Pricing a gig

"How much for a gig?" has no single answer in Timor-Leste — but it has a method. Price from your costs up, not from fear down.

Count the real costs first

• Transport for every member and every instrument — there and back, including after midnight
• Rehearsal time for a setlist you don't already play
• Equipment: strings, batteries, cables — and the day the amplifier dies
• The hours: a "two-hour wedding set" is an eight-hour day by the time you've loaded, travelled, soundchecked, waited and packed

Then price the situation

A bar gig on a quiet Tuesday, a hotel residency, an NGO gala and a full wedding are four different products. Weddings and corporate events pay more because the stakes are higher and the requirements stricter — that's fair, not greedy. A useful pattern: set your minimum (the fee below which the gig costs you money), a standard rate for bars and restaurants, and an event rate for weddings and companies. Quote set length, breaks and overtime clearly.

Deposits protect both sides

For private events, ask for a deposit — commonly a third to a half — when the date is confirmed. The client is protected too: the rest is only due when you've played. Put the agreement in writing, even short: date, place, times, lineup, fee, deposit, what happens if either side cancels.

Free gigs

"Exposure" pays no transport. Play free when YOU choose to — for your community, your church, a cause you believe in — not because a profitable venue told you it's good for you.

Sounds of Timor booking requests come with date, venue and budget up front, and record the agreed fee and deposit — in cash or SOT Coin — so the money conversation happens once, clearly.