I was asked by a lady I know who runs a bed and breakfast to play a one hour gig for a small bridge club part or something. I'm just going to be playing some simple jazz standards and christmas tunes as background music on the piano she has there. I think we've settled on $50 this time but for future reference what would be a good rate for that sort of thing?
To me, that's a good rate for a hour. What's also good to discuss with the client is the option for overtime. Sounds like a sweet gig!
Sounds pretty low to me. Brian, can you remind me where you live? Geography and the size of the city (city, suburb or rural) usually impact the rate (although I wish it didn't).
One thing you could say is that you charge $50/hr and require a minimum of 2 hours. I think any gig like this should get at least $100. It's not worth all of your effort.
Another way to do it is to say it's $100 for the first hour and $50 for every hour thereafter.
I think when I was younger I charged $75/hr. If it was a trio gig I said $75/hr per musician. I had a regular cocktail gig at a local country club that paid $250 for 4 hours of music. That was pretty good.
Also, here's an article I wrote about calculating an hourly rate that might be helpful:
Calculating an Hourly Rate as a Musician
David:
I figured it was kind of low. This is a bed and breakfast that happens to be directly across the street from me and the lady who owns it hosts lots of little parties like this so I am also just trying to develop a good relationship with her for possible future work. But, I live in Alabama in the greater birmingham area in this small college town that happens to be a bit removed from things. So I figure there's not going to be a whole lot of money for gigs in this town.
Ah, I see. That might be a fine rate then.
What other kinds of gigs do you see down there?
In this particular town there's lots of things that happen at the local coffee shop in town - bands, solo artists, university professors performing. It's a pretty eclectic little place. So mostly this town is made for small events like that or small private parties like the one at the bed and breakfast.
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