The world would be better with a lot more transparency about pay, but we have a combination of taboos and incentives where it usually stays secret. Several years ago I shared the range of what dance weekends ended up paying me, and it's been long enough to do it again.

This is all my dance weekend gigs since restarting, both with Free Raisins and Kingfisher, and all either included travel or were within a few hours drive. They also all included housing and food. Some involved more playing than others and each gig has its own combination of pros and cons, but here's the range:

• $600
• $650
• $650
• $750
• $800
• $800
• $900
• $900
• $900
• $900
• $950

I have at times had performers try to convince me that I should push broadly for higher pay [1] but I'm not pushing either way here: my goal is to talk about what I've generally been paid so performers and organizers can negotiate with more of an understanding of what's typical. I'd be supportive of others sharing what they pay

(Overall see both sides in here, and have been on both sides. On balance, however, I'm a bit more sympathetic towards organizers, who are volunteering their time to balance a bunch of competing priorities, putting on financially accessible events that risk not breaking even.)

[1] This may be illegal, as a kind of price fixing, I'm not sure. The 2025-01-14 FTC policy statement looks relevant, but, since that went out right at the end of Biden's term, who knows.