How much?????

[Matt_Gill]

Hey thanks alot guys, ive learnt ALOT from reading this, i love the idea of the wedding planers, ill go through the yellow pages and ring them all. So now im thinking 100 pounds would be better, because of what someone said about being profesanal (sp?). I supose i could always go down abit so he feels hes getting me for a good deal, the old start high + come down trick?

 

[Crash ©]

Something I learned from an old wedding photographer.. Don't cut your prices if you're trying to make a living.. Of course photgraphers have a bit more overhead other than just their time and tools (camera or guitar depending)...

But if you're good, you will get what you demand.

I don't know how to relate pounds to US$, but keep in mind.. 100 may be a good deal on the wedding itself, but and forget about the practice, which you would need to attend, that will last several hours the day or night before. If they expect you to be at the reception as well, you might want to more than double that fee.. Last wedding I went to was an hour from the time we got there until we left and it was a pretty quick wedding with no attendants, candle lightings, etc.. The string trio was there for about an hour and a half.. The reception however lasted from around 6pm until well after midnight.. Of course that had a full band for that, that played about 3 hours total, but had to be there setup well before the guests and couldn't tear down until after the guests were gone... They threw one hell of a party..

Think about what your time is worth and charge by the hour.. If you think 100 is fair for the wedding (and maybe the practice) that'll take up 4 hours of your time.. Let 'em know that they get you and 4 hours of music, each additional hour at 15 - 25 or whatever you think is fair or whatever your market will handle...

Anyroads... Good luck with the endevor...

Oh yeah.. Schmoozing in a bar sound's like a good idea... I wouldn't do it at a wedding.. Keep cards handy in case you're asked, but don't try and promote yourself in anyway other than your playing there.. A wedding is not about you, it's about the couple getting married..

--
Rob

 

[kurtteej]

When I first started playing out, we took what we could get -- and we typically lost money since we had to at least get our crew a bit hammered. After a while we got to making a couple hundred a night (which was bad considering there were 4 band members and a sound/light guy). BUT, it was also the 80s and a couple hundred was about 3 times what it is now.

 

[ggunn]

My two cents is....DONT PLAY FOR FREE>>>>>>EVER !!! you'll ruin the market for yourself and others. If you have a good/fun show, and use your own PA/lights, then charge $200 to start and see where it gets you.

promote yourself as a partime pro. when i hear the word free, it makes me wonder what im getting. if you have a firm price in mind, it speaks volumes for your professionalism and confidence. If you dont have that, then reconsider even doing it.

Well, in some markets - Austin, for example - if you won't play for free when you are starting up and trying to get your name and face out there, especially if you are an original act, you won't play at all. Also, some gigs are such a hoot that I don't mind playing for free; remember what drove you to play music in the first place? Most likely, it wasn't the money.

In the projects I do, I work on the work, fun, money equation. If the money plus the fun is less than the work, I don't play the gig.

All that said, I hasten to point out that I no longer make my living in the music bidness, though I do supplement my income with it.

 

[Matt_Gill]

Well im gettin a mix bag here, I think i should charge money as im a good player and COULDENT do it for free becuse of transport ect... Back to the amp thing though...Who thinks one is going to be nesasery?

 

[sk8bobby10]

play at your friends parties first. Then make sure you can try to get a gig before you start asking for money. Playing on the sidewalk is fun too. whatever you do try your bestest!

 

[cephus]

Something I learned from an old wedding photographer.. Don't cut your prices if you're trying to make a living..

My friend's dad is an electrical contractor and he said "If I'm gonna go broke, it'll be sitting on my ass."

Meaning, there's no point in doing the job if you're losing money. As it applies to musicians, I guess that means you have to charge at least enough to cover your bar tab.

 

[Matt_Gill]

Yer thats good, ive been doing stuff for friends for a few years now, im just concentrating on a set list at the moment, ill be ringing around probably tomorrow.

 

[ggunn]

My friend's dad is an electrical contractor and he said "If I'm gonna go broke, it'll be sitting on my ass."

Meaning, there's no point in doing the job if you're losing money. As it applies to musicians, I guess that means you have to charge at least enough to cover your bar tab.

Not necessarily. I doubt that your friend's dad goes out and does electrical contracting for the sheer joy of it, but musicians love to play. They should, anyway, or what's the point? OTOH, I'll bet that the guy would lose money on an individual job if it was to prove himself in order to open a door to more work.

I recently left a cover band where I seldom made less than $200 on any gig, to play with some other guys where we make practically nothing and occasionally lose money. The reason is twofold:

First, the music. I got to the point where if I have to play "YMCA" or "Play That Funky Music White Boy" one more time, I'm gonna shoot myself. The new project is all (or mostly all) original; the main songwriter has been writing for 30 years, and we have a catalog of over 30 great eclectic gig-ready tunes with more on the way. I am in love with the music.

Second, I have a good job. This allows me to play the music which speaks to me without having to consider the money. We make no compromises in the music for the sake of economics. If it never makes a dime (although we'd all love for it to), then we won't consider the project a failure.

YMMV. Every musician has to make his/her own deal with the muse.

 

[cephus]

Hey, I'm all for playing for free on purpose. Don't let "the man" devalue your craft, though.

"the man" being the dude that runs the spaghetti resturant where this guy wants to play.

 

[ggunn]

Hey, I'm all for playing for free on purpose. Don't let "the man" devalue your craft, though.

"the man" being the dude that runs the spaghetti resturant where this guy wants to play.

It's a question of supply and demand as well. Some markets are flooded; in places like that the spaghetti guy can get someone pretty good for nothing or nearly that.

 

[cephus]

That is a good point as well. There are a bunch of things that figure into it.

Cover music costs more because musicians always act like they hate it.

The manager doesn't care how good you are. All he cares about it how many people you can get through the door and how much they eat or drink while they're there.

If spaghetti guy (or fajita guy, or sushi guy) is paying another guitar guy $5, then you gotta at least get $5, lest ye be a punk.

If spaghetti guy balks and doesn't want to pay you, but you still want the gig, you have make it clear that the freebie deal is a temporary arrangement and that you usually get a hundred times that much. Hell, make it "a million times that much".

And, get the crew drunk.

Sounds like good advice.

Oh, and count on using an amp and turn it down down down to start. An acoustic intrument is not going to carry a room unless the place is really really stuffy and you wouldn't want to play there anyway.

 

[Crash ©]

100 X Freebie is still a Freebie aint it..??

--
Rob

 

[cephus]

Hey! You're quick.