Why Are Bands Losing Money On Tour?
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Bands are making less money touring, and some are even loosing money on tour? What are the factors leading to this, high overhead or lazy music venues or have we devalued buying and seeing live music.
I’m 63 now. When I was 18 I went to Nashville with my band to “make it”. We went back home with our tail between our legs with nothing but a dose of reality. I joined the Army shortly afterward and put my dreams on hold so I could take care of my wife and son. Now I’m retired from the Army and playing music and still in awe at how anyone can make it. We make $500-700 a gig for a 5 piece band. That’s not enough to live on. We can be selective but doing it for a living you can’t.
@ejj archer absolutely. I love that my youngest daughter wanted to play drums and sing. I was more than happy to pay for lessons for both, something I never had. I think all of the you tube content is great too for musicians to make extra money. I also play on a Worship Team but most of us are volunteers except for the Worship Leader. There are a lot of different ways to make money playing music and I wasn’t trying to imply differently. it’s a great time to be a musician in my opinion. I guess when I was younger I was from a small town in Georgia and just didn’t have a lot of options with music. Now I’m happy with my decision to join the Army and get to fly Apache helicopters for almost 30 years. I guess everything happens for a reason. I can enjoy playing guitar with my band and don’t have to worry about the financial aspect of it. I also agree with you to never give up on your dreams, sometimes they just take a little longer.
My younger brother is 35 at the moment & for the last 3 years he's been playing a gig or 2 on occasion every weekend either at a ski lodge, restaurant, bar, , private party or a wedding. He has a full time job working with extremely handicapped individuals (changes at least 50 diapers a day on adults), teaches part time at the local School of Rock & he's really happy to be a working musician. It's not the dream rockstar show but he's playing everyday & earning money because of it.
Your brother's a f$$$ing saint. I'm not kidding.
He's awesome but don't tell him I said that. I don't want it to go to his head 🤣
Jealous much?
@@michaelpacinus242 Not at all, he's doing REALLY well since he lost his full time job as a banker in 2019! He works so hard & he's earning far less money than he was as a banker now, but is feeling REALLY fulfilled with the work he's doing, if anything I'm really proud of him!
No one wants to admit it I guess. But music. Buying it. Playing it. Performing it. Producing it. It’s over. It’s been over for a while. People just refuse to admit it. The music business is like the Arcade business; once Xbox and the like came along, it was over. Same for music. Once people began to steal it for free via the net-- it was over. And it will never recover.
Well said 💭
Turns out Lars was right all along. It was obvious at the time, but no one wanted to hear it.
I don't play. (Professionally).
But work on the technical side. I'm already booked through 2025. Offers for 2026 are starting. So. For some of us, we're going strong.
I think part of the change is that venues now take a cut of merchandise sales. Back in the day merch sales were pure profit and where a band actually made their money.
That's wild to me that that's a thing
It’s been happening since at least the 90’s, but now even smaller theaters and clubs are doing it. It’s because of LiveNation/Ticketmaster basically “owning” all of the significant venues.
Venues take a cut of just about everything. After all, the band is setting up shop for their sales at venue facilities.
@@DavidHBurkartnot the point and you know it. it's about the corporate interests taking everything they can from everyplace and everyone they can... they justify it as "growth" to the shareholders.
“Famous” bands, sure. The music industry is dead because it is less important. People listen to podcasts and are activists on Twitter. That’s why… no one has a need for music anymore. The only popular music is black because it’s still cool to be black… and you know the white girls love to squirt.
I'm still in the "my bedroom" scene with my soloist career.
My enjoyment of money definitely got in the way of my music career.
Also the lack of talent and skill.
If you can play music and stay fed, not freeze to death, and keep yourself buzzed and laid, you’ve made it.
Funny how they claim warming is super dangerous but the freezing to death is actually real.
Totally agree!!!
Jonathan is 100% right that it's moved to an online presence, for better or for worse. I purchased an older Sequoia to haul my band and gear around (little less sketchy looking than the murder van), but it's expensive to maintain. Especially living in a good sized city, no local venues want to pay because some band will do it cheaper. So we travel, some times clear across the state. I love gigging, and I feel like I can experience the "musician lifestyle" driving 8 hours round trip on a late night to make $500.
But when I can make $100 sitting at home from people I met on Instagram who like and buy merch, or send tips through livestreams, it makes it much more appealing. The way I look at social media is like the after show. People like your content and stick around to talk to you, and that's how you make friends and fans. So many people consume social media and never produce anything of value, which is why so many are disillusioned with it (myself included).
