Psychology on Cover Charges, why?

[guestOU812]

Here's my gripe about cover charges at small venues in NYC. You have a bar which sells alcoholic beverages and sometimes they sell food. A local band is the attraction to get folks out to fill the bar with thirsty customers and to discover new sounds. Cover charges are an additional cost even at $1. Personally I hate having to pay a cover simply based on the principal that the bar/venue is paying the band jack / peanuts. I seek out venues that are free and play them every chance I get. I find the scene friendlier and filled with cheerful folks drunk and sober.

I prefer to play in bands that create their own "original" music and showcase the music. Cover songs make me want to vomit unless they are really good (obscured) and are 1 for every 5 originals. A cover charge scares away those who are unfamiliar with new music and reduces audiences willing to take a chance to discover the undiscovered.

Bumping up the drink costs is a bad decision to. If bars focused on creating a welcoming "regulars" scene they just might do well.

I play music only because I love playing music. It would be sad if money was my motivation to play and make music. Money is certainly a positive byproduct but certainly not the motivating factor.

 

[comatosedragon]

I am curious how many people who dislike paying cover charges are members of Costco or Sam's Club or similar retail outlets where one must pay membership dues for the privilege of shopping there (I am a Costco member) . . . . .

 

[tedious1]

Take $5 from each and put it into a pot to be awarded 2 or 3 hours later. Must be present.

Or instead of half the pot, they can win their tab for the evening, up to something like 20% of the pot, or if the venue has gift certs... That keeps the venue on board, at least some of that money will be staying in house, and that always makes the house happy. And on a multi-band bill, if every band raffles off some merch at the end of the night... As much weird hoomin behavior is attendant to cover charges, there's even more weird hoomin behavior attendant with anything 'free'...

I don't know why but, it is real. I probably see 20 people a night refuse to pay the cover of a wopping $2.
The staff just laughs it off. If they can't handle two bucks, nobody wants to wait on them anyway

I'm with the staff on this one... I used to do Security, and it almost never fails, the guy who spends 15 minutes dicking around with the door staff about the cover charge is also the first guy to heckle the bands, harass the staff, annoy the other patrons, and generally act like an entitled POS once they actually do pay.

 

[guestOU812]

Stop booking shows where the competition is stiff. Cities with lots of entertainment choices are tough places to make $$$. There are usually plenty of bars offering live music without a cover and small venues charging $20 or so for known acts to compete with. Then there's theaters, restaurants, museums and sports to consider.
The most successful shows I played were always in small towns, self promoted where a $15 cover and cheap beers sold by a local charity were well received.

True that! I wrote a negative response below about cover fees. I played a gig over the summer subbing for a friends Grateful Dead tribute band in the burbs of New Jersey. I took it because it was my friends band and I happen to love the dead. We didn't discuss pay, food or travel. I did what I always do...I go and play because I LOVE playing bass and I love being on a stage.

The bar was stuffed!! Packed to the gills!! After the gig we partied like Keith Richards. It was insane. The next morning I peeled my swollen face off my friends pillow (I'm allergic to cats...he has like 40 of them critters) and nursed my hangover. The band then went for breakfast (2pm). After breakfast the band leader complimented me and stuck $200 bucks in my hand. I said, "whats this for?" he said, "your pay plus expenses. Oh and breakfast is on me. Thank you."

I was blown away. All that for my poor Phil Lesch impersonation. I do dislike playing covers but I can certainly bend when it comes to the Grateful Dead.

 

[waveman]

I think it depends on the location, scene, and clientele.

For example, in a downtown situation, if I am by myself and prefer to bounce around to check out several places, then I look for no-cover places. However, if I plan on staying put and having fun drinking and listening to a band most of the night, I will pay a cover.

As far as our band, we play for venues that have a cover, and some that don't. We pull $10 in one place because our singer is a known entity in this town and can typically fill the place up with fans (@60-70%) with the rest being folks who happen to hear us outside and come in.

