I Well, first, £50 does not even qualify as an amount of money on an event of this scale-- it's not relatively cheap, it's nothing at all. To serious people, the actual job is to arrange entertainment for 6000 paying guests, within a certain realistic budget. The only people who approach the job the way you describe-- just getting any four jerkoffs who kind of look like a band, and no price is too low-- are clueless amateurs, or total bottom-feeders. I admit there are a lot of them out there...
OK....firstly I agree. £50 for that particular gig is nothing.
Let me tell you what my band would do....if we were offered a gig for £50 to play in front of 6,000 people we'd see it slightly differently than you. We'd see it as a gig for 6,000 people. 6,000 people will hear our music. They will like our music. They will buy our album when it is released in March/April next year. 10% of them may come to our future gigs. They might keep the flyers we will hand out....the drinks mats...the general advertising. There would be a big band stramash on whether to do the gig.....some of us would suggest the venue are 'taking the piss'....some of us would see it in a more strategic level....we'd come to a consensus probably to play the gig....more pros than cons.
The exposure to US is bigger than £50. That's worth a lot of money TO US.
And please....you should lay of the insults towards that band. You don't know them. You wouldn't call them 'four jerkoffs' if they were stood in front of you. So show some class. You talk of professionalism on the one hand, yet you completely disrespect fellow musicians without even having heard the standard of their music. That's disgraceful to be frank.
PS: We'd not get signed to a gig playing for 6,000 people as we're an originals band...but the principle remains valid.
I'll tell you something else. We played a 'four jerkoffs' gig six months or so back. The venue gave us expenses, £40. We probably put considerably more in the venues pockets as we have a half decent following. Another band played on the same set list. Young kids. they rehearse next to us in the studios in Ashton. We gave our £40 to them. They made £60 on the night as a result. Not a lot. But they were pleased. We were happy. We all have good jobs. We don't need the money.
We played a support slot for a major UK touring band not so long back. That band made over £5,000 from the gig. We did a great support slot for them. Received lots of positive feedback. Helped those guys with their equipment and their soundcheck. Christ we even offered to pick them some fish and chips up from the local chippy to save them having to traipse out to eat. Want me to tell you how much those pros gave to us for our 'help'?? You guess....you probably don't need me to tell. Could they have slipped us a hundred, or a couple hundred quid....well, possibly.
My point being....being a professional musician does not equate to 'class' or 'doing the right thing' and I'm finding, in this industry (in the UK) that it is often the crappy little four jerkoffs who show considerably more respect and class to their fellow musicians than 'the pros'.
You sound like someone who believes the world owes you a good living and the value of anyone who thinks differently doesn't seem to matter diddly fk to you...well guess what...the world isn't fking fair. The above example evidences that