By Tomas Salcedo founder of Sour Sounds Productions
The musician requests a minimum fee of ________,
the artist requires a performance fee of _________ vs ____% of the door (whichever is higher).
Does your performance contract say something like that? Do you have a performance contract? Is it really just that easy that you get the money you ask for to do the job you want to do?
Definitely not.
TRIGGER WARNING
If you are not one for nuance I don't suggest you read this post because I will be going into deeply personal territory for most musicians, and they (YOU) may not like it. You will find out as I publish more on this topic that there are an infinite number of ways to get "paid" as a musician or a band, but for the purposes of this article I am going to focus on the "performance fee". Both as it pertains to an individual musician and as it pertains to a band.
Do you know any musician who plays in whatever band that calls, 5-10 gigs a week, does a church gig on Sundays and basically lives there life in a game of calendar tetras with live music and studio engagements? That is the life of a gigging musician and these people are in high demand within their local music scene.
Let's say you have some songs that you wrote and you are about to book a gig at the dive bar down the street. You may think of calling one of these pros to learn said songs and play said gig. After all, you want your band to sound great every time it plays, and what better way to make an impression on a venue and the audience than by showing up with the top musicians around.
So you call them up and say "Hey so&so, how much would you charge to play this gig at the dive bar down the street on this date at this time (sound check time and show time), with this many rehearsals and this many songs to learn"
*********************************************************************
Tangent 1: If you called the top gigging musician in your town and asked them this, then you did both the right thing and the wrong thing. The right thing because you included all the information they will need to determine their availability and willingness to do your gig (date and time, length of the commitment, number of rehearsals, number of songs to learn). You did the wrong thing because even though you meant to give them a warm fuzzy feeling by asking them "how much would you charge," it will at best get you a not straight forward answer, or at worst a seriously over inflated price that is way outside of your budget. So how can you phrase this to arrive at the rate that makes both parties feel comfortable and gets your band going? More on that later on...
*********************************************************************
When they hear this offer, you are likely going to hear a series of follow up questions that are going to be trying to determine a few key things.
Can I hear the music?
Do you have any gigs booked out after this one?
Who else is on the gig?
What is your budget?
The reason you are being asked this is because amongst gigging musicians we know that our willingness and availability to do a gig (not always the same thing) will be determined by 3 general factors. The quality of the music, the quality of the hang and the quality of the professional opportunity. This is the complex equation that your potential musician will be trying to solve in their head when you ask them about them being able to do your gig, and that's why it can be a bit awkward. They are trying to size you up in three important ways.
Is your music going to be fun to play? Imagine how awkward it will be if they have to reject your gig on these grounds. You may see them squirm to find other kinds of excuses but chances are, they just don't find your style of music that appealing
Are you a square, and are you bringing a group of squares to the gig? Again, probably going to be awkward if they don't want to be on your gig because the other people in the band are not that fun to hang out with, but in fairness, it does kind of suck to play a gig with people you don't like, both in a musical sense and a vibe sense.
Are you just trying to play one gig, or are you embarking on a journey that will one day take you (and by association them) to international tours of sold out arenas? If the musician sees that in your future, they may not care that the music isn't their cup of tea or that the other people in your band are assholes.
These three factors will ultimately help the musician arrive at a number to quote their services to you, that number will be what it is and it's best to not negotiate from there. Sometimes, musicians will come down from of the number that they initially say, but remember when they quoted you, they quoted you their "feel good price." Meaning the amount they want in order to do the gig and feel good about it. Every musician has a "feel good" price, an "I will do it despite the feeling of disrespect because I have the night off" price and a "no questions asked price." You showing that you are willing to invest in them with that number (and possibly that you have more gigs booked in the future) will qualify the professional opportunity you are offering them. If you thought you aren't likely to make money on the band in the future, you likely wouldn't spend money on getting the band out there in the present.
*********************************************************************
Tangent 2: Your best bet is to come up with a number that you can pay for the gig, and in addition to giving them all the information in the question above, tell them "and I can pay you this much for the gig and this much for the rehearsals." Always include rehearsal pay when dealing with pro musicians. If you land somewhere in the right ball park between their "feel good price" and their "no questions asked" price, you will likely get them to happily contribute to your project for a rate lower than the rate they would have told you if you left it up to them.
PRO TIP: Lead with an offer, don't solicit one
*********************************************************************
To any pro musicians reading this article, I know I just pissed you off. You probably don't want me to represent your worth in this way, you want to make as much money as possible every time you play because you deserve compensation for the 10,000 hours of practice on your instrument and the undeniable mastery of your craft.
Here is my take: (and this is coming from a pro musician, so we can spar on credentials in the comments section)
Our "rate or "fee for service" is governed by the same factors that govern the rate for most other creative services. Opportunity cost, substitutability and the purchasing power of buyers in the market place.
Opportunity cost is a term used in economics (I know, boring) but it basically amounts to whether you have a better paying gig on the night in question. I remember one time I had bought tickets to see Bill Burr, one of my favorite comedians for $200. On the same day as his performance I got offered a gig for $700. I knew I could either make $500 and forget about Bill Burr ($700 minus the $200 I had already sunk on the tickets) or I could go see Bill Burr, but now those tickets actually cost me $900, because in order to see him I had to pay $200, plus I had to forgo a $700 opportunity, totaling $900 in lost income. If that makes sense to you then great, you have a business sense. Sometimes the numbers aren't so clear, but ultimately if you have a night open, you know you are kind paying to rest if there are people willing to pay you to work. That is generally how gigging musicians think.
Substitutability meaning we ask ourselves "how likely is it that we could be substituted for someone willing to play this gig for cheaper and basically sound as good". Most musicians want to have good substitutes available, but it can be problematic if as a musician you are perceived as replaceable. Part of your value is your interpretation of the music that you are given, and if someone else can interpret it just as well, like it or not, you are constrained in a perfect market to what that musician is willing to play for.
*********************************************************************
Tangent 3: As a musician you can be substituted in many ways. A keyboardist can substitute a bass player with their left hand, a back up vocalist can be substituted by a bunch of programmed tracks. Also, consider that 90% of gigs don't require the full extent of your musical ability. You don't have to be the best, you have to be able to play the music that the gig requires. So likely even if you are number 1, you are still constrained to number 100's prices because that is the rate that would be required to find a suitable candidate for the gig in question.
*********************************************************************
Purchasing power of buyers in the market place. Basically what is the venue or promoter hiring the group going to pay the talent? Does whoever is receiving and cutting that check actually have money to come out of pocket if your fee exceeds the % they have to break off to their musicians? You may think "my fee is my fee, why should I care?" But the higher your fee is in relation to the buyer's available funds, the more likely you are to get cut based on your substitutability.
The problem with most musicians when they quote their fee is that we really don't want to consider the second set of factors when determining the price for our time. We want the price to reflect the golden 3 things I first mentioned. But we exist within a market of buyers and sellers, which means what is "fair" is as subjective as right notes and wrong notes, it depends on the context
Salcedo is a voting member of the Recording Academy, has worked on 3 grammy award winning album projects, and made over 25 grammy submissions throughout his career. His work in the digital marketing space over the past 5 years includes the promotion of international tours, major label releases and over 50 independent artist releases in 2021 and 2022 alone consistent full calendar promotion management for performance venues and so much more.
Comentarios