What's the going rate for a 5 piece covers band

[Conan]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1334661086' post='1619218']
Professionalism isn't just earning a living.
[/quote]

Exactly! Some "hobby" bands are very professional and some "pro" bands are not. It's a state of mind.

[JTUK]

Interesting..... you have to go with what the market will bear to some extent.

In my region we have just stepped 20 miles west and you can get whole new rates for pubs.
Today I have just taken a 1hr festival slot at £200 to get the £300 pub gigs... so a loss-leader, from our POV, in this regard as we know the rest of the bill are mostly going to be more expensive,
but I hope the punt will work.
We aren't any better at £300 than we are a £200, or for the £900 plus we would charge for a wedding, decent function playing-wise, I would hope, but then that is just us.

Some venues will pay £2-300 for a duo which I find a bit galling, in all honesty, but then that is THEIR rate and they have sold it..worked it and
presumably continue to get it.
Anyone can stiff a client once but you'll not do it too often if you aren't perceived as worth it.

Sometimes you can't put a rate purely down to how good you think you are... but hopefully this levels out over time.

[brensabre79]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1334661210' post='1619220']
A reasonable expectation - quite a few of the bands around here would surprise you, though.
[/quote]
I'm sure thats true. And mostly because a lot of hobby bands are actually pretty good, and like TimR said just can't be bothered with the hassle of the extras that are required when stepping up.

Although to be honest, Public Liability Insurance isn't exactly a hassle, contracts are pretty standard and freely available as long as you're not making special stipulations. We've never been asked for PAT testing certificate, but we do guarantee our equipment is of reasonable quality and in good working order for the engagement. It doesn't see that much extra hassle when we go and do a function for £1,000+

I also understand what people say about loss leaders. We do these too in the form of charity gigs, shooting video etc. But the majority of pubs have bands on to increase bar takings, if the bar takings are only increased by an amount small enough to only have a budget of £150 for the band, then they are not really doing the job very well, or the landlord is being a bit greedy. We pack places to the rafters more often than not, which is why people have us back over and over again, despite our fee being higher than your average hobby band.

But I think all this discussion is highlighting what a grey area it is. If your band can consistently charge £500 and get booked back then you're doing well. If you don't get asked back from a £150 gig you're not! We always start low, and once we've proved ourselves go up to our normal rate. Its up to the person booking as to whether they think it is value for money, thankfully most places think that we are. If we didn't ask for more though, we'd still be playing in the same places and making far less!

[lettsguitars]

The same as a 1 piece covers band i would expect. Kick the bassist and singer out.

[Ba55me15ter]

We were 'pro' and have gone hobby as we can't spare the time and commitment to booking up weddings and the like. We used to go out for minimum £100 a man plus hired-in PA. Tonight we go out for nowt (for charity) but we're playing stuff we want to play. No 'Superstition'. No 'Valerie'. We will have a damn good funky time with friends!

Different motivation, music vs money. It's a shame we have to pick one, but our set tonight is like a breath of fresh air!

[lettsguitars]

[quote name='Ba55me15ter' timestamp='1334677572' post='1619604']
We were 'pro' and have gone hobby as we can't spare the time and commitment to booking up weddings and the like. We used to go out for minimum £100 a man plus hired-in PA. Tonight we go out for nowt (for charity) but we're playing stuff we want to play. No 'Superstition'. No 'Valerie'. We will have a damn good funky time with friends!

Different motivation, music vs money. It's a shame we have to pick one, but our set tonight is like a breath of fresh air!
[/quote]
Spot on there. Music aint 'shouldn't be' about making money. Some folk are just lucky enough to be gifted enough to warrant a full time job in music. Tell the truth i think a disco beats a covers band hands down.

[StraightSix]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1334524307' post='1617284']
Parties start at £500 alho mates rates are cheaper as the one whose mate it is generally waives his fee..
[/quote]

That's a great idea - it might stop our soft guitarist giving in to people looking for a cheap band...!

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1334661086' post='1619218']
...email correspondence spelled correctly

...Purely because they don't need the extra hasstle.
[/quote]

[TimR]

Rule No1 on mentioning spelling. Always put in a mistake in your own post..

It's not really very grey. The taxman is fairly clear on what constitutes a hobby. I would suspect that the hobbyists fall into two distinct camps. Those that could show they don't make any money by including gear depreciation, travel to gigs, strings, practice room costs, coffee etc. and those that it would be pretty obvious that they're making no real money from gibing.

[thepurpleblob]

It's got steadily less in the time I've been gigging - about 6 years. For pubs it used to be about 250 now you're doing well to get more then 150.

The size of the band is irrelevant. To the venue it's simply a matter of getting punters in and buying drink. They don't care if there's one or twenty of you.

I've also noticed a worrying trend of pubs just generally getting quieter and quieter. It's tough out there!

Luckily, I've never done it for the money

Edited April 17, 2012 by thepurpleblob