Members Pat'sStrat Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 The farmer's market here., both Saturday and Wednesday, pay. Saturday is 150 and Wednesday is 100. They encourage us to use tip jars, and at the Saturday market they have picnic type tables in front of the music stage and put tip jars on all of them. It is not uncommon to walk away from a Saturday market with 275-300 dollars in my pocket. The Wednesday one is downtown so no tables, but I'm set up on a treet corner so 50 to 100 dollars in tips is not uncommon there, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pat'sStrat Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 Impeccable timing Steve, I've been meaning to ask folks here about tips.... My personal overview - some of the places I play don't allow tip jars, but some of the places I play, the staff and or management will supply tip jars. In some of the places I play, I won't put a tip jar out but during the gig, a patron will come up to me with a brandy glass with a tip inside as if to say "hey stupid, you need a tip jar". So in answer to the question, something resembling a large or small brandy snifter is my preferred tip jar. I do seed it, usually with an American five. My concern with tip jars is that I find them distracting. My eyes are often drawn to them, thinking to myself that hey, I'm pandering to the crowd, why aren't they tipping? In fact I did play a gig the other day where I really was quite obsequious. I think I had about ten folks come up and tip me and say how much they liked my music, but at the end of the night I only had about forty bucks in tips. I would rather play what I want and get five bucks, but here's the rub - tips can add up so do they matter? Because of my increased focus on solo gigs, with tips of five bucks here and twenty bucks there, I'm starting to do the math. If one played (for instance) a hundred solo gigs a year, and made an average of only five bucks a gig, that's five hundred dollars. If you averaged ten bucks a gig that's a thousand dollars and so on. If you were gigging four or five times a week, and played tunes like Hotel California and Wagon Wheel every gig, your tips might be a significant part of your income. Should I eschew my disdain or at least ambivalence towards tip jars, and join the ranks? I don't know but I'm interested to see what others do. Of course there's also the question of the tax man - that muddies the waters as well. Every solo musician here uses a tip jar, an even bands are starting to, since venues still pay what they paid 40 years ago. In a typical month I pull down about 400 to 800 a month in tips. I play mostly restaurants, and a typical night is 25 to 80 dollars. Some nights I make zero, others over a hundred. I tell clients if they book me for events that they can pay me a flat fee or I can do it for less if I can put out a tip jar. About 80% of the time I make more with a lowered fee and tips than I would with a flat fee. I love the tip jar, and see no reason to leave that money on the table when it could be going to other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted September 15, 2016 Members Share Posted September 15, 2016 I'm glad you made it Steve. It was our pleasure!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted September 17, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 17, 2016 As an aside Pat, just checked out some of your vids, you are a monster on that acoustic, top drawer stuff mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pat'sStrat Posted September 19, 2016 Members Share Posted September 19, 2016 Whilst I don't use a tip jar' date=' nothing against it though. I know a duo who do. However their idea is to use a small (like 3inch by 2 inch by 2 inch box hanging off a speaker with a cardboard sign of similar size with the word "Tips" on it. I went to watch them the other night and lots of holiday makers singing along and applauding as they left but leaving nothing, I guess cos they never even saw the tip box. I would like to suggest something a bit more noticeable perhaps with something humerous to help them out. Any ideas?[/quote'] I just made 301 dollars Saturday night for a 3 hour restaurant gig using a powered mixer, one speaker on a stick and a mic and guitar. 101 of it was tips. Hope this helps you with your decision! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted September 20, 2016 Moderators Share Posted September 20, 2016 he's damned good on electric, too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted October 2, 2016 Members Share Posted October 2, 2016 Again it depends on the venue. Check out what others do. We played cruise ships in the late 1980s. I put out a fish bowl with a buck in it in a visible but not advertising place. The song "All My Xs Live In Texas" was popular so when we got to shore in Miami we bought a copy to learn. Little did we know that the next cruise was charted for sales people who sold more than 1 million dollars of insurance in Texas and Oklahoma. They immediately started asking for Xs. I told them I'd have it by Thursday (no big audience sucks like the star in the main lounge on Thursdays). We made over $400 that night in tips, and in the late 1980s, $400 was worth a lot more than it is now. If I play a private party, yacht club, country club, or condo, I never put one out. If I play a place that typically tips, I'll put out one. I never-ever advertise the tip jar but I do seed it with a dollar bill. We have 17 one-nighers and one two-nighter this month. If I can't pay the mortgage with that, I'll need an other profession. The tip jar will go out in about 5 of those gigs. