Free Gigs

ericgtr

Member
From CL this morning...
Seeking smaller acts to play for complimentary drinks and tips in a small, hip venue in Old Town. Ideal setting for acoustic performers or small amplified sounds systems. Venue holds an audience of up to 50 people. Now booking through April.

Please respond with a link to your music and we will respond with booking info.

Now I know it's been a while since I was a working musician but is this what it's come to?
 
So, he wants to SCEDULE people to play for free!?

Sounds like he needs to learn the phrase "open mic night".

Maybe no one wants to play there because the owner doesn't pay much to begin with and no he is forced to go to CL.
 
There are PLENTY of free gigs in Portland! Come on by sometime!

...yes, as long as there are hobbyists who simply want to play in front of an "audience", there will always be free gigs. I mean, heck...they get complimentary drinks and.....*ahem*......"tips". :D

Apparently no one plays for fun anymore.
I sometimes play little jazz/folk gigs for fun down pubs. It's fun if its with some cool people.
Practice is practice.
Time is also money but I have enough of both so its OK.
 
ha

in bighton/UK its strange to get paid for a gig, most venues dont even offer a free drink

no ones paying and people are still playing so why bother wasting their money ??


****s me off though, 90% of the time i dont even get a hand with my kit in
 
Apparently no one plays for fun anymore.
I sometimes play little jazz/folk gigs for fun down pubs. It's fun if its with some cool people.
Practice is practice.
Time is also money but I have enough of both so its OK.
I think most play for fun, or we wouldn't be doing it to begin with. If it's billed as an open jam or something like that then fine but this isn't the same thing IMO.
 
I think most play for fun, or we wouldn't be doing it to begin with. If it's billed as an open jam or something like that then fine but this isn't the same thing IMO.

Sure ericgtr, I just mean if you don't want to play for free, then you can just, not do it!
If I made a topic for every time someone told me to play something for free... Well i'd have tired fingers from typing a lot of titles.
 
Sure ericgtr, I just mean if you don't want to play for free, then you can just, not do it!
If I made a topic for every time someone told me to play something for free... Well i'd have tired fingers from typing a lot of titles.

It's sad that it's that common.
 
Yeah, there will always be people happy to play for free, just for fun or for the illusion they're "making themselves known"..

I think that sucks. Where I live, it's even worse. The scene is small and it's full of musos, so the clubs tell you that if you wanna play, you have to sell certain amount of tickets. What an abuse. That's actually making you pay to play.

I did my fair share of selling tickets to play, but nowadays I refuse to do it. I won't sell you your tickets when you aren't paying, cheap SOB.


But hey.. I won't be a hypocrite: If it's a big opening act or some cool gig, chances are I'll play just for the fun of it. But it shouldn't be that way. My gear costs money, my lessons cost money, my rehearsal space costs money.. and yeah, it started out as a hobby, and I do it for pleasure.. but at your pub entertaining your customers, that's a job, and as such, it should be rewarded.
 
Their won't be a shortage of people calling I can tell you that. Any open mics I go to, it's the same peeps singing the same 3 original songs urrrrvery single time. It's all about self promotion.
 
Their won't be a shortage of people calling I can tell you that. Any open mics I go to, it's the same peeps singing the same 3 original songs urrrrvery single time. It's all about self promotion.

Luckily the majority of open mic nights are frequented by awful musicians. Sometimes there are a couple of cool dudes though.
 
Their won't be a shortage of people calling I can tell you that. Any open mics I go to, it's the same peeps singing the same 3 original songs urrrrvery single time. It's all about self promotion.

Seriously... I haven't been to an open mic in a couple years (on purpose). Also, T, your avatar is cracking me up!
 
Apparently no one plays for fun anymore.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I have fun when I play. The music is clawing to come out, and I love to settle in a solid groove, or jam, or practice, or whatever. But, since I also have to think about supporting my family, if I'm offered a free gig and a paid gig at the same time, I'll take the paid gig. Also, I would rather spend time at home reading with and playing games with my two small children than go out and play open mics. Sure, I play free or low-paying gigs, like when my friends need someone to back them up in a pinch, or they have CD release shows, or even benefit concerts (I happen to be playing 2 benefit concerts for free this weekend, in fact...). Fortunately, I'm just not in the place where I need to sharpen my teeth in front of an audience of 15 other people who are just waiting their turn to play...
 
"Of course, we can't PAY you anything, but you will get plenty of exposure and recognition"! That's the worst sentence in language - English or otherwise for a musician.

There's usually a weekly ad on the D/FW area CL where someone is always looking for a band to play an outdoor festival / fundrasier and they advertise there will be food, sodas, beer, etc. Then add the lines they are looking for bands to come and play for 1 hour and bring their own PA systems and gear but - of course - they can't pay any money for the bands to play, but "it's great exposure for your band".

Funny, but they can pay for everything else. These ads get lots of harrassment on CL. LOL
 
If your in a band you need to read this article. I'm also including this article in my press kit. I refuse to play for free. I also carry around 25k of gear and I have to pay for it somehow.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/78468650/La-Club-Owners


My wife's 22 year old nephew is a DJ in the Dallas area and continually runs into this BS mindset with club and venue owners here. They refuse to pay musicians or DJ's anything and usually bitch and moan whenever they DO have to pay something.

We got to talking over Thanksgiving and he wants to bail on this area and set up shop in Denver where he claims the market is better and the opportunities are greater. This kid is paying his way through college doing DJ work, so this is pretty much his income. After experiencing the bad market in D/FW with cheap bar and venue owners I couldn't help but support the guy and tell him to do it. What's he got to loose?
 

Oh I wasn't having a go at you. I don't play for free either. Well, sometimes to play with cool musicians. I mean I'm just happy I don't have to pay them for the privilege. Perhaps that's the way forward.
If ya wanna make money put on your own gigs. That way you pay for everything if it all goes wrong, and you take home everything if it goes right.
 
Another down side to the music is free attitude.Not only do people think recorded music should be free,but now live music should be also.

My reply is;Band seeking small 50 person venue,to host small party.The band expects venue to provide stage,lighting,PA system,electricity,security,and free food and drinks for guests of the band.Please call 867-5309 and ask for Jenny to schedule an event.:)

Steve B
 
this is a hot topic on my local clist. lots of acts are demanded to play free where I live to get 'exposure' 'sell merch' and to only get any $$ if a certain number of patrons show up. some are even required to bring a certain number of patrons. maybe its just my stupid town, but to show the absurdity of the situation, and how far its gone, somebody wrote this ad ( the other side of the coin)

http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/muc/2813104829.html

overall, its a slippery slope. people do not want to pay for art anymore. the 'starving' artists are even more starving now, unless they make it big and then they are adored. sad.

some people i know will absolutely not play for free, unless its a benefit to a social cause,and they view people who do play for free as 'scabs' in the union sense.
 
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