How does the business of touring work??
Discussion
Idle curiosity has me thinking about how much cash ends up in the artist's bank account per gig.
Went to see Elbow last night at Manchester apollo which holds 3500 @£40 so roughly £140k taken for the evening.
How much does Guy Garvey end up with to spend on booze?
Please show your workings.
ps....they were f
king awesome, as always 
Went to see Elbow last night at Manchester apollo which holds 3500 @£40 so roughly £140k taken for the evening.
How much does Guy Garvey end up with to spend on booze?
Please show your workings.
ps....they were f
king awesome, as always Fish did this blog a few years ago.
http://fishheads.club/2013/01/29/touring/
Really interesting but on a smaller scale than Elbow I guess.
http://fishheads.club/2013/01/29/touring/
Really interesting but on a smaller scale than Elbow I guess.
That Fish blog was quite interesting, but it would be interesting to see something similar from a "larger" artist. I haven't seen one, unfortunately. I do recall various interviews where artists say that now the money is in live performance rather than album sales - they produce a new album to have an excuse to tour, rather than touring to promote a new album. I guess further up the chain, the marketing a product promotion generates even more than either of those.
An interesting subject, but also one that many are reluctant to discuss in detail, which made the piece above all the better - though I suspect he (and anyone else) might have been less forthcoming if it were clear that he was making a massive profit on every gig.
As much as many artists play for the enjoyment of it, it's got to at least cover its costs I'd imagine.
An interesting subject, but also one that many are reluctant to discuss in detail, which made the piece above all the better - though I suspect he (and anyone else) might have been less forthcoming if it were clear that he was making a massive profit on every gig.
As much as many artists play for the enjoyment of it, it's got to at least cover its costs I'd imagine.
In a previous job I worked away during the week and lodged, the house owner was on the management team of some very famous household name bands and it really opened my eyes to the music business despite being a fan for the best part of 40 years.
It amazed me how much risk the key members in bands carry, it seemed to be they had to stump up their own money in the first instance for setting up tours. It was in effect gambling on your popularity vs. venue size and length of tour, getting the right balance to gain the greatest return.
The Fish blog quoted is pretty good and being honest if scaled up probably wouldn't be a bad estimate of what "larger" artists make (or lose).
It amazed me how much risk the key members in bands carry, it seemed to be they had to stump up their own money in the first instance for setting up tours. It was in effect gambling on your popularity vs. venue size and length of tour, getting the right balance to gain the greatest return.
The Fish blog quoted is pretty good and being honest if scaled up probably wouldn't be a bad estimate of what "larger" artists make (or lose).
droopsnoot said:
As much as many artists play for the enjoyment of it, it's got to at least cover its costs I'd imagine.
I often look at successful bands from the mid 90's & wonder if they count their lucky stars to be in that last wave of musicians who actually made money from selling records. Now that everyone steals music or streams it for 0.00001p for the artist per play, touring must be a vital income stream for bands in a way it never would have been back then.We saw the Fun Lovin' Criminals last year & worked out they would have taken roughly £25k on the door, whatever off the deal on the bar if any & a bit for merch. Say 30-35k all in, multiplied by 30 dates less transport, accommodation, promotion, sustenance, crew & all the rest of it, say 50% of the take would gross roughly £900k/2 so £450k before tax on very fag packety calculations.
Assuming an even split between three band members which is unlikely anyway, that'd be 150k for four months on & off work. Not bad, not Pink Floyd Ferrari & Castles boss level though.
When I've toured on a small/med scale or promoted nights its always been the case the band gets a set fee and the promoter takes the risk if no one turns up!?!
Presume its the case on bigger scale operations? No way I'd tour on the hope that I fill a venue in Manchester and then Portsmouth the next night! Obviously it makes a difference if you're Coldplay!!
The tech guys/roadies etc will be on day rates same with session players if their in the band...
Presume its the case on bigger scale operations? No way I'd tour on the hope that I fill a venue in Manchester and then Portsmouth the next night! Obviously it makes a difference if you're Coldplay!!
The tech guys/roadies etc will be on day rates same with session players if their in the band...
dojo said:
When I've toured on a small/med scale or promoted nights its always been the case the band gets a set fee and the promoter takes the risk if no one turns up!?!
Presume its the case on bigger scale operations? No way I'd tour on the hope that I fill a venue in Manchester and then Portsmouth the next night! Obviously it makes a difference if you're Coldplay!!
