 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RJShaw0
Date: 2011-04-05 11:35
Howdy y'all.
So I started a Wind Quintet, and now we want to do some gigs every so often, but we have absolutely no clue how much we would charge.
Has anyone got a rough figure per hour/half hour. And is there a callout fee or something like that?
Thanks,
RJS
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-04-05 13:02
Ya might want to talk to other local gigging musicians to find out what they get for an evening (or Barmitzvah) and just multiply by five. The worst thing to do after under pricing yourself would be to price yourselves out of the market.
If playing is the most important aspect for you, establish yourselves as a viable product first.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: William
Date: 2011-04-05 14:57
It depends on how deep your patron's pockets are--how much they can afford, etc. For my WW quintet, I was able to charge as much as $100 per person for a wedding ceremony--20 min b4, special tunes during (candle lighting, vocalist, etc) and 10 min recession & post music. For multiple hour gigs--art shows, conventions, etc--I got $80 an hour per person. And by, "per person", I mean for each instrumentalist plus double for me, the leader (owner of the music). If I were in Chicago or New York, my fees would be much higher. It really all depends on how much your market is willing to pay.
BTW--we also played some freebies at churches and charity events just to become known. Sometimes, just getting your name "out there" is helpful in attracting work.
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Author: Philcoman
Date: 2011-04-05 15:47
Freebies really are a great way to build awareness and incidently to gives yourselves practical experience performing gigs together. If you're committed toi attracting regular gigs, spend a little time and a little money up front to print business cards to hand out and a web presence to send people to (both really cheap and simple these days), and as people begin contacting you, you'll start getting a sense of what the local market will bear.
If you love the performing and aren't depending on it to pay the rent, there's no disgrace in charging just enough to cover your expenses for a while.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2011-04-05 20:17
Call a wedding planner and ask how much people pay for a wwq. See how much it would cost YOU to hire someone. Use that as a starting point.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-04-05 22:59
It's different in every city and state over here. An example, When we hired a band for my sons wedding in Baltimore MD they charged about half of what a band charged us for my daughters wedding in Long Island NY. Pretty much the same for classical musicians as well. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-04-06 00:34
Around here (Washington DC, USA area) there are no gigs, your group would have to PAY for the hall to be ALLOWED to perform in public. Hope things are better where you are, good luck.
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2011-04-06 01:23
William, really? You play in church to get your name out there for gigs? I'm no saint, but when I play in church, it's to participate in woship.
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Author: A Brady
Date: 2011-04-06 04:43
In my experience, unpaid gigs simply lead to more unpaid gigs.
There is nothing wrong with playing gratis in public for the experience or musical interaction, but every musician who plays for free hurts every professional performer who depends on their skill and integrity to provide a valuable service to their clients or the community at large.
We are in a very difficult time economically speaking for most people and musical performers in particular, so realize that you will need to offer a high level musical or entertainment experience to actually consistently create an income stream for your performances.
Please consider joining your local AFM (not sure, but I believe the Australian union is quite strong). The union movement is under unprecedented attack currently in our toxic political environment in the US, but the best jobs I have played over my 30 plus years as a professional performer have all been union jobs, 100%. Union scale will also give you a good indication of fair wages in your area, which certainly do vary greatly.
Good luck in your endeavors; consider yourself a professional, prepare appropriately, and work hard.
AB
Post Edited (2011-04-06 04:46)
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Author: William
Date: 2011-04-06 14:44
Claire, worshipers are also "audience" when it comes to special musical segments of the church service and will remember particularily well played music. As an example, a few years ago, I played a somewhat jazzy version of "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" with a local church bell choir and was quite surprised when the congregation gave me a round of applause afterwards. And this was in a Lutheran church. People also mentioned how they enjoyed the music during the week that followed. So my answer is, yes we are envolved with the worship aspect of the service. But we are also aware that we are being listened to--and hopefully, "remembered" for future reference (as in, prospective gig).
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Author: rgames
Date: 2011-04-08 02:47
I've had the same discussion with both composers and musicians and both seem to miss one fundamental point:
"How much should I charge?" is the second question. The first question is "How much *must* I charge?"
What anyone else charges is irrelevant. Figure out what your rates have to be to cover your costs (including the value of your time), enter into the market with something slightly higher, then adjust according to market response. That's how markets work
rgames
____________________________
Richard G. Ames
Composer - Arranger - Producer
www.rgamesmusic.com
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Author: Tony M
Date: 2011-04-08 12:08
"That's how markets work"
I thought markets worked by convincing everyone that your services were essential, paying your leaders obscene amounts in bonuses, ruining the economy, convincing the person who runs the venue that your services are too essential to forego and so they must bail you out, then they charge the audience for the pleasure of you continuing to pay the leaders obscene bonuses.
I can never remember if that is the working methods of bands or banks.
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Author: BflatNH
Date: 2011-04-08 18:06
I'm curious about how much business is repeat business and how much is a one-time only gig. Has such a difference affected how you do and get business?
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2011-04-08 20:28
Claire Annette,
Most of the great composers from the past wrote music for the church for money. There's nothing wrong with receiving money for playing and composing. If you think about how much churches are prepared to pay for architects, builders, artists etc. If what you do brings more people to worship the it can't be bad, right?
Your choice is your own, but don't judge everyone else on your own circumstances!
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2011-04-09 00:25
Hey, Liquorice. My spouse DOES make money from our church as a minister of music. I have to smirk when people use the "don't judge" jargon. This goes far too deep for me to explain in a thread, on a board, that is dedicated to an art we love.
I'm not sorry for expressing my opinion in the post above. There are plenty of opinions in these forums that will surely ruffle feathers for some on one point or another.
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