Should I pay to play at gigs?

Just interested in everyone's thoughts. Personally, I have never felt it necessary to pay any amount of money to play on any bill in any situation. Even if it were to be thought of as an "exposure" expenditure.

Granted, I never made it as a rock star, and may have missed opportunities, but I did survive for several years with music as an only income. I attribute that to taking more in than I was putting out, financially.

I felt playing house parties, small venues, or promoting my own shows via rental halls, making a few hundred dollars from real fans was always better than paying to play in a "named club".

To quote Andrew Dubber: "So how do promoters get away with it? Bands let them. One of the reasons this is still even remotely accepted practice is that in order to compete or just get a gig, many artists feel they have to toe the party line and play the game in the terms that have been laid out by what they consider to be ‘the music industry’."

This is not a debate! I just want to hear some opinions on the subject.

Asked by chowes   about 1 year