How much should live music cost?
It’s almost a trope at this point in the music industry that you can’t make money performing music.
It’s true that it can be very difficult to make a good living in the music industry, but I think this trope that you can’t make money in the music industry without a record label contract or some such thing is mostly nonsense. So, let’s explore a little bit about why the music industry is this way and what we as musicians can do about it.
Economics of Music
Music, like any other industry, has competition. But unlike other industries, the barrier to entry into the world of music is pretty low. Literally, anyone with any musical skill can try their hand at getting gigs.
Lots of people get into music. It’s fun and music is for everyone!
There is nothing quite like playing in front of an enthusiastic audience, playing music you love with bandmates you love. Even better if you can get paid to do it!
But the more people that enter the industry, the more competition there is for gigs. With more people looking for gigs, there will always be someone out there who is willing to take the gig for a cheaper price. There are even musicians out there playing for free or for food and beer. It happens all the time!
I’ve been that college musician taking gigs that paid in “exposure”, free dinner, or $50 if I was lucky, never for beer though, I don’t drink, but you get the point. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get experience performing.
Eventually, all self-respecting musicians outgrow this stage of their careers, or they give up.
At some point, all musicians realize that the work they put into those gigs, and the skills that they’ve spent years crafting and honing are worth more than that. And I’m not just talking about some arbitrary value that we musicians assign to our work because we love it. I’m talking about the actual value that the audience derives from the experience of listening to live music and what they would be willing to pay to experience it again.
The Value of Music
When you’ve performed on stage enough times, you start to be able to truly connect with an audience. When you move an audience to dance, cheer, or in some cases move them to tears, you start to see that the audience recognizes the value of your craft. That connection moves people, and when they experience that, they kind of expect you to charge money for the experience.
Beyonce was selling “listening only” tickets with no view of the stage for $150. I don’t know if anyone bought them, but clearly, she was confident enough in the value of her brand, and the experience of her shows that she (or her marketing people) thought “Why not?”.
Live music is powerful and impactful when done right. And the skill to be able to create that kind of impactful live performance is not easy to attain. The musicians who know the impact that they provide should recognize the value that they bring to the table and charge accordingly.
I’m not saying we should all try selling “listening only” tickets to shows or charging obscene amounts for local shows, but maybe we should spend some time wondering “Why not”? Why don’t we ask for a little bit more?
For some bands performing original music, this will mean moving from playing for exposure to playing for any kind of money. For others, it will mean only playing certain types of events that have bigger budgets than bars and restaurants can pay, for others it may mean a drastic price increase to cover expenses and paying a larger crew. In the end, all musicians who care about their craft and want to make money will begin to set their minimum asking price higher to compensate for those skills. As more experience is gained and reputations for quality work are gained, it becomes easier to increase prices.
Will there still be artists willing to work for free? Of course. With the number of people looking to become musicians, this isn’t something that I or anyone else is going to change. Someone out there will always be willing to play for free or for less than you.
Competition is Good
This kind of competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Or, at least I choose not to consider it to be bad.
What this does for musicians who know their worth is to weed out clients with no budget and no standards.
I don’t mean that as an insult. There will always be events that don’t require top-notch performance quality or just don’t have the budget for professional musicians, and that’s fine.
Maybe they just want some live music for a neighborhood party. The standard and budget for that event will be much lower than throwing a music festival or a wedding. Those are just the facts. Not many people will spend thousands of dollars to throw a birthday party with a quality live band.
Competition is fine, even if it’s fierce, and even if some of that competition is free.
Take another industry as an example.
If you’re looking for an electrician, you could probably find someone willing to do it for free. You probably know that you’ll be running the risk of getting some shoddy workmanship, but there’s always a friend out there willing to help.
A trained electrician isn’t likely afraid that his livelihood is going to be taken away because people out there are willing to do it for free — quite the opposite. I’m sure there are many electricians out there who make decent money fixing issues caused by free or cheap electricians.
The music industry isn’t all that different in that respect.
Sometimes a great band will play for free or cheap. If you get a band working for free, you’re playing some crazy odds that you won’t end up watching them rehearse on stage for your event. You might get lucky, like with an electrician, or you might get burned. And when someone gets burned by a less-than-professional band, it solidifies the value proposition of professional bands charging to do good work.
