The Watering Hole

Hey guys, I know both of you are Florida boys and I just wanted run this by you to see if you've heard of it and if it's legit. OK, here's the story....

My son calls me this morning asking if I've ever heard of this "pay to play" thing. I told him back in the 80's (when I lived in L.A.) the club owners used to charge bands to play as there was a surplus of bands trying to get signed. Well, you guys know THAT story, so he tells me his band sent out a request to www.sonicbids.com and got info for a company called 3-D Entertainment who offered them two packages to play at a festival known as "Locofest 2009" in West Palm Beach, FL   www.locobazooka.com ....

Pkg #1 - Pay $1,000.00 and get to play on the bill on a side stage

Pkg #2 - Pay $3,000.00 and get to play on the MAIN stage where the headliners are playing

Now they checked out 3-D Entertainment and they seem legit, they checked out Mudvayne's (the headliner act) website and they have this date scheduled to play as well. It's kinda like a Warped Tour deal complete with a motorcycle show and 25 bands set to play over that Friday and Saturday. Plus, the radio statin The BUZZ 103.1 has it on their website.

So, my question is, "Have you guys ever heard of this festival and their 'pay to play' agenda?"    

These guys have the $3,000.00 to do it, not to mention the talent. I just wanna make sure they don't get ripped off, ya know? Any input from anyone would help, thanks in advance guys.

cgtrox  8-)

I've never really seen anything like that before...I personally wouldn't do it, but the band is appropriate to the genre at the festival it might be a good opportunity for a lot of people to see you.

Or it might be a good opportunity to spend $3000 to play a show in the middle of the day when no one is there yet.

I'm wary of anything like that.
Tripper

I would be very wary.  Most of the opening sets at those festivals suck... the bands play in the middle of the day, people are milling about, there is no soundcheck, the set is a half hour.  $3000 better spent elsewhere.  The only way this could work out is if they have a nice fan base, and they get a pack of tickets for their $3k, that they can then resell to cover the costs.  That is how the old "pay to play" worked... though I thought that was a dead system.

I wouldn't do it.  

1.  Your sound will be fucked on purpose.  
2.  There won't be shit you can do about it....you ain't the main stager.
3.  Why pay....when you can get paid.
4.  There are better ways to get exposure.
5.  Pay to play is always stupid.

Wow!  I think that would be great!  Spend $3 grand just to sound like ass in front of a dozen people for 30 minutes!!!  Where do I sign up??!  :o :D ;D

$3,000 sure could buy a lot of gear and better advertising...

Yeah, I kinda felt the same way. Thanks bros...

cgtrox  8-)

Yeah, all pay to play I ever heard of usually works as charger mentioned, you get tickets you can sell to recoup your costs and maybe even profit, as well as an opportunity to sell merch and maybe some advertising. But, $3k is kind of steep.

About not doing it, there are plenty of non pay to play gigs for ambitious good sounding original bands, better to pay a promoter or manager. (of course hey can be shady too)

Thanks spai, yeah this is a shady biz. :(

cgtrox  8-)

Fuck that, I ain't playing somewhere if they only pay me $50 or $75 (which is what a solo artist with backing tracks gets around here). So I sure would not pay to play anywhere in the world.