I'm diabetic, so the tiny portions work in my favor - the most juice or bread I ever eat in a day is when I play 2 services. During Covid, we've had these silly little combined things, where the bread is a tiny wafer that's locked up in cellophane more secure than Fort Knox. I struggle and struggle trying to get at it, and when I decide I'm just about to take the Lord's name in vain, I punt and just drink the juice.
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Taboo or Not - Giving Your Free Beverage to Someone Else!
- Thread starter CoffeeLove
- Start date
I'm diabetic, so the tiny portions work in my favor - the most juice or bread I ever eat in a day is when I play 2 services. During Covid, we've had these silly little combined things, where the bread is a tiny wafer that's locked up in cellophane more secure than Fort Knox. I struggle and struggle trying to get at it, and when I decide I'm just about to take the Lord's name in vain, I punt and just drink the juice.
It's okay. I know bassists here on TB are into propriety, but this is just ridiculous to even worry about this. Maybe if it's a black tie or wedding, do not invite the homeless man to eat your food inside but bring it to him after. I am not anti homeless BTW - but the establishment may be.
I do not drink beer. So one micro-brew gig that was regular for a few months, I collected enough beer that I brought to couple parties later.
I do not drink beer. So one micro-brew gig that was regular for a few months, I collected enough beer that I brought to couple parties later.
You guys are hilarious. You think that "fine establishment" hasn't already sat there and figured out every which way they can keep band pay as low as possible already? As in, "let's pay them partially with drinks that only cost us pennies to provide!"
The drink comps are the part of your pay that should actually be more money in your pocket if this game were not hopelessly rigged in their favor. Take the pay in whatever form it's offered and do as you please with it. It is your compensation.
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You're right, of course; except I was speaking to the morality of it, but I'm finished with this conversation. I'm going to go be hilarious elsewhere.
I see no moral conflict with spending my money as I see fit, but I do get that some folks impart more significance to the potential lost sale of one beer than I do. Hope you have a nice evening too (and unlike sometimes when I say that, I do mean it.)
It's totally fine, in all circumstances in which the comp'd items have clearly defined limits. The venue has already given those items away, as part of your compensation package. What you do with them is entirely your business.
If you have bottomless drinks and/or food as part of your compensation package, then no, those benefits are not transferable to other people. You can't just use your free, open-ended bar tab to be buying drinks for other people willy nilly. If it's a spouse and/or serious romantic partner, AND you aren't drinking anything at all yourself, then I would say that's ethical too (though I would mention that I planned to do such, when I was negotiating the contract prior to the gig).
If you have bottomless drinks and/or food as part of your compensation package, then no, those benefits are not transferable to other people. You can't just use your free, open-ended bar tab to be buying drinks for other people willy nilly. If it's a spouse and/or serious romantic partner, AND you aren't drinking anything at all yourself, then I would say that's ethical too (though I would mention that I planned to do such, when I was negotiating the contract prior to the gig).
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I see a whole lot of people slagging venues with blanket negativity, while saying it's cool to flow the hospitality to people not in the band. I will repeat that giving that drink to somebody who would have bought one otherwise, is just bad juju. Doing things intentionally bad for a venue's bottom line can't really be spun as a positive unless you want to sound REALLY entitled. I've also never encountered a venue were "wives drink free" was part of the deal.
I dont drink alcohol (I’m surprised how many others mentioned this) so I’d rather have more cash than free drinks. Give us an extra $75 and I’ll keep my money and the rest of you guys can give it back to the bar…
How is the concept that your job is to make money for the venue lost on so many?
My job is to play music well enough that the venue has a good night at the bar. That, in turn, helps the venue make money.
I do my job. The venue still tries to screw me at every turn. Nobody here is capable of making me feel guilty over a freaking drink ticket.
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How about the concept that if the venue really cared about how you use your perks, they'll let you know?
It's not their responsibility to provide drinks for the band, either. I'd rather have an extra $25 than two drinks that cost them pennies to provide to me. If anyone thinks they're doing this as an act of generosity, they're very misguided. They're doing this in order to screw bands out of real pay. Drink tickets and food comps are like exposure bucks. Most decent singers don't want to eat before a show, and the kitchen is closed by the time you're done.
It's just one of many tactics used to lower band pay over the past few decades. I see it for what it is, and I tolerate it because I have to, because everyone else has decided it's ok.
Used to be common to get an actual decent wage plus unlimited drinks for free, because drinks cost them very little. That was generosity. There's not much of that out there these days.
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I don't drink. If I receive tickets/tokens for free beverages from the venue I give them to people who've come to see the band. I do this out of appreciation that they've come and in the interest of getting them to come again. It's a win for the band, the venue, and the patron.
Sometimes venues pay what they can afford, and throwing a little hospitality in is a way to add value for the band without tapping their till. Not dismissing your experience, but I've played quite literally thousands of gigs, this is what I do for a living, and I can count the number of places I've played with that kind of adversarial attitude on 2 hands.
We aren't talking about attitudes, though. We're talking about business practices that are designed to take pay out of musician's pockets without looking like they're taking our pay and devaluing our work.
I play plenty of places that do this; it's quite a normal way of doing business now and they do this because it's cheaper for them to avoid paying a full wage to the musicians. That doesn't mean they're running around with open hostility toward the players, that's kind of a silly notion.
I accept it because it's part of how things are done nowadays, and I get that what I do isn't valued now in the same way it was 40 years ago by anyone, including half the people on this forum. That doesn't mean I'll pretend this isn't exactly what it is. I watched it happen.
But if the profit margin on one drink is going to matter to that venue so much that I'm doing them a favor by playing for cheap because they are "struggling," then I'm going to suggest they do a better job of promoting themselves.
Edited to add: I'm also not playing there again if they're going to make a fuss over that level of loss. Anyplace that's struggling to that degree stands a fair chance of insolvency, which means next time I may not get paid at all.
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The venue is giving you a couple drinks and half off an over-priced meal. And you want money as well? Who do you think you are?!
Dude, I don't want the drinks or the meal. I'll gladly pay for those if I do want them. They're only doing that in lieu of the extra money bands used to be able to get.
Who I think I am is someone who's been around long enough to recognize the con when I see it. Not that I can do anything about it because soo many other people keep saying they're okay with taking the shiny plastic trinket instead of insisting that what they bring is worth the diamond they once received.
Agreed. It's not about how much the club is paying for their wholesale booze when they comp drinks to the talent, it's about whether they care (or are even aware of) about having their retail revenue flow interrupted when a patron doesn't buy that drink at retail price.
OTOH, if all you're getting is lousy pay to begin with, but with free drinks, then...
