How Much Do Artists Make on Tour
Ever wonder how much your favorite artists make on tour?
We certainly have!
This article will discuss how much do artists make on tour.
I will also discuss the average pay for touring artists and how much it can vary year to year.
Before we look at the big picture, let's dive into a number of factors that can greatly affect tour revenue.
What do artists do on tour?
This is an important question to ask yourself before you decide to tour, even if your primary income is from YouTube videos and merchandise.
Some artists only tour for the purpose of recording music videos or live shows.
But this is not the case with most touring artists who are touring to generate revenue. Most artists tour for a long period of time to make money.
Many artists tour all year round in some places and not in others.
The majority of artists tour for at least 9 months out of the year and in some cases longer than that. I have toured full time for over 5 years.
What time of year should you tour?
Before touring you will want to confirm your tour dates with your label.
If your album is coming out soon, try to tour during the summer when you can get the highest exposure and the biggest crowds.
Remember that summer is the high season for touring musicians because they are the most accessible and affordable to fans.
Do not tour during the winter when it is freezing and you will miss a significant part of the year. My favorite months for touring are the months of July and August.
Where should you tour?
This is the question that can affect your income a great deal.
You will have a lot of opportunities to tour from different areas all over the world. In this article I will discuss the most common places that touring musicians tour in 2018. For more information about touring internationally, check out this article.
The United States
I have personally seen very few touring musicians that perform live in the United States that are making a living as an artist. You will have a difficult time bringing in an audience as a live act and many venues do not have promotional budgets for music events.
I have worked for many different artists and bands and most of them were U.S. based.
It is the most popular place for touring musicians in the world. The number of venues is larger and you have more opportunities to play for large crowds.
Lets talk specific numbers
Because we know you want to hear it (finally!).
Rockstar tour revenues
If you are a huge rock star in the music industry like Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi or Guns N’ Roses, you have many more people who buy your music.
This is why you get a huge paycheck each month!
Let’s take a look at how much some big-ticket rock stars made touring in 2016.
Looking at these numbers can give you an idea of what famous musicians can make while on tour.
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is the most popular rock band of all time and they are huge on tour. Their average ticket price is about $160 and they had the most popular tour this year!
Their highest ticket price is about $245. They also earned a lot of money from merchandise sales at these shows. They are making a lot of money off their album ‘This House Is Not For Sale’, which was the most popular album of 2016.
This album sold more than 3.1 million copies! In the rock genre, they make about $400,000 per show.
This is all just from their concerts.
Bon Jovi also tours a lot because of their concert and album sales. They have put out three albums in the past 10 years. That’s a lot of concerts! They also released a new album in 2017 called ‘This House Is Not For Sale’.
Def Leppard
Another rock band, Def Leppard, is also a big name in the music industry.
They tour a lot and the ticket price for one of their concerts starts at about $50, which is pretty good!
Their most expensive concert ticket is about $200. Their most expensive merchandise for their shows is about $20. They make about $150,000 per show.
It’s Guns N’ Roses! The most expensive ticket for one of their concerts is about $300.
Their most expensive merchandise is about $30. They also earn about $100,000 per show. This is because their concerts are one of the longest in the industry.
Another rock band, Linkin Park, also makes money off their music and their concert tours. Each member earned about $60,000 per show in 2016. They are one of the most popular and biggest acts in the music industry.
But what about other artists?
As we begin covering more and more artists on The Art Bay, check back here for more helpful data about how much different musicians and groups earn on tour.
This article will be updated regularly!
