Adaptistration: The Gig After Gas Online Calculator

If you haven't had the time to read Jason Heath's April 14, 2008 post at Arts Addict then you're missing out. In the post Jason examines the impact of rising gasoline prices on gig musicians, such as those who frequent the ranks of Freeway Philharmonics across the country. Jason goes so far as to itemize travel related expenses to illustrate how much these musicians actually retain after paying increased fuel costs. Jason's conclusion is that it is best for gig players to work close to home as much as possible but I began wondering how many musicians actually take the time to conduct a thorough examination to determine gig profitability. As such, I decided to build an online interactive computation application musicians can use to accurately measure a gig's economic value, or in English: the Gig After Gas Online Calculator…

The calculator app is straightforward and easy to use. Users input round-trip mileage, the cost of gas per gallon, and their car's average miles per gallon. Along with that information, they also enter how many services are required for the gig, the pay rate, and any additional travel expenses such as parking/tolls and out pops the net pay after gas and travel expenses.

In order to make the Gig After Gas Online Calculator even more useful, it is set up to allow users to compare two sets of data back-to-back so they can compare gigs. As a demonstration, I put together three examples for how a musician can use the calculator to help compare the economic value of one gig to another. In each example, the average miles per gallon (mpg) figures and average gas prices were provided by fueleconomy.gov. Mileage between cities was calculated by Google Maps and per-service rates and travel pay were provided by data from the American Federation of Musicians. A special thanks to cultural blogger extraordinaire Patty Mitchell over at oboeinsight.com who provided a great deal of insight to the West Coast gig scene used for example #3.

In each of the following examples, every gig included the same number of services for a typical masterworks style concert and the fictional musician drives a late model Toyota Corolla, which has a combined Average MPG of 29. And much like average MPG, a musician's artistic satisfaction at any of the examples below may vary and they should not make career decisions based solely on economic calculations.

Example #1: Washington DC Based Musician

Gig Offer #1- Richmond Symphony Orchestra

Roundtrip Washington DC-Richmond: 214 miles
Average Gas Price Washington DC: $3.68 (4/17/2008)
Tolls/Parking: none
2007/08 Per-Service Rate: $98.70

Gig Offer #2 – Annapolis Symphony Orchestra

Roundtrip Washington DC-Annapolis: 65 miles
Average Gas Price Washington DC: $3.68 (4/17/2008)
Tolls/Parking: none
2007/08 Per-Service Rate: $83.36

As Chart A to your right illustrates (click to enlarge), the difference in net pay between both gigs is a marginal $6.96. As such, a musician may need to determine if the added travel time to Richmond is worthwhile, a topic which Jason Heath explores in greater detail in his article.

Example #2: Cleveland Based Musician

Gig Offer #1 – Toledo Symphony Orchestra

Roundtrip Cleveland-Toledo: 230 miles
Average Gas Price Cleveland: $3.34 (4/17/2008)
Tolls/Parking: $4.75/roundtrip
2007/08 Per-Service Rate: $112.20

Gig Offer #2 – Akron Symphony Orchestra

Roundtrip Cleveland-Canton: 80 miles
Average Gas Price Cleveland: $3.34 (4/17/2008)
Tolls/Parking: none
2007/08 Per-Service Rate: $88.58

After the gig is done, the Toledo Symphony job pays $40.23, as illustrated in Chart B to your right (click to enlarge). Much like the scenario above, a musician will need to consider if the added travel time, not to mention wear and tear on their vehicle, is worthwhile.

Example #3: San Francisco Based Musician

Gig Offer #1 – Sacramento Philharmonic

Roundtrip San Francisco-Sacramento: 175 miles
Average Gas Price San Francisco: $3.96 (4/17/2008)
Tolls/Parking: $4.00/roundtrip
2007/08 Per-Service Rate: $115.00 (+$20.00 mileage from SF)

Gig Offer #2 – West Bay Opera Orchestra

Roundtrip San Francisco-San Jose: 100 miles
Average Gas Price San Francisco: $3.96 (4/17/2008)
Tolls/Parking: none
2007/08 Per-Service Rate: $88.00

In this example, Chart C to your right illustrates (click to enlarge) the Sacramento Philharmonic gig pays a sizeable amount more, $215.92 to be exact, than the comparison ensemble. However, that difference was bolstered by the inclusion of travel pay. Without that added income, the difference between the two gigs would have been $35.92.

This final example brings us to a notable dynamic consequence of rising gas prices which impacts orchestra managers: ensembles which rely on a substantial number of commuter musicians (regular and/or substitute) to perform with the ensemble are going to find themselves in an environment of increased competition for quality musicians. Offering additional compensation for high caliber musicians in the form of tiered flat-rate travel pay or mileage is something ensembles are going to have to adopt as a necessity as opposed to excess budget fat or employee perks.

But Wait, There's More

I'm grateful that the folks who graciously offered to serve as beta testers for the calculator came up with some excellent observations. In particular, the standard Gig After Gas Online Calculator is geared more toward gigs that require a musician to travel to the same location for rehearsals and performances as well as assumes that the per-service rate is the same for every service. At the same time, the reality for many small budget ensembles is exactly the opposite.

In order to provide musicians a way to accurately calculate the economic impact of gas and travel expenses for gigs with increased variables, I created the Super Deluxe Gig After Gas Online Calculator, which allows users to input data for up to 10 different services. Since the size of the calculator is greater than the column margins at Adaptistration, the application is located at InsideTheArts.com/GigAfterGas.htm.