What is your job?

[Bassbeater]

I think there is more to being a bassist than chugging shooters and breathing beer farts all night.

You think or you know? One wonders how many beer farts one has to breathe to truly know for certain.

 

[Passinwind]

Entertain?

Yep.

 

[delta7fred]

My band's job is to keep the person writing the cheque (check) happy.

This usually falls into one of two categories.

1. Bars/pubs/selling establishments - keep the patrons engaged (and spending money) so they don't get bored and move onto the next similar establishment. Success is measured by repeat bookings.

2. Private functions - provide quality entertainment for the guests (paying particular attention to the wishes of the host). Success is measured by a happy host and the guests having a good time, often spin off bookings occur.

 

[4001]

Which you define as? If not a band playing semi regularly (entry level for the majority being bar level bands) then where and how often does your REAL band play?

A REAL band isn't worried about alcohol sales. They worry about MUSIC.
In your bar band world, a real band is one that is playing at the bar, selling booze.

 

[4001]

And yet, you are strongly opinionated on what other people choose to do to make money on their music. Fascinating.

Right, It's my opinion. I know, these days, someone's opinion is a toxic thing to others.

 

[aborgman]

. Do you think the tavern owner would expect the electrician or plumber he hired to do dishes and take out the trash for less than minimum wage?

If supply exceeded demand by enough to make it a viable option, absolutely.

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

Right, It's my opinion. I know, these days, someone's opinion is a toxic thing to others.

I have no trouble with opinions, but there's a subtle difference between "I don't like this" and "this thing you do is horrible!!". (And for the record: I don't promote or recommend alcohol, on stage or off stage).

 

[4001]

Except that if the baseball team sucks, people will be less enthusiastic about attending, beer sales (and ticket sales) will decline, and the team owners will think about replacing coaches or players. So actually, they do; the players have a market incentive to play well because that's what entices the crowd to spend money and guarantees they can keep working.

Otherwise it's a problematic analogy, because baseball has a pretty fixed set of rules and all the players need to do is play well. Music, on the other hand, has a much wider variety of choices of WHAT to play - genres of music, or song choices. If a standup comedian decided to use monologues from Shakespeare comedies for his act, he might perform them brilliantly, but even so never get a return booking - it's not what the ticket buying public wants to hear on their night out. If an athlete in a town that had lots of baseball fans decided he was going to play cricket instead, just because it was what he liked, then however good he is at it, he's probably not going to find a lot of success getting hired to play in ball parks. So actually, yes - the athlete has to play what people want to watch, and play it well, or they won't pay (whether for tickets or beer) and he'll be playing in his backyard.

$507,500 (because bar bands are beer salesmen with instruments where the money is more important than anything)

In November, it was announced that the minimum salary for a MLB player will remain $507,500, the same as last year's figure. Without question, over half a million dollars is a significant amount of money.

Let me know when your bar band gets a guaranteed contract (performance incentives too)for that that kind of coin... even if you suck and don't sell beer.

Baseball players don't worry about beer sales.

 

[Robroy]

Where in central KY? Lexington???? I can’t say I’ve seen many non-country music venues in my time around those parts

Southeast of Bardstown

 

[fdeck]

I consider my job to put on a good performance. That's it.

Look at it this way. Suppose someone is a janitor at a bank. Do they think that their job is to help sell loans? No, their job is to sweep the floors. They know a quality job when they see it, and it doesn't matter if the bank is selling loans or fruitcakes.

When I play a private event, I don't look up the client to find out what I'll be selling at the event. I show up and play music.

 

[Kmonk]

The day my job as a bass player becomes a seller of alcohol I will stop playing.
Fortunately I went to school and have a day job.

Whether you realize it or not, when you play a club gig, your job is to keep people there so they buy more alcohol. . The longer people stay in the club, the more alcohol they buy so your job is in fact selling alcohol. I've always believed that women want to dance and guys want to drink and watch women dance. Some guys will also dance but most will usually only dance to slow songs. Club owners are in the business of selling alcohol, the more they sell, the more profit they make. Keep the women dancing, the club will sell more alcohol and you will probably be booked for future dates.

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

I consider my job to put on a good performance. That's it.

Look at it this way. Suppose someone is a janitor at a bank. Do they think that their job is to help sell loans? No, their job is to sweep the floors. They know a quality job when they see it, and it doesn't matter if the bank is selling loans or fruitcakes.

When I play a private event, I don't look up the client to find out what I'll be selling at the event. I show up and play music.

And, they also know that if they don't do a good job sweeping the floors, the customers will complain, they will sell fewer loans or fruitcakes, and that will show on their paycheck.

 

[pglaser01]

Southeast of Bardstown

I got ya. Went to school in Louisville and I still cover the whole state for work....so I’m up and down the Bluegrass Parkway often.