It's for worse
Another aspect of why it's so hard for young or unknown bands to get gigs is that bars and clubs now expect that your band already has a "following" that will bring in business. Bars used to hire bands to provide entertainment to their customers. Now they want the entertainment to provide the customers to their bar. It's kind of a catch-22. And they still don't want to pay you anything for the priviledge...
Damn
THAT IS SOOO TRUE! It's just the old "production" shake down, but more trailer parkie.
You might be better off finding or renting a park setting, setting up, and putting up a small merch table, and an open guitar case!
I totally agree! It’s unfortunate, but absolutely true.
💯. Absolutely spot on! And some venues ask the band to provide someone to sit at the door and collect presold tickets as well as sell at-the-door tickets. Imagine if bands stopped catering to this sort of treatment... I wonder what would happen as it could stop them from hiring live entertainment or cause them to pony up and market their business appropriately. 🤔
I wouldn't mind putting my own man on the door. That way I know everything's on the up and up.
Good luck findinhg a full lineup of talented musicians who prioritizes your band over job, family and friends.
I take a pricey Magnatone to dead end gigs all the time. It makes the shitty gigs enjoyable having fun playing through gear that I love to play in my free time. I turned down a gig for new years eve for tomorrow because the venue wasn't willing to pay me what I feel I'm worth for such a dangerous holiday to be out. By the time all the effort put in to complete the gig, tear down and start the drive home gotta contend with dui checkpoints and all kinds of added bullshit. Not worth playing out sometimes
I think Jonathon has it right. One has to use the tools available to connect with their audience. Nothing replaces playing live in front of people but picking the best places to play is the key.
If you're not the Foo Fighters, which is a sure thing money-wise, most bands are going to be struggling with their creative outlet and performing as primary income sources. Take Periphery for example, they're a pretty dang popular band, but they don't make much money from writing, releasing, and performing music. They all make money from their endorsements and business ventures, from music and otherwise. And even then, they're still outliers because not all musicians are lucky enough to have big time endorsements and signature models from Ibanez, Jackson, Paul Reed Smith, Peavey, etc. It basically appears now, for the most part, that music has to be a passion project, and you have to find a way to make money via teaching, working as a guitar store employee, or go to college to get a STEM degree while just doing music on the side, and so forth and so on.
Ran a bar, customers whined about $5 cover price (= to 2 beers), a low cost place. had some good bands. Scarlet Runner played there and drew 40 people. Everyone there loved it, I lost money big time. No one knew them, wouldn't come out to see a new band. Best bands for me to make money, local cheap bands.
It’s a sacrifice many are not willing to make. City to city on fumes from the few t shirts you sold at the last show. Hoping to make enough that night to get to the next venue
Stadtler and Waldorf here talking about kids these days lol . . . 40 years ago we used to drive hundreds of miles between tour stops, sleep on barroom floors and play in places where we had to clear the place out after 2 am . . . sometimes there was a hotel room but it wasn't much of a step up if you have to stuff 4 guys in there. Vans breaking down, bad weather, unruly crowds, hostile bar owners . . . but even at the bottom it was 400 or 500 bucks a night to split between the band members. If bands are playing for that now they ought to revolt. Set up their own venues, even temporary ones, and put on some local band showcases for a low cover. No reason a bar or a club ought to be able to have live music by professionals and pay fees that are half a century out of date, but they'll do it if you let them. In the '90s clubs around here even had bands paying the clubs to be able to play weekend gigs. It's exploitation and it's gross. If you're bringing people in who are buying drinks--and drinks don't cost $1.25 like they did in 1978--you should get paid. If the venues don't want to pay then book your own space, put on your own show and steal their crowds. Viva la revolution
I think a bif part of the equation is that the infrastructure for bands has been hollowed out the last couple of years and people are still working on an old model of what it “looks like to make it” . I think with overhead being so high it’s realty extremely hard to make a living a band on the road. With that being said there are a lot of us who make a full time living touring/ gigging as singer songwriters/ folk adjacent acts . I didn’t set out to be a solo acoustic act “folk singer” type but I did set out to make a sustainable career in music. I can travel with me and my wife in a small suv
Playing house concerts, folk clubs, small venues and the like and make a decent living. And I am an absolute nobody. I have played big stages on tour that I got paid very little and I have made bank in peoples living rooms and in small listening rooms. None of it is glamorous but I get to make a living sharing music. People get caught up in “the dream” of what it looks like to be a musician, and don’t think super critically about how to make a long term multifaceted career in music. Slept in my car a lot so I can come home with real money. Good video guys.
