Bands Don't Make Any Money Touring

So much for the idea that musicians will make money from touring/merch.

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

Sadly that sounds accurate.

S.D. wrote:

Sadly that sounds accurate.

Mark Briody of Jag Panzer just told me that this article is what he has experienced as well. Are we headed towards a future where bands don't tour and only release music on bandcamp? Will the only people that release music be complete diehards?

It really is tough out there for bands these days! It seems as though the chosen few get some support and the rest have virtually no chance of making a living.

On a lighter note, did anyone else see this at the top of that article?



Made me laugh   

Boris2008 wrote:

It really is tough out there for bands these days! It seems as though the chosen few get some support and the rest have virtually no chance of making a living.

On a lighter note, did anyone else see this at the top of that article?



Made me laugh   

I saw that a couple of days ago and it's amazing!

This is the kind of stuff I wish MORE bands would talk about; how a band profits seems to be a complete enigma today. Some interesting comments below the article:

"thats f*cking stupid.

"Merchandise is bough, printed, and shipped on the bands dollar. We print most our shirts on American Apparel. They obviously offer the best fitting shirts, and kids are smart about looking good now days. They wont sell unless you have slim fitting, soft shirts. The demand for better quality shirts from bands is higher in last few years."

I've been touring / selling merch for the past 6 years and i've never seen someone not buy a shirt because of a brand. Yeah its awesome when you buy a shirt form a band and it fits well, but your buying the shirt because you like the band. Buy gildan / hanes shirts for 2.50 a piece sell your $20 shirts for $15 and at the end of the night you got $250 after you pay the printer.

Second of all, if you only making $13.12 after all the bills are paid you should probably ditch the manger and / or booking agent. Because the connivence your paying them for is f*cking you over and its not that hard for the band to do a little extra work and get things done on their own. I know several big name acts that mange the vast majority of anything the band does and only uses a booking agent when touring another country.

I'm not saying stealing music is cool and i agree if you're going to buy merch do it from the band not the label. But a lot of this stuff is common sense."

Or just get a haircut and get a real job.

EDIT: