I think the best way to see that is read bands tour blogs or watch their tour videos, you will get an idea of how it works for them.
Take for example, The Ocean. They recently came off a US tour, well their 2nd US tour this year, but the one before that gave them a lot of problems.
http://www.theocean.fr/?page_id=72 You can check their tour blog.
Sometimes you never know whether you will have a good tour or not. You invest your money for air tickets, tour bus, visas etc and you hope that you will recover all of it and more while on tour, but its not always the case.

Big bands don't really have those problems, they have a completely different set of problems, stuff like the hot towelette was not the right temperature or the beers in the freezer were all done and they had to fill the fridge themselves
Big bands usually have everything taken care off for them by an agency, everything from booking their tours to making sure the promoter pays on time. So they just have to go to the venue, sound check and then chill backstage and then play the gig. They would have a tour manager with them, who would do all the communicating with promoters. All the band has to do is smile and wave at fans

Http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/bands-money-touring


A very interesing read. It's based off what a moderate-sized metal band would tend to make.

Written by TrollandDie on 28.11.2011 at 19:02

Http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/bands-money-touring


A very interesing read. It's based off what a moderate-sized metal band would tend to make.

that sounds about right. i heard from a reliable someone that Warbringer, one of the vanguards of the thrash resurgence weren't making shit nightly when supporting Vader on a late '09 tour.

Written by TrollandDie on 28.11.2011 at 19:02

Http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/bands-money-touring


A very interesing read. It's based off what a moderate-sized metal band would tend to make.

That's quite shocking man, that they have such a hard time getting around.
I don't know the band so I don't know how famous they are and if their payment is average

Written by Spirit Molecule on 28.11.2011 at 15:11

From those days, 4 years back, to getting paid 400-700 euros per gig now.

I can guarantee you you won't get anything near that here in The Netherlands.
Sacred Reich when they had released The American Way and would sell out 500 seater clubs would get 125 euros max at the time.

How much do you guys think Warbringer would make with a headliner tour per gig according to TrollandDie's article?

Written by TrollandDie on 28.11.2011 at 19:02

Http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/bands-money-touring


A very interesing read. It's based off what a moderate-sized metal band would tend to make.

Apparently an metalcore band cause they talk about slim fitting shirts

What I find totally unacceptable is that venues in the US even dare ask merch rates. So that means a venue has to do sht all and the band makes THEM money on the merch sold.
I wouldn't be surprised if merch rates at venues are even illegal in The Netherlands.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2011 at 20:18

Written by Spirit Molecule on 28.11.2011 at 15:11

From those days, 4 years back, to getting paid 400-700 euros per gig now.

I can guarantee you you won't get anything near that here in The Netherlands.
Sacred Reich when they had released The American Way and would sell out 500 seater clubs would get 125 euros max at the time.

Well actually that doesn't make sense, why so little an amount if they are selling out gigs ?
Anyway the scene works completely different here. We don't tour, there is no concept of touring here, bands just gig. So sometimes you play a gig or two every weekend of the month and some months you play none. The only reason we can charge so much is because we're been around for a decent amount of time and played quite a few gigs over the years. Plus the crowd generally likes us. But if say we couldn't bring in a crowd or keep the crowd entertained or be able to put on a good gig we could never charge even 100euros, you just might have to play for free or for food and booze. On the other hand there are bands that can easily charge 1000+euros a gig.

Are we talking about how much money tha bands want for a gig or how much profit they get after everyone else gotten paid (crew, manager etc)?
So the money for the gig or the profit of the gig?

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2011 at 20:27

Written by TrollandDie on 28.11.2011 at 19:02

Http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/bands-money-touring


A very interesing read. It's based off what a moderate-sized metal band would tend to make.

Apparently an metalcore band cause they talk about slim fitting shirts

What I find totally unacceptable is that venues in the US even dare ask merch rates. So that means a venue has to do sht all and the band makes THEM money on the merch sold.
I wouldn't be surprised if merch rates at venues are even illegal in The Netherlands.

I didn't know venues did that, coz that sucks. I mean the band doesn't ask for a bar split. So the venue is making enough money from the bar tab, so why the hell charge the band a cut of their merch. Plus if they are working with gate splits, they are making money anyway for doing nothing.

If you read the after discussion, there is a lot of dissecting what Oh Sleeper had to say.

starting with "why not more DIY? If only getting a $300 guaranty per gig, do more yourself and cut that mouth to feed out of the equation." type stuff.

someone rebuffed the merch rates comment. i don't know if it is true or not. some venues might, others might not.

and what the fuck is mid-level? i would be interested in how many tickets they sold in "big" destinations (LA, NY, Chicago) as well as "small" destinations (Tucson, Albuquerque, intermediary stops between the big ones.)

their shirt margin is a bit much as well. i don't pay much attention to who makes the shirt so much as "do i like the shirt? would i wear this?"

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2011 at 14:07

@Phantomlords21 funny you should mention The Darkness, just last weekend I heard what they ask festivals to pay them to play there.
They have the bloody nerve to ask anywhere between 500,000 and 700,000 euros per festival gig.

