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Editor’s Note<br />
Show Me The Money<br />
Recent conversations that play into the current economic climate affecting our industry<br />
First, a conversation with a soundco owner<br />
in the Midwest who said he was busy<br />
but broke. “Not a box or an amp in the<br />
shop — everything is rented. But cash flow is<br />
down significantly.” As we talked we figured<br />
out that clients are not paying as quickly as<br />
he would like and that “some checks are better<br />
than others.”<br />
That one is obvious in its connection to<br />
what we do. The second one is less so on the<br />
surface. A musician I know took a double<br />
whammy lately when a regular gig he had<br />
dried up because tourism is down. At the<br />
same time, this person’s “dream day gig”<br />
as music director for his church also “went<br />
away.” As this person put it, “when money is<br />
tight tithes go down and they lost the budget<br />
for the position.”<br />
So what does it all mean? If I knew that I<br />
would be making big bank as a financial advisor<br />
and not editing a magazine, but if I had<br />
to guess it would go like this:<br />
Entertainment has traditionally been<br />
somewhat immune to economic downturns,<br />
and that will probably remain true. But it all<br />
depends on what it is you do. If you are in<br />
the touring industry, margins will be down<br />
as management grinds us all for every dollar,<br />
but touring will be largely okay. Ditto local<br />
and regional companies who do shows for<br />
acts that are touring without production and<br />
rent in each town they stop in. (And expect<br />
to see more and more of this happening.)<br />
No one is selling records so everyone and his<br />
brother will be on the road and often doing<br />
smaller gigs than they are used to.<br />
If your specialty over the past few years<br />
has been installs, I would buckle in and prepare<br />
for a bumpy ride. There are at least a<br />
half-dozen big projects in Las Vegas alone<br />
that are on a kind of permanent hold. Stocks<br />
for gaming companies are way, way down,<br />
and there is talk of some actually having to<br />
declare bankruptcy due to the lack of easy<br />
credit and people spending less money even<br />
when they do come to town.<br />
And, yes, this applies to house-of-worship<br />
specialists as well. That has been one<br />
area that has been robust and largely immune<br />
to downturns lately, but two things<br />
It is like the small furry mammals who<br />
outlived the dinosaurs though they<br />
lacked the size and strength of their<br />
foes. We need to be smart, flexible and<br />
quick on our feet to stay healthy.<br />
4<br />
are at work. First, most of the large installs<br />
for churches have been done in the past five<br />
or so years, and my guess is that few of the<br />
mega-churches will be doing upgrades or<br />
spending a lot on audio production for a little<br />
while. Smaller but still large-ish churches<br />
may continue with plans for installs but the<br />
progress will likely slow and systems will likely<br />
be downgraded to reflect financial reality.<br />
But the area that I expect to see hit hard<br />
are the companies that specialize in corporate<br />
conferences and other events. No matter<br />
what side of the political spectrum you<br />
are on, I would be hard pressed to find much<br />
NOVEMBER 2008 www.fohonline.com<br />
By BillEvans<br />
of anyone who is not pissed about the greed<br />
and mismanagement that has put us in the<br />
pickle we find ourselves in now.<br />
Bottom line — those lavish Christmas<br />
and New Year’s parties? Expect the budget<br />
to go down, if the event even happens at all.<br />
Many of us will find gigs we have done for<br />
years just not happening this year. And corporate<br />
retreats and conferences will be fewer<br />
and farther between with smaller budgets. I<br />
have talked to at least a dozen mfgs. in the<br />
pro audio industry who are scaling back in<br />
trade shows because doing a big conference<br />
is expensive and marketing budgets are not<br />
going up.<br />
For most of us in 2009, and likely<br />
into 2010, “flat” will be the new “up.” If we<br />
can hold on to current clients, or replace<br />
those we lose with enough to stay even,<br />
we will be winning the race. There will be<br />
consolidation and some smaller companies<br />
— and a few big ones — will likely go away.<br />
It is like the small furry mammals who<br />
outlived the dinosaurs, though they lacked<br />
the size and strength of their foes. We need<br />
to be smart, flexible and quick on our feet to<br />
stay healthy. But one of the great things about<br />
people in this business is that they are used<br />
to having curve balls thrown at them on a<br />
daily basis. This is nothing new; it is just more<br />
intense than normal. Keep your head down,<br />
work hard, stay smart and you’ll make it.<br />
Oh, a chicken: You have likely seen it, but<br />
if not go to the www.fohonline.com/roadie<br />
and check out a commercial called “If Roadies<br />
Ran the World.” Really funny because it is<br />
so right on. But it also points out how much<br />
better off we would be with leaders who<br />
know how to “turn and burn.” Take an unexpected<br />
situation that looks bad and turn it<br />
into the best show of the tour. If you can do<br />
that, you’ll come out of this just fine.<br />
Publisher<br />
Terry Lowe<br />
tlowe@fohonline.com<br />
Editor<br />
Bill Evans<br />
bevans@fohonline.com<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Breanne George<br />
bg@fohonline.com<br />
Technical Editor<br />
Mark Amundson<br />
mamundson@fohonline.com<br />
Contributing Writers<br />
Arden Ash, Jerry Cobb,<br />
Dan Daley, Jamie Rio,<br />
Steve LaCerra, Nort Johnson,<br />
David John Farinella, Ted Leamy,<br />
Baker Lee, Bryan Reesman,<br />
Tony Mah, Ken Rengering<br />
Photographer<br />
Steve Jennings<br />
Art Director<br />
Garret Petrov<br />
gpetrov@fohonline.com<br />
Production Manager<br />
Linda Evans<br />
levans@fohonline.com<br />
Graphic Designers<br />
Crystal Franklin<br />
cfranklin@fohonline.com<br />
David Alan<br />
dalan@fohonline.com<br />
Web Master<br />
Josh Harris<br />
jharris@fohonline.com<br />
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Dan Hernandez<br />
dh@fohonline.com<br />
National Advertising Director<br />
Gregory Gallardo<br />
gregg@fohonline.com<br />
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Maria Kritikos<br />
mk@fohonline.com<br />
General Manager<br />
William Hamilton Vanyo<br />
wvanyo@fohonline.com<br />
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Front Of House (ISSN 1549-831X) Volume 7 Number<br />
2 is published monthly by Timeless Communications<br />
Corp., 6000 South Eastern Ave., Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV,<br />
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