You get what you pay for, as they constantly tell me.
Differentiate
So, with free labor out there and people out trying to get gigs at any price, how can those looking to make any decent amount compete?
I’ve seen it in the music industry, and I’ve seen it in various companies I’ve worked for in other industries. Blue collar, white collar, it’s all the same. Competing on price is always a mistake if you have the skills to produce quality results. Your skills and time are worth something, and you don’t have to compare yourself to a free product, nor do you have to lowball your price because someone else is willing to.
In much the same way that corporations compete, musicians need to redefine what their value proposition is and how they differ from the competition. Find what makes you unique, what makes you worth the cost.
I’m not just talking about your music either. Your music might be unique and cool, but when you’re asking someone to pay you money to perform music, you need more than cool music. Cool music isn’t a differentiator, it’s a standard expectation.
People putting on events want to know that you can deliver something more than just a musical performance. They want to know that you can deliver an experience to their attendees. They want to know that they can trust you to be prepared, to be easy to work with, and to communicate clearly and efficiently.
When you start charging for your music, you’re turning your art into a business. People with the money to hire you expect a certain amount of professionalism and quality that you need to be able to convey before, during, and after the show. It becomes more than just being good at music, you need to be good at business as well.
Don’t Settle
If jumping in and getting better at the business side of music doesn’t scare you away then it’s time to start charging more.
To do this you need to figure out your minimum asking price and stick with it. You can’t be afraid of losing gigs because of price. You also can’t be arrogant or ignorant about your chosen price point. Whatever price point you decide on you need to be able to justify and convey convincingly.
Start by figuring out how much work each gig is.
How much is your typical travel time? How long is your setup time? How long do you need to warm up and sound check? How long are you booked to perform? How long is teardown and cleanup?
Figure out how long each gig usually takes, then set a minimum hourly wage for yourself or your band and stick with it.
Then use the simplest of formulas:
Number of musicians _ Hours working _ Desired hourly wage = Quoted amount.
As an example: booking a 2-hour wedding gig for a jazz trio at $100/hour. Assuming a 30-minute commute one-way, an hour for setup and soundcheck, and another hour for teardown and cleanup (so 3 more hours in addition to the 2 we’re on stage) you would get:
3 musicians _ 5 hours _ $100 = $1500.
Your desired wage might be less or more, depending on your skill level and where you live. This is just a hypothetical, insert whatever numbers you feel are fair for you, but this minimum price should factor in time spent in rehearsal and the skill level of your group. In your home town, $25/hour might be the best you could get, and that’s ok so long as it’s more than 0, and hopefully more than minimum wage! If you’re making the same amount as someone flipping burgers, you’ve gone too low.
It’s important to remember that the number you come up with is less important than your ability to show people that you’re worth that number. The better you are at that, the more you can ask.
It’s also important to realize that there is a limit to how high your prices can go. As a local cover band, you’re not going to be able to charge more than a big touring act. You need to do your research and find what other groups similar to yours charge and figure out how much is reasonable for you.
Remember that by setting your price higher, you are setting the standards that people will exact of you higher as well. It also means that you will need to be willing to turn gigs away.
Any self-respecting professional who knows their value is willing to walk away from a job that bids too low, and we musicians need to learn to do the same. Walking away from gigs doesn’t mean that you’ll never get another gig. You might get fewer, but those gigs will be more meaningful and rewarding because you know that you will be making what you’re worth instead of being taken advantage of.
Conclusion
There will always be those willing to work for less than you, and there will always be exceptions to what I’ve written above. Still, I believe that live performance is a powerful medium that brings real, tangible value and musicians who are skilled at it should be compensated better than many of them currently are.
Ultimately, we musicians are in charge of our pricing and conveying our value. We need to recognize that value and learn to convey that value to those looking for live music. We also need to recognize that charging more raises the standards of what is expected and requires us to focus more on the business side of making music.
With some mentality shifts, I believe that many musicians can defy the odds and actually make decent money playing music. I can’t guarantee that it’ll be enough to live on, but if we’re lucky it must just be enough to feed our passion and get us more gigs.
I hope you enjoyed, and let me know your thoughts. What has been your experience as a musician trying to get gigs?