I guess it heavily depends on country and even city/district, your level of popularity, season, specific venue or event and a lot of other factors. There is no common world rule. We usually charged some $100-150 for 1 hour set in Kyiv and were pretty happy with it but I am almost sure that it’s not the case in your country. But we were always paid, sometimes not enough even for beer, food and taxi, but paid)
Also 30 minutes set is possible only on some joint parties or fests with several bands and even in this case I would say it’s 45-60 minutes.
For a solo gig in pub you need at least two hours program plus some ready to go covers when the crowd wants to go on)
When you have it and you know that people are coming to see you and to dance and drink - then you may approach pub or club owner with your offer. Surely it differs in price when you are new band or you are Daikaju, Satan’s Pilgrims or Messer Chups.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Last edited: Jul 09, 2023 15:10:25

For the Denver metro region, the Royal Aces charge anywhere from $300 to $500, depending on the gig and the length of time we have had a relationship with that particular venue or event (this charge is for a two- to three-set gig). We have been very fortunate to get a large number of gigs, which range from bars, to private parties, beer brewing companies, and great car shows.

We accept no gigs that are "a percent of the door"...we found very quickly that those kinds of gigs would typically result in the band getting about 15 bucks. We're not trying to pay our mortgages with gig money, but we do enjoy getting $100 or more per man.

Last edited: Jul 09, 2023 13:17:53

Urban Surf Kings base rate is usually starts at $500 for a set. Rarely do we play for less, unless it is something special, and makes sense to us. We are playing fewer clubs now, so we can ask for more. Club rates certainly did vary, but our aim then was $300 at the very least (1 set).

In our early days, the above rates were not reflective of what we were paid (only very occasionally did we get that much or more).

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

What if a venue hires a band,
and 3 people show up.
how much should they get then?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Last edited: Jul 09, 2023 20:22:40

I’ve seen clubs here in so cal that will have between 50-200 on a Friday
Or Saturday night, then a surf band on Sunday. 5 people

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Last edited: Jul 10, 2023 01:16:29

bigtikidude wrote:

I’ve seen clubs here in so cal that will have between 50-200 on a Friday
Or Saturday night, then a surf band on Sunday. 5 people

So you see that Sunday is surely wrong day for any shows) Even Monday is better!

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

bigtikidude wrote:

What if a venue hires a band,
and 3 people show up.
how much should they get then?

From my experience bands are generally hired by bars to sell more booze. There are exceptions, of course. If you have an agreed upon price with the bar, then it should be honoured. If we have a relationship with the club, and played there often, we can work something out. So many factors can affect attendance. We’ve played nights where everything seems to be in place for a big crowd, and it doesn’t materialize. On the flipside, we’ve played nights that nobody seems to be out (storm, etc), and the place is packed.

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Last edited: Jul 10, 2023 09:09:09

This good topic is highlighting the fact that there are basically two types of venues:
1) Bars that want the band to bring in a large number of people, and pay is based on turnout.
2) Bars that always have a good crowd because people know it's a fun place that always hires good bands; these joints have a guaranteed pay amount.
We only play at the second type. Bands that are willing to play at the first type have a tough job in terms of bringing in a large number of people, because there are too many factors which can affect the size of the turnout.
It would be fun to sit around a table with other SG101 bands and talk about this issue!

I'll add two more things:
First, most bands spend quite a bit of time promoting themselves through social media, flyers, etc., no matter which type of venue they are playing. So they are doing a lot of work to promote a given show and the venue. Back in the day, this involved making flyers and posting them all over the place. So this is added labor that sees little compensation if a venue is paying less than $400 or $500. If the bar or club is not actively promoting themselves and their entertainment such that they don't draw much of a crowd, that's on them.

Second, there's the issue of supply and demand - there are lots of bands out there (of many genres) looking to establish themselves, and many are willing to play for peanuts or even for free for the exposure. This gives bar and club owners an option for cheap entertainment on what they know are slow days, and they get the bonus of the bands doing the promotional work for them. A major downside of this is that this depresses the pay that other bands could get, even when playing at packed places on Fridays or Saturdays. The venues think "we can get those guys for $200, so why should we pay you $1000?" This might not be a big deal for musicians who just see this a hobby or side gig, but a lot of those musicians out there are professional level or close to it, and deserve to be paid well for their work. And of course, anyone doing all that work deserves to be compensated fairly for their work.

edwardsand wrote:

Second, there's the issue of supply and demand - there are lots of bands out there (of many genres) looking to establish themselves, and many are willing to play for peanuts or even for free for the exposure. This gives bar and club owners an option for cheap entertainment on what they know are slow days, and they get the bonus of the bands doing the promotional work for them. A major downside of this is that this depresses the pay that other bands could get, even when playing at packed places on Fridays or Saturdays. The venues think "we can get those guys for $200, so why should we pay you $1000?" This might not be a big deal for musicians who just see this a hobby or side gig, but a lot of those musicians out there are professional level or close to it, and deserve to be paid well for their work. And of course, anyone doing all that work deserves to be compensated fairly for their work.

So true ... and that can also work the other way.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away I lived on an island where there was a lot of local talent, but they were all calypso and soca bands. I played in the only "rock" band (classic, and current covers) on the island. We played 2 nights a week (2 different clubs) at $600.00 / night. And on special events like New Years we'd get $3k a night. It was a fresh batch of tourists every week, so you could play the same set every week and it never got old.

Those were the good old days. Although I'm not gigging much these days, there certainly is a lot more supply than demand where I live now.