Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Are there bands in your town that hog up the scene? Bunch of guys who play the same songs with each other and book gigs cheap , so cheap it brings the pay down. They just change name of the act but its the same people. Its like 20 guys learned the same songlist and when one is out they contact each other, sounds like a union, that's one thing that is not down here, a musicians union. There are clubs that pay 100 for a band for a nite gig here in south texas, some bands deserve 300, it used to be like that, but like these groups started going cheap, at a lot of places and club managers liked getting a band for 100 bucks, so why should they pay more? it goes up yea, but, thats the struggle story down here. but there are a few that are trying to bring up the stanard pay again, probably the same elsewhere. laters

Seen it here too. They're sell outs and don't give a sh*t about music as an art or as a business.
I call em POSERS!

People that give it away are ruining it for everybody that deserves to make a fair wage. $100 for a gig (assume your talking about 3-4 sets of music) is obscene. It isn't even minimum wage. We've talked about this ad nauseum on this website, PLEASE DON'T GIVE YOUR MUSIC AWAY>

i agree and the "bands" that do this run a sh*t sound system nothing more than a speaker and everyone runs threw there own amps and sound terrible but come back the next night its the same people just different instruments its like they just say at the end of the night ok everyone rotate to the instrument to your right. the club owners get these cheap bands then when you come in with a great system full pa balanced equalized they want you to play longer cause the sound is great for the same price. its bullshit im all for a union or at least a band code of ethics if your band is good you dont need to undercut

There's been some new clubs opening because of bands like this, and these clubs are getting really cheap and greedy. Some won't even build a small stage. Opening bands that are unknown usually get a $20 slapped in their hand...$20 for the whole band! Nothing like having drunken fools bumping into you while you're playing and then making only $5 bucks for doing your thing. And these clubs look nice, and have plenty of regulars. The bands, the regulars, and the clubs are all in cohoots. Most shows have two bands with nearly the same members in them...pisses me off! Same with the house/club pet band that comes every week.

yea we just finished playing this saturday after a ufc fight, thanks to that we did a 2hour gig and got paid the same, but, if you notice in the club, there are people buying up drinks, so it looks like they do make the bucks and after a club manager look at the cash, it makes them not want to pay, but we are building a following, once we get the crowd where we go and after booked for a while we will ask for our fee to go up some more, one of the club managers was fair in saying, as they see the crowd get bigger and we ,, i guess sounded like after a while we become a club pet, they will raise the payment. but keep on fight guys and pushing, get so good that they will stop bringing those bad bands in and start looking for quality.

johnnya it`s not right or fair to everyone that a few bands are doing this.we don`t have this out here in la,but i see yor frustration,hope you can change your situation.

Club owners don't give a fat ratsass if it's not fair or right that they book the same bands regularly; they care about alcohol sales. If you can't put butts in seats your butt will be on the outside looking in.

100$ a night? OUCH..

Don't you mean 100$ per person?

If we don't make 1 bill per, it's not worth the trouble.

yea, you know as a musician, i guess one feels they need to perform, some things are changing around here in south texas,, this one club just getting bands in actually appreciated what this band has, they wanted us to bring in the lights and stacks in so the customers can actuall enjoy a band and they are willing to pay for it,,we are trying to work out gig dates, we've been listened to and they liked what they heard, and even agreed about bands rotating players, like this one singer comes in with a group and the next week different guys, and this one band did this to the club and they are getting wise to it,, but foreever we are musicians, my wife got me a cup that says : old musicians never die, they just go from bar to bar.

johnnya wrote:Are there bands in your town that hog up the scene? Bunch of guys who play the same songs with each other and book gigs cheap , so cheap it brings the pay down. They just change name of the act but its the same people. Its like 20 guys learned the same songlist and when one is out they contact each other, sounds like a union, that's one thing that is not down here, a musicians union. There are clubs that pay 100 for a band for a nite gig here in south texas, some bands deserve 300, it used to be like that, but like these groups started going cheap, at a lot of places and club managers liked getting a band for 100 bucks, so why should they pay more? it goes up yea, but, thats the struggle story down here. but there are a few that are trying to bring up the stanard pay again, probably the same elsewhere. laters

That's why ya gotta get a chick with a Boa snake act to run with the band....LOL! Its all about the draw. Now you may think I'm kidding...But I have seen it happen... There is no club owner in the world that will turn down a windfall profit...and if he/she is a self respecting owner, the price you demand will get met (or the Door is all yours for the taking)

I totally aggree. I've known bands that will play for nothing just to play. We spend decades crafting out talent, spend thousands to buy the best equipment, and spent countless hours practicing to get that perfect sound. I won't cave into playing for next to nothing!

.....then good luck getting gigs as more and more bands that suck but come with a humongous following because they bring down all their highschool/college friends are going to quickly take your gig!

5KVJOHN wrote:johnnya it`s not right or fair to everyone that a few bands are doing this.we don`t have this out here in la,but i see yor frustration,hope you can change your situation.

Yes there are some bands that do this because I've heard Cisco and his cronies complaining about it. They get like $20-$40 a person. They're usually skanky low-life dives anyway and it's usually these duh-types that squeal that it's "all about the music and they just want to play." Sad thing is they suck and they look even worse.

Chaeya