Interesting. This is the opinion of every single touring artist I’ve ever known - direct to listener is the only way they make any money. ‘Doctorowism’? Odd take.
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Always cancel the units!
Goddamn if I couldn’t go through a physics exam without forgetting at least once.
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Touring involves lots of upfront cost and may or may not recoup those costs or reach profitability. Same for merchandise. As with any business venture there are so many factors outside your control that can go wrong many of which are compounded by being away from your fixed address.
Things I or my friends experienced off the top of my head:
- spike in gas prices while on the road and or van getting far loss milage fully loaded than expected
- theft and or breakdown of equipment and or Kerch and in one case the van with all the bands gear and merch in broad daylight during a rest stop bathroom break
- illness or injury of band members requiring cancellation of shows
- venues getting shutdown or booking errors by the venue
- unplanned bail costs
All those things and more even you have a competent manager or band member who can do management and budget.
For musicians who haven’t reached the stage where they no longer need day jobs touring means taking time off work which isn’t always easy.
There’s more but I have to leave and can’t add to this now
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I like that word
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A shout-out to Bandcamp: simple, hassle-free downloads in various formats (including lossless), pay-what-you-want pricing (with a minimum set by the artist), usually including free full album streams before you buy, and 80-85% of what you pay reaches the artist, as per their policy. Hands down the best online music store/streaming service, if artists you like are on it.
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Use it freely and often with my blessing!
Damn it, now the price of lentils will go up
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My friends often post their royalty checks on FB for laughs. Nothing like getting a check for a penny to brighten up a day. Really lets a feller know they’ve made it…
These are not all random musicians, either- some have toured the world, played in front of thousands etc. etc. Wedding and cover bands outearn original ones on the reg, and the two musicians I know who actually make their whole living from music are hired guns.
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I think that varies depending on the artist/band. I’ve heard both sides from the musicians I’ve talked to - some make more money from the music, others from the merch. Either way they seem shocked or dismissive at the thought that it might be the other way around, so it must be a pretty big difference but I don’t know what causes it.
I second that. My favorite way to buy music now.
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Do you know how to keep from getting charged…for the ice below the floorboards at Chicago Stadium?
Heavily genre dependent, I think.
Performance and merch sales direct to the fans appears to be the standard business model in the folk scene; not much other option when the major labels aren’t interested and only folk specialist stores would even consider stocking your CDs.
Mind you, a fair proportion of that crew are making their own shirts and CDs, not just selling them.
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I’ve heard and read from a few artists that they made more money touring than on record sales. Probably not universally true as you suggest but just because one is true does not discount the other. I am aware that some artists made quite a good living off record sales alone but would be naive to think that is the norm.
My point was only to even slightly dispel the the myth of “tour and merch are the only way to make money”
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