Should You Reduce Your Band Booking fees?

With the economy struggling should you be reducing your gig fees to get band bookings?

I've been asked this many times over recent months and my answer is still the same. Getting all the band  bookings you want isn't about cutting your price until a venue accepts your offer.

There's one argument that says the less you charge for playing gigs the more work you'll get and to some  extent it's true. Offering to play for a temporarily or one-off reduced gig fee will often secure an untried band a gig at a new venue. If you want to be taken seriously though you don't just want to be known as a "cheap" act. 

A lot of venues will ultimately associate a band that's very cheap with one that's lacking in quality no matter how good you seem to be. 

The point to remember here is that while a one-off "trial price" can be a good place to start for a new band or an established one in an area you're unproven or unknown, you need to get your price up to your full levels for subsequent gigs or you'll be stuck at the bargain basement level with the no-hopers. 

Keep in mind that your gig fee, no matter how high, is only too expensive to the venue if they're not making enough of a profit on the night. 

You can charge more than any other band in town but if you fill the place to the rafters with the type of punters who drink the place dry (but don't trash it) and the venue still turns a decent margin on the night, no venue will care how much you cost them.....

Tips on setting band booking  gig fees

Tips to bring and keep a crowd at your band booking

Get Gig Fees Sorted - 6 Tips

No-one gigging in a part-time band wants to obsess about gig fees but yesterday's post did get me thinking.

When you're started out, how do you set (and get) the fees for playing gigs that you want?

Here are 5 ideas, a couple of which you'll be familiar with if you've read Gig-Getter.

1. Agree your minimum gigging fee between band members early on
This will avoid anyone making a band booking for a fee the others aren't happy with. Sounds obvious perhaps, but I've lost count of the number of bands I work with who don't get the minimum agreed together upfront.

2. Offer Lower "Trial-Price" Gigs when starting out
Many times I've made an offer to a venue of a fee for first appearance with the sentence:
"Assuming everyone's happy with the night, fees for future gigs will be reviewed" This means reviewing and moving the fee upwards of course.. This can help a great deal to get you gigging and most importantly build your track record.

3. Aim to move your minimum fee upwards as you build a track record As you'll see from yesterday's post about gigging for $0 - my band has never been out for nothing. However, in the early days we'd typically gig as a minimum for £150/$93 a night. This went on for the best part of 12 months - although we did start doing private functions for significantly more. the next year we acquired the Hard Rock Cafe as a regular venue and raised our minimum fees accordingly.

4. Consider early Gigs an an "Investment" Not just if you're playing "trial price" gigs, but as investment in your sound and shows together. the more often you gig the tighter you'll get (rehearsal is no substitute) and the sharper you'll be able to make your stage show.


5. Maximise profit made from each gig
Aim to get a repeat booking on the night from any venue you play at. Ideally book them in blocks - i.e. 3 or 4 at a time. Also, give yourself the best chance of being approached about private work whenever you appear live. use fliers, monitor stickers and/or a backdrop with contact details clearly shown.

6. Remember it's NOT just about the money Sometimes it's easy to forget how lucky you are as a gigging musician. Getting paid for doing what you love. I still have to pinch myself some Friday or Saturday nights. There I am a middle-aged old git, getting off to songs I loved as a kid , maybe Anarchy in the UK or Highway to Hell but someones giving me money for doing it...

How to Get Gigs