I would like to open discussion regarding band compensation. I find that as my band begins to acquire more gigs, I have trouble quoting pricing. It would appear that we are more ruled by what the bar, club and or venue's policy is apposed to what I feel we are worth. I would be interested in hearing from other bands and how they approach new venues and quote your band performance pricing.

For me I set a bunch of prices up depending upon the gig. Clubs are one price, private parties another and weddings another. Then I consider travel and actual total hours travel to, load in & setup, gig time, breakdown & load out, and travel home. That gives me a number to present. Still then I'll negotiate as long as I feel the final number is still fair. It's a process.

You need to figure out why you do this. You love to play, you want to make money or a balance of both. Let that be your guide to pricing your band.

Three sets at the Plow and Stars for $20 a piece and a cold burger from Sal Monella, but happy to be playing there. If you don't want the slot, there's 20 more groups that will take it...Keep the day job...Like Hundred $$ says: $100 a piece is damn good...

All great points of discussion however: what about joint marketing to promote the event. Do any of you partner with the venue to help promote your appearance?

A bottle of McGillicuddy's and some wippits and I'll play all night for the goose egg.

I disagree Juice. Gigging since 1983, I've found that if you don't get your minimum going in, you never will. I don't know how many times we heard, "work with me" and when we did, nothing came of it. They expect to pay the same "work with me" price every time.

$100 a night is damn good? Really?
I think it sucks but I'm probably not worth more than that.

Everything is relative......
If you think $100. each is good.....Go for it...it's average in a club...these days...

Senor

100 dollars is not good when you look at what it buys these days. Of course "100 dollar" demo thinks so.

JRussell,
What do you consider expenses?
$$
Doesn't your band have more members than the average rock band. $100.00 per guy if you have 6-8 guy's isn't bad.

What do you mean "Once famous"? Prick! lol

If you're just starting out $100 is awesome! When Moonshine started we played everywhere and anywhere we could and some nights only got paid $80 each. Once we were established and proven it was a totally different ballgame and became a business. Just know your worth I guess.

I played the New England clubs from 1989 to 2002. When I first started out I made $300 per week salary in a top 40 band called Crossfire. We played about three nights a week on average, 50 weeks a year so I was basically making $100 a night. I left Crossfire in 1992 to join one of the first incarnations of Jet City. The early version of this band was a bit disorganized, and we had literally no draw, rendering our pay to about $30-$50 per player per night. Shortly after this I started the cover rock band Shockwave, and we began playing around southern New Hampshire and Merrimack Valley for similar wages initially. By the peak of that band's popularity in the mid-to-late 90s we could draw 50 to 100 friends and followers nightly, plus whatever local following the bar already had. This got our nightly fee up to between $700 and $1000. We had our own production, a sound engineer and lighting designer, and each earned between $100 and $125 nightly. By the year 2000, Shockwave was dismantling and I started a three-piece blues rock band, and my nightly average went down to about $75 to $80.

In 2002 I relocated to Nashville and quickly learned that in-town nightclub gigs that guarantee a hundred dollars per player per night are few and far between. There's a handful of gigs that might pay that, but for the most part, clubs pay a base pay of $20-$50 per player plus tips, and if you can draw 50 people it won't necessarily get you any extra money. If your gig is in a tourist hotspot, and you play the right songs and work the crowd correctly, you can make $100 a night, sometimes even more. In those same scenarios you could also make $40 or $50 depending on the circumstances of a given night. This is why so many players in Nashville work towards landing touring gigs as a tour will pay you a considerably higher wage.

It's a sad state of affairs, but the truth is that musicians are a commodity, and we are working in a world of supply and demand, where there is just simply too much supply. I see where several of you have stated that $100 per night is good for a musician in a band and I agree. In this day and age if you're getting $100 to go out and play music locally, that's pretty decent money. It's just sad that when you factor in the cost of living increases and inflation, $100 in 2010 is considerably less than $100 in 1989. It's encouraging to hear that you can still use a strong following, or that by creating strong beer sales you can increase your pay in the New England clubs. I guess in reality, that's how this whole base pay plus tips thing works as well. Build a crowd, get them dancing and drinking, earn more money. I guess it just comes down to ask your price, take what you can get, and try to make it fun, because it doesn't look like we were meant to get rich doing this.

Have any of you ever considered trying a base pay plus tips scenario for certain clubs? The way this concept works here is that clubs guarantee a minimum base pay of typically $200 to $300 per band, they don't have a cover charge, and a tip jar is placed on the front of the stage. The lead singer will make an announcement, usually near the end of each set, that the jar will be coming around, at which point a friend or band girl friend will walk the tip jar around the room. You can also use the tipping concept to joke around with the crowd. For instance, when somebody requests Sweet Home Alabama or Mustang Sally, you respond by saying “That song is usually at least a $20 tip.”

Bullshit you've done shows down there......the only shows you've put on down there are coming in first place in the hotdog eating contest in front of 1000 people....and eating the 5 lbs of steak at one of those steakhouses, bbq's or what not they got down there. 100 Dollar Hemorrhage.

Feathers, what the hell do you know? I've been to Nashville 4 times in the past two years muthaf**ker.

