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How do bands Finance their tours?

G

GigDoggy

Jul 23, 2008
28
0
Montreal
gigdoggy.com
#1
I already asked how bands organized tour. I got good feedback but still looking for more Smile

Now my question is aimed at touring.

I am not planning one this year. I actually never have toured with a band but it is something I am looking into.

Let alone the fact that organizing a tour seems like a hell of a job, financing one is probably even worse.

Seeing how gas prices are at an all time high, venues and club owners ask for more pay-to-play type gigs and the public is less eager to spend money due to overall high prices for everything, how is a band supposed to finance a tour and make money out of it?

Actually are most bands here more out for the exposure or for some profit? Both go hand in hand of course. What I mean is , if you know a tour won't make you any money, will you still take a shot at it and dig in your band fund savings?

Thanks
 
#3
thats pretty much it venues are closing down left right and center our band is having trouble even getting gigs atm payed or not payed seen as there's such a shortage of venues those that are taking on live acts are booking up very quickly indeed

as far as tours go expect to lose money were all saving our pennies to do a tour of france germany and italy and if funds allow spain too but were not expecting to make a profit at all at best one of the venues might give us a few free beers and we can sell some merch to make some money back

its a pretty lousy time to be a muso atm being signed no longer means anything and the music industry is putting more money into one hit wonders than touring bands.
clubs are closing, venues are getting more demanding in terms of how they want to work the night and how much there willing to pay out for a successfull one
music gear is going up in price faster than a squirrel with an ass full of dynamite and muso's seem to be stabbing each other in the back more than ever
i think the best hope is to ride it out and hope it gets better a lot of bands will probbaly disapear from the scene and i've no doubt the worst is yet to come but hey no one ever said a touring band would be easy....

i mean c'mon you didnt really beleive all thos storys about sex, drugs and huge bank balances did you?
 
#4
With the state of gas prices, economy, and the music scene in general, I think it's got to be the worst time to be a gigging/touring musician in the history of gigging/touring.

Unless you have industry financing or you're independently wealthy it's pretty darn tough to get the money. If you have the money, it's almost certainly a better investment to spend it elsewhere.

What's the benefit to going on tour these days? You're risking an awful lot, what's the potential payoff? Other than a story to tell?

Cost/Benefit analysis is your best friend, unfortunately...
 
#5
Yea these are hard times, very hard, amybe has it never been so hard, but to a band who is determined touring will be more about getting exposed dont you think?

I mean sure he might fall flat on his ass when he realizes he spent a whole year's worth of saving-up and might not even have a decent business contact at the end but...well there is no 'but' in that case, that would just be a total bummer.

How can bands seek sponsorship? How does that work? I know labels can advance money but ask for a ridiculous share of the merch sales. Aren't there any government grants for touring bands?
 
#6
GigDoggy said:
For a band who is determined touring will be more about getting exposed dont you think?
Click to expand...

Only if they are also participating in a hunger strike :help:

At some pont you have to make money or it's just a hobby...seriously.

GigDoggy said:
Aren't there any government grants for touring bands?
Click to expand...

Not in the USA, that's for sure :rolleyes:

hunta said:
What's the benefit to going on tour these days? You're risking an awful lot, what's the potential payoff?
Click to expand...

The payoff is making a living doing it :hiding:
 
#7
sorry if i sound childish but im a bassist and im 14, i havent ever done a gig or anything, but isnt a depression coming up pretty soon? its not like on the news but we all feel it, everything is going up in price people stay home way more and the economy's dropping like no other. Its seems to me that the only thing left for us to do is give back by playing as much as we can and help the economy by gigging and spreading good vibes in our music!


Example: Bob Marley tried to spread happiness through music, so why cant we?
 
#8
sorefingers said:
sorry if i sound childish but im a bassist and im 14, i havent ever done a gig or anything, but isnt a depression coming up pretty soon? its not like on the news but we all feel it, everything is going up in price people stay home way more and the economy's dropping like no other. Its seems to me that the only thing left for us to do is give back by playing as much as we can and help the economy by gigging and spreading good vibes in our music!


Example: Bob Marley tried to spread happiness through music, so why cant we?
Click to expand...

i get what your saying unfortunatly its got to the stage now where everyone is screwing everyone clubs no longer ask for 10% of the door takings they want 80% and with so many venues already closing its really gonna hit us hard no matter how much we play by the end of it i think the scene will change from club gigs with 2 or three bands to unsigned festivals with loads of bands in order for the promoters to break even and to garentee crowds through the gates
 
#9
to fund a tour you need to rely almost solely on (unless you have a money-bags in the band that can and is willing to fund) merchandise sales...t-shirts, buttons, stickers, cd's, etc.

The best way to line up gigs is to contact bands that fit your genre in other states/cities. You can find them on myspace and other type of sites. Once contact is made and the gig is played, or the tour is done you have established a network of bands that you can count on for help in later tours and you can help.

It also helps to make contact with these bands that run through town that you end up plying shows with. Usually they are more than happy to help out when you are on tour. It is a very good idea to get local bands on the bill because they have a local crowd that supports them.

