How to Split Gig Money Fairly in a Band

Nothing sours a band faster than money nobody has talked about. Most arguments about gig fees are not really about the £20 difference — they are about feeling that the rules were never agreed, or that they changed without warning. The fix is simple: choose a split method, write it down, and apply it the same way every time.

This guide walks through the common ways UK bands split gig money, the costs to take off first, and worked examples you can copy.

#Start with the gross fee, then take costs off the top

Before anyone gets paid, work out what is actually left to share. A £1,800 wedding fee is not £1,800 of profit. Typical costs that come off the top:

• Agent or booking commission — often a percentage of the fee, agreed in the agency contract.
• Travel — fuel or mileage for whoever drives, van hire, parking, congestion or ULEZ charges, tolls.
• Accommodation — if you stay over after a late finish.
• Hired kit or crew — a PA hire, a sound engineer, a lighting tech.
• Deps — if a dep is on a fixed fee, they are a cost, not a share.
• Band kitty contribution — money set aside for shared costs such as insurance, website hosting, strings for the house kit or promo photos.

Agree the order in which these are deducted. Most bands take commission first (because it is usually calculated on the gross), then expenses, then the kitty, then split what remains.

#The four common split methods

#1. Equal shares

Everyone who played gets the same. It is simple, it feels fair and it is the default for most covers and function bands where everyone carries a similar load.

Best for: bands where workload, gear and admin are roughly equal.

Watch out for: the person who does all the bookings, invoicing and client calls. If one member is doing ten hours of admin per wedding, equal shares can quietly breed resentment. Many bands solve this with a small admin fee (see method 4).

#2. Percentages

Each member gets an agreed percentage. A singer-songwriter fronting a band they own might take 30% and split the rest between four players; an original band might give a larger share to the main writer.

Best for: bands with a clear leader or owner, or where one person brings most of the work.

Watch out for: percentages need to add up to exactly 100%, and you need a rule for what happens when someone is replaced by a dep. Does the dep get that member's percentage, or a fixed fee with the difference going to the kitty?

#3. Fixed fees

The band leader (or the band as a business) pays each player a fixed fee per gig and keeps whatever is left — the profit and the risk. This is how many function bands and agency-run line-ups work.

Best for: leader-run bands, bands that use lots of deps, and any act where the leader takes on the financial risk of cancellations and marketing spend.

Watch out for: be transparent about the model, even if you do not share the full fee. Players are entitled to know whether they are partners or hired musicians, because it affects everything from tax to who signs contracts.

#4. Hybrid: fixed fees for some, shares for the rest

The most common real-world model. Deps and crew get a fixed fee; core members split the remainder equally; the leader or bookings person gets an admin fee first.

#Worked example: a £2,000 wedding

Here is a five-piece function band with one dep on keys and a hired sound engineer.

A few things to notice:

• The mileage is paid to whoever drove the van, on top of their share — it is a reimbursement, not income they are being "given".
• The kitty is a fixed percentage, so it grows on bigger gigs and shrinks on small ones.
• The admin fee is a flat amount, agreed in advance, so nobody argues about it on the night.

#Mileage: pick a rate and stick to it

Drivers often lose out. Someone who drives 200 miles with the PA in their estate car is paying for fuel, wear and tear and insurance. Agree a per-mile rate up front. Many bands use the HMRC approved rate for cars and vans — 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year and 25p after that — because it is easy to explain and broadly covers running costs. Whatever you choose, write it down.

#What about the band kitty?

A kitty pays for the shared stuff that otherwise ends up on one person's credit card: public liability insurance, the website, promo photos, a new set of in-ear packs. Two common approaches:

• Percentage of every gig (5–10% is typical) — painless and proportional.
• Fixed amount per gig (say £20 per member) — predictable, easier to explain.

Keep a running balance everyone can see, and agree what the kitty can be spent on without a vote (consumables, renewals) and what needs agreement (anything over, say, £200).

#Paying deps fairly

Deps should know their fee before they say yes, and it should not depend on the band's final take. Good practice:

• Quote the fee in the request, including whether travel is extra.
• Pay within an agreed time — ideally within a week of the gig, not "when the client pays us".
• If the gig is cancelled at short notice and the band keeps a cancellation fee, pass a fair share on to the dep.

A dep who gets paid promptly and fairly will say yes next time. One who has to chase you for a month will not.

#Write it down: a one-page band money agreement

You do not need a solicitor for this, but you do need it in writing. Cover:

1. Which split method you use and the percentages, if any.
2. The order costs come off the top.
3. The mileage rate and who can claim it.
4. Kitty percentage and spending rules.
5. Admin or leader fees.
6. How deps and crew are paid and how quickly.
7. What happens when a gig is cancelled and a deposit is kept.
8. When members get paid (for example, within seven days of the band being paid).

Share it with everyone, and revisit it once a year. If the band's situation changes — a new leader, a move from pubs to weddings — update it before the next booking, not after.

#Show your working after every gig

The single best thing you can do for trust is to send a short breakdown after each gig: gross fee, every deduction, and each person's share. When everyone can see the numbers, nobody has to wonder.

If you are doing this in a spreadsheet, keep one tab per gig and a summary tab with running balances. If you would rather not, BandQuill's Pro plan logs fees, expenses and mileage against each gig and works out equal, percentage or fixed-fee splits automatically, with a pay share calculator you can paste straight into the group chat. Deps and crew get their own free login and only see their own fee.

#Quick checklist

• Agree a split method before the next gig, not after it.
• Take costs off the top in a fixed order.
• Pay drivers a per-mile rate.
• Run a kitty with clear rules.
• Pay deps a fixed fee, promptly.
• Send a breakdown after every gig.

Get those six right and money becomes the least interesting thing about your band — which is exactly how it should be.