Is it possible for entertainers to trade a night of entertainment in exchange for an RV space- 1 week?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
D

dinoperelli

New member
Joined
Apr 6, 2022
Posts
2
Location
leesburg florida
I am a lifelong entertainer (guitarist / vocalist) who has made a living as a "one man band" for over 20 years.
I am thinking of doing the full time RV living lifestyle, but I'm wondering if some larger RV Parks would exchange a weeks rent for
a night of music for their guests. For regular bars and nightclubs, I charge from $200 - $500 a night. They could even add a small
cover charge the night I play, and actually make a profit from giving me a space for a week. Anybody have any experience with this?
I'm thinking of shooting for early 2023. Also also prefer WARM climates! LOL I'm in Florida now! For references, my website is dinodanger.com
 
Every campground is different, has their own set of rules, and set's their own price policies for everything. There is no standard pricing and there would be no common web site for such a thing as you are asking.

All you can do is contact the campground you are interested in and see what they can offer, if anything. Even working on a volunteer basis for no pay and no campsite, it's difficult to get your foot in the door.

Some campgrounds may require actual applications, back ground checks, and with the latest pandemic, Covid proof of some sort or another.

Again, it's up to each individual campground, what their agenda is, who they recruit for help, and what they can offer. All you can do is contact the ones you are interested in.
 
DutchmenSport said:
Every campground is different, has their own set of rules, and set's their own price policies for everything. There is no standard pricing and there would be no common web site for such a thing as you are asking.
Click to expand...

As Dutchman said: Every campground sets their own. So ask.
In some cases even with a Chain you will find one manager who says "Come on down" and another who says "Get lost" (No examples possible since I don't perform for money/parking).

Call ahead and ask
I've been in CG's where they performed for parking.. and where they performed for $$$ and where they performed for a space to sell CD's and the like. and "Some combination thereof".

All depends on the campground.

And for your entertainment... I was parked at a campground associated (Sake owner/campus) with a Small Church. Well he invited one performer to park next to me (As it turns out) and that performer has what he calls his most spiritual song.. (He explained why) Well I had to buy the CD.

 
I’ve been to lots of parks that put on some kind of entertainment every now and again. Others have an organization made up of full time or seasonal residents that likewise do such things (so when calling parks about this that say ‘no’, be sure to ask about such).
Won’t be something every park would agree to, but I strongly suspect you’ll find plenty that will.
I assume you would perform gigs at other, more traditional (and paying) venues while there to support yourself? That sounds like a splendid idea to me.
 
I think it's a great idea.

But if the campground is full or near full, I doubt they'd give away a spot for free that they can make money on. If the campground is doing good business already, they don't need entertainment to attract or keep customers.
 
stillRV said:
I think it's a great idea.

But if the campground is full or near full, I doubt they'd give away a spot for free that they can make money on. If the campground is doing good business already, they don't need entertainment to attract or keep customers.
Click to expand...
True. I was only referencing parks that ARE providing entertainment. And if they are, the cost of a night’s entertainment vs the cost of a week’s site fee, may well be a wash.
 
Laura & Charles said:
I’ve been to lots of parks that put on some kind of entertainment every now and again. Others have an organization made up of full time or seasonal residents that likewise do such things (so when calling parks about this that say ‘no’, be sure to ask about such).
Won’t be something every park would agree to, but I strongly suspect you’ll find plenty that will.
I assume you would perform gigs at other, more traditional (and paying) venues while there to support yourself? That sounds like a splendid idea to me.
Click to expand...
Yes. I have a great history of getting gigs just about anywhere, lol, but sometimes you have to wait for dates to become available for clubs, bars, etc.. If I'm living on the road, week by week, I have to park SOMEWHERE! I'm trying to do this on a tight budget (at least at first until I get a feel for it). I haven't worked "on the road" gigs for decades. I have also noticed here in Florida, the fraternal organizations have some places with cheap spaces for members (Eagles, Elks, Moose, etc), I would have to join them first though... then maybe trade or gig.
 
dinoperelli said:
Yes. I have a great history of getting gigs just about anywhere, lol, but sometimes you have to wait for dates to become available for clubs, bars, etc.. If I'm living on the road, week by week, I have to park SOMEWHERE! I'm trying to do this on a tight budget (at least at first until I get a feel for it). I haven't worked "on the road" gigs for decades. I have also noticed here in Florida, the fraternal organizations have some places with cheap spaces for members (Eagles, Elks, Moose, etc), I would have to join them first though... then maybe trade or gig.
Click to expand...
A a musician of old, I applaud you. I’ve confidence you can make this work. Strongly suggest building a good nest egg first. RVs are expensive mistresses. Between that and dealing with setting gig dates and such…. maintaining a deep pocket is going to be critical to your success.
 
