Bands in today’s music industry are having a hard making ends meet. Some musicians take on odd jobs just to pay the bills. But you would think they would be rich selling albums and merchandise, right? Wrong, there are a lot of different financial aspects to take in account.
First, it’s not all glamorous when a band goes on tour. Touring requires a lot of money, hard work and dedication. Bands need to pay for gas, food and hotels when they are on the road. Not mention all the taxes that cities add to perform in the venue. When you are buying a $40 ticket, most of the money is going to the venue and taxes. That is why you see bands selling their merchandise at shows.
If you want to support your favorite bands at shows buy the merchandise. Bands try to come up with creative merchandise so that the fans will want to buy. All Time Low came up with shorts to buy during their summer tour. Personally, I always try to buy a t-shirt at shows. I refuse to buy them from retail because the band rarely sees that money. When purchasing merchandise at shows, bands can use the money immediately for gas or food on the road. When bands sell merchandise, they make a better profit than both ticket and album sales.
Lastly, the band sees little money from their album sales. If bought in a retail chain, half of it goes to the chain and the other to the record company. The record company uses that money to pay for the studio and producers that the band used to record the album. In this case again it is better to buy the CD at a show than at a retail store.
To put things in perspective, let’s look at what the average mid-level bands such as Hey Monday, Rise Against, or We the Kings would have to pay when they go on tour: “Booking agents, managers, lawyers, business managers or accountants, buying or renting a van or tour bus, buying or renting a trailer, fuel, vehicle repairs, driver (if on a bus), hotel rooms, hotel rooms during the day for the tour bus driver, vehicle insurance, tolls, food, guitar picks, drum sticks, drum heads, instrument repairs, touring crew members, per diems for the band and crew members, merchandise, lighting, onstage production, wardrobe, taxes and, in some cases, medical bills” (Zemler, 2011).
Bands make sacrifices to do what they love. They go without food for a day or sleep on Wal-mart shelves, all because they love music. They want to see and meet fans. After all, “without someone to create for, you can't create.” – Sherri Dupree Bemis,
Zemler, Emily. (2011) No Money, Mo’ Problems: Why even successful bands struggle financially. Retrieved on February 4 2011 from http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/no_money_mo_problems/
Interesting perspective about touring and CD sales. I couldn't agree more, it is very difficult for a band or artist to generate enough money to pay the bills. It is a hit driven business, were only a few artists are truly successful, out of the sea of aspiring artists, but those artists that are successful are VERY successful.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, there are countless extra costs associated with putting on a proper tour or to properly distribute CD's nationwide. Based on my experience in the recording industry, I made up a little saying about distributing physical units nationally. "It's like shrink wrapping a $20 bill with the CD and having to sell it for $14.99.
Keep up the great insight!