Being a musician expertly sounds like a fairly sweet idea for many people. Concerts, the road and some think, a ton of cash. However, it's not much of a living, even for groups that get a lot of attention, as the cost of touring is over the top.
Not affordable to tour
Many people might imagine the life of a touring musician involves plush tour buses, groupies, endless partying and lots of cash. Maybe for some, but most groups or artists trying to make a living don't make much of one.
It is quite intriguing whenever you think about what The Dresden Dolls, a Boston group, made on their tour, according to a 2007 NPR interview. The two in the group, Brian Viglione and Amanda Palmer, only made $1,500 a month from the tour each. That is not a lot of cash for spending time in a record deal and touring. They even opened from some pretty large gigs.
That's $18,000 per year, assuming they tour each month of the year.
Granted, they also had earnings from CD sales -- royalties of $1 per CD sold -- and merchandise.
Working up the ladder
Shane Blay, a member of the band Oh, Sleeper, a metalcore band that's been around for several years, posted costs of touring during a typical day on the road, on MetalInjection. Bands, he claims, basically make cash on tour from guaranties, a fee for playing which differs by venue, and selling products like T-shirts and so forth. What he'd observed was that an average for a "mid-level" group like his was $300 per each category, an income of $600 per night.
The price of traveling is $10 per day for food and $150 in gas between gigs. The band also has to pay 15 percent to the manager and 10 percent to the booking agent out of the $300 venue cash. Of the merchandise cash, the manger gets $15 percent and the location takes a 25 percent commission. On top of that, the band has to pay about $7.50 per t-shirt that they sell at $15, which already cuts that cost in half. Total per night, the band ends up with $78.75 after all the expenditures come out.
The band ends up getting $13.12 a night when divided six ways, which does not include additional emergency costs.
Not all costs bad
The Daily Mail explained that the very best way to make cash while touring is to be large enough that enough tickets will sell to make the additional cash. Roger Waters toured in 2010 which made about $90 million. The costs were only $60 million, which means he made a lot of additional cash.
Being an artist means you will struggle a lot. According to NBC News, the 2008 gasoline price increases made it so most bands had to end tours since they could not pay the extra cost for gasoline.
Whenever you download music for free, the band ends up losing money there too.
Not affordable to tour
Many people might imagine the life of a touring musician involves plush tour buses, groupies, endless partying and lots of cash. Maybe for some, but most groups or artists trying to make a living don't make much of one.
It is quite intriguing whenever you think about what The Dresden Dolls, a Boston group, made on their tour, according to a 2007 NPR interview. The two in the group, Brian Viglione and Amanda Palmer, only made $1,500 a month from the tour each. That is not a lot of cash for spending time in a record deal and touring. They even opened from some pretty large gigs.
That's $18,000 per year, assuming they tour each month of the year.
Granted, they also had earnings from CD sales -- royalties of $1 per CD sold -- and merchandise.
Working up the ladder
Shane Blay, a member of the band Oh, Sleeper, a metalcore band that's been around for several years, posted costs of touring during a typical day on the road, on MetalInjection. Bands, he claims, basically make cash on tour from guaranties, a fee for playing which differs by venue, and selling products like T-shirts and so forth. What he'd observed was that an average for a "mid-level" group like his was $300 per each category, an income of $600 per night.
The price of traveling is $10 per day for food and $150 in gas between gigs. The band also has to pay 15 percent to the manager and 10 percent to the booking agent out of the $300 venue cash. Of the merchandise cash, the manger gets $15 percent and the location takes a 25 percent commission. On top of that, the band has to pay about $7.50 per t-shirt that they sell at $15, which already cuts that cost in half. Total per night, the band ends up with $78.75 after all the expenditures come out.
The band ends up getting $13.12 a night when divided six ways, which does not include additional emergency costs.
Not all costs bad
The Daily Mail explained that the very best way to make cash while touring is to be large enough that enough tickets will sell to make the additional cash. Roger Waters toured in 2010 which made about $90 million. The costs were only $60 million, which means he made a lot of additional cash.
Being an artist means you will struggle a lot. According to NBC News, the 2008 gasoline price increases made it so most bands had to end tours since they could not pay the extra cost for gasoline.
Whenever you download music for free, the band ends up losing money there too.
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