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<blockquote data-quote="Brian Bolly" data-source="post: 73028" data-attributes="member: 32">Re: Do I Tip The Band?I can only comment on what I&#039;ve seen in doing this sort of gig for the last 7+ years.&nbsp; For reference, the band I deal with ranges anywhere from 3 to 6 pieces + production (1 or sometimes 2 people), and on a rare occasion a solo or duo is requested for a low-key reception, in which case production personnel are not involved.&nbsp; Occasionally 1 or 2 members are hired to perform for the ceremony if it&#039;s in the same site as the reception.&nbsp; All of the musicians are professionals - a few are in the various armed forces bands, and only one person has a day job that is not music performance related.&nbsp; So as far as quality of product, it&#039;s not a hobby for these people by any means.&nbsp; Whether with this group or as a member of other groups, each musician probably does +/- 200 gigs per year, and it&#039;s not uncommon for various members to do 2 or 3 gigs in a day during the summer and around holidays.Based on that reference, I can count on one hand the number of times per year the full band receives gratuities.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know if there&#039;s any correlation, but the probably of receiving a tip seems to be inversely proportional to the quantity of musicians present.&nbsp; The most frequent tip (if you want to call it that) I see is when the bride/groom/parents ask if the band can play an extra 30-60 minutes to &quot;keep the party going&quot;, and offer the band another $100-200 per person to do so.&nbsp; For time invested, this generally trumps any gratuities.It seems that people believe that the band is a set contract price and they are not obligated to tip for services rendered since it is an &quot;extra expense&quot; above and beyond what a DJ would cost.&nbsp; Conversely, the wedding DJs I know say its rare when they don&#039;t receive gratuity after a job.I can&#039;t say if this is the norm for every wedding band, but it&#039;s what I&#039;ve witnessed.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Brian Bolly, post: 73028, member: 32"] Re: Do I Tip The Band? I can only comment on what I've seen in doing this sort of gig for the last 7+ years. For reference, the band I deal with ranges anywhere from 3 to 6 pieces + production (1 or sometimes 2 people), and on a rare occasion a solo or duo is requested for a low-key reception, in which case production personnel are not involved. Occasionally 1 or 2 members are hired to perform for the ceremony if it's in the same site as the reception. All of the musicians are professionals - a few are in the various armed forces bands, and only one person has a day job that is not music performance related. So as far as quality of product, it's not a hobby for these people by any means. Whether with this group or as a member of other groups, each musician probably does +/- 200 gigs per year, and it's not uncommon for various members to do 2 or 3 gigs in a day during the summer and around holidays. Based on that reference, I can count on one hand the number of times per year the full band receives gratuities. I don't know if there's any correlation, but the probably of receiving a tip seems to be inversely proportional to the quantity of musicians present. The most frequent tip (if you want to call it that) I see is when the bride/groom/parents ask if the band can play an extra 30-60 minutes to "keep the party going", and offer the band another $100-200 per person to do so. For time invested, this generally trumps any gratuities. It seems that people believe that the band is a set contract price and they are not obligated to tip for services rendered since it is an "extra expense" above and beyond what a DJ would cost. Conversely, the wedding DJs I know say its rare when they don't receive gratuity after a job. I can't say if this is the norm for every wedding band, but it's what I've witnessed. [/QUOTE]

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