When it's time to cut a venue off...

[Joeydego]

I just had my bands first outing. We played in Kearney, NJ and the small bar did zero promotion. We pushed it on FB and word of mouth along with the other band playing that night and did 98 people at the door at 10 bucks a head. This neighborhood bar would have had 5 people in it all night. Moral? We played, got paid, and when he calls back we get a flat fee OR the door, whichever is greater or we just don't play. Theres plenty of 19 year olds that got guitars and drums for xmas that will play for nothing. Hope it works out for the bar. It usually doesn't. A good act can successfully demand money.

 

[voices]

You made a few mistakes. Mistake one was agreeing to play for free. Outside of a benefit, NEVER. You're essentially telling him "my art is worth NOTHING". You opened that door, and now he's walking right thru it. Your art is worth money. Don't just give away the store. Mistake 2 is playing without a performance contract. Anyone serious about hosting and subsequently paying you should have no problems signing a piece of paper that says "I come play, you pay me XYZ $$$". Follow these 2 rules you'll never get screwed again.

This times a 1000

advice so good, you should charge people for it.