How much do you get paid for a gig?

[lfyost]

In the electric band I'm in, 3 hour sets (Friday's) and 4 hour sets (Saturday's) is pretty standard.

When I do solo or small acoustic group coffee house or restaurant gigs it's more often 1.5 - 2 hours.

12-14 songs per set either way.

Yes, 4 hour gigs can be brutal, but the dancing get better and better as the night deepens.

[gjensen7]

Our band will generally do a 3 hr gig...3 sets (about 10 to 12 songs per set).
Price definitely varies..we live and work in Southern California and a lot depends on the venue.

We've played gigs that have paid as low as $50 (really doesn't amount to much divided up). I think that most local establishments pay between $200 and $600 for an evening. Weddings can be a real money maker (relatively speaking - $1000 and up). We've played a few "freebies", but frankly really resent it! I feel that anyone who has live music has an obligation to offer something...even if they are on a low or tight budget. It's just common courtesy to offer some $$ to cover expenses at the minimum.

[TRW1]

I'm in the Atlanta area. Some places pay $150 for a solo, usually 4 hours. More places pay $100-$125, three hours. I try to stay away from bars- had enough of that years ago. Restaurants (that still serve alcohol) are more fun for me and easier. I get some really great regular crowds and try to have fun with them. If I have a receptive crowd and can get some patter going, around 45-50 songs is typical. I take breaks when it feels right, never really on a set time table. Of course, it helps a lot if the house is sending me free beers! I'll gladly take the shorter/lesser paying venue, especially if it's only a few miles from home. With gas inching up towards the $4.00 per gallon mark, travel distance is becoming more of a factor. I have managed to book a few private parties or corporate gigs in the $300-$350 range, but those are rare for me.

[GmanJeff]

My 4-piece Northern Virginia classic rock band usually plays for 4 hours, 45 minutes on, and 15 minute breaks, with 10-11 songs per set. We have played for as little as two hours at a corporate event, and sometimes have played for 3hours, but 4 seems to be the norm at restaurants.

The time goes by really quickly, and we don't mind the length of the shows at all.

[crowdedstr]

Originally Posted by Feedback100

You take 5 minute breaks?! Round here, the 40/20 rule definetly works. Are you sure you have to? You may be working way to hard.

wow... crazy. if i play a 3-3.5 hour gig, i'll take one break for about 15 minutes... 20 if i'm really stretching it and/or mingling/drinking with the bar patrons. i'd feel bad if i took much longer than that.

[crowdedstr]

Originally Posted by S-L-A-C-K-E-R

For you guys that play the 3-4 hour gigs, do you do that out of your own free will or is that the amount of time places ask you to play for them?

well, i really only play bars. so that usually means a 9:30pm start on weekends and they want you to play till relatively close to bar time.

sometimes i'll get summertime afternoon gigs which would be like a 3-6pm type thing, so with my break it would be a bit shorter, but those are more laid back shows where people are just hanging out, not really tying one on like the majority of the places i play.

Originally Posted by S-L-A-C-K-E-R

This music stuff is my hobby really. I want to perform places mostly for my own enjoyment. I'm hoping the money just pretty much supports my equipment expense so I can break even. 4 hours sounds like hard work. The last thing I want is my hobby to turn into a second job that I begin to dislike.

i have to admit, sometimes it feels like work for me (but usually only before i have to load up the car and actually go to play... once i'm there, i'm happy!), but not too often... it's always a good time.

as for the timing of the shows, when i started, i basically knew the market i was getting into, and the longer weekend gigs (and some 3hr midweek gigs) are what i came to expect. the difference between you and i is that i definitely use gigging as supplemental income to my day job. it works well for me and allows me to have a lot more financial freedom

Originally Posted by S-L-A-C-K-E-R

Do you think that places would let me play for less time? Say an hour or two? Of course, I would ask for less money.

as guyute said, this is going to completely depend on your market. if some places will not "book" you for just an hour or two, maybe you could talk to them and say you'll just do it pro-bono and play for tips, or sell cd's and such (if you have any).

just be friendly, willing to cooperate, and realize that this is a business transaction... so treat it as such. professionalism and willingness to negotiate is key.

[Dilbert]

Crickey, you guys play long shows in the USA. Over here my function band will play either 2 x 1 hour sets or 3 x 40 minute sets. We will very occasionally do 3 x 1 hour sets but these are very rare. The duo tends to be similar, time wise. I have never played for 4 hours

As for money, it varies between £600 ($1200) and £1000 ($2000) for the band (excluding New Years Eve of course where the rate is nearer £2000) and the duo £200 ($400). If we were based in London, these rates would be double.

We play the occasional pub gig for publicity purposes and have a couple of charities where we play for a reduced fee.

[Guyute]

Originally Posted by Dilbert

Crickey, you guys play long shows in the USA. Over here my function band will play either 2 x 1 hour sets or 3 x 40 minute sets. We will very occasionally do 3 x 1 hour sets but these are very rare. The duo tends to be similar, time wise. I have never played for 4 hours

As for money, it varies between £600 ($1200) and £1000 ($2000) for the band (excluding New Years Eve of course where the rate is nearer £2000) and the duo £200 ($400). If we were based in London, these rates would be double.

We play the occasional pub gig for publicity purposes and have a couple of charities where we play for a reduced fee.

