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Cover band pay: how much are you making?

#61
Hi,

Lemoore-on said:
Here in Cow town, CA we get $300-$400 for bar gigs. one of our regular gigs the manager pays us bonuses for reaching certain marks at the cash register. We have made as much as $500. on some nights there.
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Ha! This reminds me....

Back in my wilder days we would play at this place in Funtucky called "Loretta's Lounge". It's gone now. (We didn't want anyone to know we were working there so we would park across the street at the adult book store.) They also paid on a sliding scale. So the band would drink on our own money plus drop hints that the band is drinking (we would get several rounds of shots bought for us throughout the nite). By the end of the night we had made the cut, got our extra pay, and basically drank all night for free. Fun! But stupid! :rollno:

At that time the pay was $62.50 each for a quartet at that club. Years before that I used to work 6 nights a week for $50 a night. It was pretty good money back then. There are still a lot of bars around here that pay $75 a night ($300 for a quartet). But the "A" rooms pretty much all pay $100-$150 a night per man. We have a 6-piece band.

By the way Mr. Lemoore-on, the link in your sig file doesn't work. :help:

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
#62
We're on the east coast of Canada and we get $750 for a typical bar gig. Certain bars will give us a bonus if they do well that night. We'll get $2000 plus the cost of PA rental and sound guy for a wedding or conference gig.
 
#63
The trio I play in makes $100 - $150 per man and we provide the PA. The other band I play with can perform 7 piece (backup vocals), 4 piece (Keys/Tenor Sax) or as a trio. We usually make $100 per man with the backup vocals getting less since they provide nothing and don't sing on all songs.
 
#66
In my last band, we played a mixture gigs.

For a standard three-set night, it was $200 per band member. If the venue wanted us to keep playing later into the night, we usually negotiated it to $250-300. Plus free drinks all night and a meal before we played. Plus CD sales.

For a gig on the night of a busy 'special' date, such as Christmas eve, New Year's, Australia Day, etc., we'd be looking at $300-500 per band member. Plus free drinks all night and a meal before we played. Plus CD sales. If these were weekend dates, we'd often play two nights in a row - Australians love their public holidays.

Weddings were $500 per member minimum, plus drinks and meals. We drove 12 hours to a wedding once, and the bride and groom also covered our travel and accommodation (THAT was a fun roadtrip!). But we generally didn't do many weddings after a while, because there was just so much waiting around all night, the schedule is never stuck to, and it was kind of awkward playing in a rock covers band at some venues (not well thought through by the bride and groom).

Now, this was all at pubs and clubs in small-medium towns. The gigs we played in the capital city, Melbourne, were rubbish. Small crowds, door-deals, no bonuses, heaps of travel time. You'd never break even. I've got plenty of 'shoddy deal' stories. I always resisted these gigs, but my other band members were sold on the idea that playing in a big city was inherently beneficial and a good thing. So I went along, sulked about the pay, but had a good trip away nevertheless.

Some things I've learnt: 'exposure' is a myth. Anything less than a pre-agreed fee (a straight up fee, not a percentage), is a rip-off. Door deals are rubbish, as is taking a % of the bar. Promoters and any other middlemen are not there to help you. If you find a venue that pays well, book as many dates as you can and watch the money role in. Cut the BS, and give each band member an equal share of the pay. If a venue shafts you at the end of the night, make your displeasure known and don't play there again. Venues can always afford to give you meals and drinks - they're either lying or incredibly inept at managing their business if they say otherwise. Play weddings and ask for more money than usual. Oh, and did I mention 'exposure' is a myth?

But anyway, I could usually count on an extra $400 cash in my pocket each fortnight while I was gigging with this band. That was nice.
 
#67
bassgod0dmw said:
Damn. Now I feel inadequate. My 3 piece makes $300-$500 per night. We basically want $100 minimum per man, but more is always better.
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That's pretty much the going rate in the northern East Coast. Club gigs are $300-$500. We're a 5 piece so we look at $60-$100 per. Too many decent bands with too few places to play equals low pay.
 
#69
The country band that I play with I average a little over $300.00 a night. We played 29 nights this year. Only a few were bar gigs the others weddings, festivals and special events. The Rock band that I play with did 26 gigs where I averaged $116.00 a night. About half were bar gigs.
 
#70
The country band I was in did really well here in Texas, depending on the gig it's anywhere from $375 to $1500 a show. Gigged every Friday night for two years straight. This summer I quit because the singer let alcohol ruin his life and I didn't need the drama.
 
#71
Gaius46 said:
For completeness you probably should factor in your time, both rehearsal time as well as setup and tear down time at gigs.

Personally I always figured I got paid to lug gear and played for free.
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It's a hobby for me, so I don't factor in rehearsal time because I actually enjoy rehearsing. Setup and tear down is different, though...I've never enjoyed that and I've always agreed with the "get paid to lug gear but will play for free" way of thinking.
 
#72
Were a 6 piece cover group in Michigan. We range from $450 to $600 for bar gigs. Weddings, we are rather cheap. In our home town with no travel weve done some for $800. The two weddings we played this year were $1200 and $1400, but involved traveling a couple hours.

People always say you don't make any money. I clear about 3K a year from the hobby. Yeah I buys gear/toys but its all fun.
Other hobbies I have include:
Fishing- Hunting Have about 10X more money wrapped up in this gear than music gear. I make 0$ and spend a grand or two every year, for about 40 lbs of dry gamey meat.
 
#73
I would say $0 - $500 seems to be the range in austin. Size of the band seems to have little or no impact on your pay. Over-saturated market. Something like $250 + 2 drinks a man seems to be the thing.

Get on as a gun with the right band and make $100 a gig. Get on as a gun with the right five bands and you can make a living.

More for privates, naturally.
 
#79
Located in Germany (north-west), per person.
Bar / Club gigs: depending on how many sets, minimum 100 €, usually between 120 - 150.
Weddings: 250 €, often 300 €.
Ordinary Top40 party gigs, outdoor festivals, etc: 250 € and more.
Corporate shows: 300 €
Background / Dinner jazz - depending on how many hours, between 200 and 300 €.
 

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