I Don't Remember Getting Gigs Being This Tough

[GearHeadBassMan]

the last two posts sums it all up pretty well. it used to be a good time to be in an original band. now it sucks. even the veterans around here are getting jack. we played a gig last night and company that threw it is one that actually does their job or promoting and marketing their shows. and they throw bands any money left over when the dust settles, which is usually a good chunk of change, in comparison to some things we've been paid. (One venue owner said he had $10 total to pay 5 bands, we told him to shove it and left, at that point it's insulting)

you're gonna have to play a few free or cheap gigs. thats the scene nowadays. until you're on a record contract and have suits to do your shows for you, garantees are basically nonexistant.

 

[wkbryan]

if you're getting paid $150 per gig, i would start being quiet....

most venues here refuse guarentees and only pay you by people you bring. As the CEO of a venue, i agree with this. it takes initiative for a band to get enough people there (building their fanbase big enough) to get what they want to get paid.


I actuallly had a show last night. $7 cover. 7 bands. the highest paid band was $39. two bands got paid $3.00.

consider yourself lucky if
a) you are getting gigs with guarentees
and B) guarentees of $150.


Sorry to be the downcast one, but its legit truth.

Dude, I don't think I'd admit that I had anything to do with treating folks like this.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Somewhere along the line, the reason for a live band changed from: entertain the people who frequent the establishment...to...bring the audience. All this amounts to is lazy club owners & promoters who shove off THEIR JOB onto someone else.

You hit the nail on the head.

I think that venues that want to have bands, but do not have any plans to have an agreeable arrangement in place (and by agreeable, I do not mean play for free) should just not have bands.

 

[gjbassist]

Same things going on here. This time last year we were playing at least two gigs a month and were in regular rotation at three different clubs. We were even turning down a few due to being overbooked. This year the band has basically fallen apart because we have only had two gigs all year. Two guys in the band have been all over the area trying to get us booked. There are way more bands looking for places to play then there are places to play! Hopefully this is just a cycle and things will change soon!

 

[phippsyg]

Until I read this I actually thought these problems were isolated to Sydney. Many venues here (and I'm speaking about original bands) have a deal where they give you a bunch of tickets to sell and you get to keep the takings from a certain amount of them-and that is your payment.

I do a jazz gig where the guy who organises the gig doesn't get paid anything, he pays the band so he can do the gig. The problem is everyone is having to take on these opportunities with the hope that the money they forego is justified by the amount of exposure they get. The problem is though, that, especially in Sydney, people just aren't going to see bands. In a "society" where people can be "social" by sitting in front of a computer, people don't seem to need to get out as much. Take also into account people spend so much money on their home theatres, xbox's etc and the fact that now, expendable income is a thing of the past for some, you start to realise what's happening to the live music scene. (here anyways).
I think many venues that don't have music as it's sole income realise that their will always be someone who will gig for free for the "exposure" and this lack of regualtion is what really hurts the money side of things.

How many other careers exist where you train your whole life in something, spend thousands of dollars on your work tools and equipment, just to get to the job and hope you are paid a drink, maybe a meal and a couple of bucks.

Maybe I should have studied law after all......

 

[two fingers]

In my 20+ years of being in bands and trying to hunt down gigs, I've found that there is only ONE thing that gives you a REAL edge with a club owner. It's a REFERRAL from somebody he/she TRUSTS! That's it. If you have a great press kit...so what...who the hell are you? But if the drummer from one of that club owners favorite (and money making) bands says "Hey. You should really check out (enter your band name here). Those guys are GREAT! Maybe we could have them open for us one night. Just play a few songs with our backline." Then you're in. You may not even have to do the opening gig. So make friends with some guys who are regulars in your area. Get them to come to a practice and see you for a few minutes. Maybe even offer them a few buck for their troubles. It'll be worth it in the long run. BTW One of my best friends (and favorite drummers) is from up that way. Steve O'Grady...you know him? Anyway...best of luck to you!!!!

