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How does each band member get paid fairly?

DrakeWeiss

DrakeWeiss

May 14, 2012
72
15
Wisconsin
#1
My band is fairly new and we do mostly hard rock covers as a four-piece band... vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer. Ideally, each would get 25% cut for each gig. That would be totally fair if the vocalist owned the PA, the guitarist had a pro rig, the bassist had a pro rig, and the drummer had a great drum set. Is that how bands usually do it or not???? This is my first band, and nobody in my band is seeing this like I do lol.

Ok, so our singer doesn't have poopie, but he can sing most songs well enough. Does he deserve 25%? No lol and Yes. Either he should rent a PA and earn his 25%, or use the crappy PA we have, and have him take half his cut and save it for new or good used PA equipment that he will own and maintain. Does that seem fair enough?

The drummer is saving for some poopy electronic drum set. I'm not thrilled about it, but he's a killer drummer and half my age lol, so he has some learning to do yet. I can deal with it if will sound good. He is using the guitarist's drum set now. Again, I feel that part of his cut should be saved up for a real drum set lol. Am I wrong?

The guitarist has a good rig, the crappy PA, the old drum set, and some old guitars that do ok. He is doing more than his part, and he continues to upgrade things as we go along. He definitely deserves his 25%.

I have a great bass rig: Hartke Kilo with two Hartke Hydrives 1x15's. I have a few nice pedals, a couple decent basses, good accessories... everything I need for pro gigs. I organize the bands tunings and song lists on the computer and I am the sound man for now until we can add a soundman. Anyway, I am doing my part and I own all the necessary gear. I deserve 25%, correct?

I'm really curious to hear how other bands handle it. I already feel like I'm going to ruffle the singer's feathers by suggesting that he should be saving for new/used PA equipment. If he does not do it, I think it will be necessary to look for a new singer that is serious enough to have their own PA. What do you think?
 
#4
I have two rigs... one is home and one is at the practice studio, so otherwise my cost so far would be down to $5000 with only one rig. I felt I needed two for convenience and dependability. I had to have the Hartke Kilo serviced twice in the first two years.
 
#5
I don't think the band members' investment in equipment should yield a percentage of pay for gigs. In my experience the best method is to establish a leader of the band with a good mind for business. This will be the guy/girl that books the gigs, is good with finance, and has a plan for various investments in mind. Agree on a flat pay-per-member that is acceptable depending on the size of the gig (if the band is making $500 and there are five of you, don't pay out $100 to each member if you plan on affording studio time, merch, and most importantly PROMOTION). If you are in that seat, you need to get your bandmates to agree on a level of payment (according to magnitude of event), and lay out options for investment.
 
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#6
There's no practical way other than splitting the pay equally between members, and maybe an extra share if one person is supplying the PA.

How much money each individual chooses to spend on their own gear is up to them, if you want to get paid based on that then you would have to consider other band members' ideas of what gear you can and can not buy.
 
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#7
Why not just 25% for each person and if they get their own stuff then great, if not, you can kind of see where their interests lie. Or, if the band is using the PA and you guys are serious as a band you should all pitch for the PA to help the entire band. Then you can split pay 20% with the 5th going for Band stuff.
 
#8
25% each, possibly less if an agreed-upon amount is put to something that benefits the band collectively such as promo costs but not a PA. That's the singer's problem, and he needs to pony up for a PA that'll sound good beyond the volumes and rooms you think you'll need.

Definitely nothing should be based on how much individuals chose to overpay for what's a functional instrument and rig.
 
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#10
Letting these guys choose their own gear could turn out bad... the gear might not be good enough... like an electronic drum set. The singer is building a stage lighting rack set... It doesn't look very portable lol. I'd hate to see what he'd drag in for a PA lol.

My feeling is that if everybody is earning the 25%, the singer will put off buying new/used equipment, and we will desperately need it at some point. At that point he will either rent/buy equipment or be replaced with a singer who has good equipment or is willing and able to buy, own and maintain the equipment.

Ideally, I see the gear breakdown for a very solid start-up band going like this:

Bassist - buys, owns, maintains all bass guitar equipment and supplies $2000-5000+
Guitarist - same as above for electric lead/rhythm guitar $2000-5000+
Drummer - same as above for drum set $2000-5000+
Singer - buys, owns, maintains PA equipment $2000-5000+

The lighting setup could go a few different ways. I suppose the easiest would be if each member bought their own piece/tower/rack of lighting to use own and maintain.

If any member's gear is less than a good average setup, it would have to get upgraded asap.
 
#13
If you're going to throw in amount invested into the equation, why not throw in some other variables?!

How about costs of travel? Not just to gigs but to practice too.
Time? Time is arguably pretty valuable.
Who chose the songs? If a song's a hit, should the person who chose it get more money?
Should members get % deducted for mistakes they make?

My imagination is failing me here, but I'm sure you get the picture. There's much more to a band than money invested. Besides, that money invested isn't into the band directly, it's for the player. I'm in 5 bands at the moment and own roughly £2000 of gigging gear. Does that mean I've invested £10000 in bands? No.

What I'm trying to get at in a roundabout way is: If you're being pernickety about being paid more, you're in a band for the wrong reason. Need more money from gigs? Gig more. The band not working for you? Find a new band.

Bands work best when everyone is good friends, and bringing trivial things into it can only ruin that bond.
 
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#14
I'm not saying anyone should get paid by how much money they have invested into their equipment. I'm saying each member is expected to have all the good and reliable equipment necessary, which does cost $2000+ per spot basically for a very solid start-up band.
 
#15
The studio time, rental time, travel time, research time, etc. varies member by member, but in our band it has equaled out pretty fairly. There have been no problems with that, thank God :) The only problem is that the drums and pa equipment doesn't match the bass and electric guitar equipment. The drums and pa is over 20 years old and doesn't look very welcoming for a band who would like to make $1000+ per gig at some point lol.
 
#17
I know a plethora of singers. Most have very good mics, but very few, if any, have their own PA system.

If the band's looking promising, do what I've done, and what plenty of others have suggested and add a 5th element to split the pay with, the band kitty. 20% each to spend on general band kit until you have what you need and back to 25%. When the band parts ways, sell the equipment and split equally as everyone had equal investment.
 
#19
JaminDyer said:
I know a plethora of singers. Most have very good mics, but very few, if any, have their own PA system.

If the band's looking promising, do what I've done, and what plenty of others have suggested and add a 5th element to split the pay with, the band kitty. 20% each to spend on general band kit until you have what you need and back to 25%. When the band parts ways, sell the equipment and split equally as everyone had equal investment.
Click to expand...

The kitty method seems pretty good and straight forward. Some people are nitpicky though. Say one member quits after a year and wants 25% of his investment back. Well the equipment is used now and not worth as much, so he/she would get like 60% of the 25% back. But I forgot to split the 60% four ways. It gets kind of hairy. I prefer that each member buys, owns, and maintains their equipment. If they quit, they can sell it to the band, or take it and do whatever.
 

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