Best and worst paying bands

[socialleper]

Worst paying-
Local original rock band in a major city. $0 to -$100 per member.

Best paying-
Signed pop, rap, or hip hop artist with side merch deals touring internationally.

 

[40Hz]

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

Best bet is to get somebody who plays casinos to say how that segment of the market works. I’d guess it has its own rules and quirks just like band gigs on cruise lines have. A cruise gig is a world unto itself.

 

[40Hz]

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.

Depends on the corporation. The big ones (and the smaller but rapidly rising new ones) that have customer or employee events (parties, annual shows, management awards night, etc.) or have an “employee’s association” that usually is responsible for the annual employee’s summer picnic or Christmas/Holiday Party will often hire bands for the event.

 

[pocket_groover]

Agree to wedding/corporate gets the highest pay. I was in a cover band that had a good draw. We went from playing mostly clubs/bar gigs to mostly festivals and "music in the park" gigs. IMHO, these are the best; you get more pay than the bar gigs and get done in an hour/hour and a half, maybe two hours and you're home early. Winery gigs are also good if they have good attendance. You don't need a good draw but need to be good musically. They tend to be longer; 3-4 hours but start early and end early (done by 10PM). The best bar gig was in an iconic bar; they had packed houses on Fridays/Saturdays and paid about the same as festivals. Only issue was the 9:30PM to 1:30AM length. I got home at 3AM. The saving grace was that there were still people going strong until the end.

 

[Nephilymbass]

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.

duo acoustic cover gigs around here. It’s less people splitting the money and pays the same as bigger band cover gigs. Don’t need a huge PA setup so you don’t have to spend a ton of money buying PA gear or hiring a production company to provide it for you.

3-4 set cover gigs are probably second. It’s not what it used to be. Once the little Solo and duo type shows became common venues stopped paying good money for bigger bands.

Tribute bands get paid the most per show but here none of them play regularly so it kind of averages out. If you’re looking for a couple good paydays a year it might be for you though.

Originals bands are all over the place. I’ve played a lot of freebie originals gigs over the years. But my best paying gigs were originals gigs that were either CD release shows or shows where we introduced a lot of other new Merch like shirts, hoodies, and Koozies

 

[Chasarms]

I subbed for a guy in a band one summer whose wife was having a kid. They did corporate gigs and city block parties, etc. This was more than 25 years ago and the band had 10-12 players on any given night. Think Blies Brothers. I still pocketed 250-300 per.

The thing about it is the people dropping $4-5k for a band almost exclusively book through a legit agency. So, you better make dang sure that EVERY player has their proverbial crap together. On time. Sober. The right look. Right gear. Knows the sets. It’s not at all like a bar band.

A few years ago, I was playing DB in a Old Time Americana/Bluegrass band that had a wedding niche. I made a TON of money and we got a gig offer at every wedding we played. But, we had a front guy who could teach old dances and such. He was great.

If you play weddings, you better have st least one guy who can emcee the whole damn thing, because you will get asked.

 

[Allan Allan]

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...

Perhaps you should try playing the songs well. The original recording of Brown Eyed Girl is anything but the 3 chord slog most bands turn it into.

 

[Samatza]

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.

Great, I'm saving hard for this one, at this rate I can have Sir Paul play at my... 250th birthday celebration.

 

[Max Bogosity]

You guys are obviously involved with a higher class of weddings and corporate events than I am. Around here, you’re competing against a drunken uncle playing Wagon Wheel or a boom box in the corner. Nobody’s going home with three figures unless they just won the 50/50 draw.

 

[Samatza]

Weddings pay well but are long hours $300-$600.
Originals bands fare worst unless you have a solid following that come to your shows $?.
Covers bands $100 - $250
Corporate bands $250-$500
Show bands $250-$800

All this is per man. With agents you need to negotiate because they will offer the lowest pay for you and highest charge for the customer, you need to stand your ground if you want to get paid properly.

If you're intending to work as a hired gun or as a band work out what you can reasonably get paid in your area and don't undercut yourself and others. These prices work in my area, YMMV.

We joke about a musician being a person with $5,000 worth of equipment who will travel 3 hours to play for 4 hours and get $50 but unfortunately for some it's true. Don't undervalue what you do.

Legitimate charities I'll do for free.

 

[Humbled]

...Legitimate charities I'll do for free.

I'm kind of confused by those posting that "city block parties" or "day in the park" or other municipally hosted events pay well. Seems to me most of them think they're "Legitimate Charities".

