If you don't know the costs you should probably agree to share the books or open the books.

How else will you ever be able to make sure that the audience you are attracting- essentially your reputation- here is not being abused. As a performer you want to do everything possible to ensure that your audiencce gets a bargain- not just value for money, very good value for money. No other way seems to me to be practical.

Interesting to find that musicians may not in fact be looking into profit taking- It has to be managed and at all levels of the food chain. Even to the purchasing of suppliies. Is the person stocking the kitchen wasting money- is the food fresh....these are all environmental factors which impact the future. If you dont look into them the treatment of the people you attract will be out of control.

Yes some venue operators know what they are doing. But you may find some problems.

Not too crazy about the man but take a look at Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmare series- I get it via BBC america.

He visits failing restruants and fixes them.
Some of the problems he finds to be ruining business and alienating customers are incredibly simple- price gouging is one, uneconomical selection of food sources another, the atmosphere in an establishment is a big one.

One of my pet peeves is going into a really good folk venue when folk music is not being played and finding rock music being played- displays a lack of commitment and wont attract interest. Additionally simple things like signage can be problematic. At one place in baltimore while there is a bulletin board one has to pry the performance schedule out of the manager or bar tender.

Yes you can just assume that the market makes people honest but you would be wrong! Businesses fail every day because they don't get things right. Simple things.

The performer can only make a difference when they look into these things - they must be advocates not only for themselves but for their customers- the audience.

Conrad