 

[Andy Brown]

In my 20+ years of being in bands and trying to hunt down gigs, I've found that there is only ONE thing that gives you a REAL edge with a club owner. It's a REFERRAL from somebody he/she TRUSTS! That's it. If you have a great press kit...so what...who the hell are you? But if the drummer from one of that club owners favorite (and money making) bands says "Hey. You should really check out (enter your band name here). Those guys are GREAT! Maybe we could have them open for us one night. Just play a few songs with our backline." Then you're in. You may not even have to do the opening gig. So make friends with some guys who are regulars in your area. Get them to come to a practice and see you for a few minutes. Maybe even offer them a few buck for their troubles. It'll be worth it in the long run. BTW One of my best friends (and favorite drummers) is from up that way. Steve O'Grady...you know him? Anyway...best of luck to you!!!!

That's a great point. This especially holds true up here. I see bands around here that are, quite frankly, not that good have regular gigs. After doing some digging you find out they know the owner, manager, bartender, or girlfriend/boyfriend of any of 'em. I just don't know how they sustain yet.

 

[JoeYello]

Many of the clubs in my area that have original bands do not have any "regulars"....you have to bring your own crowd. I suspect it has to do with the fact they charge a cover of about $10 for unknown bands each night of the week. For someone who likes to go out and have a few drinks a couple of times a week I think this may be steep for them.

After a couple of gigs you start to tap out on the friends that would actually show up.

 

[Sunnburn]

Here in Dayton, Ohio its all about splitting the door. We might average $100 a band a night. Hey, If you don't draw a crowd, no one makes money and they definately don't want you back. If your looking to make money you better do the cover thing. But if your original Indie/punk/jam/metal etc, you should be able to find some house parties or underground collectives that sponsor shows. All free of course. Most of our shows come from networking and knowing other bands.

 

[Gard]

Dude, I don't think I'd admit that I had anything to do with treating folks like this.

No doubt! :scowl:

The problem has many causes, lazy club owners/managers, and another one no one is mentioning:

Bands that will work for peanuts just to play.

I don't know about any of you guys, but gigging is no longer my primary source of income. However, even though it is a slightly more serious than just a hobby activity, it needs to at a minimum pay for itself and the time I put into it.

Bands need to work together in a given area, if EVERYONE will refuse to work for under a certain amount, then those morons running the clubs will be forced to carry their own water, eh?

FWIW, I don't consider anything less than $100/night worth putting my amp in the car for. Every band I gig with knows this when they hire me. I think it's reasonable compensation for the time I have put in, and the investment in my equipment. And I get it.

If you hold yourself up to a particular level of competency and a certain value, and STICK TO IT, you will get it.

 

[Prof.Dr.Metz]

No doubt! :scowl:

The problem has many causes, lazy club owners/managers, and another one no one is mentioning:

Bands that will work for peanuts just to play.

I don't know about any of you guys, but gigging is no longer my primary source of income. However, even though it is a slightly more serious than just a hobby activity, it needs to at a minimum pay for itself and the time I put into it.

Bands need to work together in a given area, if EVERYONE will refuse to work for under a certain amount, then those morons running the clubs will be forced to carry their own water, eh?

FWIW, I don't consider anything less than $100/night worth putting my amp in the car for. Every band I gig with knows this when they hire me. I think it's reasonable compensation for the time I have put in, and the investment in my equipment. And I get it.

If you hold yourself up to a particular level of competency and a certain value, and STICK TO IT, you will get it.

Thanks for saying that Gard, it's the absolute truth.

 

[rdmjazz]

I can't stand when the first thing out of the owners mouth is "Do you have a following?"

Well not since the music scene went to one nighters. I can't get someone to follow me around from one city one night to way out somewhere else the next night and so on... I just don't see the logic in switching bands every night. There is no consistency in the quality. You would not change your chef everynight and expect to build any clients, its no different. I can count the times I can even pull a Fri/Sat at one place each year, pretty much on two fingers!

