Touring: costs and marketing

The trick is to always be prepared for the worst-case scenario when it comes to touring and finances. You must be prepared for the band to have to pay for the entire tour and to make no money whatsoever. What this means in practice is that you need to know how much everything is going to cost you before you leave home AND to leave home with enough money to pay all of those costs, regardless of what you earn.

 

The costs you can expect to incur include the following:

 

Mostly these can easily be worked out in advance, so you have no excuse for being caught short. As a unit you will also soon learn how to cut costs by negotiating things like door staff and insisting on a meal at the venue as part of the deal. Unless you have an agreement in place with the promoter or the venue, realise that on a door deal there are no guarantees. You need to be able to get yourself and your crew home after the show.

 

However, also make sure that you can maximise your earnings. In other words, if there are options on accommodation, take the cheap one, Rather crash on the floor at the support band’s place than pay for a backpackers. Rather pay for a backpackers than a hotel and so on. This is where your merchandise can also really save you. By selling tee shirts, stickers, pins and CDs you can up your earnings on a night significantly. When you are on the road that could mean the next tank of petrol or the next night’s accommodation.

 

Be prepared for touring in every way, not just in the sense that musically you think you are ready to leave home.

 

Marketing

 

When you hit the road for the first time and start playing to a brand new audience, your marketing suddenly becomes very, very important. It is at this stage that you are going to have to spend money on it. A key thing to realise is that the band is most likely to lose money the first couple of times it leaves town on tour. It’s not a golden rule, but it is the most likely scenario. You need to understand that the first couple of tours are actually marketing exercises in themselves and not really earning opportunities. Because very few people outside of your hometown will know you, you are using your performance as a marketing tool to introduce yourselves. In order to make that as effective as possible, you need to make use of every weapon available to you to get people to that show.

 

Firstly, make sure you know what the venue does in the way of marketing. Do they do flyers and posters? Do they have an SMS database? Do they post gigs on their website? Do they send information to the local press? Make sure you give them more than enough information on your band to help them get the word out. Secondly, you will most likely be playing with a local band as well. Get in touch with the members and make sure they are also doing flyers and, if they have a database, that they are communicating the gig to them. Make sure Facebook and MySpace have the shows up and that your friends are spreading the word to their friends in other cities.

 

Then send out your own press release about the show to the local press and websites. Send them good photos of yourself, just as you have been doing at home. But make sure information spreads as wide as it can. Just because the media will be excited to have a new band in town doesn’t mean everyone will be.

 

Sometimes venues do their own generic flyers for each month’s gigs, but generally you will need to make one yourself. Depending on how much of a tour you are doing, it is often advisable to create a flyer that features all your gigs countrywide. This has two major benefits. Firstly, of course, it saves money and secondly, it really gives the right impression to people that see it. Not only are you coming to their town, but you are touring the whole country. It makes you look successful and established, and impressed people are more likely to come to your show. Make sure that the venue and the support band have flyers at least three weeks before the show takes place. This needs to be the case for every show on your tour, so get your flyers designed and printed in good time. Also make sure you get them posted or delivered to the venues in good time so that they can actually be used.

 

Remember that every show, every flyer and press release serve two functions. Firstly, to get people through the door to earn the band money so that you can continue to grow and reach for your goals. Secondly, to spread the word far and wide so that next time people see or hear your name, they know who you are and how good you are. If they are not doing both for you at all times, you need to look carefully at the choices you are making and perhaps adjust your thinking. Nobody likes to play a gig that doesn’t pay, but if it is effective in spreading you name, it could have been worthwhile. If it does neither, you are in trouble.

 

Originally published in David Chislett's One, Two, One, Two: A Step By Step Guide To The South African Music Industry. Download a free copy of the book at www.davidchislett.co.za.