TOUR MANAGER
A tour manager is a key part of any tour. They cover all bases from finances, artist support, logistics and overall coordination of the whole event. Their job starts well before a tour and finishes long after. They must be very versatile in their skillset, ranging from people skills, to an in-depth knowledge of the industry, to accounting skills. All of which while working long hours, away from home and in a constant high-stress situation (Tour Manager Info, 2023).
One of the key parts of a tour manager’s job is the budgeting and accounting of the whole production in “real time” (Skills U, 2022). They must track all expenses, negotiate contracts to control costs and to make sure all the finances are correct at the end of each day. Daily bookkeeping is a key skill for this and as much as “you don’t need a bachelor’s degree in accounting” (Tour Manager Info, 2023), you do need to have a basic knowledge of spreadsheet software such as excel. This role may also be responsible for the payroll submissions of the entire tour, this responsibility would fall onto the tour manager if there is no dedicated tour accountant among the staff (AEG Worldwide, 2026)
Another role that a tour manager is responsible for is organising and running the overall logistics of the tour. This ranges from day-to-day runnings, where a manager might create a “Day sheet” which is a snapshot of the day ahead which is given to the whole crew and outlines the key points of a day that each member must know. This includes, the day of the week, venue information, load-in and load-out times, soundcheck times, catering details and much more (Tour Manager Info, 2023). A tour manager must also be capable to sort out any problems that occur on the road that can’t be solved by any “lower ranking” members (Roberts, 2024).
They must also “advance” each show which is a line of contact sent between the manager and the venue starting long before the tour even kicks off. An advance will include, a technical rider, stage plot, any riders and any financial documents associated with the final settlement to be completed at the end of the night. (Tour Manager Info, 2023), (Roberts, 2024). An advance is an essential part of touring as it includes critical information that the crew needs, and if done wrong, can lead to show-cancelling issues.
A tour manager can also be responsible for the wellbeing of the artist(s), bands and crew that they are touring with. This includes booking transportation to and from the venue, organising bus call times and catering (Roberts, 2024). They will typically assign certain time slots to different groups within the tour to ease crowds in these areas (e.g. band bus call being earlier than artists due to them needing to set up before soundcheck). This relies on the manager being organised and having good communication skills to make sure everyone on the tour is taken care of. They will also organise the riders for the artists, weather that’s in the green room or on stage to make sure they have everything they need. On a larger tour, band riders may be delegated to the band manager or assistant tour manager to the main manager can be focussed on advancing with venues and other more prominent tasks. (Tour Manager Info, 2023)
Overall, a tour manager is a very key member of a tour, one which most tours would be lost without. Covering many different tasks ranging from contacting venues, to looking after each member of the touring party. They are on of the most essential people on the road.
PROMOTER
Concert promoters provide an essential role in live music. They run the finances for the gig, often assuming the financial risk, putting themselves at risk of gaining or losing money on each individual concert. At its core, “concert promotion is the art of creating an audience for a show” (Berklee, 2019). Although a promoter is not essential for a concert to be put on, a large majority of them are done through these people due to their existing connections to artists and venues in their local area.
One main role that a promoter takes on is the budgeting and finances for the concert. A promoter must determine the right amount of money to spend on a concert in order to maximise returns (Berklee, 2019). This is a difficult job as it very much relies on experience, knowledge of the local scene and a knowledge of the music industry as a whole. Berklee university (2019) states that “Promotion at it’s heart is a numbers game” where a promoter must balance the risk and reward for every gig they put on. If a promoter does not correctly budget the concert, they risk making a loss which comes completely out of pocket. A promoter must also have good negotiating skills, this can be used to get a cheaper venue hire price, organising a fair pay rate for acts, and to make sure they get paid a fair amount.
Another very important role that a promoter must do is to advertise the concert that they are putting on. They must organise advertisement, develop marketing strategies, handle media coverage and much more (Design Careers, 2023). They may have a hand in creating posters, social media posts, promotional videos to make sure as many people in the target audience get an opportunity to buy tickets and come to the event.
A promoter can also run the logistics of the event. This includes liaising with the artist(s) to confirm running orders and soundcheck times and also making sure the event runs as smoothly as it can. (Design Careers, 2023). To achieve this, a promoter must have great social skills to sort out any problems that may occur during the event, they must also be very organised as one mistake can drastically derail a concert.
