How to price your band

"How much for a wedding?" is the email that makes band leaders freeze. Quote too low and the band plays a 14-hour day for less than the DJ. Quote too high without a reason and the client goes quiet. Most bands price by guessing what they charged last time and adding a bit.

There are 3 ways to price a band, and the good ones use all 3 at once.

Method 1: cost-based (the floor)

Start with what the gig costs to deliver. Not what you would like to earn: what it costs. For a 5-piece wedding band, a typical Saturday:

Item	Amount (EUR)
5 musicians × 8 hours on site (travel, set-up, wait, play, pack)	5 × 8 × 25 = 1,000
Rehearsal time attributable to the gig (2 hours, 5 people, shared across gigs)	100
Van hire or mileage (200 km round trip)	120
PA and lights wear, cables, batteries, consumables	60
Admin: quoting, contract, advance, invoicing (3 hours of the leader)	90
Insurance, software, website, marketing (annual cost spread across gigs)	60
Cost floor	1,430

The 25 EUR an hour is a placeholder; use what your musicians would accept as a fair hourly rate for skilled work in your country. What matters is the structure: hours on site, not hours on stage. A wedding with 3 × 45-minute sets is an 8- to 10-hour day. If you price it as 2 hours of playing, you are paying yourself 15 EUR an hour and calling it a career.

Below the floor, the band is subsidising the client. That happens for a reason sometimes (a showcase, a venue you want in with) but it should be a decision, not an accident.

Method 2: market-based (the range)

What do comparable bands charge for the same gig in your area? Not the best band in the country; bands of similar size, quality and reputation, within 100 km. Sources: agency listings (they show prices or bands' price bands), other band leaders (most will tell you over a coffee), planners (they know everyone's rate), and your own lost quotes.

The rough shape in much of Western Europe for a 5-piece professional function band, high season, before extras, and varying a lot by country and city:

• Wedding evening (3 sets, own PA): 1,800–4,500 EUR
• Corporate party: 2,000–6,000 EUR
• Private party: 1,200–3,000 EUR
• Bar or club (own draw): 300–1,000 EUR, sometimes door split
• Festival slot: from expenses-only to 5,000+ depending on billing

See gig fee benchmarks for a more detailed table. The market tells you where the band sits; it does not tell you where to sit. A band at the top of its local range has usually earned it with video, reviews and a planner network, not with a better guitarist.

Method 3: value-based (the ceiling)

What is the gig worth to the client? A wedding couple spending 40,000 EUR on a day will not choose a band because it is 200 EUR cheaper; they will choose the one they trust to make the party. A corporate client whose sales director wants a memorable dinner does not compare you with a pub band. Value-based pricing asks what problem you solve and prices the solution.

Signals that the value is high: the client found you by referral, the date is peak season, the brief mentions "our guests must dance", the venue is upmarket, the planner is involved, the client asked about extras before price. Signals that it is low: the enquiry is a price shop ("what's your cheapest"), the date is a Tuesday in February, the client is comparing you to a DJ.

Putting the three together

The floor is what you cannot go below. The market is where clients expect you. The value is what you can reach when the fit is right. A working formula:

1. Compute the floor for the specific gig (hours on site, travel, line-up).
2. Place the band in the market range based on honest evidence (video quality, reviews, years of work).
3. Add for value signals; subtract only for reasons you would say out loud ("off-season", "close to home", "a venue we want").

For the 5-piece above, floor 1,430, market mid-range 2,800, high-value signals: quote 3,200 with the reason built into the offer (a longer playing time, a DJ set between sets, ceremony music). Never quote 1,500 to a 40,000 EUR wedding; you will get the gig and lose money and a client who now thinks that is what you cost.

Per-musician rates, travel and extras

Build the price from parts so you can adjust it without guessing:

• Per-musician day rate. Decide it once: for example, 350 EUR per musician for a full-day wedding, 250 for an evening corporate, 150 for a local bar. A 5-piece wedding starts at 1,750 before travel and extras; adding a horn section is 2 × 350 and nobody has to think.
• Leader or admin fee. 10–20% of the band fee, or a fixed 200–400 EUR. This pays for the 3 hours of quoting and the advance calls. See splitting a gig fee fairly.
• Travel. Free within 50 km, then per km (0.40–0.60 EUR per km per vehicle is a common band rate) or a flat regional band. Over 250 km one way, add accommodation.
• Extras, priced separately: ceremony music (300–600), drinks reception acoustic set (300–500), DJ service between sets (200–400), extra 45-minute set (400–700), learning a song outside the repertoire (50–150 per song), early set-up before a 3 pm ceremony (150–300). See your service catalog.

Extras are where value-based pricing lives. The base fee is compared; the extras are chosen.

Seasonality and timing

Saturday in May to October and December is peak. Fridays and Sundays 10–20% less. Weekdays in January to March can be 30–40% less and still worth taking. Publish this as a rule, not as a discount: "Weekday and off-season dates from 1,900." It gives price-sensitive clients a route to yes without cutting your Saturday rate.

Do this today

1. Calculate your cost floor for a standard Saturday wedding using hours on site. Write it down.
2. Find 5 comparable bands' prices. If you cannot, ask 2 planners.
3. Decide your per-musician day rates for 3 gig types and your travel rule.
4. Write your extras list with prices.
5. Check your last 10 quotes against the floor. If any were below it, decide whether that was a decision or an accident.

Where expert.band helps

Put your per-musician rates, travel and extras into the quote catalog in expert.band once, and build each quote from those items rather than from memory. The client gets a link that shows the sections and the totals clearly, and can accept or decline from it. See writing a quote clients accept for how to structure the offer itself.