 

[voodoobassist]

Wedding bands for sure at the top of unsigned payscale. As far as casino bands, it can be pretty lucrative. I pretty much only play casinos now, simply because of #1. the money, and #2. you don't have to lug gear! I run a 5 piece band that plays the casino circuit, 3 one hour sets, $200 - 300 a man a night, rooms and meals included. Not fabulous money, but not bad either. I've just started running a couple of trios in the same circuit and we make anywhere from $300 - 600 a man for a night. When you factor in not having to provide or pay for sound and lights, it's a pretty gravy situation.

The downside for "some players". No drinking, no smoking on stage, no profanity. It's definitely not the big fun of A-room rock bars of the old days, it's never a wild party on stage. Casinos, as funny as it sounds, try to present themselves as wholesome entertainment. I know of one local act that was banned because the female lead vocal wore what they they deemed, a too revealing outfit. In truth, she looked fine, no excess of skin showing, not "skanky" , just a flattering shirt and pants. This same night, the casino had their "vegas style" showgirls working the floor, big feathers, lots of leg and cleavage. Go figure.

It's definitely a lucrative way to gig , you just have to be willing to put up with their quirks, which can be said for a lot of places I guess. They're paying me well, so I smile and nod my head yes to their quirky rules, security hoops you have to jump through , etc , and say thanks very much and see you in 6 weeks.

 

[MegaSwing]

Private parties for rich people. Those are the best gigs. Especially if you have a broad repertoire.

 

[Humbled]

Private parties for rich people. Those are the best gigs. Especially if you have a broad repertoire.

+1

 

[Samatza]

I'm kind of confused by those posting that "city block parties" or "day in the park" or other municipally hosted events pay well. Seems to me most of them think they're "Legitimate Charities".

It depends on who is organising the event. If it is local government they have funds to put the event on, if it's a local group made up of volunteers then they probably will not.
I don't mind doing my bit for the community but we had a sort of festival a few years ago and we were slotted in from midday to 2pm. Because it was a non paying event the two bands who were supposed to come on after us didn't show up so they asked us to keep going. I politely explained that we have a gig that evening and we can't just hang around all day.

 

[fdeck]

I've found for myself there's enough variability that it's hard to find any consistent pattern, but within the local scene, bands with the best musicians tend to attract better pay. Even if they play a genre or repertoire that nobody would associate with money gigs. Of course they also call better bassists than me if they can. Optimistically, I'm somewhere in the middle of the call lists, but certainly not at the top. I'm lucky to have played mostly paid gigs throughout my career, but have not had to deal with extensive rehearsals, day-long commitments, or massive amounts of gear.

Wedding / event bands seem like they should be lucrative, but there's also intense competition in that area, both among bands, and among players trying to get into those bands. And it's a big investment.

 

[mrjim123]

I'm more of a rock, blues, country, R&B player, but I played in a polka band for years. We had no problem getting good paying gigs. Almost all were corporate or festival type gigs. Supply and demand is a big factor; for example (and in my particular case), polka bands are few and far between, whereas classic rock / country bands are a dime a dozen (and I have played in those, as well).

 

[JimmyM]

Convention and wedding bands pay the best IME, until you get into backing shows with major artists visiting your area who don't have a regular band. But you'd be surprised how little many of these major artists pay. Some of them can't afford to pay much, and many can afford it but just want the money for themselves.

 

[Rib 13]

'pays least' = free gigs
'pays most' = Pink Floyd

 

[Passinwind]

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.

The ones I've played were either company parties or convention type stuff. One of the local hotels hired us two nights back to back. The first night was a pest control forum party and was completely hilarious and over the top. I would have be so fired if the crew hadn't bought into my schtick, but they re-booked and requested the band for the next year on the spot as it turned out. The next night was a firefighters association, mostly smoke jumpers and the like. There was some religious convention going on that day at the hotel too and figuring out the right balance to keep everyone happy was pretty interesting. Both nights were a guaranteed full house and required no promotion of any kind from the band and paid decent money with easy hours. My jazz trio got booked for a chamber of commerce thing in an airplane hangar/museum a few hours away once and we got put up in a nice hotel, a meal allowance, and double our normal rate without even asking for it. No one danced or even really paid any attention to the band, aka a "wallpaper gig." Just had to dress up nice and not call attention to ourselves, pretty much the opposite of the first one where we were expected to interact a lot and send everyone off to their rooms tired and with a big bar tab.