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Listen "102 – The Upsides & Downsides of Playing in a Tribute Band"
Episode Synopsis
Are you thinking about starting a tribute band? Are you wondering what to expect on the path ahead?
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share what I’ve learned from performing with a tribute band for nearly a decade.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
00:14 – Performing with a tribute band
00:37 – Upsides to playing in a tribute band
00:40 – #1: Commanding a High Fee
01:24 – #2: Performing for a larger audience
02:09 – #3: Growing as a musician
02:51 – The downsides to playing in a tribute band
02:54 – #1: You’ll never be as popular as the original act
03:36 – #2: Becoming a target of criticism
04:33 – #3: Limiting your merch selling opportunities
05:05 – How to succeed as a tribute band
Transcription:
At this point, I’ve been performing with a tribute act for several years.
It’s a bit of a feast or famine situation because sometimes we have a lot of gigs, and at other times we don’t have any. This means I generally have plenty of time to work on other projects.
But when we do perform, I usually have a lot of fun.
Over the years, I’ve come to recognize there are both upsides and downsides to playing in a tribute band. So, I thought I would share these with you.
First, let’s look at the upsides to playing in a tribute band.
1. You Can Command a High Fee
It’s a good day when you get paid for your performance as an original act. I’m not saying it’s impossible to get paid for your gigs if you’re performing original material. But for the most part, the fee structure hasn’t changed in decades. These days, some bands even pay to play.
This is where cover and tribute bands have certain advantages. Generally, you can command a higher fee out the gate. Since there’s a built-in audience for the music, it isn’t as challenging to attract an audience, and most music venues know this.
But there is a downside here in that there is a limit to how much a cover or tribute band can earn in one go. Meanwhile, there is virtually unlimited earning potential as an original act. Getting to the point where you can earn more can take a long time, mind you.
2. You Can Perform for More People
This goes hand in hand with the last point I made. Since the music you’re performing already has a built-in audience, drawing a crowd generally isn’t a problem. You might not have a huge audience every time you perform, as it’s still contingent on the marketing that goes into it, but for the most part you’ll find yourself performing for more people than a new original act.
But because you’re playing someone else’s material, hardcore fans might not like how you perform the original band’s music. I’ll share more on that later.
Additionally, what I said about payment also applies to audience. As a tribute act, there will always be an upper limit to the number of people you can play to. As an original act, you can keep playing to bigger and bigger audiences assuming there’s still room for growth. Again, getting to that point could take you a long time though.
3. You Get to Grow as a Musician
As a singer-songwriter and rock musician, playing in a tribute band is a side gig for me. It was never meant to replace my other musical projects or even other work.
But when I started learning the material for the tribute band, it took a lot of time and effort to figure out. It wasn’t the most technical music I’d ever played, but the arrangements were a lot weirder than anticipated. So, it took me a while to wrap my head around the arrangements.
As I went through that process, I ended up growing a lot as a musician. I had to figure out how to sing over complex guitar parts. I had to learn both the bass lines and the guitar riffs. I had to learn and employ new techniques.
When you grow as a musician in a tribute act, you can apply what you’ve learned to your original music, which is a significant benefit.
As a musician, you can apply what you learn in one project and a...
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I share what I’ve learned from performing with a tribute band for nearly a decade.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
00:14 – Performing with a tribute band
00:37 – Upsides to playing in a tribute band
00:40 – #1: Commanding a High Fee
01:24 – #2: Performing for a larger audience
02:09 – #3: Growing as a musician
02:51 – The downsides to playing in a tribute band
02:54 – #1: You’ll never be as popular as the original act
03:36 – #2: Becoming a target of criticism
04:33 – #3: Limiting your merch selling opportunities
05:05 – How to succeed as a tribute band
Transcription:
At this point, I’ve been performing with a tribute act for several years.
It’s a bit of a feast or famine situation because sometimes we have a lot of gigs, and at other times we don’t have any. This means I generally have plenty of time to work on other projects.
But when we do perform, I usually have a lot of fun.
Over the years, I’ve come to recognize there are both upsides and downsides to playing in a tribute band. So, I thought I would share these with you.
First, let’s look at the upsides to playing in a tribute band.
1. You Can Command a High Fee
It’s a good day when you get paid for your performance as an original act. I’m not saying it’s impossible to get paid for your gigs if you’re performing original material. But for the most part, the fee structure hasn’t changed in decades. These days, some bands even pay to play.
This is where cover and tribute bands have certain advantages. Generally, you can command a higher fee out the gate. Since there’s a built-in audience for the music, it isn’t as challenging to attract an audience, and most music venues know this.
But there is a downside here in that there is a limit to how much a cover or tribute band can earn in one go. Meanwhile, there is virtually unlimited earning potential as an original act. Getting to the point where you can earn more can take a long time, mind you.
2. You Can Perform for More People
This goes hand in hand with the last point I made. Since the music you’re performing already has a built-in audience, drawing a crowd generally isn’t a problem. You might not have a huge audience every time you perform, as it’s still contingent on the marketing that goes into it, but for the most part you’ll find yourself performing for more people than a new original act.
But because you’re playing someone else’s material, hardcore fans might not like how you perform the original band’s music. I’ll share more on that later.
Additionally, what I said about payment also applies to audience. As a tribute act, there will always be an upper limit to the number of people you can play to. As an original act, you can keep playing to bigger and bigger audiences assuming there’s still room for growth. Again, getting to that point could take you a long time though.
3. You Get to Grow as a Musician
As a singer-songwriter and rock musician, playing in a tribute band is a side gig for me. It was never meant to replace my other musical projects or even other work.
But when I started learning the material for the tribute band, it took a lot of time and effort to figure out. It wasn’t the most technical music I’d ever played, but the arrangements were a lot weirder than anticipated. So, it took me a while to wrap my head around the arrangements.
As I went through that process, I ended up growing a lot as a musician. I had to figure out how to sing over complex guitar parts. I had to learn both the bass lines and the guitar riffs. I had to learn and employ new techniques.
When you grow as a musician in a tribute act, you can apply what you’ve learned to your original music, which is a significant benefit.
As a musician, you can apply what you learn in one project and a...
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