Music Touring: How the Live Music Industry Works

As an artist hoping to thrive in the industry, going on music tours is a significant part of your career. It is almost like the only part of your career where you have to show up physically. After making money from your albums, music touring is also another way of raking in money while performing songs you have made via streaming.

About the Live Music Industry

In 2018, digital music news predicted that the live music industry would reach a total revenue of $31 billion, out of which ticket sales would be $24 billion. At the same time, they predicted that the streaming music revenue would be a little above $23 billion.

This shows that a music artist who wants to make more in the music industry has to invest and pay attention to the live music industry. However, it takes more to be in the live music industry. Artists must work with a music tour manager, promoters, booking agents, and the like to make the music tour a success.

Another leverage music artists have now is the use of their music on different platforms, aiding the promotion of the artists internationally. Live stream performances have given the audience a preview of what they will get, and trending their music on media such as TikTok makes people more eager to get a live performance of the songs.

Team for Live Music Tour

Since artists can not do the whole work alone, they will need a reliable team to make the tour easier. Here is a list of the team members they will need.

Brand Manager

An artist’s manager is one of the most important persons the artist will work with. Just as the role name implies, the manager oversees everything that involves managing and organizing the artist’s business.

The manager also coordinates the team members and ensures they carry out their roles. In the music touring aspect, the management is in charge of planning the touring route, putting together a touring team, and balancing the live tour and other aspects of the artist’s career.

Music Tour Manager

The music tour manager is just like the brand manager, only that they are focused on the success of the music tour. The music tour manager can make or mar the entire live music tour, so you need a competent person or company for this.

One of the complex parts of the music tour is the logistics, which is more complex when the tour is international. The music tour manager ensures that the transportation of the artist’s team, technicians, equipment, and costumes do not go wrong in the middle of the road.

Any issues that arise during the tour are left to the tour manager to find a solution. The tour manager is also in charge of the technical crew, so everything goes well behind the scene. Stage performance has a lot to do with the technical team, so if something goes wrong, it can affect the whole show. This is why it is essential to have a reliable music tour manager.

Promoters

Promoters are the middleman between the artist and the audience. They are in charge of how good the turn-up will be, who will know about the show, who will come to the show, and many things that happen before the show. Essentially, they are the ones who fund the show.

The promoter can be tour promoters or local promoters. The local promoters are usually connected to the show venues. They try to buy ticket sales from agents or tour promoters. They are like intermediaries between the tour promoters and the artist. At the same time, tour promoters pay for the artist’s rehearsals, travel expenses, technical and behind-the-scenes expenses, and other expenses needed for a successful tour.

Once you have the tour promoter, you can do without the local promoter since the tour managers can handle everything.

Music Live Tour Exercise

The live music tour is said to be complex, so what processes are involved in ensuring everything works well? Everyone in the music live tour team plays a role, which we will discuss in this section.

Choosing an artist

Many times, the promoters are the ones to sign the artist. In choosing the artist, they go for artists trending internationally and in the countries where the tour is supposed to take place.

Choosing an artist might be tricky because the artist will have to book the shows about nine months in advance, which means the deals would be signed almost a year before the event. Before the events, the artist has to release more songs to gain popularity, meaning the promoters are banking on unwritten songs and albums. All in all, the promoters just have to trust their instincts.

Planning the tour

After signing the deal with the artist, the music tour manager and promoters must start making plans. They have to book rehearsal sessions, prepare the technical sessions for the live performance, and other essentials. The promoters also prepare the route for the tour and ensure things will be in place.

Booking the tour

Once the plans are in place, the next step is booking everything needed for the tour. Here the promoter picks out the venue and works on booking them, pitching the show to festivals and local promoters.

This can also be tricky, especially when getting venues, because they have to decide whether to go for a large venue capacity or a medium one. It can affect the promoters because there is a flat fee they will give to the artist regardless of the event’s outcome.

Promoting the tour

After booking what needs to be secured, it is time to sell the tickets. And it is not only the promoter that will do this; it is up to every team member. The artist should air it and make awareness so the audience can trust the promoters. Then the promoters also go about all platforms to ensure they sell out on the tickets, and so on.

Showing Up

A few weeks before the event, the music tour manager and promoter have to ensure everything is perfect for the show. They ensure the artist is ready for the show, and the tickets, stage, cars, and everything else have been booked.

Then on tour day, the technical department set up the sound and stage. Others ensure the security is in place, the bar is set, and everything needed for the audience to enjoy the show is prepared.

Then the result of months of preparation will begin as the artist gets on stage, then to the next one, until the tour is over.

Finally

The live music tour industry might bring in large revenue and give the artist more fans. However, what goes into it is also a lot. So, the artist must work with a professional team to ensure the tour’s success. GUIÓN PARTNERS have 15 years of experience in the music touring industry, partner with us for the best tour management experience.