What to Charge For A Gig

B

BBQUKER

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Last night I did a gratis gig for my wife's yoga teacher (Yoga, Dessert and Wine). Had a couple of ladies come up and ask if I could do a gig for them. One a "Tea" and another a two hour Christmas party. My uke playing is instrumental background and I could handle both genres. Just do not know what is a reasonable rate. Should note that I am in a smallish central Wisconsin town so big city rates should not apply. Thanks - Dan
 
I'll play for free. I'll stop for $75.



Scooter
 
It all depends on how good you are...why don't you post some videos of your playing...the only reason I ask is that Ryrod is amazing so hard to compare to him.
 
Did not realize I was starting a joke thread. Appreciate the humor, but what do you people respond when someone asks "what do you charge for playing"? I hesitate for taking on any playing opportunity for lack of an answer. Free? Which is crazy. $25? $50?
 
In all seriousness, I'm not a professional musician so when someone asks what I would charge to play somewhere I just ask them what they would be comfortable with and accept whatever they offer. The reality is I'd be happy to play for free.


Scooter
 
I charge $35.00 for 30 minutes. Noone has a problem with that. 30 minutes does not sound like a long time but when you consider that each song takes only a few minutes, your song list must be large enough to fill that time slot.
 
addicted2myuke said:
I charge $35.00 for 30 minutes. Noone has a problem with that. 30 minutes does not sound like a long time but when you consider that each song takes only a few minutes, your song list must be large enough to fill that time slot.
Click to expand...

That sounds more than fair.

I don't perform professionally on my ukulele, but I have performed on clarinet. It is a specialized skill and art, so I feel that good performers should be compensated. Some people might assume that I want to spend all night Friday and Saturday playing for a cantata or in the pit for a musical. That isn't the case. Plumbers don't come to your house because they enjoy it, they get paid. That is the way I look at it on my wind instruments. I usually get a few hundred dollars for a couple of nights work (one rehearsal/one or two performances).

Now, I can't look at it in that way at all with ukulele. I'm a novice. I don't have the skills to sit there and keep a party happy. I can't noodle while the bar association has their Christmas dinner or whatever, but if I ever get that good, I will charge. I doubt I will, but if you put the time into an art or skill to be able to do it at that level, you should be compensated if you want to be.

Here in Alabama, some people get it, some don't. Those "don't" people will pay hundreds for flowers, thousands for food, and expect a woodwind quartet to be there for the rehearsal and wedding for free. I don't agree with that.
 
nongdam said:
It all depends on how good you are...why don't you post some videos of your playing...the only reason I ask is that Ryrod is amazing so hard to compare to him.
Click to expand...

It really does come down to this ^^^ (as well as UkeKiddinMe's comment about finding the rate for area musicians) -- as well as what the market will bear, what kind of event it is (I would charge more for a Christmas party than a tea - unless the tea would be populated by a bunch of swells), how many people, what you are comfortable getting paid (I wouldn't want to feel underpaid, or even overpaid, when performing), how long you will be playing, how big your repertoire is, whether you want to keep doing this (which means that what you quote now will be harder to raise if people who already paid you know the people who next will pay you: "Well, we paid him $30 an hour, so that's what he charges"). You always can ask "How much have you budgeted for entertainment?" but many people aren't up front with that (or they haven't budgeted anything, because they don't really have a budget), because it can be a poker game of trying to get the other person to commit first.
 
BBQUKER said:
Did not realize I was starting a joke thread. Appreciate the humor, but what do you people respond when someone asks "what do you charge for playing"? I hesitate for taking on any playing opportunity for lack of an answer. Free? Which is crazy. $25? $50?
Click to expand...

Given that you said that "big city rates should not apply," you already determined that many of our answers are moot, and not applicable.

For the "tea," I'd charge $50. For the two hour Christmas party, I'd charge around $150, since that will involve more planning and selecting/learning specific music (in this case, holiday pieces). That will also take into account any gas to and from the venue, set up and tear down time, etc.. All of that matters.
 
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