Free gig calculator

How to price a gig

Price from the bottom up. Most bandleaders who get burned on a gig quoted a number first and worked out the costs after. This calculator works the other way:

1. Pay the band first. What each player needs for this gig, flat or by the hour, and your own fee as a player. Subs and deps cost the same as regulars.
2. Add every cost. Sound and lighting hire, parking, tolls, an agent's or booker's fee, and travel. Mileage adds up fast with two or three cars.
3. Add a margin. The margin is for the work no one sees: emails, the site visit, the learn-this-song request, the van, the gear that wears out. Many bands use 15 to 30%.
4. Round to a number you'd say out loud. Clients remember $2,500, not $2,481.60.

Deposits and overtime

A deposit holds the date. Many bands ask for 25 to 50% to book, with the balance due on or before the day. Agree an overtime rate before the gig, too: on the night, "one more song" turns into another half hour. The calculator's overtime rate is what an hour of your band costs, with the same margin.

What you take home

As the bandleader you usually take your own fee as a player, plus the margin. That's what "You take home" shows, before your own taxes and expenses. If it looks thin for the work you do on a gig, the margin is the number to look at.

After the gig is booked

The calculator gets you to a quote. Once the client says yes, every player needs the details: the date, the call time, the address, what to wear and what it pays. GigPenguin sends each band member their own gig sheet, with their pay on it and nobody else's, and shows you who's in. Planning the music too? Try the free setlist maker and the stage plot maker.