stewblack Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 (edited) An entertainment agency has approached one of my bands about playing a holiday park. There's a band debate about how much we ought to charge Anyone with any experience who can chop in would be very welcome. Thanks Edit: feel free to pm me if you prefer not to discuss your finances in public Edited June 10 by stewblack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franticsmurf Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 I don't know about fees as our was a long time ago but it was higher than the social club gigs we were doing at the time (iirc double) and if they were any distance away we would have accommodation included (usually the cheapest caravan). Mixed audience (one night we went on immediately after the kids entertainer and played to a bunch of screaming 5-8 year olds for about 20 minutes), usually drunk (the parents not the kids, although...). We were doing a few parks before the trend in stag/hen weekends so our audiences were generally better behaved than the pub/club circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 1 hour ago, stewblack said: An entertainment agency has approached one of my bands about playing a holiday park. There's a band debate about how much we ought to charge Anyone with any experience who can chop in would be very welcome. Thanks I hate this stupid game. Why can’t they simply tell you what they want to pay? We get this all the time and it just gets on my nerves. They will have a budget, quite why they won’t tell you that is annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 My brother in law plays a posh holiday park, caravan type thing, near St Andrews. It's a solo gig and he gets £250 for a two hour set, which is pretty good for a singer/guitarist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 1 hour ago, Burns-bass said: I hate this stupid game. Why can’t they simply tell you what they want to pay? We get this all the time and it just gets on my nerves. They will have a budget, quite why they won’t tell you that is annoying. They won't want to pay more than they have to. No business will, which is understandable. Not everything in life has a set price (who determines what it is?). I'd start by quoting the relevant MU rate and take it from there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 I got offered £100 to dep at a local holiday park gig a few weeks back. Id only gone in to buy some strings so was a little taken aback when they popped the question. I wasn't available so never got as far as finding out if it was a four or five piece band, so couldn't calculate the band fee accurately from that. Nevertheless, I suspect the final sum is somewhere adjacent to 'not a lot' if they were offering me a one-er. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Used to play two smaller parks in East Sussex - both quite high end (by holiday park standards) and the band used to get about £100 over the local pub rate, so about £350 from memory. This was 15 years ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 Well, we got the gig. It's not too far to travel and I managed to double the quote the band were initially discussing going in with. Thank goodness I wore them down. We'd have looked like total amateurs asking for peanuts. My only regret is we didn't go in higher, they virtually took our hands off . 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 5 hours ago, Dan Dare said: They won't want to pay more than they have to. No business will, which is understandable. Not everything in life has a set price (who determines what it is?). I'd start by quoting the relevant MU rate and take it from there. No offence, but I don’t need the basics of business explained to me. I just don’t understand why grown adults running a business would waste everybody’s time to screw a band out of a few quid. They will have a standard rate they pay to covers bands. It’s how budgets work. They should tell you: this is how much we are prepared to pay, would you like the job. This way leaves the band wondering whether they could get more and resenting the venue if they find out this is the case. It’s the opposite of how good business is transacted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 3 minutes ago, stewblack said: Well, we got the gig. It's not too far to travel and I managed to double the quote the band were initially discussing going in with. Thank goodness I wore them down. We'd have looked like total amateurs asking for peanuts. My only regret is we didn't go in higher, they virtually took our hands off . Didn’t read this before posting. This is precisely what I said would happen has happened. When in negotiate fees in my job everything is done transparently so everyone accepts it. (They’re not always happy, but that’s a different thing.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 34 minutes ago, Burns-bass said: No offence, but I don’t need the basics of business explained to me. I just don’t understand why grown adults running a business would waste everybody’s time to screw a band out of a few quid. They will have a standard rate they pay to covers bands. It’s how budgets work. They should tell you: this is how much we are prepared to pay, would you like the job. This way leaves the band wondering whether they could get more and resenting the venue if they find out this is the case. It’s the opposite of how good business is transacted. No offence, but, as I pointed out, no business will pay more than it has to for anything. Yes, they will have a figure that they expect/are prepared to pay, but if they can get it for less (provided the quality is of the desired standard), they will be more than happy with that. As I also pointed out, there is no "standard fee" for many things. That's why I suggested quoting the relevant MU rate. It isn't about trying to "screw a band out of a few quid". It's about the bottom line. Any business will save whatever it can, wherever it can because all those "few quid", multiplied over the course of a year, can add up to a significant sum. That too is one of the "basics of business". Have a look at Stew's most recent post above. Had he quoted what the band originally discussed, do you think the venue would have responded "Too low. We'll pay you double