What do you recommend for people starting out gigging but who don't want to start at a ridiculous $100 a gig? Taking $5k equipment with me out to a $100 gig doesn't make sense when my equipment could be damaged by extreme weather conditions, dropped, or even stolen. Additionally, I could be harassed, assaulted or even killed if it's the bar scene late at night.
You can pay me $100 a gig if I bring out a $250 acoustic and sing. But I'm not doing that. I'm bringing out my AX8, guitar, and redsound speakers (Plus pole mounted monitor stands).
One gigger told me he does weddings and to expect $100-$150 for your first gig... Can this actually be true? How can musicians even make back the price of their equipment let alone a living on that kind of pay?
There must be a piece to this puzzle that I'm missing.
$100 a gig per head is
standard for typical bar, club and restaurant gigs for 3-4 hours of music. Average rate is usually $50 to $120 maybe for that.
It doesn’t matter what gear you bring - these kinds of venues aren’t paying you for what gear you have. They want music/sound from that part of the room and that’s the rate.
If you’re expecting $500 or more for your very first gig, you may be in the wrong industry.
Once you’re established you might be able to get a higher rate, but venue gigs typically have their budget set.
Special events usually have a higher rate and you can charge for sound gear separately, but these are more difficult because it’s usually a one time thing with a non-regular setup, longer setup and gig times, and usually special performance requests like songs, clothing, timing, etc. for weddings, they usually want you to setup before everyone gets there - say 3pm setup for a 5pm event start - and you close the night, so you’re tearing down at 10pm. So a high paying $500 special event gig is 8 or more hours of your time.
Special events and regular venue gigs are totally different things.
Maybe it’s surprising to hear that well-known bands at big concerts and festivals can get $300 - $800 per person. Headliners at these can get more, but only the biggest bands get more than $1000 per person even for a gig like that. I’m sure there are exceptions and every gig is different, but from what I’ve heard in the circuit, those are the going rates.
If your favorite radio band is doing a weekend festival for 100,000 people for $1000 for the entire band, I’m not sure I’d expect the same for 100 people at your local club. If you find that, you’re lucky.
Gear is gear. Bring what you need to communicate your message and perform how you want. A typical duo gig of mine, we are bringing at least $10k worth of gear, more if we need to bring our own sound. And we’ll get paid $100 each. To make a living doing music, we gig 5 times a week minimum, with most doing 7 - 10 gigs minimum.
If you want to match your gear with the pay rate, you’ll be bringing your acoustic only for a very, very long time if you’re just starting out.
Just like they say “dress for the job you want,” bringing the gear for the pay you want is how I approach things. Even for a $50 2 hour gig, I’ll bring my expensive guitar and axe setup because it’s my sound, and it sounds good, letting me perform how I want. This lets people know how good I can sound, and I’ll get new jobs from that representation.
Can you get high paying gigs with just an acoustic and a mic? Sure, but you better sound really, really good. If you’re not the best, bringing gear that will supplement your sound can go a long way.
Venues don’t care how long we’ve practiced and how much our gear costs. They have a need and a set budget. Your job is to fill that need. If you don’t want to do it, there are others that will.
Booking agents take a cut of the pay. Good agents will negotiate their fee on top of the band pay. Average agents take it from your pay.
Getting your own gigs at established places is more challenging unless you sound good and have a reputation or great press kit.
Most of the good venues will work with a booking agent. You’ll have to approach the agent to get into their system, and then you can play whatever venues they have.
If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend seeking out the venue you want to play first, rather than just trying to advertise yourself in general. Find a place where the atmosphere matches your style of performance.
I prefer gigs where I’m background music, rather than the highlight of the night. Way easier and less stress and performance. This means restaurants and some bar gigs. I don’t call out people during the night, I don’t single out people eating to make a conversation to get the attention on me. I just play song after song. This is my approach.
I bring gear that sounds good, I EQ to the room and cut some mids to allow them to hear their table conversations easily, yet at the same time the music sounds full and comfortable. When many are done with their meal, I’m still playing but they walk by and give a tip and say “you sound great thanks!”
For a 3 hour gig, I prefer to play it straight through, no breaks. This is for solo or duo acoustic style gigs. Taking a break can stop the energy and flow I’m creating with the songs and order I choose, and you have to get off the stage , turn on the house music, stand around for 15 minutes with no where to go, then put it all back to perform again. There are some venues I definitely take the breaks because of the situation.
This is just my approach. For my kinds of gigs, it works well. Management is usually happy and the audience is too. All for $100 - $200 per gig. I just try to not be “that guy” who is needy or belligerent on stage. Venue managers have the musician duties added on top of their customer complaints, food expediting, bathroom breaking, employee issues, equipment problems, etc. managers at my gigs know they just need to turn off the house music once and for the rest of the night they don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been told several times at different venues they appreciate what I do and it’s a relief when it’s me that night.
Can you get high paying regular gigs? Sure but they are rare. For your first gigs, be lucky to be paid at all unless you have a product that is already at the level of their established performers.
It is unlikely that you will get $500 or more for your very first gig with no experience and no following or reputation in the gig circuit.
