Janis Ian on FBOOK yesterday about the business side of touring. Sounds complicated!
Today’s question: “Can you make a living touring, and could you ever?”
Hm. Yes, and no. Yes, because if you reach a certain earning point, and you are savvy, have good help, and really watch your expenses, you’ll get to keep somewhere between 20-50% of what you earn. No, because the world takes a big chunk out of it before you ever get to see a dime.
For instance, my own daily costs. Fees are based on venue size, ticket pricing, and what it costs the venue to put the show on. So before anything else, the agent and venue have to work out what’s left after venue staff (from box office personnel to sound people), catering (we do need to eat before a show), hall rental (often an outside promoter is putting on the show and running the risk, and they’re paying to rent the actual hall), lights and sound (if those aren’t already in place, and even then), advertising, stagehands, security, fees to ASCAP/BMI/SESAC (look it up!), credit card charges, box office fees, ticket printing if any… it goes on and on.
Once that’s calculated and negotiated (I may say “Why is there a charge here for an opening act when there is none?” for instance), my own fee is reckoned from what remains. Sometimes it’s a “flat fee” - if I sell out or there are three people in the audience, I get paid the same thing. Sometimes it’s a straight percentage of what’s left after expenses; particularly with smaller venues, that lets them stay open while giving all of us incentive to sell more tickets, do more press, hire more publicists. Sometimes, it’s the greater of either.
Now, I’m what’s considered a “lower mid-level touring artist”. I’m also trying to hold prices down in the face of escalating costs. This tour, for instance, my original budgets were based on 2020 gas, hotel, airline, car rental costs. Well, I’m still getting paid the same thing, but all those costs have gone up. I can’t pass that on to the consumer, so my only hope is to sell out wherever I’m on a percentage and earn a bit extra, and try to make some of it up with merchandise sales. But even there, I’d rather people go home with a $15 CD than go home with nothing, so, pricing, again.
When I put together a tour budget with Debra and my business managers, here’s what I need to pay before I take anything home:
The booking agency takes between 10-15% off the top. In return, they do the bulk of the negotiating and follow up (whatever Debra doesn’t do, that is!), and they’re the ones we call when there’s trouble. (Anything from “They refuse to let the audience in” to “some other artist is on the bill and it wasn’t cleared”.)
Transportation to and from the shows, air, car, Batmobile
Hotels for myself and my crew, including days off and travel days
Salaries for my crew, plus social security benefits and any government taxes charged to me. that also means a payroll company are charging me so it all gets done correctly.
Worker’s comp. Some artists don’t pay that; I do, because I want my crew to feel like I value their health as well as their expertise.
Business management fees. Those folks make sure I get paid in the first place, and that my bills and staff are paid correctly. Not to mention, taxes.
Insurance. I played the Academy of Music in Philadelphia once and watched from the stage as a (hopefully stoned) person jumped out of the balcony, landing (miraculously unhurt) on a carpet below. When the police came remove her from the lobby, she began hitting them! What if she’d been hurt, though? I would have been sued. So very time I set foot in a venue, there’s a fee to the insurance companies.
Then there are start-up costs. Again, our budgets were based on 2020, and they don’t help much two years later. Attorneys to check that my own “rider” (a contract specifyig everything from sound system to food preferences) is legal and binding, before it’s ever attached to a venue contract. Clothing - my clothes may not look it, but they have to be stage-worthy. That means reinforced closures, sweat protectors, shoe heels with flexible metal plates in the heels so they don’t break on stage, all sorts of things. Makeup – stage makeup is very different from street makeup. I have to make sure my foundation will hold up for 3-4 hours in 100 degree weather for an outdoor show. There are specialized stores and brands for stage makeup, just as there are for television makeup, video makeup, film makeup. Luggage. Luggage tags that identify the artist/band, with contact information if lost – these are usually numbered so bags can get to the correct places quickly. (My #1 bags go to my hotel room. #5 go backstage or on stage. Debra has #2, and so on.) Manufacturing/purchasing merchandise. Shipping. Everything else we use, from equipment to Sharpies for signing laminates, has to be factored in.
So the answer really is “Yes, and no”. Yes, because part of everyone’s job is to help me keep costs down. Not only does that mean I can earn a living; it also means bigger bonuses at the end of the tour, because I value what the people I work with bring to the table, and I believe saying “Thank you” in visible ways is important. And no, because if I choose to work smaller venues (the Jean Cocteau in Santa Fe, owned by our friend George R. R. Martin, where we could spend four days testing material, clothing, gear in a small club – or an iconic place like Caffe Lena, which I want to play again because the clubs have had a particularly hard time of it and need artists like me going in), I usually make enough to cover my expenses and food, without much profit.
Many people in my profession think I’m overly-involved in the business end of my life. They joke that I get “in the weeds” all the time, and some people don’t like it when I ask too many questions or push for more information. Too bad. On my part, it’s all about self-defense! A former “accountant” left me completely broke and in debt over a million dollars. A former manager turned out to be taking double what they were due in commissions. A former tour manager took all my hotel rooms for himself, along with the upgrades hotels were giving me, and the food, wine, and flowers being sent to me. An agent lied about an entire West Coast tour being ready to go, and because I hadn’t insisted on seeing the contracts, there was nothing I could do when it turned out there were no West Coast bookings. I don’t take anything financial for granted, and neither should any performer. You don’t have to do it all yourself, but you should know how it’s done, to make sure it’s being done correctly.
When I was starting out, in 1965, it was considered fantastic if an artist “brought home” 10% of the gross. I do better than that, because I have no manager (20% off the top), I have no band (salaries, insurance, larger vehicles, hotels, ouch!), and I’m surrounded by good people. Still, I wouldn’t want to have to earn my entire living by touring – I couldn’t tour for two years when I was in the throes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 1989, and it was terrifying. Now, I’m lucky enough to have royalties, a pension, and social security to back me up.
I hope this made sense!!! Here are a few articles I found by doing a quick search; there are plenty more on line.
[I don’t know who this guy is or why his image is appearing like that…]
I feel like I need to post this because we give Grimes an awful lot of grief. In addition to being a truly awful person, she is a very talented musician. I think that gets overlooked a lot, since she is really a piece of fucking work outside of her music
One of the best TV theme songs ever.
Looks like Frankfurt? I think i recognized the Alte Oper, and the Römer.
And I just learned that he recently married his long-time partner, and that she’s battling cancer.
That one really grabbed me.
I’ve had Thin Lizzy’s Whiskey in the Jar this past week for some reason…
Also… here is Orville Peck singing in a church in Nashville… he’s got an great voice:
Any one else see the new Florence & the Machine videos… kind of weird…
