Acoustic singer rates

stevood

Hi,

Looking for some help. I am starting to play acoustic covers in pubs but have no idea of a rates. Could anybody please advise.

Thanks

stevood

Does anybody know?

rusty999

stevood wrote: »

Does anybody know?

Hey Steve , Good luck with the gigs
Well , there unfortunately there is no such thing in this country as a definitive rate for musicians that I know of anyway.
What kinda music do you play ? Have you a cd ? are you experienced?
All of these things may come into play to determine you fee but theres no easy answer. And if you play in Dublin then your fee will be a lot less than if you play in other counties-I know this from experience and as a musician with 20 years of live gigging behind me.
If I had an email for you i will give you some advice or maye its poss to PM from this site -i am not sure
Regards
Rusty

stevood

Hey Rusty,

Thanks for the response. I understand some of your points and I agree but i'm looking just for a general figure

eg: is €150 too cheap/expensive for a singer guitarist with all his own gear (p.a. etc) and decent ability playing the normal acoustic songs with a few added mixes?

rusty999

Yea , it is too cheap stevood
Mind you the way things are going it might be about right but its years since I would have charged that figure and would be looking to double it plus.
Having said that i have 3 albums and get regular airplay all over ireland
But , its up to you at the end of the day and i would never turn my nose up at a realistic figure if i were you and if you have a day job then I would say go for it.but I do know that dublin rates are not great compared to where i live down the country, but I often travel 2 hours to a gig. In that case i would be charging more for the long distance gigs which sometimes means I am considered to be a very expensive band but I am lucky in that I have a good following in most places. I have been doing this for 25 years and i have made a decent living from it so far, but then who knows whats around the corner with the recession. and the days of the 6 nights a week are gone i'm afraid in the music business.
Good luck with the gigs
Regards
Rusty

Spiderman80884

This is an interesting discussion. I've had an every Friday night gig for the last 14-16 months with my two piece (piano and acoustic guitar) we were charging a reasonably fair cover for both of us considering we play for nearly three hours.

The place we play in came to us and halved our bookings for the foreseeable future 'because of the economy' and now have a pianist in place (half of the money) on said night. While they are in their rights to do this, I have it on good authority that they had tried to do the same to the group who play there in Saturday nights who promptly dropped their price and kept the gig.

I would be loathe to drop my price as it is a very fair one and we hadn't increased it at any time (including bank holidays, Christmas, etc.) since we've started. The fact is though that some people are desperate for gigs that they'll just drop their prices like that without trying to sell themselves. It's a pity because IMO, pubs, clubs, hotels, etc. will have to take music in in order to get punters in the door more so now than they have done in 15 years or so.

I realise that if you rely on this income to pay your bills (I don't thank God) then needs must I suppose, but unless you charge a fair price for your services you stand the chance of ruining for yourself in the long term by becoming 'a cheap act' as such.

stevood

thanks for the advice. I do agree that pubs will need music more now than before.