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What the going rate in your region?
- Thread starter Paulabass
- Start date
After reading thru this thread there seems to be a trend. If you are with a booking agency then your pay seems to be more than booking yourself (unless you have a power-booker guy in the band that has contacts). If your with a agency that generaly means to me that the music and quality of music the band plays is what is needed at say casinos, medium size outdoor events, and mid-level pro opening band support. My band doesn't have a booking agency and we play songs we like and try to play what the audience likes as well; I really see modern country and dance music as being booked more and more. Also it seems with a booking a agency comes more commitment and time and travel; thus more pay.
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I'm just south of Sydney, Australia.
Going rate for covers is $100+ ($70+ USD) each for the weekend warriors, $200+ ($135+ USD) for Pro's.
The weekend warriors usually play venues where they have to run their own sound. The pro's get PA and operator supplied. I've worked with both.
Going rate for covers is $100+ ($70+ USD) each for the weekend warriors, $200+ ($135+ USD) for Pro's.
The weekend warriors usually play venues where they have to run their own sound. The pro's get PA and operator supplied. I've worked with both.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Thirty years ago, $500 was the norm. Now, some bars pay $250-300 (I won't touch those), some $400-600, and a few good ones pay over a grand. I'm Connecticut and New York.
$700 is the absolute most we could get for the whole band locally, and it really was just for the fun of it. If I had enough money for gas at the end of the day, I was happy.
I'm from Ohio. Original bands dont pay, especially if you arent big enough to tour. I was also routinely robbed of the pittance I was due- how pathetic is it to have the $7 that was your cut, stolen by your OWN BAND, because they were essentially too lazy to make change? I also saw fistfights break out kn stage. I gave up on doing original music- the people are usually awful, and the ones smart enough to actually do well either get a real job, or go to music school and become real pros.
Cover bands arent much better. I'm looking forward to my first paid gig ever this October, after 11 years playing bass. I've been told to expect around 100 bucks per person per gig, for 3 hours of music. Looks like that's pretty standard.
Cover bands arent much better. I'm looking forward to my first paid gig ever this October, after 11 years playing bass. I've been told to expect around 100 bucks per person per gig, for 3 hours of music. Looks like that's pretty standard.
Here in Central WI I would have thought our pay was a lot less than other areas but seems pretty standard after reading through many of the responses.
4 hour gigs that are 3 sets and two breaks, always bring our PA and lights, 3 band members, never played Tush and do our best to avoid most of the overplayed songs in our cover band. Our minimum rate is $450 for the average gig. We do play shorter gigs or at places like the Veteran's Home for less but that's pretty standard. Out of that $450 I usually get an add'l $50 over the other two since the PA and lights are mine, are transported/set up/operated by me at gigs.
Food and drinks are dependent on the venue.
4 hour gigs that are 3 sets and two breaks, always bring our PA and lights, 3 band members, never played Tush and do our best to avoid most of the overplayed songs in our cover band. Our minimum rate is $450 for the average gig. We do play shorter gigs or at places like the Veteran's Home for less but that's pretty standard. Out of that $450 I usually get an add'l $50 over the other two since the PA and lights are mine, are transported/set up/operated by me at gigs.
Food and drinks are dependent on the venue.
KY/OH/WV tri state area here. Most places are $300-400. A few others pay $450. We are a four piece but it's worth the personal cut to me to take a fifth guy to do sound. One place has their own, so we split the $300 by four there. Another place used to pay $1000 for two nights, and we took sound there with the operator. Most no clubs except the one already mentioned have their own sound. We play most gigs fairly close to home so it's worth it I suppose.
Edit to add...most every place is four 45 minute sets...9p til 1a, a few are three...9p til midnight and one (mercifully) is 8-11!
BnB
Edit to add...most every place is four 45 minute sets...9p til 1a, a few are three...9p til midnight and one (mercifully) is 8-11!
BnB
Most bars offer 300-400$ to the band that I've been booked at in Los Angeles. Occasional festivals and events are usually better. I've only played Tush 567 times, does that count? If you are good and have a following, you can charge more, if you aren't, you take what you can get I suppose. I personally have a cutoff of 60$ to gig. Good musicians, but we all have careers outside music to pay the bills.
Central Montana here (Great Falls) where there is a decent music scene. Country, 80's Rock, 90's Grunge and Heavy Metal are the most popular and will get you at least 2-8 shows per month depending on what you want, as venues here seem to love having live bands every weekend.
Most bars are about 500-600 for the whole band for 3-4 hours. That's the lowest though. Getting hired for company events and party's and weddings will get you 800-1000.
Most bars are about 500-600 for the whole band for 3-4 hours. That's the lowest though. Getting hired for company events and party's and weddings will get you 800-1000.
- Apr 1, 2000
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Jeez. I'm in Omaha, and play regionally, and the average for a decent club here is around $1000, plus sound and lights ($350 or so). So $1400 a night, unless the club has its own PA. Weddings book around $3500....
In west central Pennsylvania, my bands were getting paid $400 to $600 in the late 1970s. That would equate to about $1,400 in today's money. However, band pay has stayed about the same for the top tier regional bands today. The problem has been that other bands offer to play very cheaply or for the door and people don't want to pay cover charges like they used to years ago.
IME - also currently in Southwestern / Central PA, most venues that regularly have live music typically pay $100 per musician - but only for a small group. Sometimes a venue will pay $300 max so it's better musical math to be a killer duo or fine trio, but there are plenty of opportunities to bring a quartet and end up with $75 ea. I find this mostly for jazz combos, "acoustic" singer gigs, plus the occasional rock bar band or downtown club hit. Most of these places require the band to bring their own sound.
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I was very lucky to back up a well known blues & soul singer. Those gigs almost always guaranteed $150 ea for a 6-9 piece band and often included house sound in bigger clubs or a sound company when we did outdoor festivals and such. Sometimes we'd travel to another state to play a nice club for the same money, but that was almost always tied in to private party that paid much better. This artist has a large following and can pack a room even with a cover charge. That plus a bunch of CDs and merch makes it fairly lucrative for him.
I know quite a few of the Pittsburgh based blues players. I can probably guess who it was.
I consider myself a low income weekend warrior in Sweden. About $100 is what I expect on a saturday night. Well paid guys get $300.
And I've played Tush since 1986...
And I've played Tush since 1986...
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Spokane, WA / Coeur d'Alene, ID / inland Northwest here. We typically do bar gigs, booked for Friday and Saturday, and average around $700-800 for the weekend for the band ($140-160 per member) . These are 90% booked through a booking agency, though our singer does get a few gigs on his own. We charge more for private parties, depending on where it is and other details. We haven't done any weddings just yet, but that is a possibility.
For bars/restaurants, $50-$100(with discounted or free food/drink) seems to be my experience, but i don't tend to play in large capacity high end places and there really aren't that many of those in my area. Private events of any sort are more. I play jazz so can't speak for some of the more top tier cover bands. I would hope they are getting a bit more for the extra effort in level of production.