If I am expected to bring in the clients for the establishment, then I should have an advertising budget to go with that responsibility! Friggin dumbasses!

rant over

 

[EricF]

In our area there is only one thing that matters - draw. If you can get people in the door, you'll get booked for decent time slots. If there's a cover charge, then there's usually an agreement about the band's cut, but it's tied into how many people show up for you. If there's no cover, it's usually just drink tickets (cheap beer only) for band members no matter how many people you bring. So far, our best night has netted us $50, which we promply burned through at the bar. It sucks, but that's just the way it is for the small, crap-hole venues we're currently playing. Thankfully, we're playing for the fun of it, not the money. We'd still do it for free, but we won't go down the pay-to-play road.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

No doubt! :scowl:

The problem has many causes, lazy club owners/managers, and another one no one is mentioning:

Bands that will work for peanuts just to play.

I agree. And that brings up the quality issue. Bars that don't pay, or pay very little, end up having lower quality entertainment.

More and more, when bar owners and managers are trying different payment arrangements with us such as selling tickets or making a cut of the door, we just tell them "We don't do that. This is what we charge.".

 

[Wasted Bassist]

It appears that the middle of nowhere seems to be not a bad spot for bands... I've honestly never had a problem finding gigs for my band in the 2 years we've been doing shows. We normally get the door, but we draw a big enough crowd that we make more from the $5 cover (pretty much standard at most places in town) than anyone would pay us. We usually make $400-$600 a night which means $80-$120 per member. A hell of a lot better than what I make flipping burgers.

 

[nsmar4211]

Man I apparently picked a bad time to pick up bass and want to play

 

[idoru]

That's a +1 to remote locations being better for work - my new gig will have me up in Darwin, NT (just north of the middle of nowhere here in Oz) for 5+ weeks doing 5 nights a week at different venues.

My old band's booking agent was always hassling us to drive to places 3 or 4 hours away to do a show or two. If we'd had a van in our posession, we'd have done them.

Locally, looking at 2-3 gigs a month. Too much competition.

c-

 

[Korladis]

I think a lot of this depends on what sort of place one is playing at.

A bar is very different from a club, and among clubs, there are some that are basically dedicated music venues.

At a bar, the patrons are there primarily to drink and socialize.

At a music venue, people are there to see a concert. There aren't regulars because people don't go to music venues every couple nights, they go when a band they like is playing. Ironically, these are probably some of the worst-paying, as I don't think they actually do that well financially themselves, in many cases, due to the unstable nature of their income. But these are the places an originals band plays at, especially an originals metal band.

 

[Ashdharma]

Wow, this will sound bad but, I'm glad I'm not the only one facing this reality/problem!

It seems to me that somehow, the venue has become the attraction. The crappiest hole-in-the-wall place act as if they are doing you a favor by allowing you walk on their piss/beer/blood soaked floors.

Totally agree with the first post, these dumps have an ever-growing list of what they want from you, for example:
a CD/presskit
a couple of show ups at open mic nights
the horn of a unicorn
medusa's head
a note from my mother

And then even when you do jump through ALL of their hoops, there is a good chance that:
their soundguy is an *******
they don't pay much if anything
they don't promote an event that is happening at their own business (FAIL.)

ARGH!! HULK MAD!!

 

[Prof.Dr.Metz]

Wow, this will sound bad but, I'm glad I'm not the only one facing this reality/problem!

It seems to me that somehow, the venue has become the attraction. The crappiest hole-in-the-wall place act as if they are doing you a favor by allowing you walk on their piss/beer/blood soaked floors.

Totally agree with the first post, these dumps have an ever-growing list of what they want from you, for example:
a CD/presskit
a couple of show ups at open mic nights
the horn of a unicorn
medusa's head
a note from my mother

And then even when you do jump through ALL of their hoops, there is a good chance that:
their soundguy is an *******
they don't pay much if anything
they don't promote an event that is happening at their own business (FAIL.)

ARGH!! HULK MAD!!

More truth!
I've been at this game for a long time. I have friends, who back in the '80's were able to carry a mortgage just from playing in a cover band! These days doing a good tribute act can make you some decent cash.