Have you ever paid to play a gig?

[Rayman]

No. Never have, never would.

[chris_b]

I've done a few gigs for free, but have never paid to play.

[Bluewine]

I've never paid to play a gig.

 

Daryl

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

49 minutes ago, Rayman said:

No. Never have, never would.

We didn't intend to. Events just conspired against us.

We still haven't been paid through the electronic system for the gig in question.

I'm assured payment will be received by September 20th.

[msb]

No. But in some cities it’s common. 

[meterman]

22 minutes ago, msb said:

No. But in some cities it’s common. 

In some festivals it’s common too. I remember Bestival, Isle Of Wight, Glastonbury and a couple of others offering bands non-paying slots for “exposure”. They’d get local bands in to make the numbers up or fill gaps in the schedule. 
 

IOW used to (might still) have a big tent that only featured local artists, who played for free, in exchange for Access All Areas passes for the whole 3 days. I did those a couple of times when the gig was on Friday night and you could sell your wristband for £100 for the Saturday and Sunday on FB marketplace in advance. Shït festival though. It’s like being part of a Carling Black Label marketing event. With hen do’s and stag do’s 🤮

[NickA]

Some jazz sessions it's pay to play and pay to listen ( a fiver). Covers cost of the venue and gives a bung to the local jazz organisation who subsidise pros to come and play for us.

 

I also paid £90 for a 6 session coached rehearsal series and a performance with a pro trumpet player ( we did all of" kind of blue ")

 

I Also pay £74 a year to be a member of the local symphony orchestra, which charges punters £15 a shot if they attend our mediocre concerts... Then IF there's a profit the b£&#@rs give it to charity.

 

Mostly play for free tho.  Occasionally get paid.

 

..evidently should have been a rock musician 😂

[12stringbassist]

No.

[Downunderwonder]

Kinda, not really. The community band I play in doesn't pay the members but it makes some decent money on paid gigs that is spent on travelling to do free festivals. I wind up not out of pocket except for some food and drink. 

[jimmyb625]

On some tours, the support act pays to get on the billing, with the hope that they'll make enough in merchandise to cover it. Sometimes, if they're signed, the record company will front the buy-in cost.

We've had one occasion where we possibly just about broke even, although if one member of the band had submitted their full costs it would have lost money.

[bass_dinger]

23 hours ago, NickA said:

 

I also paid £90 for a 6 session coached rehearsal series

 

Good reminder.

 

I paid for lessons (and teaching-venue hire) in a ukulele band, with the intention that the band would gig.

 

The teacher was a musical genius with lots of contacts.  I joined the group, learnt 3 songs and five weeks later, the band was playing Mr Blue Sky on the stage of the Stagg Theatre in Sevenoaks.

 

That's worth 20 quid of anyone's money, I would say.

[Woodinblack]

I have paid for loads of lessons. I guess that counts?

 

[Paul S]

I effectively did, once.  A 'blues and brews' night at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket.  We were capping off the eveing, 3 blues bands, with local small brewery beers available.  The deal, agred by guitarist, was that we got £50 (for the band, not each) plus a share of the door money.  As we were on last we were asked if the other bands could use our drum kit.  I got there early and they were just packing away the venue's drum kit to a side room.  WTF?  £10 on the door, some 60 souls turned up on a frozen February night.  Takings at the bar were also very good.  2 months later, when emails were eventually answered, we were told that, sady, they had only just managed to take enough to cover costs.  Cheating, lying b@stards.  My share of the £50 (we are a trio) didn't quite cover my fuel and food costs so, yes, I paid to play.

 

That's the JOHN PEEL CENTRE, STOWMARKET, folks.  Avoid.

[Leonard Smalls]

2 minutes ago, Paul S said:

My share of the £50 (we are a trio) didn't quite cover my fuel and food costs so, yes, I paid to play.

If having expenses covered and actually making a profit counts, I've probably only done that about 3 times!

That doesn't take account of time spent practicing, or strings, or other gear of course!

