Best and worst paying bands

[EastCoastThump]

The owners would constantly say "Well, we pay "Band XXX" only $400 a night and they pack the place. We can pay you that or no deal".

That's one of the appealing things about corporate/wedding work. Rates aren't determined by the region's lowest priced bar band.

 

[Jimmy4string]

I'm getting a strong impression about wedding bands.

As well you should.
They work hard at being the best. ALSO -they know how to deal with people in stressful situations (weddings) and they dress perfect and perfect their set lists.
They earn that $$ - not a level i am ready for.

 

[moogieotter]

Please elaborate the idea of a "Corporate" band. I have worked in Corporations for 20 years and never seen a band get booked around here.

Is there like a link you can share that shows there is such a thing? Thanks for helping me. I am just a dum ole otter.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Please elaborate the idea of a "Corporate" band. I have worked in Corporations for 20 years and never seen a band get booked around here.

Is there like a link you can share that shows there is such a thing? Thanks for helping me. I am just a dum ole otter.

Check this out. If you have $1,000,000+ you can get Paul McCartney to play at your private hedge fund end-of- year dinner, or your daughter's birthday party, for that matter.

Invalid Link Removed

I, of course, am a lifelong bottom-feeder. Biggest payday ever was, in fact, a corporate event at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville NC. Long since forgotten who the client was. The hotel was the entity that actually hired us. Two one-hour sets! The check I took home was four figures, baby!

 

[Michael Simpson]

Weddings, functions, New Year's gigs (you try finding anybody sober enough to be a musician in Scotland on Hogmanay!!).

If possible, organise your own ticketed event if your following is large enough. Hire everything needed, the rest is yours. We did as a reunion show, sold out and each man in a 5 piece band made over half a grand take-home after costs for 1hr 30's playing (Sound and light company, venue hire, security, support bands and crew etc). Not much, but huge for a small area full of locals.

 

[Steve Helland]

In the experience of TBers, what are the best paying bands to be in, cover or otherwise, and what are the worst?

I was in a band that played roughly 3 to 4 hours a night and generally made between $60-100 per man, depending on conditions and whether or not we were running our own sound. We were playing modern rock radio music of the day; RATM, Audioslave, Social Distortion, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. We had more fun when we switched to playing originals and met a lot more people, but the pay vanished, to the nickel. (I can't say down to the penny, because I was actually paid about a penny for our part in a big gig, but that's a story for another time.) It was more about the experience, even though we got a lot of compliments.

So, I'm interested in all your experiences in what the must lucrative band is to be in, barring the obvious of course, like being in Led Zeppelin or something. So other than that, where's the money and where's it ain't?

I decided against a poll, because it started to get too long.

I agree with most folks here that the wedding band/corporate event/cruise ship-type gigs pay the best (which I did both before and after beating my head against a wall for years playing in original bands in the 90's). It just became a matter of how long I could do it before losing my mind and my desire to play at all...which eventually happened, so I quit playing altogether for a long time. Now I'm back to playing cover music I enjoy (60's-70's hard rock/classic blues/funk, etc.) for beer, food and maybe $60/player in dive bars and loving it...makes the day job worth it.

 

[sawzalot]

Wedding and event bands pay the best. Cover bands can pay very well if you've got the following and the right gigs, at least in this area. Everything else comes in a distant third. Balance all that with whether you're playing the music you want to play, deriving any artistic satisfaction from the band you're in, etc. If you've got another source of income sometimes the money isn't important.

 

[bbh]

Wedding and event bands pay the best. Cover bands can pay very well if you've got the following and the right gigs, at least in this area. Everything else comes in a distant third. Balance all that with whether you're playing the music you want to play, deriving any artistic satisfaction from the band you're in, etc. If you've got another source of income sometimes the money isn't important.

What about those casino gigs? They seem to pay decently, so I’ve heard.

 

[sawzalot]

What about those casino gigs? They seem to pay decently, so I’ve heard.

Especially when the drummer is counting cards.

