Band Fees - Pubs / Clubs

[BassAdder60]

What is the typical going rate for a four piece band to charge at a typical medium sized pub gig ?

 

I know it’s all variable but interested in what a typical good covers band will get roughly 

[warwickhunt]

As a 3 piece on average we get £250 for pub gigs (no size differentiation) and are based in the North East.  We are self contained so no need to hire in PA, lights etc.  

[Paddy515]

£300 for a four piece(pub gigs). £400 for private party, £500 a wedding. Mostly got privates and weddings till 2022. Pub gigs not coming in yet.

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 beers and a poke in the eye where I live. 

[Crawford13]

3 hours ago, Paddy515 said:

£300 for a four piece(pub gigs). £400 for private party, £500 a wedding. Mostly got privates and weddings till 2022. Pub gigs not coming in yet.

Wow £500 is very reasonable for  wedding. Most wedding bands I know are charging North of £1k.

[steantval]

Four piece, we are charging £240.

[Dood]

It never ceases to pain me when I read threads like this one. I was earning the same when I first started playing as a teen.  

[NJE]

I used to get around £300 - £400 but it’s been a while since I have done a pub gig.

 

One band I played with only ever did private functions and weddings which were much more profitable and we could charge around 1k.

 

A drummer friend of mine also runs a wedding venue, and he has had couples paying £2500 plus for bands recently. One three piece charged £3500. If your in the right area, people will gladly pay it.

[NJE]

Just now, Dood said:

It never ceases to pain me when I read threads like this one. I was earning the same when I first started playing as a teen.  

I keep saying this, we used to get £400- 500 a night no quarrels back in the late 90s early 2000s

[uk_lefty]

Pubs in Hertfordshire area typically paid £250-£300 in the few years pre covid. That's town centre or village pubs, not specialized music venues.

 

For weddings and functions we would charge significantly more because the set up has to be done earlier, we bring a lot more kit... A LOT more, usually we would be travelling further and maybe need accommodation, we play longer and we have to accommodate requests for new songs. Once you've done a few functions a pub gig feels like a mess about practice.

[warwickhunt]

27 minutes ago, Dood said:

It never ceases to pain me when I read threads like this one. I was earning the same when I first started playing as a teen.  

 

Indeed.  I found an old band diary (paper) from 25 years ago and we were averaging £240 for pub covers... it's essentially the same fee now but I play in a 3 piece band rather than 4 - 6 piece!    

[Paddy515]

4 hours ago, Paddy515 said:

£300 for a four piece(pub gigs). £400 for private party, £500 a wedding. Mostly got privates and weddings till 2022. Pub gigs not coming in yet.

But we charge £800 for NYE - have we got it the wrong way around?

[uk_lefty]

3 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Indeed.  I found an old band diary (paper) from 25 years ago and we were averaging £240 for pub covers... it's essentially the same fee now but I play in a 3 piece band rather than 4 - 6 piece!    

Times are changing. When I worked in pubs a pint of Worthington's was 95p. In summer Monday was the only quiet night, Tues was relatively busy but Weds, Thurs were big nights. Everyone was out on a Friday and Saturdays were chaos. Sunday's were busy nights because you had everyone who'd worked Fri and Sat night having their turn, or people getting through their hangovers or after football beers staying in the pubs til closing. People just don't do that these days, not in the same numbers. So the drinks were cheaper, more people were out, the pubs were making good money and spending good money on bands. Now the breweries give them a £250 weekly entertainment budget. They might spend it on music. They might spend it on access to sports events on TV.

[Nicko]

Pre covid London outskirts, £250 to £300 for a pub gig, £400 for a specialist music venue.  We did a couple of private functions for not much more but agreed that the set would be similar to a pub i.e. 2 x 45 mins.  NYE was whatever you could agree.

[FinnDave]

Pub gigs around Oxfordshire pay between £100 and £300. When I've played in London, we usually got the door money but had to pay for someone to run the house PA, so it depends on what we charged at the door. Tenner a head with a limit of max 120 people made the hassle of driving into London, parking, and driving back out almost worthwhile.

[pete.young]

7 hours ago, BassAdder27 said:

What is the typical going rate for a four piece band to charge at a typical medium sized pub gig ?

 

I know it’s all variable but interested in what a typical good covers band will get roughly 

In this area, it doesn't matter how many people are in the band. A band with little or no name or reputation will struggle to get more than £200 quid, bands who've been playing the venues regularly and packing them out might move up to £250 - £300 .

[Stingray5]

Pubs do seem to have stagnated around that £250 mark, give or take 50 quid, depending on the area. Part of the problem has also been with karaoke or even jam nights - both can be a cheap evenings 'entertainment' as far as the pub is concerned. I guess it also depends on whether the landlord wants to run a proper music venue or not. Regardless, it all comes down to takings over the bar.

One of my previous bands was a 5-piece club/function band. In almost 20 years, I don't think we played more than one or two pub gigs. We had a large(-ish) PA and lights and just didn't feel pubs were worth it. On the other hand, private functions (i.e., weddings, golf club dinner/dances, masonic ladies nights, private birthday/anniversary do's, etc) were where we could make it pay (minimum was around £800). This would also be supplemented by playing social clubs where we could generally still get twice as much as the average pub. And of course, New Years Eve was the 'big' one (£1500 average), followed by Xmas Eve (£1K) and specials such as Valentine's Night.

[neepheid]

Could be anything between £250 and £400 depending upon how far we have to travel.

 

I know it wasn't asked for, but up here originals bands have been paid £50 for a 45 min set for as long as I can remember.  Inflation is something that happens to other goods and services, it would seem

[Len_derby]

Average of £250 for a covers band pub gig here in the East Midlands.

2x45 minutes, band supplies PA and lighting.

We’ve been getting that post-lockdown, things seem to have settled back to as they were.