I've always wondered this. He's had several band mates, but - unless it's Maceo or Sheila E., or someone with that kind of star power, I can't imagine he'd be cheap on the band that has to be as tight as he expects them to be!

Does anyone know? Is it a great gig? (of course, playing with Prince has to be some sort of payment there already!) Does he pay scale or over the top?

Just curious....

a stupid question

pro said:

There are no stupid questions... just stupid responses. Thanks for proving that fact.

now i am giggling my motherfucking ass off

June7 said:

June7 said:

I always wonder about people who take the time to fire up the web browser and crank out the "stupid question" reply.

What a waste of time.

Anyway, concerning what Prince pays his band...during the Purple Rain era was it a grand a night? Or something less than what other acts were making at the time?

These days, who knows, but it would be interesting to see how much a modern tour costs to put together.

Alasseon said:

That's what I'm saying... it's a legitimate question. I've seen Prince three times now, and have always wondered... other than the sheer joy of playing with one of music's most original pioneer artists, what's the pay? Same with Stevie Wonder's band or any other big time artist... what's the going rate? Who pays the best?

I'd like to know... out of curiosity.

June7 said:

I'd like to know out of curiosity as well. And it seems like a perfectly good question to ask in this forum. Certainly I've never heard of any of the musicians complain about what Prince paid them, or his work ethic. It would just be a wild guess, but with what Prince rakes in at concerts, he probably pays his crew a bit more than average, but I'm sure he probably doesn't go crazy.

Alasseon said:

-----
Bobby Z said during PR each band member was making $50,000.00 a year and each band member received a 1 million dollar bonus at end of the tour.

laurarichardson said:

Can you imagine what it must be like to make a million dollars doing what you love to do?

God...

pro said:

STUPID POST OR URS

Prince around 2000:

"Money and art don't mix"

June7 said:

I asked this same question a couple of months back and only got a few informative org notes from what I've been told he's quite generous.

They are probably paid well, but don't have the luxury to travel with Prince or stay in the same hotel. Prince stays by himself in a very posh hotel, while the band members are sent to some motel. True story...

lspear76 said:

Still seems kinda cold

Standard wage + all they can eat.

But they say he's relatively kind to his slaves.

my educated guess would be..around 600.00 per show and a few hundreds per aftershow + per diems for days off on tours and of course all accomodations tickets ect paid for as well.

prettymansson said:

thats a shity wage jst by thinking the amount of hours per day they have to be available for prince to rehearse so and so

electrorock said:

Of course Im just speculating..but i have been doing those kinds of gigs myself for many years and at the high end of the business Id say thats about average..it is a job afterall..and if you are doing 4 gigs a week and all your expenses are covered it aint that bad..add to that the fact that most real musicians would be playing for free at home if they weren't out on the road just for the love of playing.

All I know is that the Twinz were standing in front of me in the merchandise line at the O2 on the night of the last show buying a bunch of shit. I was like, "Ya'll don't get an employee discount or a hook up???? " Response: I ain't sayin', but . . . I'm just sayin'. . .

all i want is an opportunity to play for him... im envious of the Alladin tour .. everybody was killing it in that concert (Maceo,Eric,Renato) they must jam all the time

I remember back in the 80s when the REv started quiting some were quoted as saying he paid much less than one would think.

IN particular I think BrownMark was offered a lot more to join Stevie Nics or someone's band.... but P convinced him to stay for less money.

Didn't knwo about the $1 million bonus.

Do you people have any sense of history? Stories of Prince paying his band members poorly & even fining them in some cases are commonplace throughout his years as a live performer.

viewaskew said:

-----
Bobby Z said during PR each band member was making $50,000.00 a year and each band member received a 1 million dollar bonus at end of the tour.

Rosie Gains was on $2,200 a week

Patrick1985 said:

no wonder he sacked her

$31.21 per hour

or

$312.10 per hour


just a thought

SCNDLS said:

This is funny because on the Musicology Tour, it was reported some members of the band wanted to get tickets for their family members but the BAND MEMBERS had to pay for the tickets.

*note* And before anyone breaks out with the whole "Prince has a right to charge band members for tickets", I know that, it's about the principle of the thing.

VelvetJ said:

This is hard 2 believe, because back before there was an NPGMC, and member tickets, I was on Prince's guest list many times in DC/Baltimore. This was because of Rhonda.

Interesting thread.

Getting paid 150 euros per night is a good wage around here.

Sounds like Prince's people are doing OK, expenses paid & all.