Guest, good point about the local union scale. (But my local union had some silly ideas, such as not taking into account such things as travel time. E.g. they found it "acceptable" to do a 2 hour gig 100 miles away for $75.00, but they did not approve of singing for 30 minutes in one building of a retirement complex 1 mile away for $50 and then walking across the parking lot to another building and doing another 30 minutes for another $50! That's what comes of a cookie-cutter approach, setting up a rigid fee structure.)

Gargoyle, why do you say charity, workshops and schools should be free? When you do a gig free, the IRS (in the US) doesn't let you write off your business expenses, such as travel (unless you claim the gig as "advertising" or such and music is your occupation). On the other hand, if you charge a nominal fee, you CAN write off legitimate business expenses, and you may be able to 'take a loss' on paper for the gig.

Schools may pay several hundred dollars for some types of musical performances, especially if they really are educational (e.g., presenting world music). Some people make most of their living doinsional music for schools.

As for workshops, I guess I don't understand why they should be free. Many singers/songwriters/instrumentalists, as well as other professionals, make money doing workshops.

When I do music for non-profit groups, I basically find out what they propose to pay or are accustomed to paying. Most of them DO pay $25 to $50 for a program that's about 30 to 50 minutes (more for special occasions and longer programs). I use a sliding scale that reflects a lot of factors, including the organization's budget, frequency and regularity of repeat booking (i.e,, how little time I have to spend getting the bookings), travel time, etc.