Every bandleader, booking person or musician who handles the business side has heard some version of this sentence:
“We are only getting that much?”
And to be fair, sometimes the question is completely legitimate. Musicians should care what they are getting paid. Bands should want to move into better-paying rooms. Nobody has to apologize for wanting the number to go up.
But there is another question that belongs right beside it:
What are you doing to help the band become worth — and consistently obtain — better-paying gigs?
Wanting better money and creating the circumstances that produce better money are not the same job.
Booking is not “calling a bar”
People who have never done much booking sometimes imagine there is a list somewhere. You call the club, tell them you are a band, they say wonderful, and then everybody agrees on a date and an amount.
I wish.
Booking is finding the right rooms. Figuring out who actually handles entertainment. Sending material. Following up. Getting ignored. Following up again without becoming human spam. Working around everybody’s schedules. Negotiating. Sending what the buyer needs. Advancing the show. Handling changes. Handling cancellations. Rescheduling when somebody suddenly remembers the wedding he apparently forgot about for three months.
Then, after all that, somebody still has to maintain the relationship if you want another date.
Sometimes they have to chase the money afterward too.
That is work. Most of it is boring work. Nobody applauds because you sent a W-9 correctly. Nobody throws guitar picks into the crowd because you remembered to follow up with the buyer on Tuesday.
But without that work, there may not be a stage to stand on Friday.
How did this gig happen?
That is another useful question for bands to ask.
Who found the room? Who made the first contact? Who kept after it? Who sent the material? Who negotiated the number? Who kept the calendar straight? Who made sure the venue had what it needed from you?
Sometimes the answer is one person. Sometimes several people were involved. The point is to make the process visible because people tend to value work more once they understand it exists.
If one member is handling booking, the rest of the band does not have to become a team of five competing agents. In fact, please do not do that to your buyers.
But there are plenty of ways everybody can help create opportunities.
One member may always be scouting new rooms. Another may know people in another town. Somebody can keep the photos and videos current. Somebody can make sure the website and calendar are accurate. Someone can keep track of promising contacts. Every member can promote the shows and treat venue staff like human beings when they get there.
Booking may have one point person. Building the band’s ability to get booked belongs to everybody.
“We should be making more money”
Okay.
Why?
I do not mean why emotionally. Of course you want more money. I mean what changed in a way a buyer can see?
Did your draw grow? Did the show get better? Are you bringing production? Are you bringing an audience? Are you selling tickets? Are you easier to work with? Are you creating demand? Are people coming because your name is on the bill?
Some rooms absolutely underpay musicians. Some buyers will squeeze every dollar they can. That is real.
But somewhere else, there is also a buyer looking at fifteen bands asking for the same premium guarantee while half of them will not promote the show and cannot demonstrate they bring anybody through the door.
That is real too.
We do musicians no favors by pretending only one of those conversations is happening.
Better money usually follows leverage
Negotiation matters. Knowing your value matters. Asking for fair money matters.
But sustainable increases usually come from leverage: demand, audience, professionalism, relationships, a show people want and a reputation for doing what you said you were going to do.
That gets built over time.
Every member who effectively promotes the show helps build it. Every member who makes useful content helps. Every member who introduces the band to a real prospect helps. Every member who brings people into the room helps. Every member who shows up prepared enough that the band delivers a killer show helps.
That is how the whole thing starts stacking in your favor.
Ask the second question
So the next time somebody says, “We are only making $200 each?” do not shut the conversation down. Maybe $200 really is not enough. Talk about it.
Then ask the second question:
What are we doing to make the next one worth more?
That shifts the conversation away from dividing whatever somebody else managed to create and toward building better opportunities together.
Everybody wants better-paying gigs.
Good.
Now who is helping create them?
Next in Band Rescue: Are You IN the Band — or Are You BUILDING the Band?
