| Home recording and general music post from the archived Yabb Recording Website Message Board. Some of the info here may be outdated but many of the audio recording and home studio tips are still good. Note: The only tags I made and attempt to convert are italics, bold, center and underline. So if you see some gibberish surrounded by brackets, just ignore it.
Recording Website Archived Yabb board Post
Febuary 2001 Yabb Message Board Archive
Subject: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by old_dan | 03/12/01 at 12:16:20
I know I'd play for free (at the drop of a hat) but then I'm not trying to build a career. I was just wondering what you folks thought about it, the advantages and disadvantages.
Thanks,
Dan
<Reposted from the old board>
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Big_D | 03/12/01 at 12:19:05
I think if you are plying for yourself and not others most people would.
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Jon_B | 03/12/01 at 12:20:57
Valid reasons for playing for free: To showcase original material;
For fun! and other worthy causes; for meeting interesting people,(although that may fit into the fun category), and any combination of the above.
There is or was a trend among some of the bigger & "classier" venues to actually charge bands to play! I hope this is a local(L.I., N.Y.) problem and doesn't infect the rest of the country. You would have to, first be able to afford it, and secondly, it would be kind of degrading, I think. Bad for morale.
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Ally | 03/12/01 at 12:23:57
Hiya Dan....I play for free at times myself...but I really take a look at the circumstances and what it would offer me.
If it's a private party of some kind...it may offer me other gig's later down the line...but it can also hurt me, by showing others that they don't have to pay me to book me.
If it's a public venue...it could very well increase my paying gig's with good exposure. It would all depend on contact's made, etc.
Money isn't just money for me...it's supporting an artist and it's respect for an artist.
I played for free at a County fair here once...but I won't do it again. It was due to some management problems there. I had to drag all my equipment in from the parking lot...then they had the nerve to blast all of us out by setting us near a radio station booth who was competing with us. It was not worth all the trouble and the disrespect. But we learn from our mistakes too.
Sometimes I believe we should charge for the gig's to get the respect for what your doing.
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by db | 03/12/01 at 12:25:58
Ok, I'll pay ya.
db
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Micah Eubanks | 03/20/01 at 20:48:58
Hi Dan, Our band plays at least twice yearly for free. We usually are asked to do a benefit for a school or other worthwhile cause. It has some real good pros about it, such as PR, exposure, and possibly more paying gigs from it. As we have just invested in a new sound system (over $5000), we have to have paying gigs to pay for this equipment. As an individual, I've sat in with other bands filling in for absent members for nothing.8) I love playing in front of crowds and the money isn't everything to me then.
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Mike_F | 03/22/01 at 02:48:54
I have three 'freebies' already scheduled this year with the band - one for a charity raising funds for the children of Chernobyl, one for the PTA of the School that kindly allows us to use its facilities for rehearsing, and one for the 25th wedding anniversary party of our keyboard player (another member of the Old Farts Club!)
I don't think any of us would be very keen on doing 'freebies' without reasonable justification (although, sometimes, you just wanna get up there and PLAY!!)
:)
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by S G. | 03/24/01 at 21:19:32
i been pro for 25 years and the only free gigs ive done in that time has been for charity.
I got family to feed ect....
do us a favour, if you want to play for free organise your own gigs and stop undercutting well established bands in good paying venues.>:(>:(>:(
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Hobe | 03/25/01 at 13:25:21
[quote author=S G. link=board=music1&num=984424582&start=0#7 date=03/24/01 at 21:19:32]
i been pro for 25 years and the only free gigs ive done in that time has been for charity.
I got family to feed ect....
do us a favour, if you want to play for free organise your own gigs and stop undercutting well established bands in good paying venues.>:(>:(>:(
So what you're saying is you can't handle the competition, right? If a band has the chance to do a free gig that brings some much needed exposure I say go for it. And don't worry about doing a favor for the 'well established bands'.
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Ally | 03/25/01 at 13:59:20
Well...I believe it all comes down to what your goals are. If you are reaching for a professional status...you still have to play those freebies in order to get to the pro side of things. It's part of the "dues" an artist/musician pays in order to get to that goal. I was being paid for performances at age 15. I don't see other bands who play for free as taking the food out of my children's mouth's...just that they are paying their own dues in the biz. Or as some have said here...they enjoy playing for free, just because they love to play but their goal is not necessarily to be a professional. I'm sure SG did not become professional immediately. Somewhere along the line...he had to play for free.
Why would you pay for a product you've never seen or heard about? It's a marketing approach to let someone sample before they buy. If your goal is pro and you continually play for free in the same place...then I would examine that contact and probably quit playing there. But if I was just playing for fun...the money wouldn't matter. :)
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Hippo | 04/09/01 at 16:31:04
Never play for free!!
Everybody looses out.
Charity Great!!
Charge full fee, get it sponcered, then donate the fee back!!
You look good, charity makes more money,you are not a soft touch and everbody wins, simple!!!
Hippo
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by pcrecord | 04/10/01 at 13:20:55
Yep !!
Never play for free ! That's the spirit !!
I did bars for years and for living. So I know it's a dirty game. If some amateur (I'm not saying anyone of you are.) Is playing for free or for low price in a place before me, what happen ? The bar owner just freak and don't want to pay me anymore. Of course I maybe better with better setup but at the end the boss only see dollar signs. So maybe it's kind of respect of the art. I refused alot of contract cause it was'nt paying enough for the amount of work. People often think it's easy money but hey ! Who's paying for all the practice hours and all the equipment ?? Who says being paid is not fun anyway ?? At least ask something for the sound equipment, specially if you need to rent.
Be carefull with charity, if the bar man, the door man, the security guy, the sound man, the owner of the place etc.. if they get money why don't you ? Are you not working more then they do ? When I give money for cancer, i'm not a fool, I know some people in the organisation need to be paid. Of course if everyone work for free !!
Anyway, do as you wish !!! It's only playing music that matters !!
;D
Subject: Re: Playing for free - good idea or not?
by Silent_Bob | 04/11/01 at 17:47:33
Ill played for free in my own band but not for other people's bands. If it's a band I'm subbing for or if I'm hired for someone else's project I won't work for less than $50