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Q: In my band not everyone is paid the same - there's three of us and we hire a drummer. He gets the same pay no matter what we negotiate with the club.

In this case you might want to set the number of band members to 3, and then treat the drummer as an 'extra cost' (under the Miscellaneous section).

Q: What's up with the IRS Tax Deduction? What's that all about?

First of all I'm not a tax accountant and I'm not giving any tax advice - there, legal disclaimer out of the way.

Some bands make enough money that they report their earnings to the IRS. You'd want to consult a tax accountant to be sure, but travel expenses can be legitimate deductions when it's tax time. The IRS permits reasonable travel expenses as deductions. If you're in a band that travels a lot, you can deduct the costs you incur travelling to and from the gig.

GigCalc calculates the mileage between the garage and the venue. Then it doubles it since the map calculation is for ONE WAY. It then adds in the "extra mileage" you might drive (to be up equipment, musicians, etc.) and multiplies that by the standard IRS Mileage Rate.

If you're treating your band as a business and reporting the income to the IRS, you can PRINT the bid and save it with your records. The mileage estimates and the IRS deduction figure may come in quite handy!

The GigCalc Philosophy

Gigcalc makes several assumptions about a "band":

  • Everyone is paid the same
  • Time is money
  • Recovery of Expenses is Important

Everyone is paid the same

We recognize that not all bands are organized similarly, but we think the calculator ought to be easy to use. So in our world, all band members are paid the same. If you only pay the bass player half, then one simply solution might be to set the number of band members to ONE LESS than you have, and use the OTHER COSTS tab to add some dollars back into the equation.

Time is money

In our way of thinking, a band who isn't getting paid well won't last long (no matter how dedicated the members nor how much you believe in the dream, you still have to buy groceries). The calculator determines a FAIR and REASONABLE rate. It takes the time the musicians spend on a gig (including travel) into account. Of course, YOU have to decide what hourly rate per person, so there is quite a bit of flexibility there (if you band lives in Manhattan your rate will be different from the guys who live in Amarillo). But getting paid for your TIME is an important aspect of the calculator.

Recovery of Expenses is Important

It is not COOL to LOSE money on a gig. Yes - it happens sometimes, but try to make sure it's for the right reasons. Gigcalc is designed to let you see the MINIMUM charge - when all costs are recovered. Even if you settle for a rate that's lower than the Gigcalc recommended rate, at least you'll have the benefit of knowing exactly how far short you are from the goal.


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