Do you give your own business card out at other people's gigs?

May 30, 2015 at 06:04 PM · I'm never in this situation, but I would imagine that giving your card out to someone who hasn't expressed an interest in getting or staying in touch with you would be pretty useless or even counterproductive, like the bumph that gets pushed through my door (or should I spell it bumf? - YES I SHOULD, I've looked it up in the Concise Oxford Dictionary and the correct spelling is nothing to do with which side of the pond you grew up on - Indeed, seeing what it's an abbreviation for, you ladies would start feeling even more sorry for the homeless than you already do).

May 30, 2015 at 09:20 PM · If I hire someone for a gig and then catch that person handing out his/her own card at MY gig, I will not hire that person again.

It's unprofessional and it's rude.

I have actually been approached for a card at someone else's gig, and I always direct the inquirer to the contractor.

May 31, 2015 at 01:47 AM · This is a great topic for a thread.

Mary Ellen, doesn't it depend on the extent of the conflict? Suppose you hire a violist for a string quartet gig at a retirement party, and during the break a guests asks the violist if they can play a solo at a wedding.

May 31, 2015 at 02:22 AM · No, that doesn't change the protocol.

I make a fair share of my income from contracting. If someone I hired makes a positive impression on a guest at my gig, it is thanks to my hiring them. If that musician then starts giving out his/her business card at one of my gigs, that means they are bypassing me for future gigs--cutting me out of a contracting fee--when they would not have had that opportunity had I not hired them in the first place.

I have actually been on the other side of this, playing gigs for other contractors. Under no circumstances would I give out MY card at THEIR gig. If someone were insistent, I would politely inform them that they could reach me through the contractor who hired me.

This is all hypothetical. I've never actually known any of my colleagues to do something so unprofessional as distribute their own card at someone else's gigs. It is just not done.

May 31, 2015 at 09:57 PM · Thank you all! I appreciate your thoughts and the suggestions on how to handle a possibly very_uncomfortable_situation. Definitely some food for thought!

June 1, 2015 at 12:08 AM · Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the land of magic and fairy tales and make believe and unicorns and rainbows arching over a purple and lilac sky dotted with Strads and Tourtes for all, I gigged in the land of One. Big. Contractor.

Big C's fee, adjusting for inflation, was $1,500 per gig, big or small. Players were paid scale, again, adjusted for inflation, $100 per performance.

So, maybe, just maybe, when Big C would send you merrily off to the wedding trio gig in the Magical Cathedral, maybe, just maybe, the Magical Cathedral Organist, well aware of Big C's boot on all y'all's throats, would ask for your card. After all, the Magical Cathedral Organist can ask you to play weddings too. And maybe, just maybe, you might hand over your card. Very quietly.

Shhh.

June 1, 2015 at 01:47 AM · I just got back from an Engagement party. I did not display my cards, but I had three people come up and ask me for one. Last night I was DJ-ing a graduation party and did have my cards displayed for that.

It all depends on the situation, but if I am asked for a card I always have one to give. I rarely ever work for another company. When I get called for a gig it is usually seen as I am coming as my own business, and not a tag-along of someone else's.

June 1, 2015 at 04:35 AM · Exactly. It's the same in music.

June 1, 2015 at 06:51 AM · What about handing out business card right after the gig is over and away from the venue? In this case, all contractual obligations are over.

June 1, 2015 at 09:29 AM · Kevin, "I cant give you my card now, but see me in the parking lot in half an hour" ... like that? I dont think that solves the problem.

In my world of $50 gigs (not my day job), there are no booking fees and everything is pretty relaxed. We give out our individual cards fairly openly and even sell our own CDs on gigs, usually checking with the "contractor" to make sure its okay. Just a different culture. You can argue it's an unprofessional culture, and perhaps that's an accurate assessment in more ways than one. But there is an individual who is a professional musician who is kind of a point man, and if I am asked about whether I can put a group together to play for a wedding or such, I always direct everything through him. As much for my own convenience, I admit, as anything else.