When to do Free Gigs and Paid Gigs

P

petey

Member
It's tough to gauge. Often situations are offered that are zero pay but have some interesting players and could help with networking -- and then there situations that are offered that have decent pay but aren't anything you really want to do -- but there is pay so it's nice.

How do you pick and choose - OR- never do free gigs again?
 
Take anything paid, evaluate anything unpaid for potential gains. If it's a charity, I'll usually be a "yes".
 
A free gig is cool if you go up to the bar and say "hey can you try us out on a weeknight, no door cover" see how many people you can bring in. If you can prove you can bring in a crowd in the middle of the week, then ask them to play on a friday for a cover and/or percentage.
 
I'll pretty much never play for free unless it is a charity event that I support.
 
Seafroggys said:
A free gig is cool if you go up to the bar and say "hey can you try us out on a weeknight, no door cover" see how many people you can bring in. If you can prove you can bring in a crowd in the middle of the week, then ask them to play on a friday for a cover and/or percentage.
Click to expand...

I could only see this working if you already knew you could bring people in. And if you already know that, why would you do it for free? Wouldn't you already have an established reputation to point to?
 
IDDrummer said:
I'll pretty much never play for free unless it is a charity event that I support.
Click to expand...

I'm the same way.

But if a gig was offered for you to sit in with a band for 3-4 shows plus rehearsals, no pay, but the band has some players who have done a thing or two with real established artists, do you take it?

Or just stick to Paid Gigs?
 
Seafroggys said:
A free gig is cool if you go up to the bar and say "hey can you try us out on a weeknight, no door cover" see how many people you can bring in. If you can prove you can bring in a crowd in the middle of the week, then ask them to play on a friday for a cover and/or percentage.
Click to expand...

That's a bad idea because it sets a precedent for "audition night". Always get paid something, even if it's food. Quid pro quo. Something for something.

And if someone says "You'll get plenty of exposure"... People die from exposure. Just sayin'.
 
I always try to look at the big picture.

I'd done plenty of paid gigs where I wasn't happy, and not-paid gigs that were an awesome time.
 
BillRayDrums said:
That's a bad idea because it sets a precedent for "audition night". Always get paid something, even if it's food. Quid pro quo. Something for something.

And if someone says "You'll get plenty of exposure"... People die from exposure. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

I've never loved you more than I do right now. Quid Pro Quo mother%$#@ers!!
 
BillRayDrums said:
When I go to a gig I'm getting something in return. Even if it's a freebie and the band doesn't get paid, I've already worked out my compensation package with the bandleader.
Click to expand...

I'm down with this. And also what DrumEatDrum said. Look at what you can get out of it for yourself and be upfront about it from the beginning.
 
petey said:
But if a gig was offered for you to sit in with a band for 3-4 shows plus rehearsals, no pay, but the band has some players who have done a thing or two with real established artists, do you take it?
Click to expand...

Are the rest of the band getting paid? If so, then pay me too.

As for when and why. I'm very much along the same lines as Watso. If I've ever done non-paid gigs over the years, then it was because it was beneficial to me or the band to do so. I can think of several occasions where "freebies" actually lead to something......one being a recurring paid support spot for a national act. But they were always carefully considered. Playing some dive for free on a Wednesday night in the vain hope of getting a Friday spot, is not what I'd consider beneficial.
 
We will do free or paid.

Money is a bonus. But only that. We all have paying day jobs and playing gigs is our hobby.

Which doesn't necessarily mean that we'll be taken advantage of. Our general rule is we'll play the first gig for free to see if the venue and the audience like us. Then we get paid on future gigs.

Works out well for us.

Support slots we don't expect pay. But we choose bands we like and get stuff signed, chat with people we admire, etc.

And charity of course we do completely for free.

But, frankly, if we have a choice between sitting at home, or going out and playing a gig unpaid.....there's no competition.

We were given money a few weeks back for a gig in Bury. The place was empty, apart from a small number we took along. We handed the money back. It just didn't feel right. Hopefully karma will see us right.
 
** I'm more speaking from a 'Drummer for Hire' standpoint, not being in a band, playing a club for free. But subbing for a gig for free.
 
petey said:
** I'm more speaking from a 'Drummer for Hire' standpoint, not being in a band, playing a club for free. But subbing for a gig for free.
Click to expand...

Not unless you really like the band, owe a member a favor, or possibly are just that bored.
 
As I said in another thread, I have three criteria for gigs:

1. Music/Musicians
2. The Hang
3. Money

If a gig has 3/3 I do it without hesitation. 2/3 is a likely bet, but 1/3 means that 1 thing has to be pretty good to get me out of the house.

I should probably add that I make certain exceptions for charity work.
 
Boomka said:
As I said in another thread, I have three criteria for gigs:

1. Music/Musicians
2. The Hang
3. Money

If a gig has 3/3 I do it without hesitation. 2/3 is a likely bet, but 1/3 means that 1 thing has to be pretty good to get me out of the house.

I should probably add that I make certain exceptions for charity work.
Click to expand...
Big +1 for this, though for me, #3 is a distant third. I've known too many people who got hung up on the money angle to the point where it seemed like their only driver. Even if my band gets paid $100, which is much higher than average, that still isn't squat in the grand scheme of things, so I've taken to the idea that it's all charity work.

Taking money (and all the weirdness that surrounds it) right out of the equation makes playing in a band so much more enjoyable. I know I'm in the minority here, but that's what works for me.
 
MikeM said:
Even if my band gets paid $100, which is much higher than average, that still isn't squat in the grand scheme of things. Taking money (and all the weirdness that surrounds it) right out of the equation makes playing in a band so much more enjoyable. I know I'm in the minority here, but that's what works for me.
Click to expand...

You aren't the minority. When my band plays out, I just think it's awesome to get gas money and meet a few people that are into our music. If you were a hired musician for another act that probably is getting paid though, you may have a different stance.
 
You guys might appreciate this one:

We got paid for a charity show a few weeks ago when we expected not to. The venue/organizer insisted after our set! I put my portion right back in the donation pile, but it was still cool to see the venue stick up for us like that and give us some door money even though it wasn't agreed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top