Heck just last week I was in Ashland and Hazard.

 

[bucephylus]

A REAL band isn't worried about alcohol sales. They worry about MUSIC.
In your bar band world, a real band is one that is playing at the bar, selling booze.

Your clear lack of understanding and utter lack of empathy is fairly unfortunate.

In any case, best of luck with your efforts. Please impress us.

 

[Old P Bass Guy]

Right, It's my opinion. I know, these days, someone's opinion is a toxic thing to others.

Opinions are like Arzholez everybody has one. Here's mine, we don't sell booz. Booz is just a byproduct of good music.

 

[Plutonium244]

And, they also know that if they don't do a good job sweeping the floors, the customers will complain, they will sell fewer loans or fruitcakes, and that will show on their paycheck.

Clean floors don't sell loans at a bank, as we expect them to be clean. Dirty ones impede loan sales. I take @fdeck 's point here -- he "cleans the floors"... he does not say that bad music (uncleaned floor) is okay and it's up to the bar to sell drinks anyway despite this impediment. A clean floor and good music are what the bank/bar then needs to encourage sales. We give it to them. If more owners would take the time to use their assets (such as good bands coming in) and promote that (many do shockingly little), that would help drink sales. They might have great food, too, but if the bar doesn't make sure people know, it's a waste-- and that hurts sales. You don't expect the cook to put up flyers and advertise the nights he's cooking on facebook, so you?

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

Clean floors don't sell loans at a bank, as we expect them to be clean. Dirty ones impede loan sales. I take @fdeck 's point here -- he "cleans the floors"... he does not say that bad music (uncleaned floor) is okay and it's up to the bar to sell drinks anyway despite this impediment. A clean floor and good music are what the bank/bar then needs to encourage sales. We give it to them. If more owners would take the time to use their assets (such as good bands coming in) and promote that (many do shockingly little), that would help drink sales. They might have great food, too, but if the bar doesn't make sure people know, it's a waste-- and that hurts sales. You don't expect the cook to put up flyers and advertise the nights he's cooking on facebook, so you?

I see it more like this: If the venue does a lousy job with promotion, it won't help me very much if we do a lousy job too. It just gets worse. So, I'm used to help with that part. (And as I stated earlier: I don't promote drinking etc from the stage. My job on the stage is to make people satisfied and stay).

 

[electracoyote]

Without a doubt, my cover band's mission statement at public venues is to help the owner and management sell product from the food and beverage menus and bring great high-energy dance party entertainment. There is a symbiotic relationship between those two goals. Every musician coming into my project needs to understand that up front; we're entertainers first and foremost, musicians second. I need good smart musicians who want to be great entertainers. I target specific venues/audiences and the talent buyers who book for those rooms.

At private upscale events the goal is similar, but more than helping the client sell product (which usually isn't the case), we're focused on enhancing the event and bringing the party, hard.

I heartily disagree with public venue owners who put the onus on me to bring bus loads of people to his venue. If he played his cards right, the owner would provide a nice safe clean establishment, a friendly knowledgeable staff, amenities like TV, juke box, games, etc., a great variety on the drink menu, and people in the kitchen who know what they're doing and serve up consistently good bar food. In the live entertainment department, he would be sure he is booking the best acts in town, the most professional and audience pleasing bands. If he did all that consistently, his room would be packed up tight every weekend. His venue would establish a reputation for quality and people would spontaneously go there knowing that whoever the band is, it's probably going to be great, along with all the other amenities mentioned above.

 

[Bassbeater]

When did the bar/venue and it's primary commodity become the enemy?
This concept and many of these posts are mind-blowing to me.

We need to actively care about the bars and the bar owners if we expect the same in return.

Musicians can complain about not having good places to play, then argue against actively promoting the main function which allows the good venue to remain in business.
-expressing disdain for fans and bar venues under the guise of moral or artistic integrity.
Petulance!

 

[electracoyote]

When did the bar/venue and it's primary commodity become the enemy?
This concept and many of these posts are mind-blowing to me.

We need to actively care about the bars and the bar owners if we expect the same in return.

Musicians can complain about not having good places to play, then argue against actively promoting the main function which allows the good venue to remain in business.
-expressing disdain for fans and bar venues under the guise of moral or artistic integrity.
Petulance!

Exactly.

I've been performing in public drinking establishments restaurant bars for four decades, the goal hasn't changed a bit: Get people in the room, get them to stick around awhile, and get them to open their wallets as often as you can while they are there.

In the age of Uber/Lyft, it's not such a stigma any longer go out and cut loose in public, and people have a lot of options besides driving impaired.

I know there are other environments that may not put such emphasis on these principles, but for most weekend warriors in bars and clubs, that's it in a nutshell.