Another situation, which happened several years ago only charged a $3 cover and expected us to play for the door. This place a "trendy" place where younger folks refused to pay more and mainly drank PBR's and cheap mixed drinks. We passed on that place since we couldn't make our minimum take for a gig. But, this was a good place to play when you get started, and at the time was literally around the corner from my house. We played there before, and the cover was $5, and still sometimes had issues meeting our expected take, so we dropped them.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

shut up and pay the cover .. !

My money, my choice.

I am curious how many people who dislike paying cover charges are members of Costco or Sam's Club or similar retail outlets where one must pay membership dues for the privilege of shopping there

I have yet to pay for the privilege of shopping at either of those, although I considered Costco when buying tires.

 

[Saetia]

Only every played shows with a cover charge and never heard any gripes. Then again I've never played in specific bar bands or cover bands.

 

[BassAndReeds]

It was at the Broadberry:

The Sword - Tickets - The Broadberry - Richmond, VA - September 28th, 2016


The same local bands that play in the cover charge venues play in other bars where I can see them for free, so I wait for them to play in a bar near home & go have some buffalo wings & a beer while I watch them do a few songs.
I simply will not pay a cover charge in a local bar. If they had a system where your cover pays for your first beer, then I'd be in, but they haven't thought of that or don't like the idea.

at a jazz club in philly, it's $25 cover, but you get 2 drinks (overpriced for more of course). The demographic is college jazz students and rich older people. Not really my hang, but they have the system for certain places.

 

[Scottkarch]

Tickets, or $20 at the door are the same thing. The show would still have been sold out. The band is a tribute, and say what you want about tributes, they can make great money, and never sell an album. They will never be national, and never be a household word.
I was playing in a pickup band for one night. They bar owner said 'You know you guys played 10 Willie Nelson songs?'
Yeah... So come back next time as a Willie tribute and I'll give you a $1000.

That's fascinating. We've toyed with trying to be a special event Tom Petty or Blackberry Smoke night.. we have about 8-10 songs from each we can play. I wonder if we really played it up how that would work. Are tribute bands more noteable or noticeable than a regular cover band playing rock/dance? We are really trying to add to the stage presense with lights etc. We hadn't thought about a tribute angle.

 

[Medicine Man]

My fans will:

See us at a dive bar with no cover.

Pay a cover to see us at a good venue.

Not come see us at some %=#!hole with a cover.

By this I surmise it's more the venue than the band. Some of these places should be paying customers a reverse cover charge to show up at their dump.

 

[DirtDog]

Entertainment has been devalued to the point that for $10 you get Netflix. None of my friends go to movies anymore.
Joe Bonamassa and U2 give away their brand new albums. Full concerts on Youtube.
It is hard to justify charging for your art, but you absolutely have to. YOUR band has to be so Effing good that the few who believe will leave the comfort of their homes to come and see YOU. AND pay for. If you can not set the bar that high, perhaps rethink your business strategy. A great band, with a good show, good tech (Yes, Virginia, you DO need to bring lights) will get the money at the door, and get people to stay.
If the biz wasn't tough, everybody would do it.

And this is one of the (non health related) reasons that I have retired from my regularly gigging band.

 

[Herrick]

IME, the people that complain about a small cover charge like $5 planned on going to that bar or club to drink and meet friends, and oh by the way, there is a band playing tonight. In other words, they werent going to that particular place to hear a band play. When I was younger and playing in bands (the early to mid 90s) it was a totally different ballgame. Everywhere had live music and everywhere changed covers.

Good point. If people were planning to go to their favorite bar one night and didn't know a band was playing, they'd think, "Why should we pay to see a band we don't want to see?" But in that case, go to another bar.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Nice clean club with a kitchen? You bet there's gonna be a markup on booze when a band gets hired. The cost of opening and maintaining a decent club is pretty high.

