If you expect to make a lot of money off your own concert tour, you’re likely to be extremely disappointed. By the time the venue’s concert promoters, ticket vendors, road crew, support staff, various equipment rentals take their cuts, coupled with transportation costs living expenses, food are covered, there may not be as much for the band as you’d expect.
Oh and don’t forget the taxman on the money you do manage to tale home after you split it 4 ways. Also consider sliding CD sales as the world shifts to digital music, and rising gas process. Limited profitability is nothing new for touring bands thes deys days. Sorry to burst your bubble but it’s a stark reality. Gerald Casale, a founding member of Devo, recalls that band members only earned about $12,000 each from the new wave group’s Freedom of Choice tour, which grossed $2 million during the group’s heyday, and the take would have been even less if T-shirts hadn’t sold well.
Take another mega 4 piece band — recently released their long anticipated CD in early 2006 followed up by playing around 250 shows over the following 2 years. They toured Australia, Europe, Japan, and the US. The band had made just over 25 Million when all was said and done. Time to go buy a yacht right? Guess again. After they had paid off all the venues, concert promoters, ticket vendors equipment rentals, full road crew with technical support, coupled with transportation costs, living expenses, food each member received about 5.1 Million. Pay the IRS twice for 2006 and 2007 earnings so takes the number down again to little over 2 Million for each band member. It might seem like a big pay for some, but if you consider the scope of the effort — it was a disappointment.
Might want to do a few more tours before you go out t an buy a yacht. There is some good news about Touring in the next article.
By: Cyrus Rhodes
