Don't post in this forum if you play for free

[Chordptrn]

You must get paid for every gig you play or you are ruining it for every hard working musician out there....period

[newmaxnew]

I always say you should get paid what your worth. :poke:

 

Max

[3shiftgtr]

Look, I'm all about getting paid, and I agree that lowballers and freegiggers make things worse, but I don't think that you should be wagging that finger, young man.

 

Plenty of different types of musicians to go around, and I want to hear what they have to say. And "Backstage With The Band" doesn't mean "Backstage With Full Time Professional Musicians." There are a handful of former pros here that have a plenty to contribute here. And there are some damn good 'part timers' that are fine musicians, that have plenty to say too.

[tlbonehead]

we gotta remember to lock that gate.

[HARLEYWOOD]

Are you for real???..Sheeeeesh

[halbeth]

I'm just doing my first few gigs with my current band.

 

I certainly don't expect to get paid for them (Although we did get

[Dukey]

I've been gigging for the past 25 years. 99,5 % of all my gigs were paid gigs - I only had to pay once for my own drinks.

We traditionally do 1 free gig per year - always some kind of fund-raiser (Alzheimer foundation, MS-foundation, - you get the gist) but that's where it stops. Our biggest competitiors aren't other bands - our main competion are DJ's (although I DJ myself sometimes . . . .)

[Tele-vania65000]

You must get paid for every gig you play or you are ruining it for every hard working musician out there....period

 

I thought people said they didn't want a separate forum for original bands?

 

 

 

[Ender_rpm]

Dang!!! There go all my church gigs....

[stratman77]

I did a free gig for Children's Wish Foundation... Got a paying gig from it...At one of the biggest and best places to play in Toronto..

So can I still post...

[Cirrus]

 

I'm just doing my first few gigs with my current band.   I certainly don't expect to get paid for them (Although we did get

[V-Type]

Some of the unpaid bands are the hardest workers.

Its a good way too cut your teeth and if you expect little compensation in return well then you will have plenty of work offered.

Name vs. Pay

[newmaxnew]

It all goes towards the percieved value of your service.

 

For example if you put something like an older TV out in front of your house with a FREE sign on it, chances are no one will want it and you will end up taking it to the dump. However if you put a sign on it that says $20 people will then see a real bargain (A working TV for $20) and the product will move.

 

Don't forget about the percieved value of something that is being offered for free.

 

Max

[sickman]

I play for free all the time at my house. Everyone is invited!

[dparr]

I make a living playing music.

 

I do play a few free ones however. For the right causes it's just good karma.

[flemtone]

[halbeth]

 

But more likely, those promoters/venues will just start going with bands that are worse than you, who think that one day they'll be worth the promoters/venues' money! See the cycle there? Are there many paying gigs in the Leicester area? My band's played the shed a few times and it's a cool venue but it gets a bit boring the 5th time you're on a 6 band bill and everyone arrives with two fans and says "we were told we were going on first!". I used to be drummer in a band called Fazed that have been gigging in Leister for years and years, but it seems like a lot of venues were shutting down.

 

 

Our turn out at the Shed was pretty good, but admittedly it was our first gig so it was the compulsory 'friends show up' one.

 

Our gig at Sumo (which is a lovely venue btw, fantastic PA, great sound engineer and great bar) went alright. Not many showed up to see us, and the crowd wasn't HUGE but still wasn't bad.

 

The problem is largely that people just don't come out to the gigs anymore. Most people our age these days are far more interested in going to {censored}ty nightclubs with {censored}ty DJs and getting {censored}-faced.

 

If the DJs were decent, it'd be alright, but in the 'mainstream' clubs they can't even keep the beat, they just stop one track and start another. I could bloody do that with a laptop and iTunes!

 

The Charlotte shut down, but is re-opening in August apparently. Firebug puts on gigs, as does Sumo, The Shed, The Musician, Walkabout.

 

Those are a few I can think of. Walkabout pays too, as far as I'm aware. Most of the gigs we get involved in are with other University of Leicester bands, as we're students there, and the Leicester Uni Band and Gig Society organises a fair few.