 

[friskinator]

When I was gigging in Atlanta, my main cover band (4 piece) wouldn't take any bar/pub gig unless each of us could walk with at least $150. But those type of gigs were drying up shortly before I moved. We had an agent that we used for occasional corporate/private work, and those ranged anywhere between $300-600 a man. We never traveled, and everything was done in the metro area.

I subbed a wedding gig last month in VA and walked with $525. No rehearsal.

 

[Jimmy4string]

Oh wait i forgot originals band.
They can range all over the place in that scale but typically below low end bar band.
they are the joker in the deck.
Also the scale varies in different places of the country.
We got so many bands here in Austin-you could be a wedding band and just get bar gig money. supply and demand -like the Hives song

 

[Altitude]

In my experience in the Colorado market over the last 15 years:

• A share of the take for a wedding gig is about $350.
• A night playing with a decent cover band in a reputable venue is about $100.
• A dues-paying night with a new cover band or in low-end venues is about $30.
  
• A night playing with an originals band is between $0 and $40.

 

[Mike N]

The check I took home was four figures, baby!

The only four figure check I've got from playing included the two zeros to the right of the decimal point.

 

[bassicmike]

I made more $$$ playing one wedding with the current band than made in 20 years doing covers and originals.

 

[friskinator]

Please elaborate the idea of a "Corporate" band. I have worked in Corporations for 20 years and never seen a band get booked around here.

Is there like a link you can share that shows there is such a thing? Thanks for helping me. I am just a dum ole otter.

“Corporate” in my experience usually refers to parties or functions for a company or event. I’ve played everything from cocktail mixers for corporate conventions to end-of-year parties for corporations and their employees. Some of those parties can get pretty big (and expensive).

 

[210superair]

I'm not really in it for the money. I totally understand some are, and that's awesome. But I'll tell you this, I'd PAY $300 a month to not be in a wedding/corporate gig band anymore. I've played mustang Sally and brown eyed girl for the last time yall. Money be damned...

 

[40Hz]

I'm getting a strong impression about wedding bands.

It can take awhile to get in with the wedding hosts and planners who will be where the bulk of your bookings will come from. But once your band is on the approved list (i.e polite, respectful, well dressed, and non-drunken musicians who understand they’re employees rather than guests at the wedding), the work is steady and pays surprisingly well. One complaint about your sobriety, comments, or behavior and it’s over for good. The wedding industry has a long memory for good and bad happenings.

 

[DirtDog]

In the last band I was in - had that going for almost 10 years - our best paying gig was about $500/person (wedding) and our worst paying gig was $-10/person (dive bar gig for the door, out in the sticks, one person showed up...minus $10 for gas). Same band, same set list (country covers mostly), different venue.

 

[Humbled]

I miss the days when dance-halls and honkey-tonks in the Western US and Canada ran bands six nights a week and provided free lodging, food & drink (or food and drink allowances). Travel on Sundays and count your money. It wasn't a bundle but it added up, it was very consistent if you had a good manager, and the living expenses were next to nothing. These days... the posts above have it covered.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

In the experience of TBers, what are the best paying bands to be in, cover or otherwise, and what are the worst?

I was in a band that played roughly 3 to 4 hours a night and generally made between $60-100 per man, depending on conditions and whether or not we were running our own sound. We were playing modern rock radio music of the day; RATM, Audioslave, Social Distortion, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. We had more fun when we switched to playing originals and met a lot more people, but the pay vanished, to the nickel. (I can't say down to the penny, because I was actually paid about a penny for our part in a big gig, but that's a story for another time.) It was more about the experience, even though we got a lot of compliments.

So, I'm interested in all your experiences in what the must lucrative band is to be in, barring the obvious of course, like being in Led Zeppelin or something. So other than that, where's the money and where's it ain't?

I decided against a poll, because it started to get too long.

Polka wedding band. Great hours, don’t need a lot of equipment, you can get two gig in on a Saturday, you are fed, & everybody has a great time.