The real cost of a vacant position
What it really costs not to find the right candidate, and why investing in promotion pays off
In this article
The invisible cost of an empty stand
When an audition fails to find a suitable candidate, the immediate cost is obvious: you have to repeat the process. But the real costs of a vacant position go far beyond the single failed audition, and precisely because they stay invisible on the books, we tend to underestimate them.
An unfilled seat in an orchestra triggers a chain of economic and organisational consequences that almost no one quantifies. And yet it is precisely by quantifying them that the budget decision becomes simple: once the numbers are on the table, the investment in effective promotion stops looking like an expense and reveals itself as a saving.
The contrast between these figures is the whole article in one line: what you save by "not promoting" is a fraction of what you spend when the position stays vacant.
The direct costs of a vacant position
These are the costs you can put on an invoice, and on their own they already rebalance the picture.
The direct costs
- Substitutes and extras: every service needs a substitute. Average Italian rates: 80-150 euros per rehearsal, 150-300 per concert, 200-400 a day on tour plus board and lodging. A season of 80 services with one vacant seat costs between 8,000 and 20,000 euros in substitutes alone.
- Administrative costs: every substitute requires a contract, payroll, communications, coordination. Staff time has a cost.
- Repeating the audition: a new posting, new promotion, panel hours, hall rental, possible external panellists. A second audition costs between 2,000 and 5,000 euros.
The indirect costs, less visible
They appear on no invoice, yet they are just as real — and often more serious, because they accumulate over time.
The indirect costs
- Artistic quality: a substitute, however good, does not know the group's dynamics, the conductor's habits, the established repertoire. The section's cohesion suffers.
- Section morale: the desk colleagues cover the absence, adapt to ever-changing substitutes, manage uncertainty. Over time, frustration.
- Reputation: in the professional circuit, orchestras with chronically vacant positions are seen as unstable — and the best candidates avoid them.
- Opportunity cost: time spent managing the emergency is time taken from strategic activities.
What professional promotion costs
Now let us put on the other pan of the scale the cost of effective promotion on dbStrings. Publishing a single audition costs 90 euros and includes visibility until the deadline, the post on the Facebook page with 165,598 followers, distribution in around 300 themed groups, sharing on LinkedIn and the full statistics report.
For those who publish often, the annual subscription (650 euros) offers unlimited postings for twelve months and pays off from 8 auditions a year; the lifetime subscription (1,600 euros) pays off beyond 18 auditions in total. And when you need a push, ADVplus (30-150 euros) reaches 7,890-114,000 additional users. In every scenario, we are talking about tens or a few hundred euros — against the thousands of a vacant position.
The maths: how much you save
Take an orchestra with three positions to fill in a year and compare two approaches.
Option A — Minimal promotion
Institutional website only. Cost: €0. Estimated success: 50%.
- Position vacant 6 months: ~€10,000
- Repeating the audition: ~€3,500
- Expected risk (weighted average): ~€6,750
Option B — Professional promotion
dbStrings + ADVplus. Cost: 3 × €90 + 3 × €50 = €420. Estimated success: 75%.
- Residual risk: ~€3,375
- Expected saving: ~€2,955
The investment pays for itself even with conservative estimates. And with 8 or more auditions a year, the subscription lowers the cost per audition further still.
When to invest more
Not every audition deserves the same promotional budget. Some cases justify a higher investment, because the risk of failing is higher or more costly.
The cases that justify a bigger budget
- Instruments with scarce candidates (viola, double bass): an ADVplus of 100-150 euros raises the chance of reaching the few qualified people available.
- Principals and solo roles: a more selective search and a higher cost of vacancy. Investing 150-200 euros is proportionate.
- Urgent auditions: with few applications and a near deadline, a last-minute ADVplus of 75 euros beats repeating everything.
- Temporary roles: paradoxically they need intense promotion, because musicians weigh whether it is worth the trouble.
How to present the budget to management
If you have to justify the expense, do not talk about "promotion": talk about risk management. Five arguments that work:
Five arguments for management
- Direct comparison: "90 euros of promotion against 3,500 for a repeated audition".
- Traffic data: "dbStrings reaches 191 countries, with 4.4 million views in the auditions section".
- Past statistics: if you have used the service, show the reports (views, downloads, clicks).
- Comparison with other orchestras: "Comparable orchestras use multichannel promotion".
- Reputational risk: "A deserted or repeated audition damages the image in the professional circuit".
Operational conclusion
The cost of professional promotion — 90-240 euros for a single audition, 650 euros a year for unlimited postings — is a fraction of the cost of a vacant position or a failed audition. The investment in visibility does not guarantee success, but it significantly raises the odds of success on the first attempt.
Orchestras that treat promotion as a cost to minimise often end up spending far more on substitutes, second auditions and crisis management.