If it was Metallica, I'd understand asking for that (reluctantly, it must be admitted), but The Darkness? Guys who release two albums (can't say much about the second, but the first was pretty cool) and basically disappear for five years before reuniting? Probably the only reason they ask for that is because the lead singer worked with Meat Loaf to write a song (and I don't even like that song, but I'll not bore you to death with that conversation) and, even then, that's still not good enough for my book to justify that fee.

Sorry about the delay in responding, I had to finish my previous post literally minutes before I had to leave for college and I only just got back.

If we're talking about gods like Maiden, Priest, Metallica and AC/DC, then I can assure you the answer would be "a freaking lot".

Written by Mindheist on 28.11.2011 at 22:38

If we're talking about gods like Maiden, Priest, Metallica and AC/DC, then I can assure you the answer would be "a freaking lot".

Nah they just get around:lol:

Written by NLthrasher on 28.11.2011 at 22:40

Written by Mindheist on 28.11.2011 at 22:38

If we're talking about gods like Maiden, Priest, Metallica and AC/DC, then I can assure you the answer would be "a freaking lot".

Nah they just get around:lol:

Sure.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.11.2011 at 20:27

Written by TrollandDie on 28.11.2011 at 19:02

Http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/bands-money-touring


A very interesing read. It's based off what a moderate-sized metal band would tend to make.

Apparently an metalcore band cause they talk about slim fitting shirts

What I find totally unacceptable is that venues in the US even dare ask merch rates. So that means a venue has to do sht all and the band makes THEM money on the merch sold.
I wouldn't be surprised if merch rates at venues are even illegal in The Netherlands.

It's just eating up their reveunue. I feel frustrated for those guys and I must say: To tour the road, stay up for ridiculous hours, spend months recording and writing albums, constantly practicing. To basically have what would be a peasant's pay for a bagboy after all of that is extremely depressing.

300 doesnt seem that strange... usually band members have part time jobs and touring is just there to makes them that little extra money... Even huge bands take long time to move away from the "van-sleeping-touring" type. Take Amon Amarth, if I remember well, wasn't till Versus The World or FotN they could rely exclusively on touring/label contract.

Hard life for sure, but looks fun if you ain't looking for luxury and peace.

Written by BitterCOld on 28.11.2011 at 05:28

There are a ton of variables from gig size to band popularity to headline vs. support.

for a band playing gigs at your local club, crowds of 100-200, the headliners don't get much and the support get even less.

Just to give you some figures on the above example. The support gets an amount above $5.00 per member and the headliner gets an amount above $15.00 per member. As long as the band members dont smoke they may come out ahead. If they smoke they have to supply the roadies, who in the above examples always receive less than $5.00 each.

Once again are we talking about how much the venue pays the band or how much profit the band gets from one gig?

We're just talking about pay in general I guess. If you do it DIY like Craig said, then you get all the money for the band, but if you've got a manager a booking agent and roadies then thats a different story and it would be quite possible that the band is a "mid level" band.

All you've gotta know is that its fucking hard work being a professional musician, you can never quit your day job and live off the band unless you've made it big.

I do know Matt Pike works at some dive bar in Oakland when not touring with High On Fire, and Grutle from Enslaved works as a bouncer when not on the road. both HOF and Enslaved have reached a certain level of success and it's not enough to sustain a modest living.

which is good, i suppose.

if it were easy and paved with cash, everyone would be in a band and we'd be inundated with terribad music.

Written by BitterCOld on 29.11.2011 at 19:13
if it were easy and paved with cash, everyone would be in a band and we'd be inundated with terribad music.

modern pop music?

Bands make shit touring. A tour just came through with bands that are in Metal Storm's top 200 lists. These guys were cramped, hungry, and looking for a place to crash! They were making about ten dollars (Canadian) a night. It's so godammed sad what is happening to musicians right now. Touring used to be the advertisement for the album, and bands were able to flourish. Now, people take the albums for free, as if they were just cheap posters for a gig! Bands are lucky if they even come off a tour without debt.

I can't answer the questions, as I don't know the answer, but when bands do tour, and they come to my city, I try to support them as much as i can, Merch purchase, ticket purchase ETC.

If you like a band's music, buy it. Pretty simple. Even if they are only getting one dollar per sale, every little bit helps. Going to gigs will help the bands make it through 'til the next album, hopefully!

U no i think its depend on the band name & the contract between the band & their sponsor .... some sponsor are very evil & greedy whos are known as the star maker they make contract with bands & they take everything & leave a few for the band
& they force the band to make gig every month or watever they write in the contract ... this type of sponsors make the bands life as hell ...
so if the band have no sponsor & they work for their own benefit thats make a big diffrent ... & u can see that with a very big band as Manowar they gain very good money after their live show they have no sponsor & they are big famous name....

Record companies have contracts that give artists a percentage of sales, so the more albums we buy, the more the artists will make.

Really cool documentary. Gives you an idea about how fucked up a bands life is

Yeah, I bet it's tough as shit. I guess the only way of breaking free is attracting a decent and loyal fanbase with whatever means necessary. Internet is a must!

Music is one of the only forms of art that is both a mental and physical strain. It's sad that manufactured "musicians" make all the money while people with actual talent struggle to make it anywhere. Not to say that some of the bigger musicians aren't talented I'm talking about radio friendly crap.