Now that all your hard work (with a little help from multitrackmaster.com) has paid off, you find yourself in a position to go on tour. Congratulations. Different musicians all across the country have the same goal – to play in front of live audiences.
But since this is your very first tour, chances are you’re going to be handling (and paying for) all of the essentials yourselves. That means everything from lodging to transportation to food to any and all emergencies that might come up along the way. Sure, you’re getting paid for these gigs, but if this is your first time on the road, don’t expect to be getting rich from this endeavor. While it’s true that you can make some good money doing shows, you likely won’t be cashing in like crazy on your first outing.
But we’re here to help you make it through your first tour and have enough cash in your pockets to survive from the first date to the last.
Create A Smart Budget
You are going to be spending a lot of money on this tour. Your own money, that is unless you are signed to a record label that will be covering all of your expenses. But until that time, you can plan on putting out your own cash for all of the essentials, including your meals, your lodging, your transportation, insurance costs, incidentals, and pretty much anything and everything you need while you’re traveling.
So, plan ahead by putting together an overall budget outlining how much you expect to spend and on what items.
Scheduling
This is where self-discipline comes in. You want to schedule all of your days and evenings in a manner that promotes your creativity and professionalism. That means you want to have every day planned out so that you are never sitting around with nothing to do. Without this type of structure, you will only end up spending more than you might want.
It’s all well and good to have fun and do a little partying during your tour but when it gets out of hand, that’s when you start overspending and you may even impact the gigs you are traveling around to perform for in the first place.
Promotions
If you are just getting started, you want to be sure you can get people to your show. That means finding ways to promote your gigs without paying for a promotions company doing the work for you. Turn to social media, arrange radio station appearances, find all of the ways you can get to your audience and let them know where you will be performing.
Merch
You want to make money during your tour and one way to do that is by selling merchandise. But you want to find ways to keep your costs down in creating that merch. Do your research and find the best suppliers that can provide you with the best products at the lowest costs.
When you do all of this work on your own, you can save money and enjoy your tour.