This is how it worked when i was in a band. It also helped establish a larger fan base base...especially if these other bands are in the same genre. It also resulted is small "mini" tours when these other bands are on tour they are trying to get as many gigs as possible so that they can sell as much merch as possible. What happened with my band was that we would be able to tag along for 2-4 gigs over a long weekend.

It all depends on setting up a network. I don't how many times we would play shows with a band that was on a tour and they invited us to play their city.
 
#10
it's hard that's for sure.....my band just did a 7 day tour (played all 7 nights) through Colorado (we are based out of Memphis,TN) and I think when we got home we ended up making about $1,000 profit including merchandise sales.... a large majority of that profit was probably from merch....we sold out of all our tshirts except for the XL's. Our lead singer did most of the organizing of the tour, thank goodness, and it was a HUGE task. Getting booked is not easy especially when you playing 20 hours away and then trying to make the schedule work where you are backtracking along the tour.
 
#11
We're in the process of organising a tour at the minute. The way we've done it is that ourselves, and another band are hitting the road with 2 road crew. We've budgetted our travel costs out, told each promoter what it'll cost to have both of us on the bill and if they can't do it, we arrange it through another promoter. We booked up our 5 date tour within 2 weeks. We've got our expenses covered by the promoters and a percentage of door tax after expenses. Basically, the promoters are covering our costs, our merchandise sales are making the profit for us. Fortunately, both my band and the other band are the big "up and coming" bands of our style in Ireland at the moment, so we have (just about) enough sway to negotiate with the promoters. If you can't negotiate for at least expenses, you haven't done enough work building a reputation to make a tour feasible.
 
#12
In regards to sponshorship from record companies I was thinking about it from another angle. I have no idea if this would work but what if you approached businesses in your town/city and had them sponsor you for $100 or $200 in exchange for maybe a sticker on your touring vehicle/van and maybe some kind of a poster at the gig listing all your sponsors. Everything from car racing to sports to big tours has some kind of sponsorship.

Like I said I have no idea if it would work but it is another way to think about sponsoship.
 
#13
Geddy:
Very good idea ! Brands are starting to do that with indie bands so your right on target. Having artists do commercials and writing music or licensing music to brands is not something new for major acts, but it is starting to be for indie bands. I wrote an article on just that in my blog, if you care to read:

http://gigdoggy.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/why-bands-should-consider-sponsorships-with-brands/

Then again I don't know exactly how they operate cause it must subtle as i dont think bands would accept blatant promotion on stage. Bumper sticker idea is neat...

DJ:

What do you mean by the promoter takes care of your expenses?
The gas to get there and the food, the place to stay?
and what do you mean by "a percentage of door tax after expenses."?
 
#14
I know a lot of bands fund their tours with frat-gigs and cover-bar stops. The idea being that you book "money gigs" on the weekends (re: four hours playing classic rock covers or what-have-you), and book small rock clubs in between to do y our real thing.

I am sure it's a ton of work, but I know it's doable, if your band can swing the covers. I have friends who make amazing money playing those kinds of cover gigs.

It's probably a more sure bet than merch alone, which still depends on enough people liking you and actually showing up to the show, which I have found to be the hardest part of booking.
 
#15
Also, if you are in any kind of hard core or metal band and you're headed through the southeast U.S., I would reccomend THe Muse. It's a sweaty little club full of angry teens, but they are super cool guys, and they'll put you up for free in the room upstairs.

Oh, and also they'll give you a CD and a DVD of your show for the cost of the materials.

...Also it's in Nashville.
 
#16
While things are getting tougher without a doubt, it's not impossible. You just have to approach it differently. Look for beer sponsors. THEY have plenty of money. Believe it or not, the U.S. State Dept. funds some cultural exchange tours to very exotic places. Granted, guitar-bass duos get most of the gigs, but if your music can somehow be deemed "cultural", bands can get them too. As always, merchandise sales can ease the crunch & sometimes bring home the bacon. We will go to France on August 12 for a rodeo gig. We are planning 3 Mexico concerts over the next year sponsored by beer companies down there. A Jamaica gig in Feb.....etc. In any case, the public demand for entertainment has never had much financial relationship to the economy in the long run. Unhappy people REALLY want to be entertained. There will be more work for local bands now that touring is difficult.
 
#17
Well I will get flamed for this.

With all of the internet marketing and music pages, you can be famous and never tour while still selling records.

Touring isn't a necessary evil unless you already have a firm foothold and are selling a good bit of records. If your music is good you can sell it online and just book gigs within a 150-200 miles radius. Any further would be a waste really. If you want to be a famous original act move a location with a good bit of clubs in range like New York, Nashville, LA, etc. So traveling would be minimal and still get great exposure.

I know it isn't the popular belief, but it is the way the music industry is heading for touring acts.
 
#20
GigDoggy said:
DJ:

What do you mean by the promoter takes care of your expenses?
The gas to get there and the food, the place to stay?
and what do you mean by "a percentage of door tax after expenses."?
Click to expand...

Aye, they pay our fuel costs, flights if needed, food and a place to stay. Over a several date tour, we divide all costs by the number of dates so each promoter is paying the same. After this, the promoter earns whatever is made on the door from punters paying in. If he does well, we get 20% of the door after the first £100 profit the promoter makes after our costs and any other expenses he had.
 

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