What should musicians charge

It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and a certain level of talent that not everyone has. It is a specialized trade that has an intrinsic value. The Bottom Dwellers rehearse weekly. It takes practice to stay proficient and memorize three or more sets of music, and that work also adds value to the service we offer. Playing music can be an extremely variable source of income, so you need to make money wherever you can. I know, because these exact things have happend to us.

As an artist, there are compromises you can make on your end to make the lower-paying gigs more lucrative, such as not doing your own sound, playing with a back line, playing with fewer members, playing acoustically, or simply playing fewer sets. While many these will take hours of loading and setup time out of the equation, they can result in less than ideal performance conditions. In the case of the Bottom Dwellers, we like to uphold a certain standard of excellence.

Every performance features all four members of our band—no substitutes we will occasionally add a guest musician that knows the material well. You get exactly the band you paid for. We are well rehearsed, we arrive on time, we load in and set up discreetly, we play on time, we take short, reasonable breaks, and we play until the agreed upon time, even if the catering crew is bussing tables and are the only people left in the audience.

We choose not to make compromises to our lineup or performances. This makes it more difficult for us to accept lower-paying gigs, but any band you hire is going to have stories about owing money at the end of some nights, and walking away with a few grand at the end of others.

There will always be bands willing to take a lower price, but there are often compromises on both sides of the deal. Discuss what if any sound and amplification equipment is needed. Many solo musicians bring all their own sound equipment, but ask to make sure. If you are hiring a pianist and the venue has a piano or electronic keyboard, communicate the make and model to the musician so they are prepared. You should also confirm whether your venue requires performers to have insurance. He says he's known many performers who have canceled an engagement at the last minute using a flimsy excuse so that they can take another job for more money.

A formal contract helps protect both parties and provides a record of your deposit payment, the musician's arrival time and departure, and the precise number of hours the musician will play. Millions of people ask Thumbtack for help with their projects every year. We track the estimates they get from local professionals, then we share those prices with you.

Browse profiles, see prices and use filters to find pros who match your project. Join as a pro. See all. Events and more. Other Info. Cancel Search. How much will your music entertainment cost? Get a free estimate. Thumbtack Cost Estimates Music Entertainment. Type of event. Find a top-rated band near you. See pros. Union musicians. See which bands are top-rated in your area. Travel distance. Search local bands and check prices. Get estimates. Other cost factors. Here are a few of the "hidden" costs that solo musicians have to calculate into their performance fees to sustain themselves: Rehearsal time.

Like all professions — from athletes to zoologists — solo musicians need to hone their craft, practice and invest in continuing education. This may be done through workshops, vocal or instrumental lessons, or hours of devoted rehearsal time, all of which involve some cost.

Solo musicians are their own employers. That means they need to pay for their own health insurance and their own liability insurance. Liability insurance is important to you, because it protects the performer and the client in the case of an accident during their performance.

A freelance musician needs to promote and schedule gigs, which means the cost of marketing and the time spent following up on leads. If they rely on an agent to secure work, they need to pay the agent's fees. Cost of living. In addition to the cost of running a business, solo musicians need to set rates that allow them to afford rent, food, utilities and more. Hiring a solo musician To find the perfect solo musician to make your next party a success, follow these tips.

How do we know these prices? But I will get into that in a moment. And, again, regardless of the gig, there is generally preparation involved if not group preparation then preparation at the individual level , so even professional artists would be hard pressed to increase efficiency. It may be unrealistic to expect the venue to pay the musicians for this time, but no one else is going to either. They can play canned music and can even hire a DJ, sometimes for less than it would cost them to book a full band.

Depending on what works best for the venue, they may not be inclined to hire musicians to begin with. They can use realistic sounding VST plugins to achieve satisfactory results. They can prepare backing tracks with the help of a producer they can use continuously, which in the long term, can be cheaper and are guaranteed to be more consistent.

There is more music being made and published than ever. You might be performing, backing up a singer, recording a part in the studio or otherwise. Naturally, there are some great paying gigs out there, such as festivals, weddings, corporate functions and the like. And, oftentimes you are required to play what the crowd wants to hear — not what you want to play.

So, your fees will be highly contingent on the type of agreement you strike up, regardless of gig type. I know these are extreme examples, but fundamentally, the reason they can charge more for a booking is because of their brand. Not just that but the people who were willing to pay the price probably experienced bankruptcy, illness, death in the family, extreme life circumstances, or some combination thereof along the way.

Read the biographies of successful people and you will almost invariably find this to be the case.