When choosing a musician for an event, most people check two things: the price and the photos. Those are the two that predict the result worst, and the ones that can be dressed up fastest.
What people look at
- The price. First and sometimes the only criterion.
- The photos. That they look professional, that the outfit is right.
- The followers. As an indirect sign that they exist and work.
- That they reply fast. This one is a good sign, and it is usually accidental.
What should be looked at
1. Unedited video. A video of a real event, with ambient sound, says more than ten photos. Fast cuts with background music hide exactly what you need to hear. If there is no raw video at all, it is reasonable to ask for it.
2. What is included, in writing. How many members, how many hours or songs, whether travel is included, whether they bring sound equipment. A vendor who doesn't have it ready will improvise on the day of the event.
3. What they ask. This is the best indicator and nobody uses it. A musician who works well asks for the address with a landmark, the exact start time, how long it lasts, whether there is parking and whether there is another group. One who only asks for the deposit isn't planning to deliver.
4. The cancellation policy. Not because it will be canceled, but because having it in writing distinguishes someone who has been at this a while from someone who improvises.
How the check changes by format
What you need to ask isn't identical for every format. For a trio or a soloist, the most important thing is the repertoire and whether they sing live or use a backing track, something worth clarifying directly because it isn't always obvious in a short video.
For a mariachi or a banda, the exact number of members weighs more, because it is the first thing that gets reduced without notice when there is too much work on the same date. For a DJ, what matters is the equipment they bring and whether it includes lighting or just audio, something many quotes take for granted without clarifying. And for any format traveling from another city, the travel and who covers it should be explicit before accepting the price, not discovered on the final invoice.
This check also weighs differently by season. On dates when demand peaks, such as September or December, it is worth being even stricter about the number of members and written confirmation, because that is exactly when more vendors accept more commitments than they can fulfill with quality. Outside peak season, with plenty of availability to spare, there is more room to negotiate details like the repertoire or an extra hour without that pushing the price up.
About reviews
They help, with caveats. A five-star review with no text says nothing. The ones that count are those that tell something concrete: that they arrived on time, that they adapted to a change, that they sounded good in a difficult space.
And it is wise to distrust a profile with a perfect rating and a huge number of reviews, because in a trade with this much logistics it is statistically unlikely that there was never a setback. A four-star review with an honest explanation, along the lines of "they arrived ten minutes late but let us know and sounded great," says more in a vendor's favor than ten identical five-star reviews without a single line of text.
The question that solves almost everything
If you can only ask one: are you the ones who will play, or are you sending another group?
Silent subcontracting is the source of most of the bad moments in this market. It isn't illegal and it isn't always bad, but the client has the right to know beforehand and almost never asks.
Why the price misleads
Because two prices don't compare the same thing if you don't know what each includes. A mariachi at MX$2,000 for twelve songs and another at MX$2,800 for an hour with travel included can be, in practice, the same price or the reverse.
The price only means something when it comes with what it delivers. To have a reasonable reference before comparing quotes, the music price index for Mexico helps distinguish a low price that is a stroke of luck from one that is low because something will be cut on the day of the event.
The costliest mistakes a client makes
The most common is deciding by price before deciding by what you need, and ending up hiring a format that doesn't fit the space or the type of event. The second is paying cash and in advance to a personal account with no kind of safeguard, which leaves all the risk on the client's side if something goes wrong; a scheme where the payment is released to the vendor after the event spreads that risk more evenly between both parties.
The third is not checking what to do if the vendor fails at the last minute, something that is rarely thought about before it happens. The guide on what to do if the musician doesn't show up details the warning signs and the plan B worth having ready from the start, not improvised that same night. And the fourth, less discussed, is not putting anything in writing because "we already agreed verbally anyway": the confirmation message with date, time, price and what is included is the only thing that helps if you later have to claim something, and having it ready before paying is the responsibility of both the client and the vendor, as explained in the guide to contract and deposit when hiring musicians.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing I should check before hiring music?
An unedited video of a real event, more than the profile photos, because the ambient sound reveals much more than a polished image.
Why isn't it enough to look at a profile's photos?
Because photos can be edited or come from another event, while a video with real sound is much harder to fake.
How does what I should check change by format?
For trios, the repertoire and whether they sing live matter; for mariachi or banda, the number of members; and for DJs, the equipment they include.
Which question prevents the most problems when hiring?
Whether the vendor who replies is the one who will play or whether they will subcontract the service to a different group.
Why can two different prices actually be the same price?
Because they include different things, such as travel, number of songs or duration, and they can only be compared when you know exactly what each one covers.
Know what to look for? Compare verified musicians on serenattia with video, price and reviews in view before hiring.
Written by Christian López, Head of Operations, serenattia. Last updated: September 2026.