Navigating a Low-Budget Band Tour: Essential Tips and Strategies
I decided to write this article to explore a potential touring scenario for a small band with a minimal budget, without the support of professionals. At the initial stage, having a team of professionals would certainly improve the quality of life and make things easier, but it’s not financially feasible to pay them right now.
Let's assume you’ve booked five consecutive shows with a door deal, plus food and accommodation. We’re considering a situation where the band doesn’t own its equipment and rents it instead.
Daily Expenses:
- Van: €130
- Fuel: €180
- Equipment: €140
- Advertising budget per event (because if you don’t advertise or rely on locals, you’ll play to empty venues): €100
Total: €550 per day
If we assume you start the trip on the day of the first show and have one day for the return trip, we have: 5 x €550 = €2750 + last day’s fuel, van, and €15 each for food (€385) Total: €3135
Assuming an optimistic attendance of 100 people per show and a door deal of €3 per ticket, that means €300 revenue per city.
€-3135 + €1500 = -€1635 that needs to be covered somehow.
The easy solution is merchandise.
Merchandise: If you produce 150 high-quality T-shirts with one color and one print, the conservative cost is €5.5 per piece. The minimum price to sell a T-shirt to ensure some safety in the endeavour is €20. With a €14.5 "profit" per T-shirt, you need to sell 113 T-shirts to return home debt-free and with the merchandise paid for, which means selling 23 T-shirts at each concert. (You’ll have some extra cash for coffee too!)
Key Ingredients for Success:
- Play well regardless of the audience size. If you don’t give your best performance, you won’t gain any fans, and people won’t support you by buying merchandise. Everyone loves honest bands!
- To charge €20 per T-shirt, you can’t offer promotional quality clothing, with just a logo, or generally uninspired and cheap products.
Note: All calculations are based on a specific scenario. For individual cases like "I have my own equipment," "I have my own van," "I don’t need much fuel," "I got a better deal," "the organizer is stingy and doesn’t provide food and accommodation," etc., simply change the variables. The math is the same and straightforward, and anyone can adapt the scenario to their needs. We’re not considering VAT, income taxes, insurance, etc., as these are for later stages. First, you need to learn the basics.
P.S. Fans, now you understand why you’re paying €20 for a T-shirt from new bands and how much they really need it.
I specialize in merchandise production and sales. If you want to learn how to create a value-for-money product so you can sell it for €20 without strange looks, you’re in the right place. 😊