[Suburban Man]

On 18/09/2024 at 11:15, Rich said:

Yes, that was indeed one, in fact here is my band playing said salubrious establishment in 1987.

I'm behind the keys player on the left, you can just see my left hand and the neck of my Wal, and the SH-09 I used for synth basslines. The stage was microscopic.

As I recall the sound was even more difficult than most venues because there was a wall facing the stage from about 20 feet away. The route in and out for equipment felt like 400 yards of narrow passages up and down the building, which wasn’t a lot of fun either. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I played the rock garden back in the day. Some b'stard nicked my favourite 80s glow in the dark curly cable during change over after our set. You had to use the venue's drumkit, amps & PA and were not allowed to bring your own gear beyond guitars/bass/keys/pedals. I can't remember the financial details but I'm sure we didn't make a profit. We also played the Bull & Gate a few times in the same era, but I don't remember the financial details for that either.

[Kev]

Effectively, if you are playing a gig for free, or if the total cost of petrol etc for all band members isn't covered by the fee, then you're paying to play.  I imagine most have done this at least once during their playing life!

 

Its just about weighing up what the gig is worth to you.  I would never pay a fee to play any venue/festival.  In originals band, depending on the gig, I'd accept a loss after costs, price you have to pay before you're successful enough to demand more.  Tribute/function band, the only time I'd ever play a gig where costs are not covered is if there is a well paid one right alongside it that pays enough to cover both.

 

At the end of the day, I just want to get out there and play music and making money is never an aim, but if I'm playing gigs where the venue is making a tidy profit on the night, I'm not accepting a loss.

[Alexx]

First band I was in we had a relationship with a promoter, which involved a threshold we had to meet for a bringing people. It either meant we got a slice of something (never much though) or just a few drinks tokens, but our triumphant final gig failed to pull in the number of punters we'd been tasked to provide, so we somehow ended up having to pay them about £120 or something. What a swizz. 

[Graham56]

If I did the maths - a few grand's worth of basses and amps, numerous rehearsal studios, many, many hours of practice, fuel, car wear and tear etc etc, than count that against the fees from the dog and duck etc...

 

Yeah, overall I've paid to play. Idiot.

[Munurmunuh]

45 minutes ago, Graham56 said:

Idiot

 

The idiot would be the person wanting to make money who chose music as the best way of doing it.

[NickA]

Hardly anyone makes money by performing music.  My dad and brother were/are both professional musicians and only make money out of teaching ..then lose it on the cost of performing.

 

I count music as a hobby and expect it to cost rather than pay in the same way (eg) mountain biking does.

 

On the other hand, done a couple of beer festivals recently ..and with the price of beer these days, the two free pints is nearly minimum wage!

😁

 

 

Edited September 27 by NickA

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

My very first gig 30th birthday . A band made up of best mates / work colleagues . 

It was a gig that took most of the year to plan . Weekly rehearsals at Alaska studios/ guitarists flat etc and lots more.

 

I used to drink regularly in the Albany piub back in Great Portland Street lunchtimes and evenings with work friends and colleagues .Got on really well with the manager . He did smallish gigs for around 80 or so people now and then .

We managed to book the venue for the birthday gig . Then , less than 2 weeks to the gig I receive a handwritten letter full,of apologies advising me the gig will have to be cancelled due to flooding ! 
 

So myself and the guitarist were looking frantically for somewhere at short notice . We had to be in centrall  London due to where we all lived and worked etc . We tried quite a few places without a Hope in hell . 
However somewhat out of the blue , I found the sols arms which was in Euston road near where capital radio used to be . Success ! 
 

The manager asked me how much do I want to pay, and I said £80 . I was paying as it was my gig etc. We were apprehensive as to,how many would make it , but fee accepted and all stops were pulled .

Being naive and desperate , I could have ended up not paying as we played in front of 200 people ! 
No regrets as gig went ahead after all . Plus we played there a few more times , and got paid .