Booking musicians for coffeehouse - what is the right thing to do...

[RedDoorOkotoks]

My first time here so if this has been covered somewhere else, my bad. I've searched a bit but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Anyways, I own a coffeehouse and bakery and I'm looking to have a musician / musicians in my place once or twice a week. I have no idea what to offer as compensation that is reasonable and not insulting.

I understand that the more I could pay, the better the musician (what's fair for John Prine....$58,000 a night lol jk). This would be some local talent that I would like to have in my store.

I'm looking for suggestions on how much I should pay someone to play for about 2-3 hours...mostly the typical acoustic / coffeehouse music.

If there's a different thread I should check, I can go there if you can direct me that way...

Thanks

[Austincowbell]

You should probably start out having an open mic night where people actually play 3 songs a piece for free. Post notices all over your coffee shop about it with sign up sheets and book a whole night worth of talent. You should get maybe 15-20 people and out of those you can pick a few who you want to play regularly. I would probably pay each person maybe 50 a night unless you see them bringing a large crowd at which point escalate their pay accordingly.

[GCDEF]

Coffee shops pay around $100 for a solo act around here.

[wikwox]

If coffee shops paid $100 around here I'd buy an acoustic and brush up on Rocky Racoon. $50 is more like it.

[Chip Stewart]

In New Jersey, $50 for a 1 to 2 hour set is typical for a coffee shop.

+1 on the open mic idea. At a coffee shop I frequent, a typical night with a musician playing has 10 to 20 people in the shop. The shop runs an open mic one Saturday per month, and every open mic has at least 50 people in the shop. Find a local musician who is willing to host an open mic once a month. It will be well worth it.

[Howie22]

The coffee shops in my area don't usually pay. They offer free drinks/food along with tips from the audience. That being said, from what I've seen, the guys who play those gigs aren't getting hired to play gigs anywhere else! So, let that be your guide about what the quality will be like!!

In a sense, you get what you pay for. So, I'm guessing you'll need to pay at least $100/night to get a quality act, though that may vary a bit from region to region. Most 3-4 hour gigs I play pay in the $150-200 range.

Austin's suggestion about an open mic night is a great one. Offer a free cup of coffee or pastry to anyone who plays on open mic night (just to draw people in). Then, as he said, pick and choose from those people and offer them a reasonable amount.

[Chip Stewart]

The coffee shops in my area don't usually pay. They offer free drinks/food along with tips from the audience. That being said, from what I've seen, the guys who play those gigs aren't getting hired to play gigs anywhere else! So, let that be your guide about what the quality will be like!!

In a sense, you get what you pay for. So, I'm guessing you'll need to pay at least $100/night to get a quality act, though that may vary a bit from region to region. Most 3-4 hour gigs I play pay in the $150-200 range.



I think a lot comes down to the economics of the situation. A coffee shop won't be able to afford to pay $100 if the performer is drawing 10 people who spend $5 per person. From the typical draws in my area, $50 is the most the coffee shops can reasonably afford to pay. On the other hand, if the performer can draw 50 people, then $100 would be feasible. Unfortunately, from my experience, 10 to 20 people is a typical draw with each person spending between $5 and $15.

[BlueStrat]

I'd say $50 with a tip jar provided. Maybe $75 if it's a busy weekend.