The role of a tour manager is to be responsible for the smooth and effective running of an artist’s tour they are embarking on for a chosen period of time (this could be months at a time or even years). The role of tour manager can sometimes overlap with that of a road manager, tour director, concert manager and band manager. The role is well defined by the official Grammy online website as somebody who “orchestrates concert tours, handling logistics, finances, scheduling, and production to ensure seamless operations and successful performances for artists”. In most cases, a tour manager will travel alongside the artist, as well as the crew and ensemble that follows them on the tour.  

It is important to understand that a tour managers main aim and priority on the tour is making that tour as successful as it can be. For example, on a financial scale – making the maximum profit for both the artist as well as the promoter of the chosen venue, the merchandise company, sponsors etc. Also, making sure the artist is well treated and looked after throughout the entirety of the tour schedule – this includes managing their schedule and day-to-day activities (for example organising media promotional events for the tour or meet and greets with fans; ensuring they arrive to soundcheck and the concert at the correct time and are well catered to both in the venue and at the hotel, if there is one within the budget). The website Grammy Go supports this in its piece on how to become a tour manager: “Strong organizational and planning abilities are crucial for managing all aspects of a tour, including scheduling, logistics, and travel arrangements”. On this note, it is often the case that tour managers can double as personal managers to an artist, not just overseeing the logistical aspects of a tour, but also the more personal aspects of the artists’ life, making sure they are happy etc. 

It is also important to note that a tour manager is not just responsible for the artist, but also the entire touring crew that is responsible for putting on the show, setting it up, transporting it across the different dates and venues etc. This consists of creating an itinerary so that the running of the shows can be done smoothly via everyone turning up on time to soundcheck and making sure the gear and stage is setup in orderly fashion and time, well in advance of the artists arrival and the show itself. After the show has finished, the role may also require the overseeing of the stage gear, lighting rig etc, being transported to the next venue as quickly and smoothly as possible in order to ensure the tour continues to run both on schedule and within budget (Note this may be dependent on the scale and budget of the tour – for smaller venues and tours there may have to only be one van with stage gear for transportation whereas for larger scale tours there may be a whole fleet of trucks containing lighting rigs, PA systems and stage gear, screens, props etc). 

Not only does the tour manager organize the everyday running of a tour but is also responsible for “advancing” a tour. This comprises of contacting a venue to discuss production requirements such as the stage plot of the upcoming concert (for example, do they already have an in-house drumkit in the venue, potentially saving costs of having to transport one there and thus creating more profit); the hospitality rider for the artist and the green room organisation – for example will there be separate ones or one big one or even one at all? All these things should happen days, weeks or even months in advance of any given show in order to maintain good organisation of the touring schedule. Due to this, it is typical for tour managers to advance forthcoming dates on the tour as it advances. 

Finally, a tour manager will act as communicator between the different agencies as well as keeping the artist’ ego in check. According to the Music Gateway, being a tour manager requires “patience and inter-personal emotional intelligence.” By doing this, it means everyone can perform to their best ability, keeping the quality of show high.  

The role of a Promoter within the music industry is to promote live music events happening at local venues to the public. They are extremely important figures in the music industry, especially in the sector of live concerts/gigs, as pointed out by Amit Sharma in “Deliver My Tune”: “One key player in this ecosystem is the music promoter” This can be done through booking the live artists who will be playing at the gig; as well as arranging both the physical and online sources of promotion for the artist and the gig they are playing, and promoting the venue in which that gig is being put on. A promoter aims to sell as many tickets as possible for the gig on order to benefit the artist playing, the venue itself and the promoter who will take a share of the profits. There are two types of promoters within the music industry: independent promoters, and venue promoters. Independent promoters are effectively entrepreneurs who will independently book a venue for an artist’s live gig they would like to put on or even book club nights. They will do this across multiple different venues that are usually local to them in their area, promoting local live acts or smaller ones who are coming to the area who may be unknown at that time. On the other hand, venue promoters are solely loyal to the venue they work for in their promotion, contacting artists to try and get them to play gigs at that venue, promoting only that venue and they are usually on the venue’s payroll. 

If a music promoter wants to put on an event, one of the first things they should do is secure the artist’s they would like to have playing there. Depending on whether they are an independent promoter or a promoter working for a venue, the artist’ could range from local bands for a small venue such as pub or club (Local examples of this in Leeds could be Oporto, Brudenell Social Club or Belgrave Music & Beer Hall to international stars for an arena or even stadium concert such as the O2 Arena or Wembley Stadium. Because the promoter must book the artist playing, a good relationship between the two is required for the process to run smoothly – this includes: negotiating contracts, deciding on performance fees and handling logistics such as travel and accommodation for artists.  Such a relationship is well described by the AMW Blog: “The Relationship between music promoters and artists is akin to a well-composed duet, where communication and mutual respect are key to creating a harmonious partnership. Music promoters play a pivotal role in the careers of emerging talent and established artists, providing them with the platform and audience to showcase their music”.  

