Negotiating fees for music for a wedding or figuring budgets based on union scale do not require extensive negotiating skills. It is what it is, more or less. However, if you have to negotiate an orchestra contract, or the terms of a new job that you have been offered, it Read more…
“Be Prepared” is the Boy Scout’s motto, but it also applies to negotiations. The week, day or night before you are to meet, you should think through some different possible scenarios. First of all, anticipate the major points that may be presented by the other party and formulate some responses. Read more…
You can take care of many things via email, but in negotiation discussions I prefer to talk face to face. Absent that, the telephone is an okay second choice for me. In direct conversations you read body language. If you have said something that has not been taken well, you Read more…
If you fail to separate the issues from personalities the result can turn into a showdown. Egos and machismo can come into play. What starts out as a contract negotiation can turn into, “I’ll show that guy. He can’t do that to me.” When it gets to this point, it’s Read more…
When you have successfully gone through the interview process, come out on top and received a verbal offer, it’s easy to think that you have got the job. But you haven’t. Details still have to be negotiated—like your salary! Up until this point the money issue has probably not been Read more…
Negotiating should not be about winning. It should be about getting to a place that is mutually satisfactory for both parties. Occasionally you may be up against a person whose personality just grates on you. You may not like him or her, and his or her “style” might be very Read more…
To drive a hard bargain is, of course, to be demanding and unwilling to give ground when negotiating something. More often than not it is better to do the opposite and “drive a soft bargain.” I practically gave away the first arrangement I did for an orchestra. I didn’t have Read more…
A New Year’s Resolution — Be Nice to the Stagehands Stagehands make a musician’s life easier. They are at the concert hall well before us and they remain long after our portion of the event is over. They make it possible for us to walk in, sit down, and do Read more…
Writing projects (read: compositions and arrangements) are always up for negotiation. What I always try to do is let the person hiring me talk first. After we have discussed what is involved, I quickly calculate how much time it will take to complete it. I get a price in my Read more…
I once was invited to be part of a panel discussion at the International Trombone Association’s annual convention. The subject was orchestra opportunities for trombonists. When I arrived at the venue, I looked at the sessions and concerts that had gone on in previous days, and I saw that a Read more…