meal.
Only a professional musician with years of experience will know how to create energy and excitement without overwhelming your guests with volume. Also if you would like special selections performed during certain times of the evening an experienced musician will either know the selection or be able to get the music ahead of time.
Price:
Most groups will require you to hire them for 2.5 hours during the week and 3 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. This is very standard for professional groups and the rates will change for a weekend night.
For 2.5 hours you can expect to pay between $350-$450 for a solo pianist, $750-$900 for a Jazz Duo of upright bass and piano and $1050-$1250 for a Jazz Trio.
Working in your budget
Let’s say you would like to have music at your party and you are having only about 50 guests and your budget for music is not going to allow for a full jazz trio. Well instead of a jazz trio how about a jazz duo of upright bass and piano? Or maybe even a solo pianist?
Any live group will provide extra energy and elegance that either a DJ or piped in music simply won’t. So work with an experienced musician or entertainment company and they will be able to help you create the perfect atmosphere in your budget.
Negotiation
Established musicians are usually very firm on their price. If you call someone and they give you a quote of $1200 and you say you only have $750 in your budget and they immediately take it then you probably don’t want to do business with them. They are most likely amateurs who will not perform the proper repertoire or know how to create the right atmosphere.
However there are other ways to possibly lower the price if you are working on a tight budget. Most of the time the pricing of a group will include everything from parking, setup, meals, etc. but sometimes you can lower the price by negotiating parking, meals and other things that would make the band have an easier time performing and cut down on their expenses.
Other Options
Of course we are just discussing jazz based groups that perform standards and holiday tunes because they are the most common group used, however there are many other options available. Perhaps a jazz trio with a vocalist who can add lyrics to the jazz standards and traditional holiday music or maybe an R&B group that will be able to not only perform dinner music but also kick up a notch after dinner for dancing.
The key is to hire an experienced musical group from a trusted company that can help you coordinate your event, plan the entertainment and guarantee the musicianship of the musicians.
It really isn’t that hard to plan a holiday party and as you can see you can keep your expenses low and still have a very impressive event. As you plan this party remember that this is an incredible way to market your company during the holidays and get more business in the new year.
Mike Jeffers is the CEO of Chicago Jazz Publishing and Entertainment.
He owns and operates ChicagoJazzEntertainment.com as well as ChicagoJazz.com and Chicago Jazz Magazine.
Jeffers has helped to create the perfect atmosphere for private parties and corporate receptions for over 10 years. Contact Mike Jeffers at entertainment@chicagojazz.com
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