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Justify Playing For Free

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bluewine

Inactive
Sep 4, 2008
10,296
27
WI
#1
This thread is more for those currently in heavily booked bands
( orginal or cover) or have been at some other time.

We have a younger 20 something in the band that is so excited about playing she forgets that the band is also a business. I'm 59.

Unfortunately she has gotten the thumbs down from all the other members when she had come to us with a no pay gig.

I know there are some reasons why a band might do a free gig. I will share a few of mine.

Share your justification.

I will be challenging exposure justify playing for free.

Blue
 
#2
Alot of times in alot of markets, if you want to play, you're playing for free. The Pittsburgh Death Metal scene really just plays for sh**s and giggles... its not popular music, but does have a scene of fans who are all broke. They'll pay for a big act coming thru town, but not for the run-of-the-mill local fair. So getting on a bill with a big act is really the best payment you can expect.

We got paid for a few shows, but not many... I think we earned $150 or so in the year we gigged with that band. Mostly the pay was a few pitchers of beer, which we were happy with.

HOWEVER, these were FUNNNN shows!! Not being paid = doing whatever you want.... I got my "drunk chops" up to where I could play very drunk very well. Subbing guitarists on a whim.... hey why not. Costumes? Sure. The musicians + fans were so universally poor, that just being in the moment and getting an evening of enjoyment all around was its own payment.

If I was in a cover band or a more universally accessible band though, or was trying to determine whether to take small paying gigs vs. big free "exposure" gigs, I'd demand $$ every time, even if it was just for gas money.
 
#3
bluewine said:
This thread is more for those currently in heavily booked bands
( orginal or cover) or have been at some other time.

We have a younger 20 something in the band that is so excited about playing she forgets that the band is also a business. I'm 59.

Unfortunately she has gotten the thumbs down from all the other members when she had come to us with a no pay gig.

I know there are some reasons why a band might do a free gig. I will share a few of mine.

Share your justification.

I will be challenging exposure justify playing for free.

Blue
Click to expand...

1. Fund raisers for a cause you support put on by a registered nonprofit organization. APPROVED

2. Fund raisers for someone you know personally in legitimate need of help. APPROVED (got one of them tomorrow actually)

IF...either of those events are held in a bar and I can't determine to my satisfaction that THE BAR OWNER ISN'T CASHING IN, you'll get a discount rate but no freeby.

Any event, any location, where I'm working for free or at discount and someone other than the individual for whom I'm working is profiting...DENIED.
 
#4
parties we do for free because we get to get our brand out there

same thing for festivals

we will open for anyone fairly local for free unless it is during the week

if we play weekdays or more than 1 set, someone has to pay something. especially with the cost of gas these days....

we always leave a tip jar out....but it can be tough to split a fiver 4- ways

edit: our drummer is shared by 5 other bands, and he runs his own studio and is a FT musician so we try to not do too many free things since he earns his daily bread 100% from music
 
#8
Music is a passion of mine but at the same time it is a hobby. I like getting paying gigs but sometimes it doesn't happen. Being in an a original band doesn't help. We play for the love of it. Everybody in my band have great jobs and are successful. I don't need the money. I need to play. We have a gig tomorrow night and we are getting paid but if we weren't I wouldn't care at all.
 
#9
Steve said:
1. Fund raisers for a cause you support put on by a registered nonprofit organization. APPROVED

2. Fund raisers for someone you know personally in legitimate need of help. APPROVED (got one of them tomorrow actually)

IF...either of those events are held in a bar and I can't determine to my satisfaction that THE BAR OWNER ISN'T CASHING IN, you'll get a discount rate but no freeby.

Any event, any location, where I'm working for free or at discount and someone other than the individual for whom I'm working is profiting...DENIED.
Click to expand...

Agreed, glad you mentioned making sure someone else isn't cashing in.
 
#10
I put on a few fundraisers a year for LLS, local food bank, etc. We hold them at clubs and bars. I never have trouble getting top notch talent to donate their time.

The venue usually pays my cause the cashola they would pay for an evening of music (band(s)). Then we solicit donations from the crowd. It's worked really well.

I find musicians are usually thrilled to donate their skills for a good cause and good time to boot!
 
#11
Bassbubble11 said:
Music is a passion of mine but at the same time it is a hobby. I like getting paying gigs but sometimes it doesn't happen. Being in an a original band doesn't help. We play for the love of it. Everybody in my band have great jobs and are successful. I don't need the money. I need to play. We have a gig tomorrow night and we are getting paid but if we weren't I wouldn't care at all.
Click to expand...

If your in an originals band I get your position. However, for me "not needing the money " isn't a valid reason.

I don't need the money, but I'm not delivering a service for free.
 
#12
bluewine said:
Agreed, glad you mentioned making sure someone else isn't cashing in.
Click to expand...

I don't mind if the owner of an establishment is making money while a fundraiser is going on. They still have a business to run and their employees still have families to feed. Like I said in my post above, when we do this the money paid to the bands goes to the venue, usually with the venue kicking in a little extra.

I wouldn't mind paying the bands a small amount of $$$ if necessary, but that's never been an issue. Bands around here seem to always want to help for charity.
 
#13
grinx said:
parties we do for free because we get to get our brand out there

" to each his own and I guess you're location or scene could come into play here. For me I'd say no."

same thing for festivals

" depends on the nature of the festival, if it's back lined, the time slot, the travel distance and really what the size of the crowd my band would be performing for"

we will open for anyone fairly local for free unless it is during the week

" I think the take away for opening for a national act is justification."
Click to expand...
 
#16
My mother and a very dear friend of mine both passed from cancer. I will play 2 gigs a year free for cancer funding and research if they are put on by reputable agencies. I don't do the whole "raise money for delbert's family cuz he got drunk and wrecked his mototcycle" gigs.

Other than that, my gear isn't leaving the house unless I get paid, and paid well, for my services. We will play over 100 gigs this year, so I would consider us fairly busy (still not as busy as I want to be though)
 
#17
Because playing out is a blast. Music is what I do for fun. If it involves a bunch of people having a good time, mission accomplished. I have a job for money. I play bass to get back what my job takes out of me. If I get paid, that's just gravy. If I don't, it's not what I'm there for anyway.
 
#18
If its going to be a great crowd and the place has a good setup, why not play for free? How terrible it must be to go out and have a great time making music instead of sitting at home watching television.

For me, I'll play any show for anyone who will listen if I'm available on the date. If its a bar or someplace that'll benefit financially from having entertainment that doesn't want to pay, then I'm always able to work out a cover charge for the band. No one has ever said no to a $5 ish cover charge if we're playing all night. But that's not the question really, the question is what you're in it for. At the heart of it, for me, is that it's art for art's sake and not a business. At least not ultimately. Same goes for my work as an audio engineer. If there's something that I believe in and I've got some time, I'll offer to work within whatever budget is there, even on occasion no budget at all.

It's because turning something you love into a business sucks all the soul out of it if you're not VERY careful...
 
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