DrummerCA35
Senior Member
Our 5-piece band plays a mix of R&B, funk, disco, classic rock, and current material as well (Bruno Mars, etc). We play bars, festivals, parties, and have a wedding lined up as well.
We are on gigmasters, gigsalad, etc.
The other day, our leader/booker was contact by lady having a private party. Only catch was, it was at 4:00 PM on a weekday, meaning all of us would have to take time off our day jobs. They told the leader what their budget was. It sounded great, and worthwhile for the band to do, plus it was for worthwhile non-profit. The band was excited and was breaking the proverbial rule of "counting your chickens before they were hatched." The lady said they loved our band, and we were the "only" one they were contacting thus far. Our leader had a great conversation with her. Our leader could see, somehow through the website, that they had in fact only submitted one bid at that point. Our bandleader quoted them what their budget price was. She came back and asked if the price was the same for 1 set versus 2 sets. Our leader told her that the real work was the travel and setting up, and once there, we were happy to play 3 hours (versus cutting it short) but said we'd shave a few hundred bucks off the price and pay the booking fee as well.
Then...nothing. She never got back to him and the bid expired. She didn't even tell him she went with someone else.
Of course we know there are all kinds of flakes and people out there fishing for a band.
What I'm wondering is what we did wrong, if anything. If she stated her budget, should our leader have quoted her half of her budget (assuming it was worth it for us to do the gig for that amount)? The budget she quoted him was a "fair price" for a pro band to play at 4:00 on a weekday, but I don't doubt for her budget price she could have gotten a better band than ours. (Putting aside how much she loved our band and demo.)
I chalk it up to not counting your chickens before they're hatched, not counting on anything, knowing there are flakes and time-wasters out there. I'm just wondering if we REALLY wanted the gig to have given her our bottom price immediately.
We are on gigmasters, gigsalad, etc.
The other day, our leader/booker was contact by lady having a private party. Only catch was, it was at 4:00 PM on a weekday, meaning all of us would have to take time off our day jobs. They told the leader what their budget was. It sounded great, and worthwhile for the band to do, plus it was for worthwhile non-profit. The band was excited and was breaking the proverbial rule of "counting your chickens before they were hatched." The lady said they loved our band, and we were the "only" one they were contacting thus far. Our leader had a great conversation with her. Our leader could see, somehow through the website, that they had in fact only submitted one bid at that point. Our bandleader quoted them what their budget price was. She came back and asked if the price was the same for 1 set versus 2 sets. Our leader told her that the real work was the travel and setting up, and once there, we were happy to play 3 hours (versus cutting it short) but said we'd shave a few hundred bucks off the price and pay the booking fee as well.
Then...nothing. She never got back to him and the bid expired. She didn't even tell him she went with someone else.
Of course we know there are all kinds of flakes and people out there fishing for a band.
What I'm wondering is what we did wrong, if anything. If she stated her budget, should our leader have quoted her half of her budget (assuming it was worth it for us to do the gig for that amount)? The budget she quoted him was a "fair price" for a pro band to play at 4:00 on a weekday, but I don't doubt for her budget price she could have gotten a better band than ours. (Putting aside how much she loved our band and demo.)
I chalk it up to not counting your chickens before they're hatched, not counting on anything, knowing there are flakes and time-wasters out there. I'm just wondering if we REALLY wanted the gig to have given her our bottom price immediately.