I never berate folk musicians. They deserve a decent wage and benefits period end of discussion I have always stood for that.

I propose only strategies for musicians to think outside of the box so that they can expand their audience size and make more money.

You do this by playing where the greatest number of people can afford to attend spend time, and enjoy themselves.

On this thread you will find people making excuses for not looking into pricing within folk venues.

I grant that venues and everyone in the food chain supplying them need to make a profit.

Profit is greatest when you have the largest possible volume and best quality.

You can not have the greatest number in the audience when you disregard the cost of a pint.

You might fill a place but you will not have it as packed as when prices are reasonable.

If people find prices high when a band gets them to come they might stop following that band.

If prices are reasonable they will come back at greater rates. Bands could be hired to do several more performances per month. Everyone still makes a profit and the profit expands with volume. Not only that but costs should also go down with volume expansion.

Win win win....no loss just gain.

What is the fair price of guinness-

Cans of imported guinness with smoothafier- 14.9 Oz today in Ferndale Maryland USA sell for $1.46 each. That is roughly .09 cents an oz which oz being american and almost the same as an imperial oz.

So go figure. Why work someplace where your product costs a consumer 5-600% more than they need to pay?

General price of a pint in Baltimore no music no snacks is $6.-7. dollars in D.C. much more. My supplier told me he is making a healthy profit on the price of $1.46 a 14.9 oz can. I would give a bar maybe %100 profit over that but not what they are doing generally. And when music is playing it goes up of course. Which is fair but baseline of several hundred present profit is not making business sense in the long run for anyone.

So there are a few facts to consider.

Conrad