Introduction
In this assignment, I will be taking on the role of a tour manager, researching and planning to execute a multi-territory tour for a hypothetical Manchester-based alternative rock band called ‘The Plants’ following the release of their sophomore album. To plan this multi-territory tour, I will cover finances and logistics in the form of a cash flow spreadsheet, incorporate a marketing and promotional campaign- making use of appropriate sponsorship engagements, examine merchandise and licensing opportunities in relation to the artist and selected territories, and identify potential pitfalls and how to fix them.
Tour Schedule/Planner/Planner Commentary
Starting off, the tour will have 5 dates- 3 in the UK, 1 in Ireland and 1 in Scotland. There will be two support acts for all of these dates, Liverpool based punk band- ‘Stone’ as main support and London based alternative band – ‘Ugly’. Each venue that has been selected on the tour is between 850 to 1500 in capacity. This capacity range has been selected for a number of reasons. Firstly, this capacity range is suitable for the size of the band- and also smaller venues work well for alternative live music due to the intimate nature of the space and the independent and underground nature of venues of this size, that encapsulate the band’s style and elevate the audience interaction. I have chosen smaller venues for the tour dates outside of England in Dublin and Glasgow, especially for the date in Dublin, as the band’s primary audience is based in England. Therefore, it makes sense to select venues that are smaller in selected capacity range. The two venues I have selected for these dates are The Academy, Dublin (The Main Room) –‘The main room has a standing capacity of 650 people with the balcony of 200’ (DoDublin. n.d) and SWG3 in Glasgow (The TV Studio space) – ‘capable of hosting up to 1000 people’ (SWG3. n.d)
The tour will take place over 10 days, (between 30th March and April 9th). This time of year has been selected to dodge both the colder winter months and the Christmas period as well as the the summer festival season. Booking a tour during these times of year could result in lower ticket sales, therefore resulting in a financial loss. Planning the tour for this time of year also allows the bands the oppurtunity to play at most UK festival slots. Many music outlets mention spring as one of the best times of year to go on tour, e.g Sonicbids – ‘Spring (March to May). Oh spring, what a fleeting but perfect touring season. In most markets, spring is pretty great.’ (Delmar, S. 2015) These dates have also been strategically chosen to coincide with spring half terms, thus allowing the band’s primarily student audience to attend shows.
The tour route will go as follows: Dublin 30/03, Glasgow 02/04, Manchester 05/04, Birmingham 07/04, London 09/04. This routing is effective as it allows us to get the more logistically complicated shows that are in different territories out of the way with early on. It also allows to have the biggest dates of the tour in Manchester and London later on. As for travel, we will fly from Dublin to Glasgow and then travel almost directly south through the UK via bus. In terms of travel for the support acts, flights will be paid for from Dublin to Glasgow. However, travel from any other UK dates will need to be arranged by themselves or by any managers of their bands. When planning these dates, my aim was to allow time for the bands and crew members to rest to avoid burnout. According to Musicians’ Union – ‘Between recording, releasing, rehearsing and performing, musicians who perform live often have extremely busy lifestyles. Part of building a sustainable career means being able to take breaks to practise self-care and avoid burnout.’ (Musicians’ Union, 2024) Extra precautions I have taken when planning these dates include the 3-day gap between the Glasgow and Manchester dates. This is to provide adequate time for rest, as the Dublin and Glasgow shows will be the most mentally demanding- with them being in different territories affecting the amount of travelling taking place. I am allowing time for the band to go home after the Glasgow show before Manchester to have some rest, prior to resuming their tour at- presumably, the biggest show on the tour in their hometown.
In terms of the venues that I have selected for the tour, in Manchester the band will play at the Manchester O2 Academy Ritz –‘O2 Ritz is a Grade II listed building and a live music venue known for its sprung dance floor. It has a capacity of 1500’ (Manchester Thatres. n.d). This type of venue perfectly suits the need for this date of the tour. With it being their hometown show, a larger capacity is needed- as we believe this show will be the most demanded date of the tour due to ‘The Plants’ strong local following. Other venues we have booked for the tour include B:Music (Town Hall space) in Birmingham and EartH in London. Both venues are 1200 in capacity. These venues have been selected as they are the perfect size for ‘The Plants’ to play in these locations. With the band being an English act, they would expect to pull larger numbers in terms of ticket sales- however, these venues are slightly smaller than the O2 Ritz- which is being used for their hometown show (which is suspected to be the biggest night of tour). Consequently, a venue of that size isn’t needed for the shows in Birmingham and London.
