This is a question that presents itself between musicians in groups on Facebook and is always a hot topic of debate. Should a band play for free (“exposure”)? Or should they always be offered money for their services? Some say exposure-type gigs are “bad” for musicians, but let’s look a little closer at this topic.

Many musicians feel entitled thinking that their services are worthy of payment, while on the other side of the spectrum, some musicians play for the love of music. 

Event organisers who are just starting out within the industry may offer “exposure” for bands to play at events and offer a guarantee that their music will be seen and heard by (insert number of people here) at the event. 

While this may seem like a dodgy deal, is there a way a band can, in fact, leverage an opportunity to benefit them financially rather than shutting down the prospect because they demand cash payment? 

PLAYING FOR EXPOSURE

The concept of playing for exposure is that a band has an opportunity to play at an event in front of potentially hundreds of people or whatever the number that is promised by the event organiser. 

The event could be a charity event, community event or just a showcase of local talent that a young budding event organiser is trying to arrange. Here in lies the problem. Many people believe that no matter what the gig or event, the band should be remunerated for their services. 

However, there are opportunities available to make money at a gig even when there is no money that has been put upfront by the event organiser or agent themselves. 

MAKING THE MOST OF AN UNPAID GIG

ROYALTIES 

To play a live gig is an opportunity, an opportunity to not only get your music out there but to also maybe make some money along the way. The first opportunity to make money at a gig where there is no payment offered is by claiming the royalties, they earned by playing live gig. 

If it is an event where the artist can play their own live original music and if that artist is registered with APRA (and they go through the process of filling out a live performance return) then this artist will get royalties back for that gig. It may not be a large amount of money however it is something to consider when taking on these gigs. 

SELL MERCHANDISE 

You can play for exposure or a free gig to fill in your busy schedule where you can literally play for nothing but it’s still a bit of something to fill your calendar. The second opportunity to make money at a free or unpaid gig is to sell your merchandise. 

Talk to your event organiser and understand what the audience is going to be like and if you can actually sell your own merchandise. Set up a stand where you can sell CDs, t-shirts etc. This allows you to take along your merchandise charged full price and if the people like what they hear then make a purchase. 

It is up to you as a business person and a salesperson combined to ensure that you get sales. Simply playing music unfortunately may not be enough to win the hearts of some people you need to offer value and that value might be the way you communicate to the audience when you’re on stage. 

PASS THE HAT AROUND 

Another way to make money a third way to make money from an unpaid gig is to pass the hat around. 

What this means is at the end of a set or after you have finished playing your gig you have the opportunity to pass around a hat or a bucket to have people throw in donations of cash that may be lying around their pocket. Once again talk to the event organiser and see if this is a viable option. 

It may be a great way to earn a bit of money to make the gig worthwhile and you might even pick up a business card or two of someone who’s been in the audience and want to hire you for another gig. And that brings us to our fourth point of how you can make money out of an unpaid gig. 

FUTURE POTENTIAL GIGS 

There may be opportunities that arise where someone will want to hire you for a birthday, wedding, function corporate event or they may manage a local bar. While this may seem like a long shot it is something to always have in the back of your mind because you never know when opportunity comes knocking. 

COVER ARTISTS 

Cover artists are usually the ones who demand money for every gig that they must do as they have decided to make a living from playing other people’s music. 

Therefore, the concept of an unpaid gig is dead-weight and not an opportunity meaning the exposure component is hardly worth it. They will most likely not rely on their own sales skills or up-selling skills in order to take an opportunity and make the most out of it. 

Should an artist hinder themselves by turning down an opportunity to expand themselves as an artist and also a business? 

USE THE GIG AS MARKET RESEARCH (NEW BANDS) 

An unpaid gig where a band can play for an exposure maybe an option for those who are just starting out as a cover band or original band. 

While you may feel entitled to be reimbursed for everything that you do, for your services, your music may not have been tested on a live audience; so, an “exposure” gig is an opportunity to use as a market research exercise. 

Every business when releasing a new product or service use market research to ensure that it is well responded to and that it is something that people would want to purchase. 

If you have just started a cover band or original band and you go out of the gates charging $800 and it turns out that you were no good or ill received, then this affects your reputation as a musician and artist.  

Therefore, it is important that you test what you have put together and see if it’s in a worthwhile thing to do. 

CHECKS AND BALANCES 

Things to look at or consider when you are being offered an unpaid gig is how long you’ll be playing for; is it a covers or original gig and what are the perks may exist. 

There may be times where it is not appropriate to accept an unpaid gig. 

If an event organiser has hired multiple bands but only can pay one of them this is something you might want to reconsider. 

At the end of the day, before you agree or contract a gig you must sound out the event organiser; do your research and see if the gig or event is actually a viable option where you can make some money. 

Other things you might want to look out for: are there food stores that are being hired out and paid for? Is there any other sort of entertainment for children? Perhaps like face painters or jumping castles? If this is something that is being put on by the event organiser you can ask them for pay. 

As they have budget for food stalls other areas of entertainment, they should have budget for live entertainment and for your band. 

CONCLUSION 

While playing for free is not encouraged, look at the opportunity as a whole, do you research on the event organiser and the event itself. 

If it does seem like a great opportunity to expose your band and your music and it’s an area where you can up-sell some merchandise and make a bit of coin out of nothing then great go for it. 

However, if it is an event where there are other people’s getting paid you might want to look into this event and organiser a bit closely. 

It’s not encouraged to work constantly at unpaid gigs. Though it is a great way for musicians who are just starting out a cover band or original band to get a gig and test their music out on a real live audience. 

There are definitely ways to make money at an unpaid gig you just have to be creative, be assertive and most of all put your business hat on and work out how you can best leverage this opportunity. 

Do you think artists should consider playing some events for exposure? Or should they always receive pay? Let us know in the comments below!