What the going rate in your region?

[staurosjohn]

$80 per person, west Texas.
*starts googling tickets for MD*
View attachment 3524884

I'm in 'central/northern' Maryland... just north of Baltimore City... been playing for 35+ years... we are a pretty good band... get between $80.00 & $120.00 per person... been that way for many years! Don't git yer tickets just yet...

 

[Chris 'Wighat' Jordan]

Bar gigs, we get $100 bucks a man minimum and maybe an extra $50 for the PA to tag along. If they serve food, they feed us. At least four comp drinks, sometimes unlimited. The problem is, this pay has been the same for at least 30 years.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

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.

Same here. Generally $100 a head, maybe $125 assuming your band is 4 people or less.

Montreal.

 

[petrus61]

Getting me out of the house for a 3hr gig where I help with load in is $150 within a 30mi radius. I'm probably worth much more, but then I'm not concerned with inflating my sense of self worth on an Internet forum. Oops. I just did.

 

[Rogatien]

$100 seems to be the "norm" in the Montreal area when hired in bars/clubs. Paycheck gets better if you do your own production - selling tickets and all. I did wedding bands and more "corporate" events: that's where the money is. Playing on "national holidays" is good too. Nowadays most bars - Montreal & suburbs - don't really care what kind of music you play, they are more interested in how many folks you can get in and how many beers/drinks they can sell. It is what it is. It was different when I started in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, you would walk on the street with a guitar case in hands and bar owners would pull you in and pay nice money if you wanted to play.

 

[two fingers]

The "going rate" in my area is all over the map. We have way to many players around here are to awful to charge money and/or willing to play for free.

I'm at about $150 per member in my bar band plus $150 for someone to run sound (on our PA). And we usually tuck away a hundred or so each gig for miscellaneous expenses.

 

[Biggbass]

Bar gigs average $100 per man plus tips. Last Sat night we got $555 in tips...it was a good night. Week before we did a couple of hundred in tips. If there's trade involved in the pay we charge twice as much for trade vouchers and they have to be usable for at least one year.
For Private events we charge $1000 per set plus staging, sound, & light expenses.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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.

I'd say we are on par for that for a 4-5 piece band.

 

[biguglyman]

Upstate (Rochester) NY four piece cover band. This band has been around since 1976. I've been playing with them for about 30 years on and off, plus a lot of other cover bands over the years. While we think we're worth (a lot) more, we're lucky to get $100 a man for a gig. That number hasn't changed around here for 40 years. Biggest difference is we bring the PA and lights now so we get it all instead of paying for sound and lights. There have been times back in the day when after we paid the sound people we were lucky if we put a 20 in our pockets.

 

[Pbassmanca]

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.

Back in the Bible times , I think that the rate for a skilled musician playing in any establishment was set at $100 and to this day has been made the gold standard of earnings for working musicians everywhere , regardless of currency valuation or market fluctuations over decades and centuries.... Indeed it is a good time to be a skilled working musician playing for $100 base pay anywhere anytime....

 

[Fender_Bender]

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.

I live in Hamilton and I know a guitarist who'll basically play for a handful of lemonades, so you're doing better than some.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

I haven't got a raise in 50 years...

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Money is good

 

[voodoobassist]

Tulsa Oklahoma,....bar gigs here seem to average $100 or less per man for a lot of the venues. Theres a few slightly more upscale gigs where you'll pull $150 or a little better. I only book casinos for my group, since there's lots of those here. Pay runs from $200 - $300 a man for 3 one hour sets. Almost all of them provide FOH , meals and rooms. They aren't as fun as playing the A club rock bars of yesteryear, but the pay is decent, and not having to haul lights, PA, even amps, definitely makes it more worthwhile than the bar circuit.

 

[bass.slinger]

Southwest region and the average over the last three years is around $125 each (four person cover band). Maximum has been $525 each for a corporate gig. We do not play weddings or many large events due to the BL working weekend days. Mostly bar gigs.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Money is good

at least you narrowed down your location...

 

[silky smoove]

For me around Puget Sound; Bars and short notice pickup gigs are about $200. Same band doing a wedding or corporate gig and it's around $400-500 plus catered dinner.

This is a band where we're fully booked a full year in advance, we bring the PA, have 2-3 dedicated vocalists on-stage at all times, and we're always in formal attire. Not quite a bar band, dad band, garage band, etc. so we get to be selective with our gigs. Rates in this area for a group of players in casual attire that have less of a "working" vibe can expect half or less of those amounts.

 

[MoeTown1986]

I think the original poster is more interested in the average bar pay. The Deer Park and Chesapeake Inn aren't in that bracket, are they?

Nope. Which is why we rarely play there. I think we get $1500 at those. But, they do have sound provided. So we don't have to come out of pocket there.

 

[juancaminos]

We were at $100 per minimum before the recession. After 2007 it was $60 - $80. We stopped a few years ago but still get an occasional "special" gig at $80 - $100 per. That's with yours truly providing lights and sound for the same pay as everyone else in the band.

 

[funkymonk13]

No idea. I play in an originals band in Los Angeles and so we have to pay the venues to play.

So it's like renting the venue basically right?
How much is pay to play in LA? (And how big the venue)

I think the future model for staying sustainable is just organizing your own events and becoming a wiz at promoting yourself. Especially in big cities it seems to me that's what a lot of people do.