Marketing & Promotion
When promoting the tour, there will be a heavy focus on social media promotion- particularly on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok- as these are the platforms that the band’s primary audience are using most and simultaneously the platforms where the band harbours most engagement. One tactic we plan to execute is to utilise Meta ads. This is because Meta uses demographic targeting, which allows them to- ‘Choose locations, age ranges, and other basics that reflect your fan base. A teen pop artist might focus on younger folks, while a classic rock band might aim older. These settings are flexible and you can adjust them even as your campaign is running.’ (CD Baby. 2025) This will be essential throughout our campaign, as making sure the promotional content is advertised to the band’s primary demographic is essential in ensuring- growth within their audience, fans seeing the promotional material, and that their target audience is informed about the upcoming tour. With the tour dates being strategically selected to fall within the spring half term, it is vital that students can be informed about the tour and their new release.
We also plan to use “influencer marketing”, paying influencers to use one of the band’s three new singles in their content or to wear a piece of the band’s merchandise that will be available on tour.‘In the music industry, influencers are essential players in promoting, reviewing, and elevating artists and their work. They have the power to create viral moments that can propel an artist into the spotlight, whether it’s through a well-timed TikTok dance challenge, a viral Instagram post, or a YouTube video. At a minimum, influencers help increase an artist’s social media following, leading to more music streams, concert ticket sales, and merchandise purchases.’ (SpaceLoud. 2026) By having influencers representing the band’s brand and having them use their music in their content, it will increase streams for their album and create hype for the tour, as the band can grow their audience further. We plan to work with influencers primarily on TikTok and Instagram, as they are the platforms that the majority of the band’s audience primarily use. As well as this, Instagram and TikTok influencers specialise in recording short-form content- which in today’s age- is the most effective way of gathering views and maintaining an audience’s attention. However, we do plan to work with influencers that utilise platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitch also.
In regards to promotion during their tour, the band has an interview scheduled with BBC Manchester on the day before the Manchester tour date. We hope this will increase sales for the following dates in Birmingham and London.
Merchandising and Licensing
In terms of merchandise for the tour, we will be selling t-shirts and tote bags. The reason these pieces of merchandise have been chosen are as follows: t-shirts are always a favourite among concert goers firstly- and secondly they are a great canvas for designs. Tote bags have been selected to be sold on the tour because they are attractive from the perspective of the band’s primary demographic which is young people. ‘[T]ote bags have transformed into a cultural phenomenon that perfectly aligns with the values, lifestyle choices, and aesthetic preferences of Millennials and Gen Z.’ (Casa Fashions. n.d) We have two designs for both the t-shirts and the tote bags- one of them is a standard band-logo t-shirt or tote and the other design is a special, limited-edition design for the tour, displayed on both the t-shirts and the totes. The prices have been set at £20 for t-shirts and £10 for tote bags. Specifically, it is ‘£14.52 GBP’ (a.m Custom Clothing. n.d) per t-shirt printed and ‘£2.52/piece’ (Merchery. n.d) for tote bags. This means we get £5.48 per t-shirt sold and £7.48 per tote bag sold in profit.
Regarding licensing, the band have a brand deal with Marshall Amplification. As part of the deal, the band get a discount on all Marshall products and get sent equipment to use and, naturally, promote when on the road. Guitarist and keyboardist Joe Simons also has an interview scheduled 3 weeks before the tour with Marshall to talk about their amplifiers. This attracts publicity for both Marshall and the band. In terms of the impact this will have on the tour, not only will we be provided with equipment- but the interview will also help create hype for the tour, simultaneously enticing other musicians to buy tickets. As musicians, we often feel attracted to checking out a new band after hearing about the gear they use. By building our audience in this fashion, it will boost sales for the tour due to the new fans of the band.
Potential Pitfalls
On the tour, there are many potential pitfalls that we could face. One potential challenge we could encounter isurrounds gear. For example, if a guitar amplifier has an issue with one of it’s valves, it could be detrimental to a live performance and the tour as a whole. We are preventing these types of issues using a few methods. Firstly, we will bring a spare amplifier head and cabinet to each gig, as well as spare cymbals etc. We are also making sure that every piece of gear is insured before the tour, in case of it being stolen or having a technical fault that is liable to the manufacturers.
Another issue we could face is burnout. As previously mentioned – ‘Between recording, releasing, rehearsing and performing, musicians who perform live often have extremely busy lifestyles. Part of building a sustainable career means being able to take breaks to practise self-care and avoid burnout.’ (Musicians’ Union, 2024) To make sure that the band doesn’t burn out, we have made sure there is ample rest time between shows, e.g the larger gap between the Glasgow and Manchester dates previously mentioned. There will also be free time before soundchecks dedicated for rest. There will be a friends and family discount code for tickets, so bands can bring family along more easily. Touring can feel isolating, so it’s important to us that we can keep things feeling familiar. Having our loved ones around is a great way of being able to do that.
