GIGXCHANGE is where UK restaurants book musicians for dinner sets, brunch and private dining direct. 1,061 artists are on the platform, from solo guitarists and pianists to jazz duos, alongside 77 venues across 80 cities. A restaurant posts the date free, hears each act first, agrees the fee, the volume and the sets in the chat and signs a contract every time. There is no restaurant-only GX Index figure yet; the closest is a solo act in a pub or bar at £260 (729 fees) and a duo at £325 (122 fees). The booking fee is 5% on top only when you pay through GigXchange – 0% when you settle privately.

Live music in a restaurant is a different job from a pub gig. The act plays under the conversation, not over it, and the night runs around service: starters, mains, the bill. A guitarist who is right for a Friday in the bar can be too loud for a dining room of forty.

So the brief matters more than the act’s name: how loud, how long each set runs, when the breaks fall against your covers, where the act sets up and when they arrive before the first table sits down.

On GigXchange you post that brief once, listen to any recordings each act has added, agree the fee, the volume and the sets in the chat and sign a contract. There is no restaurant-only fee in the GX Index yet, so price the night from the closest figures - pub sets, private parties, company dinners. If an act cancels, GX Gig Rescue invites available acts nearby.

What does live music cost a UK restaurant? There is no restaurant-only figure in the GX Index yet; the closest are a solo act in a pub or bar at £260 (729 fees), a duo at £325 (122 fees) and a solo act at a private party at £363 (78 fees).

There is no restaurant use case in the GX Index yet, so these are the closest median UK fees: pub and bar sets, private parties and corporate events. Marker: the Musicians’ Union recommended minimum for musicians in a group playing pubs and clubs (up to 3 hours, per musician, April 2026); it publishes no solo figure. A cell with fewer than 20 observations shows no figure.

You pay the act’s fee. 5% on top only when you pay through GigXchange – 0% when you settle privately.

77 venues are on GigXchange - rooms across the UK booking for dinner sets, brunch, private dining and events. Joining is free: list your restaurant, post a gig and message acts at no cost. 5% on top only when you pay through GigXchange – 0% when you settle privately, and every booking comes with a contract you both sign. Where can a restaurant book live music in the UK? On GigXchange, a restaurant posts the date free - a weekly dinner set, a brunch or a private dining party - hears the acts and books one direct, using GX Index fee benchmarks from other event types.

• Pilgrim Bar
• St Peter's Marlborough
• The Willoughby Arms
• GIG
• The Brook
• Venue38
• The Tranquil Turtle
• The Fulford Arms
• The King Arthur
• St James Park
• Firebug
• Nicholas Chamberlaine School
• The Point Events Venue
• Llangollen Town Hall
• Kettering Rugby Football Club
• The Victoria Birmingham
• Trillians Rock Bar
• The White Lion
• Barnaby's Lounge
• Bird in Hand Pub

Booking in a city? London · Birmingham · Leeds · Glasgow · Sheffield · Manchester · Bradford · Edinburgh · Liverpool · Bristol · Leicester · Cardiff · every city guide · the UK venue directory

Does a restaurant need a licence for live music? In England and Wales, usually not between 8am and 11pm for 500 people or fewer. A restaurant licensed to sell alcohol for drinking on the premises is covered while it is open for alcohol sales (unless a licence review has added conditions); one with no premises licence, or licensed only for late-night refreshment, is covered as a workplace. A private dining party for invited guests is not licensable unless guests are charged for the entertainment to make a profit (GOV.UK guidance), and TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS still applies to music in public.

Company dinners, Christmas lunch sittings and New Year’s Eve - booked direct, each with its own contract. A private party and a New Year’s Eve past 11pm are licensed differently.