What to charge for a gig, and how to say the number

There is no single correct number, because a Saturday night in one market pays differently than the same gig two hours away. But the gig type sets a rough bracket, and there is a method for landing on your actual number inside that bracket, plus a way to say it that doesn't sound like you're asking permission.

Rough brackets by gig type

These are starting points, not answers. Adjust them against your own market using the method below.

Bar and club gigs. Usually a flat fee for a set night, sometimes a door split, occasionally a bar minimum plus tips. A four-piece covers band in most markets sits somewhere in the low hundreds to around a thousand dollars for a three-set night. Original acts drawing their own crowd can push higher through a door deal. If the venue offers "exposure" instead of money, that is not a rate, that is a favour you are doing them.

Weddings. A different market entirely. Couples are paying for reliability and a specific afternoon, not a night of covers. Rates for a full ceremony-plus-reception booking typically run several times a bar gig fee, because you are guaranteeing one date months in advance, learning first-dance songs, and showing up in different clothes. Never quote a wedding using your bar rate. It is a different product.

Corporate events. Similar logic to weddings but with a company card behind it. Budgets are often set before anyone calls a band, and the person booking you usually isn't spending their own money, which means the number can be higher than you'd expect and the client is less likely to negotiate hard. Ask early what the event budget is. If they won't say, quote your normal corporate rate and let them react.

Festivals. The outlier. Festivals often pay less per set than a good bar gig, because the value to you is exposure to a bigger room and a lineup credit, and the value to them is a full day of acts at a fixed budget. Decide in advance what floor you'll accept for that trade, and don't be surprised if it's below your usual rate.

The method, since the brackets won't fit your market

Don't guess and don't average. Do this instead:

1. Call three comparable acts in your area, not your genre heroes three cities over. Ask what they charge for the closest gig type to the one you're pricing. Most working musicians will tell you if you ask directly and aren't asking for a competitor's edge, just a benchmark.
2. Work out your real cost per gig: fuel, gear wear, rehearsal time, the hours spent emailing the venue. A gig that pays well but eats a full unpaid day of preparation is not as good as it looks on paper.
3. Set a floor, not a target. Your floor is the number below which the gig isn't worth doing. Quote above it. Never quote it as your opening number, because there's nowhere to go from there.
4. Re-check the floor every six months. Costs move. So does demand. A rate you set two years ago is not a rate, it's a habit.

How to say the number

The biggest thing that costs a booking isn't the number, it's the delivery. Two mistakes show up constantly:

Apologising for the price. "So normally we'd charge around, I mean it depends, but maybe eight hundred?" That sentence tells the venue you don't believe your own number, so they'll try to talk you down, because you just invited them to.

Quoting a range instead of a figure. "Somewhere between six and nine hundred" hands the client a negotiation before they've asked for one. Quote a specific number. If they want to negotiate, let them do the work of asking.

Say it like this instead: "Our rate for a night like that is $750, which covers the four of us, our PA, and load-in." Flat, specific, followed by what's included, not why it's fair. You don't need to justify a price to a venue any more than the venue justifies its drink prices to you.

If they push back, you have two honest moves: hold the number, or offer a real trade — a shorter set, an earlier end time, one less piece of gear to haul — for a lower one. What you don't do is drop the price and keep everything the same. That teaches every venue you talk to afterward that your number was never real.

What not to do

Don't set your rate by what you'd be happy to get paid for playing at all — that's a hobbyist's rate, and it will follow you. Don't quote a wedding, a corporate event, and a bar gig at the same number; they're different jobs with different risk to the client. And don't let a good festival slot on your bio talk you into playing every festival at a loss afterward — decide what that trade is worth before the calls start coming in.

Roadshow won't tell you what to charge, but once you have a number, it turns it into an actual invoice you send to the venue, mark paid, and roll into a year-end summary for your accountant, without taking a cut of the money.