The role of the touring musician has always been a central position in the music industry, based entirely off its primary goal; to provide entertainment. On top of such a role is the added dichotomy of a musician’s approach towards playing live music, with the question of playing covers of other artist’s work or performing their own music, which while being a source of great renown for some, can also add immense pressure to the daily life and career of a touring musician. With such responsibilities as continuously keeping their instrumental skills at a consistent level, following strict preparation deadlines, and sometimes travelling around the world enduring long periods on the road, it is no wonder that the life of touring musicians can be gruelling and often stressful. However, touring remains a vital element of the music industry and consistently proves itself to be an excellent way of promoting musical acts, building a consistent image and brand for artists and for drawing in revenue. In this essay I will be exploring the different facets of this profession, including the professional and educational requirements, the responsibilities that make up daily life for a touring musician, and how to develop a career as a touring musician.
In terms of requirements for this role, the difference in expectations relating to what you need to be able to do as a musician is usually dependent on the genre of music you’re playing. For example, the level of musicianship required to be in a jazz band may require years of academic training and instrumental prowess, whereas playing rhythm guitar parts in small venues around your local space is usually less technically demanding, however still requires many personal skills that can be pivotal in sustaining a successful career in touring. As far as academic backgrounds go, the route many musicians take is enrolling in various forms of higher education such as universities and conservatoires, with the most common course of study being in music performance, As Cameron Picton of Black Midi puts it, his education at BRIT musical school gave him and his bandmates ‘so much performance experience, experience working with different kinds of musicians, playing different kinds of music,’ (Fantano: 2021) and it is these facets of studying music performance that allow people to drastically improve their technical ability while studying and gain the skills necessary to work properly in groups. Outside of academia, people also look for certain qualities that can be gained through experience, either from solely gigging and touring or simply just from acting as a professional musician. Many bands that get their start by gigging in their local scenes develop strong organisational skills due to the self-run nature of these environments, and this independent attitude is something that touring musicians can benefit greatly from as their career grows over time. These organisational skills can also be a great help when trying to record music, allowing musicians to effectively plan out studio sessions and use their time as efficiently as possible. Due to the nature of these skills and how they are only grown through time working and performing in the touring industry, it is more common for people to seek those with firsthand industry experience as opposed to purely academic backgrounds as they can guarantee that the musicians have prior knowledge of the way professional performances function and are reliable enough to function independently in a gig environment.
Additionally, there are many facets of being in a band or larger touring group that demand a great deal of communicative skill. There are often a variety of decisions to be made regarding people’s personal commitments outside of their career, the way that profit from the event is going to split both within the band and between external parties (promoters, crew etc), as well as ensuring that the venue is properly prepared and informed of your entire setup to ensure the preparation and transitions between sets goes as smoothly as possible. As such, one often needs to be able to amicably resolve issues and receive criticism, as being facetious and arrogant can often cause friction between different people and lead to arguments, sometimes dismantling the entire operation. Furthermore, understanding basic business practice can be beneficial for all, as many promoters will want bands to sign contracts relating to profit gain and not being booked within certain time limits after the gig, which without proper recognition could throw an entire run of shows out of balance and possibly cause bands not only to lose money, but can also damage your reputation should you have to cancel a lot of shows last minute.
The day-to-day responsibilities of being involved in extended periods of touring are mainly to do with efficiency; ensuring that the process goes as smoothly as possible for everyone involved. This begins with considering travel, as most tours take place across larger areas and sometimes across countries. One must consider how many vehicles are being used to transport the musicians as well as their gear, fitting all the gear inside said vehicles, together with considering fuel costs and ensuring that traffic (or any other obstacle such as delays/cancellations if travelling on public transport or by air) does not impact your journey. Once bands have arrived at the venue, it is their job to ensure that their gear gets inside as quickly as possible and to coordinate with the sound engineer on the overall setup of their performance to make sure that there isn’t any confusion on what needs to be prepared and ready in time for their set. Another vital element of preparation is the soundcheck, and it is the band’s responsibility to make sure they are all present and ready to be a part of it as this is what will ensure the sound and technical side of the performance (lights, smoke machines etc) are setup according to how both the engineer and the band want them to be. When the actual performance comes around it is imperative that the band is prepared to give an engaging, effective performance that is in line with their brand and image. Some key factors to consider here are things like ensuring none of the band members are under the influence of any substances that would impact their performance such as recreational drugs or large quantities of alcohol as this can often lead to a subpar performance and often plays a hand in bands gaining negative reputations. Outside of performances and touring periods, one of the most important parts of being in a band is maintaining regular practice schedules and utilising creative songwriting in original music to create music that matches what you want to make. Having consistent practices can help the band feel prepared and ready to perform to a crowd, and that confidence helps to make your energy on stage feel organic and not forced, leading to an engaging and enjoyable experience for the crowd.
