What the going rate in your region?

[Paulabass]

Since bands vary in size, we'll go 'per musician'.
I'm talking about regular working bar bands. The backbone of the industry.
Assuming- 3 sets, bring your own p.a. and lights, not including bar perks.
I'm from outside Toronto Canada, and my region we're at $100 CDN per person,(about $75 U.S.) and a 'good paying' gig is $150 Doesn't sound like much does it?
Where are you, and what's the going rate? Not talking about national touring, I mean the road warriors who have played 'Tush' 2000 times.

 

[MoeTown1986]

I live in MD. 4 piece top 40 band that has never played "tush". We usually take home $350-450 per person.

 

[DirtDog]

Since bands vary in size, we'll go 'per musician'.
I'm talking about regular working bar bands. The backbone of the industry.
Assuming- 3 sets, bring your own p.a. and lights, not including bar perks.
I'm from outside Toronto Canada, and my region we're at $100 CDN per person,(about $75 U.S.) and a 'good paying' gig is $150 Doesn't sound like much does it?
Where are you, and what's the going rate? Not talking about national touring, I mean the road warriors who have played 'Tush' 2000 times.

Yep - that describes me and the bands I've played with the last 10+ years. Going rate here - about 450km up the 401 - is the same: $100/person per night. Standard bar gig. Some places throw in meals/drinks, but overall avg. is $100 regardless of if we bring PA or not (and we usually do). 20 to 30 gigs per year on average (although I am now retired from regular gigging).

There's been a handful that have cracked the $150-200/person rate, but those were special events that required a LOT more effort and time on ground.

Best money I ever made was $350 in a night - we basically hosted the event ourselves, promoted it and sold tickets and were able to keep those sales to ourselved 100%. Again, a lot more effort and fewer opportunities to charge cover these days - which is why we haven't pursued that model to any degree.

 

[DirtDog]

I live in MD. 4 piece top 40 band that has never played "tush". We usually take home $350-450 per person.

Nice - if our pay was up at that level, I might still be gigging! What sorts of venues are you playing?

 

[Paulabass]

Some places throw in meals/drinks, but overall avg. is $100 regardless of if we bring PA or not (and we usually do).

Getting a free meal and a couple of beers doesn't sound like much till you calculate....that's a 20% increase!

 

[Pizza1988]

Just outside North East Philadelphia, we can get between $75 and $175 a person. Usually play the same few spots around 10 to 15 times a year. Not too bad for a "for fun" band. Usually includes some sort of drinks deal.

 

[Paulabass]

I guess I should add- I played in a bar band in the 70's and 80's that paid enough for my car, my rent, and food.
After that I was very fortunate and played 'A' rooms, tours and festivals where the pay was significantly better. I've only recently started playing bars again (first gig was last fall) recently, so I was a little shocked at the lousy pay.

 

[ArtechnikA]

My current bluesy/rock project is $100/person, 3 hours.
My blues power trio is also $100/person.
I just left a project that thought $50 was good money, and they didn't get it very often...
Without any other 'real' data points, I'm guessing $75-$100 probably...

 

[MoeTown1986]

Nice - if our pay was up at that level, I might still be gigging! What sorts of venues are you playing?

Standard bars/clubs. 500-1,000 capacity typically. Lots of beach and dock bars around here. The summer gigs we usually net more money. We have 3 gigs this weekend at 3 different tiki bars in southern VA and will each come home with around $1,200.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Standard bars/clubs. 500-1,000 capacity typically.

I am happy for your scene. In this part of the world, that's not standard. 100 capacity is more standard for a bar. I'm not sure I can even think of a 500-person capacity bar. (Actually I did - but it's in Reading - and outside.)

 

[StyleOverShow]

• Hasn't changed in the 50 years I've been working: $75-100 for 1-3 hour show pretty regular; $25-50 for friends

 

[tkonbass]

We're a 5-piece with very good quality sound and lights, play pretty much every weekend and average $650 per bar gig. Of course private/special events will pay multiples of that but there's only a handful of those a year to look forward to.

