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Playing for free as "good marketing"?

Is playing for free until the end of the year "good marketing"?

  • Total voters
    237
  • Poll closed .
#61
bdd.jpg
 
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#62
I did play free for a children's hospital , I did play free to raise money for a "rent type" party in Harlem , I did play free for a fundraiser at my son's school, I did play free at a funeral wake, I did play free to raise money for out of work teachers in Harlem, I did play for free for a birthday party of one of my jazz idols, I did play for a sax friend who turned 70 in the village at his loft.

The chances of me playing for free for "exposure" at a club or restaurant are about as good as a set of spare parts assembling themselves into a Mercedes Benz inside a Mcdonald's restaurant.
 
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#65
ultra60 said:
If a club was good to you, prior to the crisis, I see no problem giving something back. Last week I sent an email, to a club manager, saying we'd would like to give back and provide a no charge show when things re-open.

I hope they take us up on it. I'd like to see them remain in business. One free show is not going to do it. But maybe it helps out a little.
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+1

exactly where we are.

We attract people, but we got there with help from a couple of venues in particular, so I'm happy to do a string of shows for free. Essentially a "we'll do x for free or at a very basic fee to cover costs, and when things get better you give us a regular slot at our regular fee" type of thing.
 
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#68
6stringtheorist said:
If a bar owner knows you will play for free that is all your band is ever gonna get you worked hard to 'get good' I assume and that means you have worth you never play for free if there any other choice!
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I want the bars to survive. There will be a period of time where the old rules are no longer valid.
 
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#70
Nobody is making money doing this right now, not the bars, not the musicians. I would gladly participate in a live stream fundraising event to help one of my local venues stay afloat during these difficult times. I would gladly participate in a live fundraising event after things reopen for the same purpose. But I don't think I would be comfortable just agreeing to play for free in an open-ended way, ad infinitum. It cheapens what we do, and there's already plenty of that going around.

Try asking the bartender to come serve drinks at your private party for free and see how far you get with that idea. We're all suffering now and we will all be reopening into the same world with the same losses.
 
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#73
gidbass said:
Context: This is a bar band, and we are lucky, as a 4 piece, to get $80-$100 each when we play a gig. We play 12-15 times per year on average. I like the guys in the band, and we get along well together. The music is not my favorite, but is generally kind of fun to play depending on the crowd.

So, I have 2 of the "music, hang, or money" when evaluating my situation in a band although we make very little $$ one could argue I only have the hang...;)

So, just had a chat conversation with the guys in one of my bands, and once bars reopen they were all talking like we should consider playing for free (actually food and drink, but i don't count that as payment) for the rest of the year to help "give back" to the local bars as they they try to recover from whats going on in the world.

They think it's "good marketing" on our part, shows "we care", and a good way to differentiate ourselves from the other bands as once things reopen, there will be less places to play.

It just doesn't sit well with me, and I declined. While we don't make much money, it's more the principle.

I also told them they had my blessing to play for free with a sub if they desire to do so.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this? (sorry if this is a repeat thread)
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totally agreed with you. The idea that the buck stops with the live band is frankly offensive to me.

Play a fundraiser, and take the first hundred as your fee. Create an opportunity, but let the patrons decide whether or not the bar survives. Unless you own a stake in the business, you should not play there for "free".
 
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#76
gidbass said:
Context: This is a bar band, and we are lucky, as a 4 piece, to get $80-$100 each when we play a gig. We play 12-15 times per year on average. I like the guys in the band, and we get along well together. The music is not my favorite, but is generally kind of fun to play depending on the crowd.

So, I have 2 of the "music, hang, or money" when evaluating my situation in a band although we make very little $$ one could argue I only have the hang...;)

So, just had a chat conversation with the guys in one of my bands, and once bars reopen they were all talking like we should consider playing for free (actually food and drink, but i don't count that as payment) for the rest of the year to help "give back" to the local bars as they they try to recover from whats going on in the world.

They think it's "good marketing" on our part, shows "we care", and a good way to differentiate ourselves from the other bands as once things reopen, there will be less places to play.

It just doesn't sit well with me, and I declined. While we don't make much money, it's more the principle.

I also told them they had my blessing to play for free with a sub if they desire to do so.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this? (sorry if this is a repeat thread)
Click to expand...
Live music wasn't quite dead before COVID< but it IS now. No doubt about it. Other then people doing live streamings of concerts in their house or private places.
You won't have any issues at all, because small bars probably won't reopen under the new rules of maintaining social distancing.
 
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#77
pbass888 said:
I did play free for a children's hospital , I did play free to raise money for a "rent type" party in Harlem , I did play free for a fundraiser at my son's school, I did play free at a funeral wake, I did play free to raise money for out of work teachers in Harlem, I did play for free for a birthday party of one of my jazz idols, I did play for a sax friend who turned 70 in the village at his loft.

The chances of me playing for free for "exposure" at a club or restaurant are about as good as a set of spare parts assembling themselves into a Mercedes Benz inside a Mcdonald's restaurant.
Click to expand...
Let's be clear: you're talking about replacing the ball pit with a car assembly station powered by obese child labour :D
 
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#79
gidbass said:
Context: This is a bar band, and we are lucky, as a 4 piece, to get $80-$100 each when we play a gig. We play 12-15 times per year on average. I like the guys in the band, and we get along well together. The music is not my favorite, but is generally kind of fun to play depending on the crowd.

So, I have 2 of the "music, hang, or money" when evaluating my situation in a band although we make very little $$ one could argue I only have the hang...;)

So, just had a chat conversation with the guys in one of my bands, and once bars reopen they were all talking like we should consider playing for free (actually food and drink, but i don't count that as payment) for the rest of the year to help "give back" to the local bars as they they try to recover from whats going on in the world.

They think it's "good marketing" on our part, shows "we care", and a good way to differentiate ourselves from the other bands as once things reopen, there will be less places to play.

It just doesn't sit well with me, and I declined. While we don't make much money, it's more the principle.

I also told them they had my blessing to play for free with a sub if they desire to do so.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this? (sorry if this is a repeat thread)
Click to expand...


We've had a similar posting before and as I remember the answers were pretty much the same..NO WAY

Will all of the shops be giving away product to encourage shoppers back?
Will solicitors be doing free stuff?
Will ? ? ?

Will they hell, they're there to make money (this is not an anti capitalism posting, I live in a real world we all have to make money to survive) and we all have to cover EXPENSES or is the car insurance going to be free for travel to gigs? Is the fuel going to be free? Are you getting free strings?

Sorry the world is in a mess and it will take time to sort and get everything on track but ANYTHING I do I want some pay for, as will politicians etc etc.

Stay safe and keep practising ready for when the bars realise that they are empty soulless places without some musicians ( or guys with guitars will do!!!!)
 
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