what do you say to people who just come to sing and not buying anything

[billyo]

what do you do or say to people who just come to your show and all they wanted to do was to sing and not buying anything..

[Lonman]

It's not my job to police what people are drinking or spending nor normally do I have the time to go & find out who is spending what. It's the bartenders/waitresses job IMO. I will let anyone sing if they are turning slips in. If the bar has a problem with it, they need to tell me that so & so can't sing because they haven't spent any money or flat out tell hem to spend or leave - that's their right.
But then on the flipside, sometimes these non-spending singers are generally pretty good & keep the crowd entertained to where they will want to stay to hear their next song as well so it's not always a bad thing in that respect.
Then you sometimes get the dedicated driver - however they COULD still spend money on something like RedBull, virgin drinks or buy food (if available).

[billyo]

i dont have the time too, the reason i asked was that the bar area where i do my show only has about 70 ppl seating capacity, not including the dining area and sometimes these people will occupy about 2 tables, and i have regulars that comes in after work which i know are big spenders that dont have anywhere to seat..but anyway just wondering what you guys think about it..

[Lonman]

Personally what I THINK is they should be spending money in a bar - you don't necessarily have to drink alcohol, if you don't drink then soda, food, coffee other types of virgin drinks (unless it's a tavern). THEN the bar needs to CHARGE for EVERY drink coffee, soda, water included - no free refills (UNLESS they have been spending money all night & need to try to sober up a bit before driving out).
Again, you really can't say anything, you can suggest it to the manager/owner, & they can deal with the non-spenders accordingly.

[swany]

Most bars I know will ask if they are drinking or eating if not they generally ask them to order something or leave, as it is not a rest stop. I do have some regulars that drink coffee, tea or water but tip for the service. That particular place seats 200 and is hardly ever at capacity. When I get singers that are in that group I generally play a few dj songs in between singers and they tend to start buying more to drink.

[bryant]

same here, me too.