That's it. I'm moving to the UK!

[phuufme]

We're in San Antonio, TX. We play at one restaurant that gave us our first gig and they pay $50 for Thursday or Sunday, and $80 for Friday or Saturday. This is a 2 1/2 hr gig. We started with a Sunday gig and now we are regulars there once / mo on Friday or Saturday. Since they gave us our first shot, we'll play there as long as they'll have us.

Otherwise, for restaurant gigs, we charge $50 / hr generally, although we do play at one place (friends own it) for tips. For private gigs we charge $100 / hr plus a "travel" fee depending how far the gig is away from town.

We do a bit less talking, but our 2 sets are typically 15 - 17 songs long for our 2 1/2 hr gig. This weekend we have a private gig for 4 hours, and we did 3 sets of 17 songs. Sometimes we end up cutting out a song or two towards the end, but we'd rather have a few extra planned that we can remove than the other way around.

Also, at restaurant gigs, several times during the night we make sure to remind patrons to tips their wait staff, and also us.

Good luck.

[Guyute]

Good point about reminding people to tip their waitstaff.

I've recently realized that when people at a restaurant stick around, the waitstaff makes less money (because the tables aren't turning). So I started telling people, "I hope you enjoy the show enough to stick around. If you do, please remember to tip your waiter a little more than usual."

The staff loves that

[Chicago Sandy]

For us it's all over the place pricewise. Most of the places we play are either tips-only or have a nominal "suggested donation" (if they call it a door or cover charge, they'd have to get a cabaret license). A very few will give a guarantee against the door, which usually varies from $50-400. Most of the time at the non-tip gigs we will net about $30-50 apiece plus CD sales. Some radio concerts give us a $125-300 flat fee, and some regular (not house) concert series pay $200-400 for the two or three of us as a band. (We had a $120 guarantee Sat. night and got $270). Church services range from a cut of the offertory plus CD sales afterward to a flat $50 per member. (Sun. was the former, but we did get nearly $60 each). If I take a private party gig myself, I generally charge $200-600 depending on length of gig, type of person/corporation/organization hiring me, and whether I have to hire a bassist and drummer (though I suppose I should record some backing tracks).

[FLDavid]

For a standard four-hour gig, I (we) would much rather play longer sets (say 70-80 minutes) because time passes more quickly when playing rather than standing around yakkin'.
We tend to keep the audience that way. Also, we end up playing only three sets over the same time period.

We segue between songs a lot, do medleys, reprise a verse/chorus we started with twenty minutes ago, depending on the mood of the room.

Four-piece prices normally vary between $90-125 per musician.

[markm2553]

Slacker, you might find some useful info here if your just starting out.
I have found it pretty interesting:

http://smallgig.com/forums/index.php

[gjensen7]

It's been said before, but I'd like to comment a bit on the issue of fees. Some performers and bands are obviously much more serious about where they play and how much they charge. Obviously, for some, it may be a primary or significant source of income.

For those of us that choose to perform as more of a hobby, there's not the pressure to be as picky. That being said, your time and talent are still worthy of compensation.

I really feel that even a small coffee house or "low budget" venue should offer something beyond "tips" for a performer or band. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but just out of courtesy, I don't think that an establishment should expect live music and not offer something of a flat fee - even if it's as low as $50....just to help cover some expenses.

Now there are performers like Chicago Sandy who can promote CD sales which is great..but until you have that avenue, I feel that you should get something for your time. Frankly, "tips only" are usually pretty minimal - I remember one "freebie" we did. I think we played about 2 or 3 hours and split up about $7.00!

Again, this is my "pet peeve", but I think sometimes musicians have a way of devaluing themselves or thinking that an establishment is doing them a favor by letting them play free. If you've got the talent and skills to market yourself, at least demand some kind of minimum flat fee unless it's for family, church gathering (even then, they probably should offer a flat fee or donations) or a very close friend.

[Guyute]

Originally Posted by gjensen7

It's been said before, but I'd like to comment a bit on the issue of fees. Some performers and bands are obviously much more serious about where they play and how much they charge. Obviously, for some, it may be a primary or significant source of income.

For those of us that choose to perform as more of a hobby, there's not the pressure to be as picky. That being said, your time and talent are still worthy of compensation.

I really feel that even a small coffee house or "low budget" venue should offer something beyond "tips" for a performer or band. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but just out of courtesy, I don't think that an establishment should expect live music and not offer something of a flat fee - even if it's as low as $50....just to help cover some expenses.

Now there are performers like Chicago Sandy who can promote CD sales which is great..but until you have that avenue, I feel that you should get something for your time. Frankly, "tips only" are usually pretty minimal - I remember one "freebie" we did. I think we played about 2 or 3 hours and split up about $7.00!

Again, this is my "pet peeve", but I think sometimes musicians have a way of devaluing themselves or thinking that an establishment is doing them a favor by letting them play free. If you've got the talent and skills to market yourself, at least demand some kind of minimum flat fee unless it's for family, church gathering (even then, they probably should offer a flat fee or donations) or a very close friend.

I understand what you're saying, but personally, I look at these coffee house "for tips" gigs as advertising and write off a commensurate amount on my taxes. I usually make a few bucks in tips and it just supplements my normal gigging income.