Whats the going rate for the average pub gig?

[gjones]

You'll find that in Edinburgh, different bands get paid different rates. My band play Whistlebinkies for £200 (4 piece), but we get a lot of gigs there - up to 4 per month. We get the same amount for stramash. My Brother in law's band get paid £240 for a Stramash gig. 

Some gigs for the G1 group, who have a lot of pubs in Edinburgh, pay £300 per night.

[krispn]

7 hours ago, gjones said:

You'll find that in Edinburgh, different bands get paid different rates. My band play Whistlebinkies for £200 (4 piece), but we get a lot of gigs there - up to 4 per month. We get the same amount for stramash. My Brother in law's band get paid £240 for a Stramash gig. 

Some gigs for the G1 group, who have a lot of pubs in Edinburgh, pay £300 per night.

This is what I’ve discovered too. We get £200 for Stramash as a 4 piece. My mates band and there’s 6 of them get more but they’re a regular band there. We just did the occasional few gigs last year. I’m just wondering if some of the bigger bands were able to wrangle a bit more for more members especially if they guarantee a good crowd. 

As an aside I always wondered what the local band Porkpie get paid as there’s about 9 of them!

Edited August 12, 2019 by krispn

[gjones]

4 hours ago, krispn said:

This is what I’ve discovered too. We get £200 for Stramash as a 4 piece. My mates band and there’s 6 of them get more but they’re a regular band there. We just did the occasional few gigs last year. I’m just wondering if some of the bigger bands were able to wrangle a bit more for more members especially if they guarantee a good crowd. 

As an aside I always wondered what the local band Porkpie get paid as there’s about 9 of them!

You can always wrangle a bit more cash out of Stramash, if you think you can fill the place.

[krispn]

They wanted us for a St. Patrick’s Day but we were already doing two gigs but we would have negotiated a price over and above the regular fee  

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by krispn

[Bluewine]

6 hours ago, gjones said:

You can always wrangle a bit more cash out of Stramash, if you think you can fill the place.

When a band is directly responsible for bringing in a crowd adding significantly to the alchhol sales, you can raise your fee accordingly. This should be an obvious win to any astute pub or bar owner.

Blue

Edited August 12, 2019 by Bluewine

[Mudpup]

On 11/08/2019 at 21:18, rogerstodge said:

I think you both need new agents.. we’re 4-£500 here in the south east,£600 some of em 🤷‍♂️

Thats not local boozer money though......maybe some clubs round here (Essex/Herts/Kent) but the pubs wont go to that unless its a tribute night. Or am i wrong? And the agents thing was tongue in cheek!!!! We manage quite well without one 😉

[leroydiamond]

I was earning more doing pub gigs 25 years ago than what the going rate is today. Also 25 years ago the pubs closed early, now bands dont get finished till 2am, which screws things up if your working the next day. I have packed it in and over a year later, I can say I have no regrets. In my neck of the woods the pubs are creamung it, but cry the poor mouth when it comes to paying decent bands, decent money.

[mcnach]

Edinburgh - Whistle Binkies and Stramash, £300-380 depending on the band.

[mcnach]

16 hours ago, krispn said:

This is what I’ve discovered too. We get £200 for Stramash as a 4 piece. My mates band and there’s 6 of them get more but they’re a regular band there. We just did the occasional few gigs last year. I’m just wondering if some of the bigger bands were able to wrangle a bit more for more members especially if they guarantee a good crowd. 

As an aside I always wondered what the local band Porkpie get paid as there’s about 9 of them!

 

It depends to some extent on which night you're playing. Fridays and Saturdays paid better than the Thursdays and Sunday slots we used to get to start. If you tend to bring people with you, or somehow managed to get people dancing, happy and drinking... they'll generally offer more. I've heard of a few bands getting quite a bit more than we do too... 

 

edit: a few years ago, before Stramash opened, I was involved in 4 bands that all played at Binkies. There was a 3-fold difference between the lowest and the highest paid bands, and unfortunately it didn't depend on number of band members, as the band I was playing with the most was the largest, and lowest paid..

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by mcnach

[leroydiamond]

Heard on the Radio yesterday the Santana got paid $500 for playing Woodstock back in the day. 

[jazzmanb]

£250 average around the North east 

[Marvin]

On 11/08/2019 at 16:23, Maude said:

Devon and Cornwall, rural and city pubs/clubs, £300-£350.

 

On 11/08/2019 at 18:58, mep said:

Between £200-250 down our way in Devon 

The pub gigs I've done in North Devon have never seen a band paid over £200. There are pubs that don't pay anything. It's part of the reason I wasn't much fussed when the last band packed up, and as a result I jacked it all in. Lugging gear around, playing music I wasn't interested in for £35 a night wasn't my idea of fun.