The biggest issues one can face as a professional touring musician are usually either financial or legal in nature. Financially, a career as a gigging musician can be hit or miss, but with the right amount of effort can be incredibly rewarding. To gain a stable income as a performer is a task that often requires balancing out various fees, such as travel costs and equipment maintenance, with the income made through ticket sales, merchandise and occasionally things like sponsorships from companies who are interested in your brand. Unfortunately, these things are subject to change due to their reliance on exterior parties to bring in profit; merch sales are only a source of income if people buy your merch, ticket sales only make money if people come to the gigs etc. This combined with the aforementioned costs that come hand-in-hand with the job means that musicians often resort to having side jobs or even whole other careers to supplement their income. This can be an issue as it raises even more difficulties in the ways of scheduling practices and booking extended periods of touring. In terms of the legal issues one could face, a common practice when booking high profile gigs or extended touring periods is to sign a contract, usually relating to not playing other gigs within a certain time frame or dictating how the profit from the gig will be split. As well as this, it is not uncommon to have internal contracts between band members to ensure everyone gets what they feel is an equal split of any money made from gigs and streaming royalties among other things. Bands usually hire managers or legal personnel to keep track of these agreements and double check the terms of them to ensure they’re kept fair and true to the reality of the band’s structure.
When one decides to take the first steps in starting a band and venture into the live music industry, it is essential to have good marketing and promotion, especially in the digital age we live in. Having a presence on social media as well as in live music spaces helps to push your brand to more people than could be reached through purely physical mediums and is an effective form of advertising everything from gigs to merchandise to new releases. On top of those uses, utilising your internet presence to give insight into typically unseen facets of being a musician can help foster a sense of community within fans and followers of your work which in turn leads to more people consistently turning up to gigs, buying merch and supporting your work. Having this simpler, more personable view into your work can be a brilliant way of boosting your public image and helps to put your image as a band forward in a palatable, relatable format for your audience. On top of this, hiring professionals such as PR and booking agents can help give bands who feel unsure about their image and identity as a band more direction in forming this aspect of their group, and working with artists/graphic designers can aid in coalescing ideas about visual identity into things like logos and posters that accurately convey your band’s ethos and aesthetic. Furthermore, physical media shouldn’t be disregarded as it can ‘allow for the development of deep, local connections that just don’t happen on social media,’ (Amadeus:2025) and these connections help form circles and ‘scenes’ which draw in a sizeable audience when used in tandem with an effective band identity, and things like posters and stickers are fixtures that work via their simple nature; being placed anywhere by anyone means your band’s presence can be seen in all manner of places.
Usually, when someone or a group of people decide to first become involved in their local live music scene, they are unexperienced and truly taking their first steps into not only performing but also the internal aspects of writing and creating their own music. This can bring many challenges that can hamper one’s progress in playing and writing music, such as disagreements within your group that can range in anything from songwriting decisions to aesthetic choices, as well as cause personal issues such as a loss of confidence in each other which can be harmful to the performances you give. Ways to combat this include ensuring songwriting sessions feel structured and collaborative, as making sure everyone feels included helps to avoid toxicity growing between members of the band and keeps the writing process a group effort. On the more personal side of things, unexperienced performers are prone to performance anxiety, and letting this grow within yourself leading up to either a first performance as a band or a particularly impactful gig can open the door to mistakes and agitation caused by your nervous state. This in turn can create growing issues with self-confidence and sometimes lead to people giving up gigging for good. As such, it is important for musicians who feel like this to reach out to other members of their band or just other contemporaries in their scene for support and also utilising mindfulness techniques to ensure they have the ability to stay calm and collected when in tense situations as these are commonplace throughout the live music industry.
In conclusion, the role of a professional touring musician is one that grapples with many different responsibilities. With its main purpose of providing entertainment to the masses, it remains a mainstay in the modern music industry and, despite the many societal pressures people face today, it continues as a viable manner of developing your musical ability, improving your professional skills in cooperating with large groups of people, and on the whole giving your career in the music industry a positive start that will lead you on to a bright future.
Bibliography
Amadeus, A., 2025. Decent Music PR. [Online]
Available at: usicpr.com/post/why-diy-spaces-are-still-important-for-music-promotion-in-the-streaming-era
Fantano (2021) black midi INTERVIEW [Video]. https://youtu.be/HHt1nOnqThI?si=m9MArbHVs9seKqK1