 

[1st Bass]

Funny little parallel in human behavior: Friends of mine took note that when they put a piece of furniture out by the curb with a sign that read "FREE!", they got no takers. So they changed tactics, and put a new sign that read "FOR SALE: $50".
That night, the furniture was promptly stolen!

 

[Richland123]

In the 70s and 80s around here, cover charges of $2 to $5 were the norm at venues with live bands, even the private clubs. Many would also raise drink prices on band nights.

Now, people won't pay a $2 or $3 cover but the same people will go see a bad movie and pay $10 - $15 a ticket.

Band wages have not increased around here and, even went backward. Bands make less now than in the 70s and 80s.

The cost to run a bar and restaurant are high and if the owners can't make enough to pay bands, they won't have them at all. Without a cover charge, they have to make up the money somewhere to justify the cost.

 

[pcake]

when i used to go out more, i'd be happy to pay $10 to $20 at the door for multiple bands, particularly if one was a band i knew i liked. not so happy to pay anything at all to go see a band i'm not familiar with - i don't even drink, so that could be a waste of my time. in that case i'd just as soon not go out or i'd rather pay more and see a band i know, one with a great show or several so i stand a better chance of seeing at least one i like.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

1) Competition: Starbucks is providing a espresso machine coffee, and the same thing will still be $5 if you get it somewhere else. One bar wants a $5 cover to see their band, chances are the bar down the street doesn't.

2) Known entity: Starbucks is providing a known quality of coffee. That bar band may be the equivalent of the best coffee you've ever had, or it may be the equivalent of a big cup of diarrhea.

3) Priorities: By and large - people care more about that cup of coffee than a live band.



I agree - but I think it's pretty obvious from the economics of the situation that the general public does not.

Let's just say that people who care more about a sooper-dooper coffee than having a good time at a club are representatives of a demographic I don't want anything to do with.

 

[socialleper]

Here's my gripe about cover charges at small venues in NYC. You have a bar which sells alcoholic beverages and sometimes they sell food. A local band is the attraction to get folks out to fill the bar with thirsty customers and to discover new sounds. Cover charges are an additional cost even at $1. Personally I hate having to pay a cover simply based on the principal that the bar/venue is paying the band jack / peanuts. I seek out venues that are free and play them every chance I get. I find the scene friendlier and filled with cheerful folks drunk and sober.

I prefer to play in bands that create their own "original" music and showcase the music. Cover songs make me want to vomit unless they are really good (obscured) and are 1 for every 5 originals. A cover charge scares away those who are unfamiliar with new music and reduces audiences willing to take a chance to discover the undiscovered.

Bumping up the drink costs is a bad decision to. If bars focused on creating a welcoming "regulars" scene they just might do well.

I play music only because I love playing music. It would be sad if money was my motivation to play and make music. Money is certainly a positive byproduct but certainly not the motivating factor.

In LA local bands don't get paid, so I don't know who is keeping the money.

 

[pie_man_25]

We don't need no stinkin' cover charges!

Everyone wants music for free.

They think live music is equivalent to utoob. Why pay?

How about a $10 cover and raffle?
Take $5 from each and put it into a pot to be awarded 2 or 3 hours later. Must be present.

Why not sponsor shows and do advertisements in between sets. I'm kinda being sarcastic.

 

[socialleper]

As others have pointed out, I think people will pay a cover if they know the band(s) playing. The problem I see today is that venues\promoters don't put any effort or thought into their booking, so you end up with 4 bands that have nothing in common. Because they don't take the time to curate good talent, and build a reputation for quality, you don't know what you are going to get if you just pop in.
I know it sounds a little backwards, but I'm starting to think venues should start telling people "no." If a promoter can't fill a slot, instead of cramming 5 unrelated bands into 30 minute slots, just do 2 or 3 and give them longer slots. And here's a crazy idea, maybe make sure the bands have some kind of cross over appeal to each other. The fans of the pixie singer\songer writer playing before me aren't going to be into my band's louder than hell doom\stoner riffage.