If You're Going To Go Broke, At Least Don't Be Tired Doing It
You're calling club to book your band and the guy on the other
end says, "I can get the same thing from a band down the street
for half the price."
What now? Most musicians start cutting prices. The truth is
though, that if you're not making money on the gig (or getting
some other form of payment), it's not worth playing.
And you're probably better off not doing ANYTHING. Nothing will
happen for your music career, but at least you won't be tired.
Most musicians have been taught that they have to take ANYTHING
that if offered to them, but that's just not a smart way to do
business. Instead of taking a losing gig, you're much better off
spending your time doing something else that will make you
money, whether that be research on a new market, networking with
industry professionals, or writing new songs.
Before you take a gig, run the numbers in the Gig Calculator and
see what happens. If you can't make it so that you'll come out
ahead, start looking at other options.
But won't there be potential fans at this gig you're turning
down? Maybe... And this is exactly why you need to know how much
a new fan is worth to you. If you know that everybody who walks
in the door will eventually be worth $10 (on average) to you,
and you know there will be 200 people through the club that
night, the gig might be worth playing.
But if you don't know, you're going to a crap shoot.
Hey, if you just want to play, be my guest. But if you're doing
this as a business, treat it like one.