I got offered a gig and am not sure what to charge. It is a private event at a very high-end restaurant in downtown Manhattan for a big client. It is through a PR company with a lot of money behind it. They are setting up full audio so all I have to do is plug an play. The event is a cocktail party to launch a new product and goes from 6pm-10pm. It will have a chill house/tropical vibe with waiters walking around serving sushi, martini’s, etc. I’m not on the flyer or being billed as any big name DJ. I don’t want to gouge them so they find someone cheaper but at the same time it’s a big enough event where they might just cut a big check and not think twice about it. Please offer a ballpark as I am not familiar with the rate for these events. Thx
I guess they heard you Play before and if they ask you they know you will fit perfectly for the Event.
I made those kinds of Events here in Switzerland for around 1’500 USD.
My advice: Don’t go by hourly rate, those companies like “All Inclusive Prices” no one has to watch the clock. Imagine if you tell them “100 per Hour” because you think it’s a 4h gig and You’ll get 400 bucks, and then People leave early right after the product Presentation, let’s say People start leaving at 8PM and then someone Comes to you and tells you to stop around 9PM…you already lost a 100 bucks…and you will not go and argue with them that you expected to be paid for 5h as you also expect to get following gigs from them no???
It might be “only” from 6PM-10PM but do not forget your preparation time. Then you might be there 1h earlyer to set up and make a Soundcheck no? Then Transportation time (btw…try to ask for them to pay for your Transport costs as well, they might have a Driver that would pick you up). And not to forget you Preparation Time before the Gig.
You know for them as it is a Product Presentation, they can cut the costs off from Taxes as expenses or Investment costs.
A flight Company once gave me way more in Flight Vouchers than I ever would have requested, maybe some payment in naturals might be more interesting for you…depending on what Kind of product will be presented.
Imagine they present a new powerful Notebook and they are OK to pay you with one, or a New Smartphone, etc… this might be way more interesting than Money no?
As you said it’s a Upper Class Event, so why should you sell yourself under the “Upper Class” Price?
Well just to say you might think People piss Money over here but it’s not so.
Specially Corporates don’t have the same philosophy about PR-Events and the Budgets for those Kind of Events are way lower here than in the US.
According to the High Level of Prices in Manhattan you can compare it easily with Switzerland believe me, been there seen it and got many friends from NYC that visited me in Switzerland who confirmed that it is comparable.
As I said, I played corporates and they never discussed the Price, even better more than one paid me more than we said in advance.
For example I played that Employee Summer Party for an Airline,. It was 100km away from home and I played 2 1/2h longer than what they told me the Party would last. I offered them an All-Inclusive Price before and they paid me a Km fee and a few hundred bucks more for the overtime…don’t even had to ask for it.