How much do you charge for gigs?

mark_jwedge

I’m trying to get a band off the ground. 5 piece covers band based in Shrewsbury/ Wolverhampton areas. We have done a few gigs and got some good videos on a dedicated Facebook page. I have replied to a lot of local adverts asking for bands but when I quote the fee it seems to bring and abrupt halt to the messages. 

I have been quoting £200 for 2x60 mins sets where obviously we provided PA, lighting etc. is this about right? Or am I way off? 

stickyfiddle

I'm well out of the UK market but my old lot were charging that in 10 years ago. IIRC we were 250 for 2x60, for a 4-piece around SE London/Essex/Kent area.

It will also depend on what sort of gigs you're after; pubs will pay less than weddings or corporate events etc. I wouldn't be put off by radio silence once you mention fees though - music is taken so much for granted a lot of places will assume you'll play for free

ElectricXII

I'm near Edinburgh. Our 5 piece normally charges a minimum £350 for a gig where we bring our own PA, etc. We will occasionally play for a little less, e.g in a small venue.

EricTheWeary

I haven't gigged since Covid but we usually got £250/300. However, first gigs certainly weren't that so £200 for an unknown quantity might be a non starter. Mostly it was always what does the gig pay rather than what do we charge. 
I'd also get on the books of agencies. They won't push you but plenty of venues only book via an agency (even grotty little pubs don't want to have to deal direct with bands) and if you can fill in on cancellations those are a good foot in the door. 

JMS96

I'm interested in this. We have just started gigging - about half a dozen gigs in about 4 months - and that's what we're quoting in Kent/Sussex. We're not getting a lot of feedback on the cost. Getting gigs is hard, but I don't think that's because of the ££ necessarily. We're not in it for money and my bandmates want to reduce the fee - but I don't want to undercut other bands either.

Private events are a different matter. It feels more like work and I'm not keen on them unless we can charge significantly more.

Musicwolf

£250 - £300 for a pub up here in the NW.  Doesn't matter whether you are 3,4,5 or 10 piece, the money is the same.  I know bands that are regularly going out for less and you are competing against the singer + backing tracks who can afford to go out for less than £100.  Weddings and corporates is where the money is.  We played a corporate back a few months back.  3 x 45 min spots, our own PA etc for £550 on a Thursday night.  A decent wedding band will set you back a couple of grand but a lot of these 'bands' seem to be groups of professional musicians who can just turn up and play on the night then are off to another ‘band’ the following week.

DannyP

Tribute show with lights, PA, wigs, costumes 2 x 45-60 sets - never less than £1000

Show with my band where we pay to rehearse, write our own material, emote our little hearts out etc. - £0

Danny1969

I'm in Portsmouth where bands can generally charge a bit more.

Basic pub gig £650

Basic Wedding £1500 upwards

Corporate party gig £1500 upwards

Tribute ...not gonna say but if you like earning money from gigs then this is definitely the way forward

ElectricXII

£650 for a pub gig? How much is a pint in Portsmouth? 

mudslide73

I've noticed pubs are trying to get away with £200-£250 round here in Staffordshire. We had to get a replacement band in for one of our bookings (Covid) and you wouldn't believe how many wouldn't do it for £250. We'd always been a £250-£350 band previously. 

onyir

We usually charge £300-350 in the NW for 2x60 sets

Danny1969

ElectricXII said:

£650 for a pub gig? How much is a pint in Portsmouth? 

About £4

I would say we are probably one of the dearest pub bands in the area. Some bands only charge £300. Some new bands will do a gig for £200. There's 5 members in the band plus FOH guy and a lighting guy so 7 people who need paying. 

Whether that's worth it to the pub depends on how big the pub is. If it's a big pub and the band will draw an extra 100 to 150 people or so then yeah it's worth it.  If the pub can't hold enough people then it's not worth it. As a band you have to build a following over the years to increase your prices. It takes time but it can be done. A lot of bands will book a gig, get all their mates and family to come so that gig is busy. 3 gigs down the line the friends and family (many who would never normally go to a gig) are bored with it and won't come and they end up playing to near empty pubs. That's when they realise how hard building a decent following is. You have to convert strangers into fans. I reckon it took us about 5, maybe 6 years to get on decent money. 
Once you have done that work though it's only right you should reap some of the rewards.  A lot of bands sell themselves short in this regard. 