Do you perform only your own works? Or do you also do covers. For covers, as I'm sure you know, the parks would need blanket ASCAP, BMI, and possibly GMR, copyright licenses to avoid any legal entanglements. That may prove to be a deal killer for many of them...
 
Itinerant parks, those that cater to travelers, seldom offer entertainment and would probably have no interest in doing that. Parks that cater to seasonal RVers or snowbirds or the weekend crowds from nearby cities do, however. So I think you have a fair chance IF you plan your route to take you to the right types of parks. The drawback is they may not be the places you wanted to go, so you end up planning your route around gig work rather than recreation. That's OK for finding a winter site in Florida or South Texas or Arizona, but maybe not so hot for traveling around the countryside in the summer.
 
NY_Dutch said:
Do you perform only your own works? Or do you also do covers. For covers, as I'm sure you know, the parks would need blanket ASCAP, BMI, and possibly GMR, copyright licenses to avoid any legal entanglements. That may prove to be a deal killer for many of them...
Click to expand...
Good point Dutch. I suspect this is not news to the OP, but good to raise the issue.

As a band, we only play at venues who have ASCAP & BMI performing rights licenses. The onus is initially on the venue but, if the venue doesn't have a license, the onus is on the performer(s).

One local venue got approached by SESAC lawyers for one of their concerts (not us performing), and promptly went out and acquired all 3 licenses. We recently talked to a new-to-us venue about a possible future concert; They have the licenses, but also require performers to have them - what they called "double coverage".
 
Tom said:
Good point Dutch. I suspect this is not news to the OP, but good to raise the issue.

As a band, we only play at venues who have ASCAP & BMI performing rights licenses. The onus is initially on the venue but, if the venue doesn't have a license, the onus is on the performer(s).

One local venue got approached by SESAC lawyers for one of their concerts (not us performing), and promptly went out and acquired all 3 licenses. We recently talked to a new-to-us venue about a possible future concert; They have the licenses, but also require performers to have them - what they called "double coverage".
Click to expand...
Exactly, Tom. I didn't mention the primarily European catalog SESAC license, but certainly that could apply as well.
 
Tom said:
Good point Dutch. I suspect this is not news to the OP, but good to raise the issue.

As a band, we only play at venues who have ASCAP & BMI performing rights licenses. The onus is initially on the venue but, if the venue doesn't have a license, the onus is on the performer(s).

One local venue got approached by SESAC lawyers for one of their concerts (not us performing), and promptly went out and acquired all 3 licenses. We recently talked to a new-to-us venue about a possible future concert; They have the licenses, but also require performers to have them - what they called "double coverage".
Click to expand...
There's no doubt that a lot of venues and performers are either ignorant of the issue, or choose to ignore it. I recently talked to a part-time performer who had just performed at a venue where we were thinking of performing, and asked if they or he had any of the licenses. His reaction was "I don't worry about that stuff; They're not going to come after me".
 
ziplock said:
Does anyone KNOW someone that they came after? Maybe yourself?
Click to expand...
Not me but, as I mentioned earlier, SESAC lawyers went after a local venue. Don't know what happened besides the fact that the venue acquired performing rights licenses. I also don't know if they went after the performers.
 
ziplock said:
I guess that is the most important part for this thread, OR NOT?

We need to know what they do to the performers?
Click to expand...
They won't bother the performers if the venue has the licenses. That's why we ask the venue before committing to performing.

I'd be interested if the OP has run into this at any of the venues he's performed.
 
Tom said:
They won't bother the performers if the venue has the licenses. That's why we ask the venue before committing to performing.

I'd be interested if the OP has run into this at any of the venues he's performed.
Click to expand...
So Tom.. I used to play keyboard back in the day. And back then, nobody (at least not that I knew) worried about this. We played local bars and such and just got the door (or maybe a percent of the door).
I’m curious how careful musicians need to be these days. (Besides those that don’t care or worry about it), I assume it does not really apply to non-paid performance (or maybe it does and my next question is how can I get a copyright on ‘Happy Birthday’ 😜). But what about musicians who play for whatever the listening public adds to their top jar or open guitar case? And if they’re paid only by tips, is the establishment required to be compliant even if they’re not paying?
The internet sure changed the music industry, didn’t it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,002 (members: 9, guests: 993)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,981
Posts
1,388,591
Members
137,727
Latest member
Davidomero
Back
Top Bottom