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#230597 by Jeff Hino
Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:07 am
My trio plays at a local restaurant bar about once a month. They have reduced our pay over the last few years, until we are playing for half or less of what we used to be paid (I won't even tell you how much, the amount is so embarrassing.) So I've begun the routine of announcing to the crowd that they are welcome to add some money to a tip jar. Usually I do so with humor, saying things like "To help our drummer go to percussion school."
During the breaks I took a lesson from a band I saw in New Orleans, and went out into the crowd with the tip jar and visited the tables, again, with humor and no pressure.

After our last gig, we got an email from the bartender/music coordinator for the restaurant. He said my habit of "bringing the jar from table to table and essentially pan-handling it is a bit tacky, and creates a situation where our customers may be uncomfortable." to add insult to injury he offered us only one gig for the next three months.

Needless to say,my first reaction was to be totally pissed, and tell my band partner I thought they were "f**ked" and felt very insulted, and was ready to not play there again.

We decided not to do anything until our tempers cooled (always a good decision.) Now my bandmate is waffling and saying he too is uncomfortable with going from table to table for tips. He also says he doubts we will find other live gigs in town to match this restaurant.

So, Dear Abby...what would you suggest I do? Am I out of line going around to the tables for tips? The bigger issue of course is how little musicians are being paid for live gigs at restaurants and bars. Should I bite my tongue and play the one gig they offered and no longer go out for tips in the audience? Should we talk with the owner? Bartender/music coordinator?

Have others had similar issues or problems with tip jars? Thanks for you ideas.

--Jeff

#230605 by 4perkussion
Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:52 am
When you go around the room hustling tips, it looks as though you are tooting your own horn and is not attractive. You get some gal with big tits to do the same thing and you will see more money than you have ever seen before. No one will complain including management.

#230620 by AiluraFate
Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:28 pm
My kneejerk reaction is to tell you to stop taking shitty gigs. If you're too embarrassed to tell us how much you make, you shouldn't have said yes in the first place. You're encouraging the restaurant to pay insanely low wages.

Then again, I've been there and I know how frustrating it is when you're hardly getting paid and then they put limits on the tip jar. Asking for tips yourselves can be a conflict of interest. Sometimes I've seen bands put a tip jar at the bar and ask the bartender to point out the tip jar. It's more acceptable when someone else (especially venue staff) point out the tip jar instead of the band.

But really, don't play for peanuts. You're reinforcing the philosophy that musicians will play for a free beer.

#230631 by gbheil
Mon Mar 03, 2014 4:08 am
Last 'bar' we played, one dude walked up and gave our front man $200.00

We don't even have a 'tip jar'.

#230645 by GuitarMikeB
Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:45 pm
Yeah, unless your frontperson is a big-hootered girl, don't do the 'table to table' hustle, it's embarassing and unlikley to get you much.
On the other hand, make your 'tip jar' more noticable and accessible.
For cxample: a 4-ft high inflatable clown with a tip cup taped to his front; one of those full-size cardboard cutouts of a celebrity with a tip cup on it (make sure it won't fall over).

Talk about embarassing - at the open mic on Saturday night one of the performers - an 18-year-old girl with a great voice - says 'I just lost my job and I have a tip jar over on my table ...' - at an open mic, that's real bad taste to do!
Last edited by GuitarMikeB on Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

#230676 by Starfish Scott
Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:17 pm
It seems like it's pretty much 100$ per person with no effort at all, round here.

Flatly, I hate 100$ a night now. I want to break that every time, but I don't think doing the tip jar thing is ok by my way of thinking. It does put pressure on the people in the bar.

But if you don't get 100$ per person, ask for it and leave the tip jar back with the pickled food(s).

If they won't give you at least 100$ per person, don't bother with them at all.

They are cheaping you out so hard it's pathetic and to think that the reason that you pass the tip jar is that they don't pay very much is just unbelievably weak behavior by them.

The fact they said anything at all, instead of just offering you slightly more money and asking you not to, is a clear sign of cheap mf'ers.

Ask them once nicely and then just move on..that venue sounds like manure incarnate.

#230681 by t-Roy and The Smoking Section
Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:12 pm
If you just go to all the tables and talk with people in a friendly/respectful way, they will find their way to the tip jar afterward. But if you carry the tip jar around, people will start avoiding you everywhere.

Once had a bass player who put up a tip jar on the stage just for himself...and actually did pretty good. He was an entertaining guy already, but he would joke between songs about how his wife needed a boob job or how he was out of cocaine, or needed sunglasses...something goofy like that...

And in a country band I was in, we had a harmonica player that would put a tip jar up between sets and play solo. He ALWAYS made more money that way than his share of the band money amounted to. He'd get from $60-100 in between almost every set. Really phenomenal player though..

Bris Crider was his name.

#230756 by Planetguy
Thu Mar 06, 2014 11:50 pm
Bris Crider????

i bet he had a real cutting tone. nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. :lol:
#235230 by t-Roy and The Smoking Section
Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:36 am
Union??? Hey, join the Communist Party too while you're at it.

How about this idea instead?

Spend all your time educating yourself and practicing your instrument. Once you are truly as good (or better) than anyone else locally in live performance, work at being the best draw in your area by promoting every show as a special event, then expand the area of influence. Be the act clubs/conferences/parties/weddings/etc want to hire. It would help your long-term goals to be different than everyone else, without being obtuse.

There are no shortcuts to real greatness and it will take time; so get to work and don't give yourself any excuses.
#235233 by Starfish Scott
Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:29 pm
That's not fair YOD, I've seen people that absolutely tore it up on stage and they didn't pay them extra and the tip jar didn't get any fuller just because they played so well.

IT IS possible to play like mad and then still get stiffed to some degree.

(faq that tip jar sh*t, play me or trade me, coach)
#235248 by 90 dB
Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:52 am
If you have to rely on tips, you should find another place to work. If the bar reduces your pay, you should find another place to work.

“Am I out of line going around to the tables for tips?”


Yes. At that point, you are a panhandler, not a musician. If you must do that, get a Capuchin monkey. It's much cooler.


“The bigger issue of course is how little musicians are being paid for live gigs at restaurants and bars.”


That is mainly because there are so many people willing to play for free or next to nothing. They should all be eliminated, with extreme prejudice.


“Should I bite my tongue and play the one gig they offered and no longer go out for tips in the audience? Should we talk with the owner? Bartender/music coordinator?”


That's up yo you, of course, but I wouldn't. I would get some promo material together and start canvassing every local bar/restaurant in the area. Apparently, there are quite a few places in your area that do or could have live music.


http://businessfinder.oregonlive.com/OR ... s-and-Pubs
#235254 by schmedidiah
Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:42 pm
I've never gigged, but I will come to you with the $. Please don't come to the table. Awkward!
#235264 by GuitarMikeB
Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:02 pm
One of the players came up to me at the last open mic and repeated that there should be a tip cup at the OM, so people could contribute to things like drink holders for the mic stands. I told him "no tip cup but I'll have drink holders next time, so be here!"

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