A promoter and a tour manager often work hand in hand to put on a concert, especially if the promoter is attached to a specific venue. They are normally the people who receive the advance from a tour manager and help negotiate contracts. They communicate with the touring party to make sure the event can run as smoothly as possible.
One of the main parts of a promoters job is to book acts. This requires a in depth knowledge of the local music scene, essential for finding opening bands for large touring acts. They may have a range of artists on a list that they have worked with before, they could also have a group of artists that have signed exclusivity deals to allow larger payments on gigs in return for a higher availability (Design Careers, 2023).
Without promoters, live music would not happen. They take on the financial risk of a concert while organising whole events and booking artists. They serve as a connection between the artist and the audience (Berklee, 2019) and help the whole event run as smoothly for both the audience and artist as possible.
HYPOTHETICAL EVENT AND COMPARISON
The event I chose to put on is a hypothetical gig for the band “Now Showing” taking place at Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds on the 22/11/2026. The venue has a capacity of 150 standing and I decided to put 140 tickets on sale, leaving 10 holds for family and a photographer. I decided to price the tickets at £5 which is very cheap compared to other concerts that have been put on at this venue, however I chose this price due to the target audience mainly being students who are far more likely to come for a cheap price. If all tickets sold, this would live me at a £700 potential gross figure with a total balance of £215 once expenses are taken out.
In terms of costs, the venue hire is £175 which includes a sound engineer. The venue also provides box office staff at a rate of £14 per hour for a minimum of 3 hours, I chose to hire them for 5 hours which should cover the whole gig plus some time at the start to allow a crowd to filter in. This totals to £245 for venue and staffing. I decided to give the headline artist a £100 guarantee, despite being on a percentage deal and to pay the opening act £50 which is adequate for a gig this size. One of the ways I have saved money on this gig is by utilising my university printer for posters, costing only around 9 pence for one A4 sheet, I would be able to print around 100 posters which I would put up around the city, specifically student areas. To create the art for the poster I would hire an art student to save on money, typically costing around £30 to create one A4 design. I have also allocated £50 in a miscellaneous fund which would cover items such as the band’s rider and would also serve as a small emergency fund for the gig. I would use a photographer for this gig, this would be useful for the band’s future promotion and for me to use for gigs in the future. I would use a student photography student for this which means I would not need to pay them, saving in costs. In using a student for this role, I am potentially sacrificing the quality of my photos. However, I am happy to take this risk as the money I would save greatly reduces the risk for this gig.
To break even on this gig, I would have to sell 97 tickets which is a large number, but I am confident that the band I have chosen will easily be able to bring in that amount of people. The cheap ticket price also works in my favour as they are far cheaper than a lot of other gigs at Hyde Park Book Club.
On my event settlement sheet, I ended up selling 110 tickets which had a total gross profit of £670. I sold 50 in advance and 60 on the door, door tickets priced at £7. After taking away the costs, I am left with £265 which is split 50/50 between me and the headline act, as per their contract. This ends up with £132.50 each.
Overall, this gig would be a success, I broke even and ended up with a nice profit for me and the headline act. To improve this for future gigs, I would consider upping the price to £6 or £7 to reduce the number of tickets I would have to sell, reducing the potential risk which would allow me to take a chance on smaller acts. This would also allow me to pay the artists more and possibly hire a professional photographer to get higher quality photos.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AEG Worldwide (2026) Touring Manager – Global Touring | AEG Worldwide. Aegworldwide.com. Available online: https://aegworldwide.com/careers/jobs/AEGLV8752/touring-manager—global-touring-?gh_jid=8237241002
Berklee (2019) Concert Promoter | Berklee College of Music. Berklee.edu. Available online: https://www.berklee.edu/careers/roles/concert-promoter.
Design Careers (2023) Music Promoter Job Description (Updated 2023 With Examples) | ASID. American Society of Interior Designers. Available online: https://designcareers.asid.org/career/music-promoter/job-descriptions.
Roberts, I. (2024) Roadie Explains 40 Music Industry Job Titles. Tank The Tech. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo0qHQ8kDjo.
Skills U (2022) Skills U. Skills U. Available online: https://skillsu.com/role/tour-manager
Tour Manager Info. (2023) Tour Manager Info. Available online: https://tourmanager.info/.
