Internet Killed the Club Rock Stars

Back in the 70’s and 80’s, before the Internet, people used to go to clubs to see live bands, to drink too much, and to try to get laid.  Musicians in bands in clubs might make about $100 for a night, so a low end to mediocre 4 piece band with its own PA might charge $400.  Now it’s 2019, and that $100 is more like $300 (it’s a little higher, actually, but I like easy math.)  So the band for $400 will now cost you $1,200.  And people aren’t going to clubs like they used to.  And bars where musicians play aren’t going to drop $1,200 on a band unless that band will bring in enough people to drink 8 grand worth of booze.  Oh, and DJs have stolen a large majority of gigs.

With the situation totally changed, we’ve seen the rise of the solo performer.  They usually sing and play acoustic guitar, sometimes with a backing track containing… well, the entire rest of the band. It’s not uncommon for such a performer to charge a small venue $50 per hour, so $150 for a 3 hour gig.  A lot of solo performers charge more than that.  Some venues pay more than that.  To get a feel for your area, you need to go around to venues and other musicians and ask.

A good way to get started in anything is to first watch others do it.  Hitting a few different local watering holes and finding out how good the musicians are and what they make will help you determine your own prices.  Networking with other musicians is a really, really good idea, once you’re ready.

Let’s assume you’re a decent performer but with not a lot of experience.  When you first start out, you might do some free gigs at coffee houses or elsewhere.  Nothing wrong with that.  Work on your act, put out the tip jar.  At some point you’ll be ready to up your game and move on to the paying gigs.

$25 per hour

But remember that you have to drive to the gig, set up your stuff, perform, break down your stuff, and drive home – this means you’re not making $50 per hour, you’re making $25.  Just so you know.  If you want to make more, you’d need to charge more.

If you want to make serious money doing this stuff, you need a seriously good act.  The better your act is, the more you can charge, obviously.  You’re not going to get $50 an hour from a coffee house.  The point of hiring live music is to increase revenue.  Businesses want people to come in and eat/drink while they listen to you.  So audiences have to like what you do.  Which means you need a show that meets the needs of the audience.  And that’s a whole ‘nuther blog post.

In Conclusion

If you want to perform solo for a living, you can… but you’ll need to be one of the best around.  If you like to play music and want to play in front of people and make a little money, there are opportunities out there for you.  But the money isn’t great and you usually have to do your own roadie work.  Stuff to think about.