Nord User Forum

I'm guessing they're going for functions, private parties, maybe corporate gigs rather than pubs or clubs. Let's face, it for pub work you don't tell them, they tell you.

Depends on what you want to earn. €50? €250? What does PA and light cost? €500 at least. What songs are you playing? Oldies or 'newies'? How good are you? Amateur or (semi)pro? My band will cost between €1950 and €2400 depends on the venue. I earn about €150 a gig.

$/hour total show with your # of members, no lighting that you mentioned, and in town, at least $1000. and that's dirt cheap. Depending on your: travel distance, venue type, accommodation included/required and quality of production, well that's up to you to cover costs and pay the members. Bar type gig where I am, 1 night in town 2,3,4 players don't matter, $400.00 is the ceiling. I'm old school. I won't play for less that $100 in town, (I'll sit home with the family) and at that I really lose money. It ain't like the old days.

Oh wow, there're some really nice prices out there.

I'm working in the classical music industry as a studio/concert singer, and we charge our prices on a per hour basis (for rehearsals too). Our usual fee is 9-12 EUR per hour, but a lot of our employers like to conserve some money buy ordering us only for 1 rehearsal + 1 concert, or try to record complete movie soundtracks in 4 hours worth of studio time.

For pubs and clubs, you'll likely top out at £350 regardless of how many of you there are - they just work to a music budget.

For functions, I work on an absolute minimum of £100 per member (including sound engineer if I'm bringing out a brass section as well). Weddings and some corporate gigs are notoriously long days, typically they want you there in the afternoon before people arrive and you're not getting out until after everyone's left - so you are really talking about a 12 hour shift. So I look to charge more towards £200 or more per person for these as this equates to £16 per hour per person which I think is more than reasonable.

A DJ would look for at least £500 for a wedding. When you look at it that way, you get more bang for your buck with a live 6-piece band at £1200. Another thing is be careful about under charging - Most people planning a wedding set themselves a budget of around £2000 for a live band (corporates expect to pay more around £3000 - £5000 as a minimum). Going in at £800 is giving the impression you are not the quality of band they are looking for - sure if you really are an £800 band then you will get some wedding work but no corporate work to speak of.

I'll be honest, I've seen a lot of pub bands do functions and some are really not up to the task - not the right gear, not good enough players, can't read and adapt to the crowd or simply too much pissing about. The difficult thing is being absolutely honest with yourselves and deciding whether you really can put on a full show rather than knock out a few covers.

The best corporate stuff I do is for a pharmaceutical company. We get £450 each plus all expenses paid - flights, hotels, gear rider, meals, after show drinks. We work with an events management company who provide a complete stage crew. For that money, they are expecting a slick show and that's what we give them.

The key is learning how to gauge the budget available and pitching your price to your client appropriately.

Good question. And I agree location(!) both across the globe but also town/city/... makes a huge difference.

That being said, bars/pubs around here pay about 250EUR if you're semi-pro. FEstivals, corporate gigs, privates more about 600-1200EUR.
But in this country live music unfortunately not so much appreciated since the "crisis" apart from the stadium dimension...

Around £1200 for a typical 8-12 slot, we're a six piece. Rate goes up if it's ~2 hours away or they want us to play for extra time.

$100/man for a 4-5 piece cover band doing a standard 3 hr bar gig, plus a meal per person, is about what will get me to leave the house.

$2-500/man for weddings. Lower if they're friends-of-friends or something or it's last minute and we're open. (But you can bet we're not gonna wear suits.)

If the music is something I really believe in, or it's a buddy's vanity project or whatever, pay is much more negotiable as long as it's local.

Worthwhile gigs are at least one of the following: a good hang, good money, and good music.

The music OR the money has to be good to endure an otherwise dead gig.

Realistically, you strive for two of those things.

I have yet to have a gig that's all three ...

In the USA it varies from region to region, but in my area Washington D.C. it's about $500/night for a 5-piece at a decent club. 3 x 45min sets.

We ask between 300 € (most often) and 1200 € + meal, 8 musicians, 30 songs, soul/rock covers, going 40 kms around, west coast, France.