Value
I was shocked to find out that world class musicians, musicians that are 10x better than the musicians around them, usually charge exactly the same as an average musician.
We all do this. We look around and think “if I can charge the same or maybe slightly less than the other guy, I’ll get the gig”.
It’s a lie.
Yes, musicians are working on tight budgets, but the reason that some people get hired and others don’t isn’t because of price. It’s because of value.
Value is how good you are at the songs you’re getting hired to play. How much fun are you to hang out with during a show. What you can bring to the table that nobody else can.
When all things are equal, pricing matters much less than value.