I have noticed though that some of the pubs we used to play are now Co ops or Tesco Expresses ... I often wonder if we're to blame for that

p90fool

 ElectricXII said:

£650 for a pub gig? 

Pubs pay us 400, weddings are 800. Large hotels and corporate parties are 400-600. We're hardworking, danceable but informal, so we don't charge massively for weddings like slicker bands do. 

We're in rural mid Wales and even the tiny pubs take £4-6k over the bar when we play, so there's no reason we shouldn't have a chunk of that IMO.
We play from 9pm until midnight with a 15 minute break though - if you do two 45s around here the punters will just drift away to another pub in the gaps. 

Stratavarious

£200 is low today.. I’d push for £250 min and work hard on promos and making the most advertising from any early gigs.. pics, decent video, etc.  Once you KNOW you bring a packet to a pub that is half dead the rest of the week, you’ll get confident telling them.. its business.

It is important to gig to grow though.. so have the expectation of better money but but if you negotiate less to play or the venue is small, make it clear they are getting a good deal.  Its better to play than not.  All bands have to start somewhere and love it.

My three bands 4 and 5 pieces… £300-350 for two hours/sets, £450-550 for 3 sets or late finish.   We will negotiate if we’d rather play or the place is tiny.  Invoicing places always pay the £350 min.

Specials.. corporate, wedding, £800-900 upward to a lot more if a major venue. I do dep work in semi-pro party bands and that is usually a solid £100-220 per person.  £1250 is typical average wedding band.   We just use MU rate card to calculate an offer… covers travel, etc.

Agents can be hit and miss. Always booking too late for us but good to try if starting out and you have a good promo or recordings.

delorean

We're based in Hertfordshire and all but one of the pub venues we play are £400.

Social clubs tend to be a little bit more, private functions £800+ and corporate starts at £1500

Vintage-T

We try and avoid the 2 x 45 min sets in pubs if we can now, but if we do it's £350 if we bring our own PA, £250 if not. 

If a pub is willing to feed us too, we'll generally work something out in-between.

I'd rather play a proper gig of just our band's material for less money, can't stomach playing covers most of the time these days.

Wazmeister

We have played for a pint and a bag of scratchings...

the_pman28

mark_jwedge said:

I’m trying to get a band off the ground. 5 piece covers band based in Shrewsbury/ Wolverhampton areas. We have done a few gigs and got some good videos on a dedicated Facebook page. I have replied to a lot of local adverts asking for bands but when I quote the fee it seems to bring and abrupt halt to the messages. 

I have been quoting £200 for 2x60 mins sets where obviously we provided PA, lighting etc. is this about right? Or am I way off? 

Thread resurrection...I play in and around Shrewsbury in two 5-piece bands (I bought the Modulus cab off you a while ago ). Going rate is £250 - £300 for pub gigs. Private functions in the region of £4-500. Weddings (not that we've done any recently nor do I really want to) but I recall in the region of £6-800.  

I have noticed, post-Covid, that pubs are a bit more focussed on how much bands are adding to the tills at the end of the night (which is fair enough I guess). The number of pubs doing music seems to have significantly diminished although it is picking up. The added bit of the job around promoting the gigs on social media and getting a few extras in the audience is part and parcel more than it used to be...

wingo84

We’ve got quite a well established funk / disco band 

we charge;
Weddings / corporates : £1000-£1800 depending on package 

Birthdays : £900+

clubs and certain venues: £600

pubs : £400 minimum and very very rare for us 


we’ve been going a while tho and have a good reputation and following 

EDIT: Based in Teesside 

hassleham

We've just put prices up to £2300 for a 7 piece band which works out at around £300 per member per gig plus fuel/expenses. We're all getting older and busier with jobs/family etc. so agreed we're happy gigging less frequently but getting paid more.

We mainly do weddings/corporate with the occasional public gig to boost enquiries coming in.

We have been going around 8 years though so built up a local following and have a good reputation for keeping the dance floor full all night which is definitely the be all and end all at a wedding!

Sharky77

Yeah it's usually £250-£400 + fuel per member for function band stuff (weddings, corporates, birthdays). Midweek maybe a little less and also out of season (November, January and February). Pubs don't really make sense to me because you're doing the same job for a fraction of the fee.