The tech guys/roadies etc will be on day rates same with session players if their in the band...
I can understand the high risks involved if you're not big time but Elbow cannot fail to fill any venue in their current form.Presume its the case on bigger scale operations? No way I'd tour on the hope that I fill a venue in Manchester and then Portsmouth the next night! Obviously it makes a difference if you're Coldplay!!
The tech guys/roadies etc will be on day rates same with session players if their in the band...
I suppose we'll never know you much the individual band member get for a gig like that as the slices of pie for the crew, venue, bar takings, merch, promoter, tax fiddles etc etc will likely be very complex.
I bet Guy must be pocketing a good few grand an hour though.
Edwin Strohacker said:
We saw the Fun Lovin' Criminals last year & worked out they would have taken roughly £25k on the door, whatever off the deal on the bar if any & a bit for merch.
Very, very unlikely to have taken any money from the bar at all. Usually the only time a band/promoter gets money from the bar take is if the event is free entry.
wal 45 said:
In a previous job I worked away during the week and lodged, the house owner was on the management team of some very famous household name bands and it really opened my eyes to the music business despite being a fan for the best part of 40 years.
It amazed me how much risk the key members in bands carry, it seemed to be they had to stump up their own money in the first instance for setting up tours. It was in effect gambling on your popularity vs. venue size and length of tour, getting the right balance to gain the greatest return.
The Fish blog quoted is pretty good and being honest if scaled up probably wouldn't be a bad estimate of what "larger" artists make (or lose).
This is why newer bands do joint headline tours as it spreads the cost/risk.It amazed me how much risk the key members in bands carry, it seemed to be they had to stump up their own money in the first instance for setting up tours. It was in effect gambling on your popularity vs. venue size and length of tour, getting the right balance to gain the greatest return.
The Fish blog quoted is pretty good and being honest if scaled up probably wouldn't be a bad estimate of what "larger" artists make (or lose).
If you see a decent support band , pick up a cd or t shirt as for them it could make the difference between them sleeping in the van or in a travel lodge for the night.
Absolutely but the sheer volume of work for one gig would make me think its far easier for them to say if you want to book us for the night its 50k, 75, 150k, 250k, 500k or whatever they charge and get the agency to line up a load of them then let the tour manager do the day to day!
They will make a fair chunk on merc, some bands rely on merc to make gigs viable (not at this size though)
Thing is these shows are often so big and expensive to put on they might not make as much as you think. I know the session players fees/day rates on medium/large size bands is pretty shocking!!
The real money comes from publishing and usage rights, these guys aren't short of a bob or two thats for sure!!!
They will make a fair chunk on merc, some bands rely on merc to make gigs viable (not at this size though)
Thing is these shows are often so big and expensive to put on they might not make as much as you think. I know the session players fees/day rates on medium/large size bands is pretty shocking!!
The real money comes from publishing and usage rights, these guys aren't short of a bob or two thats for sure!!!
Certainly is big money in merch.
On really big tours, like the Stones, or The Wall, (Roger Waters) you can pretty much guarantee that 1 of the tour wagons will be just for merch and probably have to be topped up with more stock once or twice a week whilst on tour.
Last I heard a tour truck could be in the region of £500 per day+costs and a top end nightliner crew/band bus £800-£1000 per day+costs.
The Stones tour back in 2006, (euro leg) had 42 trucks and 11 tour buses out for 3 months solid.
Think last years Beyonce stadium tour was approx 62 tour trucks, not sure on tour buses.
Its all got to be payed for
On really big tours, like the Stones, or The Wall, (Roger Waters) you can pretty much guarantee that 1 of the tour wagons will be just for merch and probably have to be topped up with more stock once or twice a week whilst on tour.
Last I heard a tour truck could be in the region of £500 per day+costs and a top end nightliner crew/band bus £800-£1000 per day+costs.
The Stones tour back in 2006, (euro leg) had 42 trucks and 11 tour buses out for 3 months solid.
Think last years Beyonce stadium tour was approx 62 tour trucks, not sure on tour buses.
Its all got to be payed for
dojo said:
The real money comes from publishing and usage rights, these guys aren't short of a bob or two thats for sure!!!
All of the bands I was vaguely involved with dreamed of the day when their song got picked up for use on a Coca-Cola advert or similar - the fees were comfortably into 7 figures ten years ago. Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff