Should You "Pay To Play"?

"Pay To Play" is a concept that a lot of musicians are uncomfortable with, and think they should be getting paid to play (as they should, eventually) but is pay to play really as bad as it seems?

Below is a video from Nic Adler who is owner of the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, and he believes that "pay to play" is a good thing, and can be beneficial to many musicians. 

As Adler says in his vido, System Of A Down started out playing the Roxy Theater as a "pay to play" band. After a few "pay to play" gigs, they were making money on ticket sales and eventually we're selling out the theater. And a lot of big bands started out that way.

Now, if you're already getting paid decent money to play local gigs, then paying to play probably  isn't for you. But maybe you haven't made it that far yet. When done right, "pay to play" can be a great way to promote your band, and you actually might not be paying anything at all!

The concept behind "pay to play" is that you're buying tickets from the venue and selling them yourself. Now if the venue wants you to sell a ridiculous number of tickets and you know you can't, then don't accept. Look for people who want you to sell a reasonable number. For example if someone wants you to sell 40 tickets, and you're a 4-piece band, that's only 10 tickets each. And as long as you actually sell all those tickets, it's not going to cost you anything at all. And If you're lucky enough you can even sell more than the required number of tickets and pocket some cash too!

Selling tickets also gets you on the street, meeting people face to face and talking about your band and your music. As a band, you're much more personable when your can be reached easily. People will also see your serious about your music because you're putting in that extra effort to get people to come out and see you, instead of hanging around being lazy and hoping a gig will fall into your lap.

Your band should always be treated as a business, but as in any business you need to spend money to make money. You can't just hope that you're going to be getting amazing gigs when no one knows who you are and you don't work at making yourself more well known. Paying to play is just another step in the right direction to get your band at the level you want it to be!




Click Here for the video