One issue we could face that is very important to address is regarding transport. If the van breaks down it could cause tour dates to be delayed, crew to be stranded, financial loss etc. There are few different ways we have chosen to prevent this issue from occuring. One way we have chosen to prevent this is by making sure to hire a van suitable for our needs. This means ensuring that the van it has appropriate breaks and suspension, as well as C-rated tires in order to carry the heavy loads before we rent it. In terms of how we would fix the issue if the van were to breakdown, we will invest in a jump-starter in order to get the van up and running again. In the case of breaking down in live traffic, we will make sure that the van is steered as far to the left as possible- and that everyone leaves the vehicle via the left hand passenger side doors. Upon leaving the van, everyone will be instructed to wear a high-visibility vest before leaving the vehicle.
Tour Route
Bibliography
DoDublin. (No date) Dublin’s Music Venues. Available at : https://dodublin.ie/big-tour-bus-news/entertainment/music-venues-of-dublin#:~:text=The%20Academy%20The%20main%20room%20has%20a,night%20out!%20On%20a%20trip%20to%20Dublin
Accessed: 22nd March 2026
‘The main room has a standing capacity of 650 people with the balcony of 200’
SWG3. (No date) TV Studio. Available at: https://swg3.tv/explore/venue-hire-spaces/swg3-tv-studio/ Accessed: 22nd March 2026
‘capable of hosting up to 1000 people
Delmar, S. (2015) The Art of Planning a Tour: Which Regions Should You Hit and When? Available at: https://blog.sonicbids.com/the-art-of-planning-a-tour-which-regions-should-you-hit-and-when
Accessed: 23rd March 2026
‘Spring (March to May). Oh spring, what a fleeting but perfect touring season. In most markets, spring is pretty great.’
Musicians’ Union. (2024) Fair Play on Tour: Protecting Your Health and Wellbeing as a Live Musician. Available at: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/news/fair-play-on-tour-protecting-your-health-and-wellbeing-as-a-live-musician
Accessed: 25th March 2026
‘Between recording, releasing, rehearsing and performing, musicians who perform live often have extremely busy lifestyles. Part of building a sustainable career means being able to take breaks to practise self-care and avoid burnout.’
Manchester Theatres. (No date) What’s On at the O2 Ritz, Manchester. Available at: https://www.manchestertheatres.com/whats-on/o2-ritz_manchester
Accessed: 26th March 2026
‘O2 Ritz is a Grade II listed building and a live music venue known for its sprung dance floor. It has a capacity of 1500’
CD Baby. (2025) Meta Ads 101: A Simple Guide to Promoting Your Music Online. Available at: https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/music-career/meta-ads-101-promoting-your-music-online/
Accessed: 29th March 2026
‘Choose locations, age ranges, and other basics that reflect your fan base. A teen pop artist might focus on younger folks, while a classic rock band might aim older. These settings are flexible and you can adjust them even as your campaign is running.’
SpaceLoud. (2026) Influencer Marketing for Music. Available at: https://www.spaceloud.com/blog/influencer-marketing-for-music
Accessed: 29th March 2026
‘In the music industry, influencers are essential players in promoting, reviewing, and elevating artists and their work. They have the power to create viral moments that can propel an artist into the spotlight, whether it’s through a well-timed TikTok dance challenge, a viral Instagram post, or a YouTube video. At a minimum, influencers help increase an artist’s social media following, leading to more music streams, concert ticket sales, and merchandise purchases.’
Casa Fashions. (no date) Why Tote Bags Are Popular Among Millennials and Gen Z. Available at: https://casafashions.com/why-tote-bags-are-popular-among-millennials-and-gen-z/
Accessed: 31st March 2026
‘[T]ote bags have transformed into a cultural phenomenon that perfectly aligns with the values, lifestyle choices, and aesthetic preferences of Millennials and Gen Z.’
a.m Custom Clothing. (no date) Rocker the essential unisex t-shirt (STTU758). Available at: https://store.amcustomclothing.co.uk/blank_product/213467948/Rocker-the-essential-unisex-t-shirt-STTU758-?c=6369838
Accessed – 1st April 2026
‘£14.52 GBP’
Merchery. (no date) Light tote. Available at: https://merchery.co/en-GB/shop/light-tote
Accessed: 1st April
‘£2.52/piece’