I toured with a band in the early '80s and your point about lower overhead back in the day is spot on. 5 piece band, light man, sound man, and manager. We traveled in a pair 1/2 ton vans set up primarily for passengers (mine had a bed in the back) and a 1 ton cargo van. Most of the time lodging was provided by the venue. (We typically played 3-5 nights per venue.) By the time we paid for gas and vehicle repairs, made the payments on the light system and rental on the PA we often netted $50/week per man. These days all of those expenses would be higher, and yet the pay per night is still about the same. We were touring to promote our EP. This was also at a time when there was a healthy local music scene in our town, where we could play 6 nights a week and then play at the club down the street the next week. There were a good number of venues, all of which were hopping 6 nights a week. Once we were on that circuit, we could actually make a decent living.That scene no longer exists here. I'm in a popular band now, and we only gig one or two nights per month because only a handful of clubs still have live music, and if they do it's only one night a week.
We owned our own PA and lighting. That PA made me a ton of money back in the 70's and 80's. Clubs were packed
A few weeks ago I went to see Boy Golden and The Sheepdogs. It was at a small, but sold-out venue.
Excellent guitar work by both bands, especially The Sheepdogs' Allman-esque dual guitar harmonies. They had a nice merch table setup and we happily purchased $30 tour tees and some stickers. It felt good to throw some extra cash at these bands, they deserve it. You could tell they'd been on the road a while just by their performances.
There are still some great bands that heavily tour, and it was good to see! (and worth every penny of $20.)
On December 2, I saw Chris Knight at a bar in Murfreesboro, Tn, I paid $27 and it was worth every penny. I stood right by the stage directly in front of him the whole show. If you care anything about Americana or Outlaw Country style music and you don’t know who Chris Knight is you owe it to yourself to look him up. Even if you don’t typically like that style of music he is definitely worth checking out. It’s really surprising that his first major label album from 1998 is the only one that had any actual chart success. He is still exactly the same writing and singing songs that make you feel like he has actually lived it. Some of his songs are so intense that if he had actually lived it he would either be in prison or dead.
I’ve got tickets to see an up and coming band, 49 Winchester, at a small venue in Nashville in February. I paid $18 each for those tickets it’s general admission and all tickets were that price. It’s sold out now and reseller prices range from $36-80. The band has been around since 2014, but I had never heard of them until I heard one of their songs on SiriusXM channel 60 (Outlaw Country) in early November. I actually used the Shazam app to find out more about the band which was how I found out about the show. The song was called “Russell County Line” and it’s from their 4th album Fortune Favors the Bold that came out earlier this year. I downloaded the album and liked it enough that I bought the tickets a few days later. I think this album is going to be there breakthrough release. I’m eager to see what they are like live.
I’m playing my local Warrior Healing Center, a vet center here in town. It’s a priceless gift for me to play for my fellow veterans. It’s no joke.
So musicians should be forced to sleep on the floor, starve, beg for help, and basically be treated like crap or they are getting soft? I call BS on that concept. It was always wrong to treat people like this and it still is.
Back in the day, I played in several bands in the CT club circuit between NYC and Boston; we'd travel across the small state to open for bands from both cities as they were passing through. Some of these bands went on to international success, unfortunately we (nor I) did not. Strippers, groupies, parties, punk, rock, metal,... Good times.
Moved to another city in a different area, and auditioned for the top death metal band in the area, got the gig. We headlined the top clubs in the area, more metal, strippers, groupies, parties, and good times. We were in talks for a short European tour (Germany, Norway, Sweden) that unfortunately didn't materialize before the band imploded.
Played my first paying gig at 14 years old, my last at 32. Even with all the drama, stupidity, and challenges, I'm happy for the experiences.
I can't imagine what it's like trying to be a successful band today; few clubs, many other entertainment options; seems like music is no longer a big part or central to many people's lives like it was for many of us back in the day? My teenage son plays guitar for a hobby, he also plays keys, and I have a music store's inventory of equipment (including several organs, synths, full and half stacks, and a few PA systems...) he has no interest in being in bands... I dunno...
Cheers!
More like 30-40 years ago?
I get it.
I don’t think of that being so long ago, until I do the math.