That's it, I'm comin over to de-satch you.

hundred dollar - The base pay plus tips concept can't work across the board. If a band has a strong draw and already gets decent money, obviously there's no reason to try it. But it could be a way for some bands to get their foot in the door without asking for a lot of money, assuming a club is willing to try it. I will say that there is an art to it, and the amount of tips seems directly related to the band's ability to lead a good party.

As far as the overall decrease in wages as mentioned by Swanee, my point exactly. if $100 was considered good 20 years ago, and $100 is still a good average, adjusted for inflation, it's like musicians pay was cut in half. I'm not sure why this is. Possibly the oversupply problem combined with fewer people going out nightclubbing?

Eric....yes .... an over abundance of musicians but the quality has suffered some. Also people don't give a shit anymore about seeing bands at clubs. Things go out of style.

Yes Black Smoke, Crossfire was from Dover NH. They were run by a husband and wife team - Rob and Jody Gourley, on bass and vocals respectively. The nightclub world of New England was very different then. I remember playing gigs with crossfire at "the bounty" in Nashua, New Hampshire where we would play five night stints - Tuesday thru Saturday every few months. the place would be wall-to-wall on Tuesdays, which was ladies night. We also played at Porky's in old Orchard Beach during the summer, and that was a six or seven nighter, packed all week long. We didn't know how good we had it.

Yes that was us. By the time I joined in 89, we seldom played at UNH, but they did play Durham and UNH campus regularly throughout the 80's. It was a great band and I am proud to have been a part of it.

100-125,,is decent money for a club. private parties are much more lucrative! weddings,,,the best! that's all anybodys paying nowadays!

You are better off to introduce a graduating scale in the beginning. You may not get your ideal price at first but you don't want to be in a position that they expect to only pay this price as you grow.

Good example is Moonshine. They were making such and such at first. Things got better and more money was made. I don't think the club walked up to anyone and said hey lets raise your fee. I'm sure a discussion had to be opened up to suggest it by the band.

At least I think that is how it may have happened. Some people are really good at that kind of negotiating.

Things get better, you hire sound, lights, etc... takes off some of your burden to put on a better show. All things get bigger and things costs more but they pay for themselves if everyone is happy and an open dialog is left open.

I think all to often bands will stop playing a place because they don't know how to ask for more money and just request more at other places and get it. There is no need to make them beg. Give them a chance and ask for more.

Some can't do it and they may be going down anyways. It's not your fault.

I don't know why people think they need to post a friggin' 10, line story on here to make their point. With my AADD I'm good for the first few then off to the next post. Bottom line is you make your own success. If you aim low typically you'll hit low.

Agreed...

A $100, no thanks. I'll be staying home for the night. Ciao for now!

I've been playin since 1969. Throughout the 70's, and the early 80's, I made a living off this business. Bringing home 1200.00 per week after taxes.
Liquor liability insurance came along in roughly, 1983 / 1984, and if you noticed Karaoke became the norm around here. Mostly because club owners got spooked at what they were going to have to pay out. Usually the Entertainment got the axe. These guys are buiness people. They have staff, they have expenses. Like everyone, they have to live. Like most, if not all businesses of late... You have to make some pretty hard decisions.The people who work at you place every day are going to get the most concern and their jobs will be spared for the most part. Everyone else... It's just business. granted, Since 1986, 100.0 per guy per night hasn't changed much. I do better than most, But I have a following, and I don't get greedy. Most clubs get the better of the deals, mostly because I see it this way... If they're going to give me gigs throughout the year every month or so, they should get a rate that is fair enough for both of us to make a few bucks. Private events pay our regular rate. weddings are more. less if you feed me what the guests are eatting and not a stale cruddy turkey sandwich. Corporate pays alot more. And we get it. Above all we bring in the crowds, we have a following, Regardless, when a club a club owner asks if we have a following, my light goes on. either this guy is new to this or he thinks I am. I come back jokingly with, Yes I do! Do you have customer's? then we get into a friendly conversation about bands and compensation. NEVER have I got into a heated discussion. These guys know. they weren't born last night.
Bottom line... If your good you'll pack them in and the owner has no excuse than to give you what you want FAIRLY Agreed to prior to playing. If not find another gig. let the fools who will play for nothing and ruin it for everyone else. Those are the guys that are making it hard for anyone to make money. I've been to nashville. They never had the tip thing there till evryone let them. Some people are so hardup for a gig they'll take anything to get one. Playing for beer and peanuts doesn't make you a good band. It makes you contradiction to what everyone is about on this site. Good OR bad every musician here is worth at least 100.00 per night. Just for the work you do to get there. You want more??? You gotta get better, and put bums on seats. Not a tough request. could be worse could be Pay 2 play. That's when I get out.

Money IS everything. Anyone telling you differently is selling you crack. I usually make $1500 / night but after paying out the road crew, the publisist, management, hotels and living expenses etc.....I have about $1350 leftover to give to the wife; after my half of that, I end up with $100.
Personally I'd rather have two blowjobs. One for now and one for later.

Math was never my strong point and neither was getting laid.

Now living dangerously close to the edge.....that's what I'm talking about.

I look at it this way. You should get paid what your worth. Sounds like an easy concept.
Your boss pays you what your worth so why shouldn't a club owner. They have way more hastles, bills, and worries than you do. Forget the flat rate garbage. If you suck you get sucky pay.

Or play private parties and make $300 a night per man...