I am currently involved in a Tribute Band Network management company that's trying to save live music in New Mexico and more specifically Albuquerque. There are still a decent amount of venues to play BUT most of them require that the bands pay them for the "privilege" to play their rat infested $hit holes. Some places will accept a 50% cut of the door if you want to charge a cover and some want upwards of 800 dollars for a 4 hr chunk to play there. In the past this kind of tactic always preyed on original bands, but we are starting to see it headed towards doing it to cover and Tribute acts also. One of the venue owners I talked to told me he loves renting to younger folks because they pay without negotiating or questioning and always bring a bunch of their friends. They basically put together 3-5 band shows (typically death metal played poorly) and each band member ponies up 50 bucks each or what not and to them it's well worth it.
Some will sell merch and make their money back or at least lessen the cost but most don't even have merch. I have some inside info of what it takes to host a band for a night at this venue and what the general take can be when everything is factored in and this one particular venue owner is raking it in at every show. He's got lights, rent and 2 people on staff that are both paid 10 bucks an hour each.
For me my conscience would force me to share the wealth on a given night some. If I net 5k on a night where 3 bands played I'd damn sure throw some cash at them at the end of the night. Depends on how things went but 10% of my take would not kill me or hurt me.
In the cover bands I am in we are lucky to pull in 350 for 4 people at most places. Sure we get the occasional 600 or so when we do some places but that's seasonal and few and far between.
A "gig day" for me consists of about 11 hours total of work when everything is factored in. There's loading in from the garage into the van, driving to venue, load out, set up, sound check, play for 3-4 hrs, break down, drive home, and unload. 75 Bucks for that is 6.82 an hour when all is said and done and thats not factoring in paying for my gas, food, and drinks at the venues that do not feed and water us. If I got down to the nitty gritty and factored that all in I'd guess it brings it down to about 4 bucks an hour pay for a gig.
The way I have to look at it is that 4 bucks an hour is better than no bucks an hour and way better than paying for everything. If I don't look at it that way, then I will be miserable and grumpy and not want to do it. I love playing live and love playing with other musicians and I am not doing this to try and make a living so it works out fine for me. Does it mean I don't try hard to get the most money out of a venue that I can? Of course not. I walk that thin line of pushing for more money without discouraging the venue to have us play there. When I chat with other bands about venue pay I am often told "oh we get less than that there". Whether everyone I talk to about it is lying I dunno but if I can get even 25 bucks more than they offer then I will.
Live music is indeed dying but it's mostly for people like me that play mostly music that is 30-40 years old. The audience for that who want to go out and see a live band has shrunk considerably. I am just doing my best to enjoy what time I have left doing it.