As well as this, if you are an independent music promoter, part of your task will be selecting the right venue for the artist you are booking, as it has to suit their live capability and audience size in the local scene where the concert is being put on. For this, a promoter will consider factors like capacity, facilities and location. A good case example of an independent promoter is Leeds local promoter “DJ Lubi”. In a recent guest lecture he conducted at Leeds Conservatoire on Tuesday 25^th November 2025, he went into detail on this particular topic, noting that the key deciders were capacity – if the gig was an intimate seated one he may go for a venue like Hyde Park Book Club (the snug area’s max capacity is 50 and good for intimate gigs), or for a standing gig for an artist with a larger audience pull, a venue like Belgrave Music Hall would be better due to its 400 max capacity and great PA in- house system including the hidden 4 sub speakers hidden under the 5 foot tall stage, also making it good for visibility for such a big audience capacity and providing a good bass sound. 

Finally, a music promoter must be financially competent and able to work within budgeting means, however this may also rely on the venue with whom the promoter is working. For instance, if it is an independent promoter they may have to budget tightly due to their independent financial situation, whereas a promoter working with a venue may have a pre-determined budget to work with for putting the show on and promoting it, as explained by Berklee College of Music: “Promoters need to be as disciplined as they are passionate, able to negotiate intelligently, keep tight control over expenses, and pay careful attention to the myriad details involved in producing a live music event”. 

The hypothetical event that I would be putting on would be a small acoustic folk and blues night which would feature the band Strawberry Blonde with a support act at the Howard Assembly Rooms downstairs bar venue. I would act as the role of promoter for this particular event, as this is the more important role out of the two previously mentioned in relation to putting on an event of this size. I would be responsible for the booking of the venue, as well as the artists on the bill, and promoting the event itself. 

A tour manager role would only be feasible in this hypothetical situation if we were to take this small show on tour around different intimate venues across the country. If this was the case, the role of a tour manager would be applicable in order to organise the tour, as well as maintain the relationship between the artists performing the opening and headline sets and the multitude of venue promoters and organizers. In this case, the role of a tour manager would be important – however still of lesser importance than the role of promoter as the shows would be taking place in intimate venues so there would naturally be less larger scale organizational scale responsibilities that the tour promoter would usually be responsible for. 

The hire fee of the venue is £100 plus VAT and PRS. The headlining artist’s fee is £300. This equates to £75 to each member as it is a four-piece band which I feel is a fair amount for the size of the gig and the size of the act. The opening act will be a solo singer who is good to set the mood for the night, and she will be paid £50 which is a reasonable amount for an opening act who is solo and also well known within Leeds in order to help sell more tickets for the venue. The tickets are priced at £10 if you buy in advance, and if you buy on the door on the night of the event, they are priced at £12 to make more profit. Whilst some may say this is quite expensive, the two artists playing are well established in the local area with a strong student following to support them, and the £10-£12 range of ticket pricing now is more usual for student gigs due to inflation etc. As well as this, by having tickets priced at £2 more expensive on the door, it allows for greater profit to be made in the gig if people passing by want to come and see the act. A final point to note is that during my research in conversation with venue owner Tony Green is that if the bar that night makes £1000 the artists is returned the venue hire fee of £100. So effectively if we drew a crowd that bought enough drinks, we would also make £100 more profit. 

To maximise potential profits for the artist I decided on a venue balance split with 70% to the artists and 30% to the promoter in order to make sure evryone gets correctly paid for the work they do in contributing to the show’s quality. It is important to note too that many costs such as PA, sound system are included in the venue hire fee that was set out originally. 

Concerts and Touring Assignment Settlement Sheet.xlsx 

Budget Sheet Concerts And Tourign Assignment 1.xlsx 

Bibliography: 

1. N/A. (2024). The Complete Guide to Becoming a Tour Manager. [Online]. Grammy Go. Last Updated: 23 April. Available at: https://go.grammy.com/music-careers/tour-manager/ [Accessed 14 November 2025]. 

2. N/A. (2024). The Complete Guide to Becoming a Tour Manager. [Online]. Grammy Go. Last Updated: 23 April. Available at: https://go.grammy.com/music-careers/tour-manager/ [Accessed 14 November 2025]. 

3. Briley, P. (2023). How To Become A Tour Manager. [online] Music Gateway. Available at: https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/music-industry/tour-manager [Accessed 13 Aug. 2023].  

4. Sharma, A. (2024). What Do Promoters Do in the Music Industry?. [Online]. Deliver My Tune. Last Updated: 13 December. Available at: https://blog.delivermytune.com/what-do-promoters-do-in-the-music-industry/ [Accessed 26 November 2025]. 

5. AMW. (2024). What Does a Music Promoter Do?. [Online]. AMW World Group. Last Updated: 28 February. Available at: https://www.amworldgroup.com/blog/what-does-a-music-promoter-do [Accessed 26 November 2025]. 

6. Berklee. (2025). What does a Concert Promoter do?. [Online]. Berklee. Last Updated: N/A. Available at: https://www.berklee.edu/careers/roles/concert-promoter [Accessed 27 November 2025].