 

[NathOBX]

Outer Banks, NC:$100/musician.

 

[superheavyfunk]

Since bands vary in size, we'll go 'per musician'.
I'm talking about regular working bar bands. The backbone of the industry.
Assuming- 3 sets, bring your own p.a. and lights, not including bar perks.
I'm from outside Toronto Canada, and my region we're at $100 CDN per person,(about $75 U.S.) and a 'good paying' gig is $150 Doesn't sound like much does it?
Where are you, and what's the going rate? Not talking about national touring, I mean the road warriors who have played 'Tush' 2000 times.

Yep - that describes me and the bands I've played with the last 10+ years. Going rate here - about 450km up the 401 - is the same: $100/person per night. Standard bar gig. Some places throw in meals/drinks, but overall avg. is $100 regardless of if we bring PA or not (and we usually do). 20 to 30 gigs per year on average (although I am now retired from regular gigging).

There's been a handful that have cracked the $150-200/person rate, but those were special events that required a LOT more effort and time on ground.

Best money I ever made was $350 in a night - we basically hosted the event ourselves, promoted it and sold tickets and were able to keep those sales to ourselved 100%. Again, a lot more effort and fewer opportunities to charge cover these days - which is why we haven't pursued that model to any degree.

In the core proper, we're getting about $125 each on average. Hamilton and Burlington are willing to pay a bit more - around $150 each - when they know we're coming from out of town, and we get about $350 each to go up to Sudbury area. These are all approximate and doesn't include accommodations or gas... sometimes we get more but usually not less and we never bring a P.A. unless the venue/client is paying for the rental.

I don't know what "Tush" is...??

 

[Altitude]

Colorado. Well-established cover band, mostly tier 2 clubs. A single share is about $100 USD.

Same band on a wedding gig, single share about $350.

 

[Plectrum72]

Redneck Riviera (FL gulf coast). 5-piece band, 4 hour gigs in the bar scene. $100/band member average. We won't play for less than $80/person unless we're doing a charity event. The places that can't afford us or refuse to pay that much typically aren't set up for live music anyway. We gig 3-4 times a month. Offsets gas cost and helps fund new music toys.

 

[akrachanko]

The band in Western PA I was in was a 10 Piece rock/funk/disco/R&B cover band, with 1 female vox, 1 male vox/guitar, drums, bass, keys, alto sax, tenor sax, bari sax, trombone, and trumpet. In a usual night, we'd be looking at $50/each a night for 3 sets. I think the band was getting paid $500-$700, and we paid our sound guy $200.

For the quality of the bars we played in, this was not sustainable. The female vocalist left, and they found a replacement for her, but said replacement required making at least $150 a gig, and that lead to some changes. The band leader was one of the sax players, so instead of thinning out the horn section, like would be logical, I got the boot, and now the keyboard player covers the bass parts. How fun is that? Haha. Sorry, that was a ramble.

 

[Kmonk]

I haven't done club gigs for years. I've been doing studio work on a weekly basis for the last several years. In my last band, I was playing casinos and festivals. Pay for the band has ranged between $1,500 to $3,000 for 60 to 90 minutes. Sometimes meals and drinks are included. I have friends who are in cover and tribute bands. They play clubs, Chinese restaurants, etc. and average about $75 per guy for 3 45 minute sets. Recently, a couple of friends of mine have put tribute shows together where they rent a hall or an outdoor facility, have 4 tribute bands who each play for an hour. They sell tickets for $20 each and are making a lot more money than playing clubs.

 

[jmon]

North Florida here. We get 150 per man. 600 a night total plus a bar tab covered. In turn we give almost all our tips to bar staff and everyone is happy. Weddings and private events start at 1800 and go as high as 3000 depending on what is needed. So divide that by 4.

 

[mrcbass]

Sacramento area. My exposure to pay is very limited, but I've made between $60 and $100 per dive bar gig. Rarely any bar comp. Can't say if that is typical or not for the area. I'm hoping my current band can live up to the dreams of getting into some bigger paying gigs. But luckily, it's not about the money ...