[Austincowbell]

Original bands, especially new and unestablished ones, don't have much of an option in some markets. The indie rock band in which I play drums is just now starting to make a tiny bit of money after playing for a year. The one which does my original material will play our next show for a cover, but everyone who comes will get an EP so it's fair.

 

But... I think cover bands (including mine) should never play for free unless it's a benefit.

[BlueStrat]

You must get paid for every gig you play or you are ruining it for every hard working musician out there....period

 

SARCASM FAIL

[Austincowbell]

SARCASM FAIL

I actually got the sarcasm but I was responding to those who didn't. Come to think of it, it was an emoticon fail.

instead of

[Cirrus]

 

Our turn out at the Shed was pretty good, but admittedly it was our first gig so it was the compulsory 'friends show up' one. Our gig at Sumo (which is a lovely venue btw, fantastic PA, great sound engineer and great bar) went alright. Not many showed up to see us, and the crowd wasn't HUGE but still wasn't bad. The problem is largely that people just don't come out to the gigs anymore. Most people our age these days are far more interested in going to {censored}ty nightclubs with {censored}ty DJs and getting {censored}-faced.

 

 

Yeah the first gig is always going to be a good draw. The problems start to happen when you're asked to do a Wednesday night gig miles from where you live, and your friends have already seen you three times that month. So you turn up and put on an awesome show, but the venues manager has the gall to actually tell you off because you've only brought five of your mates to spend money in the venue. Said venue won't have you back, but they will have the dreadful band that only plays once a year and brings 40+ members of their extended family. Said venue will also never try to attract their own clients or take the success or failure of their business into their own hands.

 

There's lots of issues that are written here all the time, but it boils down to this: A band needs to play to people other than their mates if they want to get their name out there. The current climate makes that difficult, because as you say people don't want to see bands, so if you don't bring a crowd you can guarantee that you'll be playing to an empty room and an angry club owner.

 

Because of that you're usually expected to sell tickets, and I am dead set against that though some gigs we have to. The problem is, as soon as you're having to sell tickets on behalf of the venue, you're putting work in and not getting a return. Or even more insultingly, you'll work your balls off to bring 30 mates and the club will pay you

[BlueStrat]

I actually got the sarcasm but I was responding to those who didn't. Come to think of it, it was an emoticon fail. instead of

 

 

The OP was responding to my statement in another thread where I said I thought it was trollish to come into a forum for working musicians and brag about playing free gigs. I said it was a big {censored} you to working guys. Which it is. If someone wants to share about how wonderful it is to go out and play for free beer, they can go to www.iplayforfreebeer.com/forums or somesuch and have a blast. But most guys here are trying to figure out how to promote and sharpen their skills, and up their game to move up the ladder and get better, and ultimately earn better money and get more gigs.

 

This whole thread is epic fail.

[dparr]

The OP was responding to my statement in another thread where I said I thought it was trollish to come into a forum for working musicians and brag about playing free gigs. I said it was a big {censored} you to working guys. Which it is. If someone wants to share about how wonderful it is to go out and play for free beer, they can go to www.iplayforfreebeer.com/forums or somesuch and have a blast. But most guys here are trying to figure out how to promote and sharpen their skills, and up their game to move up the ladder and get better, and ultimately earn better money and get more gigs. This whole thread is epic fail.

 

Why in the hell would anyone brag about playing free gigs?

 

Sort of like bragging about having fun with a blow-up-doll.

[3shiftgtr]

The OP was responding to my statement in another thread where I said I thought it was trollish to come into a forum for working musicians and brag about playing free gigs. I said it was a big {censored} you to working guys. Which it is. This whole thread is epic fail.

 

Gee Beav...the OP sure did seem a bit demonstrative....

 

In that case, I agree with the OP in this thread!!!....:lol:

[Austincowbell]

Why in the hell would anyone brag about playing free gigs? Sort of like bragging about having fun with a blow-up-doll.

you know, all I'm saying is that it's tiring to blow one of those things up... I mean, you can be all lightheaded when you are finished... So... If you can actually still perform, especially after blowing up a larger one, you know.... maybe that IS something to brag about? Just sayin, you don't have to be all judgmental all the time.