How Much Do Bar Musicians Make? (And What a Bar Night Really Pays)

The real numbers

There's no honest national average for bar gig pay. Nobody tracks it, and a Tuesday at a corner pub and a Saturday at a resort bar are two different jobs. So here are James's own numbers.

That last line isn't a brag. It's the point. Once you know what your other gigs pay, the bar number stops being "what bars pay" and starts being a choice.

What other players report

Players in forum threads report a wide spread. Some say they're lucky to get around $100 plus tips. Others mention a couple hundred for a two-hour solo or duo gig, and acoustic duos in the low hundreds. A few describe offers like a small cash fee plus a bar tab, and most of the replies to those say the same thing: walk away.

The common thread isn't a number. It's that pay depends on your town, the room, the night of the week, and whether you hold your price. Before you set yours, find out what the rooms near you pay. Ask other players, and look at who's playing where.

What a bar night really is

A "3-hour" bar gig is never 3 hours. Here's a typical night, door to door:

• Drive there.
• Show up an hour early. Load in, set up, soundcheck, meet the bartenders.
• Three hours on stage, with breaks.
• Tear down, load out, get paid.
• Drive home.

Add it up and a 3-hour gig can easily be 6 or 7 hours of your life. Then gas and wear on the car come out of the fee. That's why the guarantee alone tells you almost nothing. You need the hourly.

Bar night real pay calculator

Put in one real night. The bar tab box is there so you can see it, but it counts as $0. Free drinks aren't pay.

Made-up example A solo act gets a $225 guarantee and $60 in tips. Three hours on stage, an hour and a half of setup and teardown, 40 minutes each way, 25 miles each way at a car cost they figure at 50 cents a mile. They keep $260 for about 5.8 hours. That's about $45 an hour, not the roughly $87 it looks like on stage time alone.

Guarantee, door deal or tips only?

Bars pay in a few different ways, and they are not equal.

• A guarantee. A set fee for a set time, plus tips. This is the one you want. You know what you're driving to.
• A door deal or a percentage. You get a cut of the cover or of what the bar sells. Players in forum threads warn that this puts the bar's slow night on you. If you take one, get a guaranteed minimum in writing too.
• Tips only. That's not a paid gig. It's a favor to the bar. Treat it that way.

Why the bar tab counts as $0

A tab doesn't pay gas, strings or rent. If a room offers you a lower fee plus drinks, ask for the full fee instead. If they say no, you've learned what they think the night is worth.

How bar musicians make more

You can't control what every bar in town pays. You can control which ones you take and how you run the night.

• Know your floor. Run a few real nights through the calculator. The lowest one you'd do again is close to your floor. Don't go under it.
• Get a guarantee in writing. A set number, the start and end time, and who pays you at the end of the night.
• Never promise a crowd. Pay based on how many people you bring puts the bar's job on you.
• Sell the bar's product. The bar is your customer. Keep the room up, keep people ordering, and make the bartenders look good. That's what gets you rebooked at a better rate.
• Don't over-book one room. About twice a month keeps you fresh.
• Build the higher-paying work too. Private parties and corporate events are what make a low bar offer easy to turn down. See How Much to Charge for a Private Party.
• Work the tip jar right. A clear jar, seeded, with a shout-out for the bartenders. The full setup is in Tip Jar Ideas for Musicians.

What to say when the offer is low

Say your number, then change what they get instead of what it costs.

Thanks for the offer! My rate for a [3]-hour night is $[amount], and I keep it the same for every room. If that's over budget, I can do [2] hours on a [weeknight] for $[lower amount]. Want me to hold a date?

"Sure, [low offer] and a bar tab works."
"I'll bring all my friends."
"I can do every Friday this month."

"For three hours, it's $[amount]."
"I keep the room up and the bar busy."
"I can do two Fridays a month."

For the full price-setting walk-through, start with How Much to Charge for a Gig and How Much Should a 3-Hour Gig Pay? To see where a month of gigs really leaves you, play Lesson 3.4, The Real Cost of a Gig.