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Play for free, huh? Not cool!
- Thread starter DWBass
- Start date
...IMO this really hurts the local scene, good or not....NEVER low ball or undercut your fellow musicians. Not all of us have good day jobs, some folks rely on this to pay the bills.
I dunno...I think it's smart of them. When I was first starting out with a band that was trying to build some steam, when we wanted to play certain clubs we'd reach out and ask what they expected/required and many times we would offer to cover that amount in case our door didn't meet the minimum the club wanted to ensure we were on good terms with the clubs. It definitely created solid relationships and got us from Wednesday night gigs to Friday night gigs a whole lot quicker - and for us, it was easier to fill a bar on a Friday night then a Wednesday night. It really isn't all that much different then opening a new restaurant in town and offering free lunch. You are just giving away the first impression...if that first impression goes badly you've sunk your own ship.
Honestly though, if your band is good and can draw a crowd, then you are worth your rate. The bars could care less if your music is good or not, they are interested in having a band play that will fill the bar with people buying drinks. Your rate should directly correlate to the crowd you draw.
Honestly though, if your band is good and can draw a crowd, then you are worth your rate. The bars could care less if your music is good or not, they are interested in having a band play that will fill the bar with people buying drinks. Your rate should directly correlate to the crowd you draw.
When we pitch our band, we submit a demo, links to video and audio and also invite them out to see us elsewhere. I'm never ever going to offer to play for free. I'm also the soundman. Me bringing all my equipment, unloading, setting it all up, soundchecking, play 3 sets, break it all down, load up? .....uh nah! Not for free. Is this a rock band thing? I know of no r&b/funk or jazz, Top40 wedding band that ever offered to play for free....in the places I've lived. First time reduced rate......yes, I have experienced that.
I can see this working if you only do it once for any location. What you don't want to do is ruin the market you are in. Here where I am, there is a band that lowballs everyone. They will play for $100. Not $100 each, $100 FOR THE WHOLE BAND! They aren't very good, but they work a lot at the less picky venues, pushing down the prices for everyone else.
I dunno, I see the argument against this sort of thing but getting bent out of shape about it strikes me as kind of spiteful and petty. Punching down isn’t a great look.
Jeez, man, that was the epitome of bad. Seems like their coke ran out that morning and this was just a last-ditch attempt to find a dealer in the crowd. But I got to 1:43 before bailing out - do I get an endurance medal?
I hate to be the guy who says this.....but
If your a musician, and are looking to supplement your financial obligations by playing out......you should have picked a different career path
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Playing bar gigs is really a hobby at this point. If your band is so great that you can use it as a career, you should probably be out touring. If you really want to make some money at a bar, becomes a bartender.
Sounds like they want a pay raise from doing the pay to play gigs.
So...the FREE bands are pushing down prices for the average $400 bar & grill bands, who are pushing down prices for the good $1000 bar bands, who are pushing down prices for the the $2000 A-list bands, who are pushing down prices for the really good 3-5K wedding an events bands, who are pushing down prices for the regional acts, who are pushing down prices for the the lower-level national touring acts, who are pushing down prices for the well-established touring acts, who are pushing down prices for the Rolling Stones.
I'm in the $400 bar band category. Frankly, it's doesn't matter to me if I make $50 or $200 per gig. I'm more concerned with whether the venue is paying us fairly. I doubt I'd play for free, just because I have a little bit of pride. No, I'm not going to play a typically-packed bar for $50, nor am I going to play a typically-empty place for $200. If the venue is making money, I expect to be compensated fairly. If the venue is usually dead, I really don't want to play there at any price. Even if I played 4 gigs a month @ $200, that's less than $10K year (and even less if you I'm paying taxes). In reality, I maybe gig 10 times a year (as do a lot of bands that play the places that I do). I won't be quitting my day job any time soon.
I could see if you are doing this for a living...but in that case, why are you even concerned with what the bottom feeders are making? Seems like you wouldn't be leaving the house for less than several hundred per man. And if your usual haunts are trying to cut their rates, maybe it's time to up your game and move onto more lucrative venues and opportunities.
I'm in the $400 bar band category. Frankly, it's doesn't matter to me if I make $50 or $200 per gig. I'm more concerned with whether the venue is paying us fairly. I doubt I'd play for free, just because I have a little bit of pride. No, I'm not going to play a typically-packed bar for $50, nor am I going to play a typically-empty place for $200. If the venue is making money, I expect to be compensated fairly. If the venue is usually dead, I really don't want to play there at any price. Even if I played 4 gigs a month @ $200, that's less than $10K year (and even less if you I'm paying taxes). In reality, I maybe gig 10 times a year (as do a lot of bands that play the places that I do). I won't be quitting my day job any time soon.
I could see if you are doing this for a living...but in that case, why are you even concerned with what the bottom feeders are making? Seems like you wouldn't be leaving the house for less than several hundred per man. And if your usual haunts are trying to cut their rates, maybe it's time to up your game and move onto more lucrative venues and opportunities.
I'm pretty sure they're not hurting Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, U2, Springsteen, etc. You get the idea. In his autobiography, Gregg Allman wrote about how the Allman Brothers Band played for free a lot when they were getting started. I'm sure these guys aren't the next ABB, but c'mon. How about we let bands do what they want to do and not be so judgmental.
Play for free if you want. Play for money if you want. My cover band plays for money; sometimes we play for free if the situation is right. But we have never lost a paying gig to a free band in 10 years of gigging.
In some cases, yes! Including me! I wasn’t a dentist or lawyer, but rather a civil engineer for the past 35 years (I retired in December 2018). And during those 35 years, I played bass in classic rock cover bands purely as a hobby. I had a fantastic time doing that, and I never cared one iota if I got paid for playing music. I played music (and still do) solely for the love of playing music! Every note I play puts a smile on my face, and THAT is what makes it worthwhile for me!
One of the drummers I was in a band with was an anesthesiologist, and he also played purely for the fun of it and didn’t care about band bucks.
Yes, I fully understand that some folks rely on band income to pay bills. I wish them success!
I'm going to bet that the people that will cry the most about this stopped learning new songs in 1979 and continue to play from their "book" of the same old 150 songs every night.