 

[Maude]

@Marvin

We're South Devon/East Cornwall based. Those prices are pretty much all along the South from Helston and Falmouth up through Plymouth to Exeter and Exmouth, places don't seem to flinch at £300—350.

Surely places like The Red Barn in Woolacombe must be paying that sort of money, aren't they? 

I couldn't give up gigging, it's too big a part of me, but I do want it to be worth my while monetarily so I know where you're coming from. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Maude

[FinnDave]

My next gig is in Devon (just) - Tavistock's Wharf. We're on a percentage of the door with a decent minimum guaranteed. August 23rd if anyone's interested!

[Maude]

I'm gigging in Plymouth that night.

I like Tavi Wharf for both performing and spectating. Mind the canal in the beer garden though if you've had a couple  😄

[FinnDave]

Thanks for the tip - I'm staying over near Newton Abbott, so won't be indulging. We've got a gig in Bristol the next night, as well.

I've never played there before, but was shown around the venue by the manager a few weeks ago - very impressive!

[rogerstodge]

On 12/08/2019 at 21:59, Mudpup said:

Thats not local boozer money though......maybe some clubs round here (Essex/Herts/Kent) but the pubs wont go to that unless its a tribute night. Or am i wrong? And the agents thing was tongue in cheek!!!! We manage quite well without one 😉

We don’t use an agent but we are managed, we have to be otherwise we wouldn’t be arsed to do anything, we’ve been at it for about 25yrs so well established, .. only pub band I know that don’t have to ask for gigs, they ask us

[AndyTravis]

£250 in Manchester when I did the pub covers thing a few years ago

[Bluewine]

15 hours ago, leroydiamond said:

Heard on the Radio yesterday the Santana got paid $500 for playing Woodstock back in the day. 

None of those bands were famous at that time. Maybe to musicians only.

I heard Sly & The Famy Stone got $2,500.00 for Woodstock. I wluld have thought Santana would have been paid the same rate.

 

Blue

[krispn]

Sorry each band member got paid that figure!

[leroydiamond]

5 hours ago, Bluewine said:

None of those bands were famous at that time. Maybe to musicians only.

I heard Sly & The Famy Stone got $2,500.00 for Woodstock. I wluld have thought Santana would have been paid the same rate.

 

Blue

https://www.gigwise.com/news/98710/woodstock-1969-artist-earnings-revealed

[Mudpup]

9 hours ago, rogerstodge said:

We don’t use an agent but we are managed, we have to be otherwise we wouldn’t be arsed to do anything, we’ve been at it for about 25yrs so well established, .. only pub band I know that don’t have to ask for gigs, they ask us

I'm curious now - what the name of the band?

[Marvin]

22 hours ago, Maude said:

@Marvin

We're South Devon/East Cornwall based. Those prices are pretty much all along the South from Helston and Falmouth up through Plymouth to Exeter and Exmouth, places don't seem to flinch at £300—350.

Surely places like The Red Barn in Woolacombe must be paying that sort of money, aren't they? 

I couldn't give up gigging, it's too big a part of me, but I do want it to be worth my while monetarily so I know where you're coming from. 

I've never played The Red Barn so couldn't say. There isn't really a circuit up in North Devon, there just seem to be a lot of bands trying to get in to play anywhere that'll have them. 

To be fair, most of the pubs are just too small for bands to get paid a decent amount. They simply can't get enough people in to make it pay. Also, there's not really 'a crowd'. It's predominantly 'older' people living in North Devon who don't go out to watch/listen to any music. If I was running a pub in North Devon I wouldn't be putting bands on.

All that said...I think I might have just joined a band 😯. The only person I said I'd join a band with just asked me if I'd play bass in a band he's putting together. Bit rude to say no.

[Bluewine]

3 hours ago, Marvin said:

I've never played The Red Barn so couldn't say. There isn't really a circuit up in North Devon, there just seem to be a lot of bands trying to get in to play anywhere that'll have them. 

To be fair, most of the pubs are just too small for bands to get paid a decent amount. They simply can't get enough people in to make it pay. Also, there's not really 'a crowd'. It's predominantly 'older' people living in North Devon who don't go out to watch/listen to any music. If I was running a pub in North Devon I wouldn't be putting bands on.

All that said...I think I might have just joined a band 😯. The only person I said I'd join a band with just asked me if I'd play bass in a band he's putting together. Bit rude to say no.

Even in my area, we still have bars that book bands. However, the majority have clientle that have no interest in live bands.

You get paid but there's no good side to this story. Four hours of drudgery. You can't win. And to make matters worse, your usually in a room separate from the bar. Even my " cheer leader " gig mind set fails in these bars.

A real drag.

[Bluewine]

12 hours ago, leroydiamond said:

https://www.gigwise.com/news/98710/woodstock-1969-artist-earnings-revealed

Cool article, In the States if your were making $18,000.00 annually in 1969 you were doing pretty good.

Blue