This question is important, especially for young musicians, because they often jump before looking when they hear the words “performance” or ” paying gig”. Many times these “opportunities” are merely opportunities to be used by someone.
Take for example a recent ” opportunity” to play an outside gig. The pay was good, but not in comparison to the time required to play (3 hours).
This gig was in a square surrounded by restaurants blasting their own music for their outside customers. At the same time, there were volume limits placed on the performer, who, even when the restaurants were quite, was barely audible.
No one was really paying attention to the performer, thanks to the sports TVs in the outdoor dining areas. The performer went thru song after song with barely any interaction or applause between numbers.
These kinds of “opportunities ” are unhealthy for young performers. They damage confidence by making he or she ask “do I suck,” when the real problem is threefold: the venue, the requirements, and yes, the audience, all suck!
So what’s a good opportunity? It’s one where you are advertised and annouced. It’s one where people are there for the show, not background music. And it’s one where you feel good about the amount played to the amount paid ratio.
It takes time and experience to learn how to vet these opportunities. As a person with over 40 years experience, I’ve run into a few nightmare gigs. Hopefully, I can help you avoid those.
randy lin guitar 