I've been reading this forum for about three months now and there's one subject that's never discussed. I would like to know how much you guys charge for a 4-hour gig. I don't know what's appropriate. My wife and I have started a little duo, and we have played a few gigs at the Shriner's, Moose, American Legion etc. So far we have charged anywhere from "tips only" to $150.00 for our trouble. We do the usual cover tunes and dance type stuff. We're not bad, but will get better as we go I'm sure. Is $150.00 the going rate? Too high ??? Too Low???

This has been discussed many times here, but you will always have to set your own worth in pricing a service like music.
The local market will dictate what it's worth to them, but you have to be happy with the price or you won't put your heart into it. There are many full time performers on this forum and our rates probably mirror each other in some ways, but in certain markets - the money will vary significantly.

As a part timer - you should have no trouble selling a duo for $150. There are rooms that will pay the same whether it's 1 person or 4, so keep in mind the service you are providing. If you are there for 4 hours and the bar takes in an extra $500-$800 because of the entertainment - it's worth it to them to shell out $150 for you. Less than that, and music becomes a liability.

One thing I suggest is that you set a fee and stick with it - ragardless of clients. I never bargain with my rates in the market I work (mostly private parties) so no one gets quoted a different price. I have a set hourly rate for weekdays and one for Saturdays, and they either pay the ticket, or they book a lesser act.( )

I know I tap danced around the numbers here, but you get the idea ...... there will surely be more comentary to follow. This place is loaded with opinions.

A 4-hour gig is really more like 6 hours; with setup and takedown, waiting to get paid, travel, schmoozing, etc. BUT everyone discusses jobs as time worked, so... Here in the southern burbs of Detroit my duo sets a minimun of $300 for a gig. If we play on the east side (la de da) we can ask $500, but sometimes we will do a "favor" or a "foot in the door" for $250. Bars and lounges pay much less, around here it's $75-125 per person. As a solo, I won't leave the house for less that $150. Hope this helps.

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Cass Pawlowski - Motown
PSR2000, SC88, Cakewalk

It all depends on where you live. As Cass said "Bars and lounges pay much less, around here it's $75-125 per person." The same in the mid-Atlantic region as well, especially south of the Mason/Dixon Line. Private parties are a better deal, paying $200 to $400 on average for a four-hour gig. Again, keep in mind this does not include travel time, setup and tear-down, which adds to how much you should charge. I have an annual job that's three hours drive time from home, and I charge them accordingly. However, the first time I played this one, I only charged them $200. Now, six years later, it pays $450 plus they will put me up in the motel next door if I want to stay overnight.

Good Luck,

Gary

What you can also do, especiall y if as you say you're just starting out. Offer a good establishment a free-bee, just to get yourself seen, and heard. It doesn't cost the owner anything, and he gets a night of entertainment, that hopefully his/her patrons will have enjoyed enough to make it known that they'd like to see you again.
I did a freebee at a local watering hole 3 years ago, and I've been a regular ever since.

Good Luck with your endeavours.

Like Uncle Dave, Scott, Gary, DNJ and others here I work mostly as a single, but I do have a female singer that works with me maybe 10% of the jobs. In this part of the country, during the high season, (S. Florida) the duo pricing varies from $250 to $400. The variance in price depends on the day of the week, whether or not it is a high-demand holiday, how many people are expected to attend, etc. (exluding New Year's Eve..which is a whole nuther animal).

As a single, most all the night jobs are $200. But, again, I will sell an off-night for $150 or go as high as $300 depending on the variables mentioned above. I rarely get price objections...especially from those who have hired me previously.

Ahhhh...but then there is summer...which, for me, is extremely slow. Low balling prices doesn't create non-existing jobs. But, this past summer I solicited a local bar..thinking I would take whatever they offered, IF they even made an offer. They said they wanted to book me for 3 weekends and added that they paid everybody the same...I grit my teeth expecting the worse...and they said they pay a flat $300 for 3 hours. I tried not to look too pleasantly surprised. That was an extremely rare situation for me.

As has been said earlier, don't take a job that pays less than what you will be happy with. By the same token, you don't want to be thought of as the cheapest act in town. Be fair, firm and friendly if you expect to get repeat business.

Recently I got a request from a client that wanted to cut the playing time to 2 hours trying to save a buck. I told him I sell "nights", not hours. Imagine how upset you would be taking a shorter job for minimal pay and then getting a higher paying offer. After my explanation, he said he understood and didn't ask for any more concessions.

Eddie

Eddies got it right.

In my act (duo) we sell the night. We always arrive at 7pm unless informed otherwise. Time required to play is up to the payer. If that means 3 hours or just 2 half hours, its up to them.

We try to increase cost if late finish or distance, if we think the hirers can take the hit! All figures are adjustable based on how upset the hirer sounds on first quote, and what we know about hirer and location.

For our duo we figure 1 hour to set, one hour to take down (yes I know thats a lot but its keys / drums / vocals with bass and top speakers)(we can do it in 30 minutes but somethings bound to go wrong!). Add in 1 hour each way travel and we are "working" from 6pm to 2am for a midnight finish. Thats a normalish working day! So if you get grumbles you can ask the grumbler how much they get paid for a days work..... and remember there's two of you .... and you have serious expenses (I'm crying already) .... if that doesnt give them a shock factor in rehearsal time as well!

Another take on pricing is what I used to tell club owners in the 80s:

"I charge $xxx to set up and then I sing for free."

The reason I have a set fee is not because I am a bigshot, but because I do so many private affairs that are referals. Imagine how Client "X" would feel if they booked me at my regular rate, and one of their friends was at that party, and booked a date also. So, Client "Y" negotiates a lower price, then brags to Client "X" about the great deal they got.
Baaaaaad business.
Not gunna dooit.

Everyone pays the same, or they get somebody else. I will, from time to time bargain with hours or gear, or setup, but the nightly fee has to be paid or I can't justify the date.
When it becomes impossible to continue on like this ........ that's when I'll retire.

Someone once told me that if I don't loose at least a FEW jobs per years because of price, then I'm not charging enough.
I believe that to be true, and yet .... I almost never loose a date to price. Just a few. A very few, and I can live with that.

Actually I've recently started giving my fees in "hours" rather than "nights" because I needed to find ways to make my fees a little more fair for myself and my employers. In addition to playing time, I now charge for "cartage" (setup/takedown time - got this from the Musicians Union which allows cartage fees for players with excessive equipment). Some places I play supply a good piano so I do not charge them for cartage. But most of my gigs require that I use my gear and that costs time and money for me so now the cost is recoverable, and can be negotiable. For example: gigs where I provide my own equipment, I wave the cartage if they hire me for more than one consecutive night and I can leave my gear set up. This dissuades clubs from hiring me for say Tues/Thurs/Sat which would mean about three hours more cartage work for me than if I played Thur/Fri/Sat. I've actually have gigs bump their other performers to take advantage of this because the other players charge the same regardless! I typically charge regular/club engagements around $50/hour and private parties go for twice that, plus cartage takes an hour. So a n average four-hour one night club gig would go for around $250 but two nights would go for $400. My minimum gig is two hours plus cartage ($150). I no longer work with singers so that's my fee as a soloist. I've also set $50/hour as my consulting fee if I have to do extra work to prepare for a gig, such as learning special music for weddings.

The MOST important thing with pricing is consistancy because your employers will talk to each other and compare notes. Also you have to be competitive within your market and charge accordingly - but even there you can do better if you can outclass your competition while offering fair deals to your employers.

Yup. That's the way I feel.