that"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 1 hour ago, Dan Dare said: No offence, but, as I pointed out, no business will pay more than it has to for anything. Yes, they will have a figure that they expect/are prepared to pay, but if they can get it for less (provided the quality is of the desired standard), they will be more than happy with that. As I also pointed out, there is no "standard fee" for many things. That's why I suggested quoting the relevant MU rate. It isn't about trying to "screw a band out of a few quid". It's about the bottom line. Any business will save whatever it can, wherever it can because all those "few quid", multiplied over the course of a year, can add up to a significant sum. That too is one of the "basics of business". Have a look at Stew's most recent post above. Had he quoted what the band originally discussed, do you think the venue would have responded "Too low. We'll pay you double that"? Judging by Stews response he agrees with me. Business isn’t (or perhaps, shouldn’t be) about short term gain, it’s about building relationships over the long term. A happy and well paid will deliver a better show than one, ultimately giving punters a better time and increasing return custom for the venue. Almost every business that argues over a few quid here are there isn’t worth working for or with. Hope the gigs go well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattpbass Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 12 hours ago, stewblack said: Well, we got the gig. It's not too far to travel and I managed to double the quote the band were initially discussing going in with. Thank goodness I wore them down. We'd have looked like total amateurs asking for peanuts. My only regret is we didn't go in higher, they virtually took our hands off . Congrats on getting the gig. To assist others who might find themselves in the same situation you were in, what did you end up charging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 10 hours ago, Burns-bass said: Business isn’t (or perhaps, shouldn’t be) about short term gain, it’s about building relationships over the long term. A happy and well paid will deliver a better show than one, ultimately giving punters a better time and increasing return custom for the venue. Almost every business that argues over a few quid here are there isn’t worth working for or with. That's rather naive. Any business that doesn't keep a grip on the bottom line isn't likely to stay the course. Would you willingly pay more than you needed to for anything? I wonder how much debt you're carrying if you would. As for "building relationships over the long term", that may be true in the case of a product or service that is unique or hard to source, but bands are ten a penny (no offence meant to Stew and his colleagues). Plenty out there to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 1 hour ago, Dan Dare said: That's rather naive. Any business that doesn't keep a grip on the bottom line isn't likely to stay the course. Would you willingly pay more than you needed to for anything? I wonder how much debt you're carrying if you would. As for "building relationships over the long term", that may be true in the case of a product or service that is unique or hard to source, but bands are ten a penny (no offence meant to Stew and his colleagues). Plenty out there to choose from. I’ve run successful and profitable businesses for decades, so save me the patronising response. No debt, paid off my mortgage at 42, currently work 3 days a week, happy days. We know the venue had a budget and a limit as to what they would pay. If they’d have told Stew, there would be no confusion or cause for anyone to get upset or feel hard done by. And have I ever paid more for something? Absolutely. We use freelancers at times and if they do a good job or secure us a profitable project then I’ll give them a bonus. Sometimes people will underprice themselves and I will tell them that. Why? Because I’m the they will always put you first, do their best work and make themselves available when we need them. You could call it compassionate capitalism. But it’s just common sense. Anyway, have to work on a project now so as you were. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 4 minutes ago, Burns-bass said: save me the patronising response Pot, kettle, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 4 hours ago, mattpbass said: Congrats on getting the gig. To assist others who might find themselves in the same situation you were in, what did you end up charging? Bear in mind I have no clue whether we asked the appropriate amount or whether it should have been double - as others have said there's no way to know. We asked for 800 for one 75 minute set. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattpbass Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 1 hour ago, stewblack said: Bear in mind I have no clue whether we asked the appropriate amount or whether it should have been double - as others have said there's no way to know. We asked for 800 for one 75 minute set. Sounds fairly sensible to me, did you have to provide PA/lights or was that in-house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 10 minutes ago, mattpbass said: Sounds fairly sensible to me, did you have to provide PA/lights or was that in-house? No. All provided including sound engineer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattpbass Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I think that sounds decent, I’m in a busy function band and we charge a fair bit more than that for a normal gig but for a direct venue booking for a short set with PA provided we’d look at that. £400 would have been crazy low though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 I think quality bands in park venues and better functions should be looking at around £1000 per gig With how much everything has increased the last few years that’s not unreasonable. Pub bands however I think due to the availability of many bands and less venues in pubs you’re lucky to get £400 sometimes less as many solo, duos etc will perform for £150 ! Venues are struggling though and each year there are less and less 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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