NWB - Community Blog

your'e spot on with the three categories matey, I fall somewhere between 3 & 4, a sort of 3 & half...lol, and a professional muso is exactly that, You get what you can doin what you do James and long may that continue !!!
Tex Wages ;-)

it's mutual matey, in a very brotherly, deep voiced, macho way ...lol
I have been there and earned my way fer 5 years, its a fookin tough life too !!!

I agree...we're in Category 1 too - we do this full time (no day jobs)...and can definitely see your point lol!

Good post James,its hard enough for good bands to get paid there worth as it is.As i see it in this country if you play in a band your almost treated like a second class citizen and therefore a lot of venues want to pay bands low wages where as abroad in some countries ie usa and germany its treated more of a proffession and theirfore the monies better,(in my experience)iv gone off on a bit of a tangent but valid point me thinks
Mark

Quality will always rise to the top, we use reduced rates to get a foot hold and show our stuff. Am all for kids doing whatever they need to to get the gig. I don't see any reason to worry about the effect that will have on us. If people wanna get us on they will. As for the doing it for a living bit, not really my concern, its your call, hardships and victories included. I respect you for doing it but wouldn't even consider its effects on our dealings. One for all and sod the rest and all that. Good luck and happy hunting.

not sure where we fit in to honest - probably closest to a three

am new to this game and while i would happily get up there for nothing i appreciate that it's important to be responsible and ethical in trying to do this.

having said this though - again as a new band it's hard to get a venue to take the risk on you if they can get a tried and tested band in for the same or slightly higher price.

I think like you say James the idea of a reduced price for first gig is an acceptable compromise - similar to an introductory offer in your builders analogy, but it would be immoral and unfair on fellow bands to continue to offer services at these rates.

hope that makes sense

cheers

stu

Where's number 4 that Tex is slipping in between????? LOL

James, what you're saying is purely common sense. Unfortunately, unless you're on some sort of pro gigging circuit I think the prevaling opinion of pubs is to put their entertainment contractors (i.e. us) into category 3, possibly 2. Of course there are the venues (as you mention above) that have a clue, but a lot are expecting 3,4,5, even 6 very polished musicians (i'm not including meself in this by the way) to turn up and provide an evenings entertainment for the price of a DJ or Karaoke. (OK maybe 2 DJs).

I'm not having a pop at anyone, not having a pop at the situation cos that's the way it is.

@Willow, Number 4 is doin it coz ya need the practice ....pmsl

James..... No one can carry on indefinitely doing freebies, eventually they will need some recompense. And the new kids on the block need to get out there anyway they can at any price. I did years ago and daresay early in your career you might have. The quality comment was meant to imply if you are good enough you will get the gigs and the payment. If you aint you won't! As you are currently doing this for a living I would guess you are decent enough at what you do, just don't see the relevance of looking over your shoulder at what others may or may not be doing.

Our first year as a band we did a lot of freebies and very low money gigs, then in our second year we moved up a bit and the unpaid gigs went down, now we're coming to the end of our third year and our average wage per gig has increased again. - I guess that's how most bands would work things, gradually working your way up.

I don't think anyone would want to play for free FOREVER...would they???

there's part of me that would like to do it for free - however there's a bigger part that says that if you're offering a service then you should receive some form of payment, i guess this should be proportionate to how good you are at it or how much the person paying can afford or a compromise between these two factors

if the service is offered for free long term then surely that devalues it - especially if other bands are paid to play at the same venue (meaning they can afford to pay)

The majority of the pubs we all play at dont pay enough to support a band who needs to gig in order to eat. Landlords simply cant afford it.
Its a big bad world out there and making any money out of the entertainment industry is tough and over the next few years its going to get harder.

We all rely on people being interested enough to turn up, entertained enough to stay and spend money over the bar.Beer money is going to get harder to come by.

If you are a solo artist or duo playing to backing tracks then you've a chance of earning a crust playing many times a week.

Most band members would take home £30 - £50 before petrol, beer and a kebab not to mention everything else. I would rather play to an enthusiastic audience for this or less than compromise playing the music I love.

Each to their own, good luck and keep doing it live!!!!!!!

http://nwb.co/blog/post/20222/45s/band-fees--here-we-go--part-2

We often ask for beer money to be thrown in, especially if we're playing for a low fee. If you're earning £30 a piece, you can spend a lot of that behind the bar! So £180 or less we ask for beer included. Sometimes we get it sometimes we don't but it helps.

We also pay petrol money so everyone gets the same fee but the drivers get extra. That way no one is out of pocket at the end of the night!