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Daddio68 Posted December 23, 2016 Members Share Posted December 23, 2016 I usually mention the tip jar (bucket), but I do it jokingly. Something like "Don't forget to tip Brandi and Kerri. They're busting their butts to keep you well lubricated. Also, you can tip the band if you'd like. If you put a $10 in, the drummer will give you a back rub. If you put a $20 in, the lead guitar player will be moving in w/ you tomorrow morning." Seems to go over well and get the tipping started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted December 23, 2016 Author Members Share Posted December 23, 2016 Hey Daddio68 thanks for your insights and a warm welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted December 26, 2016 Members Share Posted December 26, 2016 I often promote tipping the bartender and wait staff, hopefully it rubs off. But never myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted December 26, 2016 Author Members Share Posted December 26, 2016 I do that as well, puts the idea in the customers mind and gets you on the good side of the staff. Win win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted December 27, 2016 Members Share Posted December 27, 2016 We're all in this together. Being on the good side of the staff never hurts either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Daddio68 Posted December 29, 2016 Members Share Posted December 29, 2016 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted December 31, 2016 Members Share Posted December 31, 2016 Last night I got a request for anything by Frank, so I played New York New York. Did I take it too slow, yes. Did I mangle the words, yes. Did it get the biggest applause of the night, yes. Did I get a twenty dollar tip for playing it... yes. Probably could have made another twenty if I had played Copacabana. Instead I had a request for a blues song so I played Crosscut Saw by Albert King, and got ten bucks - a better deal IMHO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 1, 2017 Moderators Share Posted January 1, 2017 you are such a whore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted May 22, 2017 Members Share Posted May 22, 2017 I thought I would revisit this thread because I've been dealing with some new tip developments. Most of my gigs where people tip are in fairly expensive hotels, and guess what's happening - people aren't carrying cash anymore. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but in the past month or so I have dealt with three (or was it four) groups that didn't have cash. Two or three of them left the lounge and then reappeared with cash, saying "we went to get cash". One table left word with the waitress that they wanted to tip me, but couldn't put it on their credit card. Now you know how this works, for every person that doesn't have cash and then goes to the bother of getting some, there will likely be a bunch more that wouldn't bother. Besides carrying a debit/credit terminal, I can't think of an answer. Maybe a sign that says Will Accept Beer In Lieu Of Tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members senorblues Posted May 22, 2017 Members Share Posted May 22, 2017 Yesterday, my wife asked me to go to a small venue to hear a jazz group. About half way through the gig, the venue owner puts an empty clear glass pitcher on a small table in front of the band . . . and seeds it with a one dollar bill. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted May 22, 2017 Members Share Posted May 22, 2017 Yup. I have a big clear container!!! Works great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted May 22, 2017 Moderators Share Posted May 22, 2017 I thought I would revisit this thread because I've been dealing with some new tip developments. Most of my gigs where people tip are in fairly expensive hotels, and guess what's happening - people aren't carrying cash anymore. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but in the past month or so I have dealt with three (or was it four) groups that didn't have cash. Two or three of them left the lounge and then reappeared with cash, saying "we went to get cash". One table left word with the waitress that they wanted to tip me, but couldn't put it on their credit card. Now you know how this works, for every person that doesn't have cash and then goes to the bother of getting some, there will likely be a bunch more that wouldn't bother. Besides carrying a debit/credit terminal, I can't think of an answer. Maybe a sign that says Will Accept Beer In Lieu Of Tips! This is the answer, my friend...we are looking into this at the moment for our cover charges and tips [obviously this will not work with the new iPhones...]: http://www.target.com/p/square-card-...Q&gclsrc=aw.ds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted May 22, 2017 Moderators Share Posted May 22, 2017 a jazz group that didn't bring its own tip jar? IMPOSSIBLE! They must have left it in the van outside the kitchen when they loaded in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted May 22, 2017 Members Share Posted May 22, 2017 ^ Pretty good deal, $10 with a $10 rebate but it needs someone to operate it unlike a tip jar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted May 22, 2017 Moderators Share Posted May 22, 2017 yeah, well, there was a serpent in Eden too... As a solo you just leave your phone in the jar with the square on it I suppose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted May 22, 2017 Members Share Posted May 22, 2017 Me like... Great way to sell merchandise, and if they didn't want a signed coffee table they could just tip me instead! Very interesting. I had heard of this but never got around to looking at it. Thank you Sir daddymack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted May 26, 2017 Members Share Posted May 26, 2017 Tips are nice, but IMHO if you need them to make ends meet, you need a different gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted May 26, 2017 Members Share Posted May 26, 2017 Tips are nice' date=' but IMHO if you need them to make ends meet, you need a different gig.[/quote'] I always felt tips were superfluous and sort of still do, but adding up a good week of tips, reading this thread and just thinking more about tips, has caused me to start thinking differently. I know of guys that can average four or five days of work a week, and can easily generate fifty dollars of tips a night. That means in the area of ten thousand dollars a year. I know of one guy that probably does better than that. I also know a server that makes four hundred a night in tips - should they get a different job? Now of course if you're talking New Orleans, than yes, music isn't viable without tips. According to someone I know that lives there, it isn't really viable even with tips. That's a tough scene apparently. But it's difficult to stop playing just because no one cares enough to pay you. The musician's curse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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