I used to roadie for my wife’s band, 10 years or so. It was back in the late 80’s to mid 90’s right before the internet took off. Had social media been a bigger thing back then I’m sure this band would have gone somewhere but at the time it was all about creating a buzz with playing ALL the time and making the live shows speak for themselves. Many, many nights driving home and stopping at Taco Bell for late night double decker tacos… It wasn’t glorious living but it was fun.
ya - that stuff is fun UNTIL you get to be about 40 years old. then it starts to feel more like a low paying job on the graveyard shift.
On the flip side it might of made difference or made things more difficult. Few want to go out to see a band anymore because of technology ect., and the internet is oversaturated. Hey you guys had fun and probably have some good stories. At least least you did it instead of becoming 'too old' and regretting
@@supernothing77 well, I did it for a while - but I got old anyway. go figure!
Back in the day you did have a $900 phone bill from calling people to book the tour. Long distance calls cost $$$$$$$$$$
I remember calling my GF at the time long distance. Lol, seems silly now, but it was a big impediment to booking outside the local area.
"I love The Guns & Roses" lololol!!!!
The original Aerosmith van was a piece of crap, but they made it work for their bar tours. The buses and jets came later, as the success came.
Today, regardless of the differences of how you reach your audience, every band tries to keep up with the Joneses before they can afford to keep up with the Joneses.
CAREER 101:
1. Start where you are at
2. Put a plan together with flexible & attainable short, intermediate, long-term goals
3. Stick with it & put your earnings back into it
4. Reassess your plan, adjust as you go, even working peripherally in the business to keep your plan afloat. If you have to work outside the bizz to keep your plan going, do that
5. Persevere: Wash, Rinse, Repeat until you are where you want to be or decide change your career goals altogether.
All of these Guitar content creators (Casino Guitars included) are evidence of each of these steps. Rhett Shull put together a good video about chasing his goals & altering plans along the way, achieving his goals here on UA-cam, while others he started out with are now successful at their touring muscian lifestyles.
There's money to be made in the music industry, making music is not where it is. And from my experience, playing bars in the '90s the band would make $300-$500 a night. Playing bars now, bands are still getting $300-$500 a night.
Except $3-500 now is only a fraction of the real money it was then in terms of purchasing power. Maybe you were taking that into account though. Either way it's not enough to live on. Probably for most musicians by far and in my experience, it costs to play. You never make an actual dime and have to subsidize your 'music career' by doing other things to pay the bills. The pay for doing something we love is not always money, right? Otherwise it wouldn't be worth the trouble for like 99% of musicians. I'm 65. If I could find interested people to play live with, good places to do it and had a chance to perform again I'd like to try again, knowing it'd be likely to fail. But there's nothing like it. You only live once.
No one really cares anymore. Since the pandemic, the city I live in of over 500k people have seen a nosedive is shows and the local scene is hanging by a thread. People can't be bothered anymore apparently. The quality has dropped off immensely.
none of these "artists" are worth the ticket prices they charge, most of the music today sounds the same in each style
Interesting commentary …I had a friend who did that grind for several years. Back and forth between touring with a band and Nashville promotions ..teaching guitar…gone from home 300 days a year….he has since passed away…I don’t think he would have changed anything….
Happy New Year... Drink Your Hormones.
Back in the day when I was singing in a country band. I had what I affectionately called a hillbilly hotel. Which was a trailer with a prison style bed that folded down and a 3x3 shower with a tanks I had robbed out of an old rv. Was on the tristate circuit for a couple of years doing that. Yeah the time of my life and the worst possible conditions. Now they play a casino get comped a room.
Venues are taking a bigger cut of things too. You go on a tour, especially as an opening band for a more established band, and you're getting nickel and dime by the venue. The venue is taking a merch cut, maybe charging you for 'promoters' who do everything from advertise in the local music papers to hang posters on phone poles. If you're signed, your record company might have a 360º deal with you, where you are expected to cut the label in for merch and ticket revenue as well. I am not saying that all these bands are innocent, there's a lot of artists that just pay zero attention to the business side of things until its too late - but it's hard to know what you don't know, until you get into the thick of it.
Is there a reason that someone would want to go through hardship in order to lose money? Busking in the park sounds better. Not everybody is Greta Van Fleet. I watch Casino guitars every day keep on going you guys. Wish you a happy and profitable New Year. I play the guitar to make myself happy. That’s the best way.
They're just not dangerous anymore. They need a bit of Ye in them.
Todays music industry is more like the boxing industry in the 70s, everyone has their hand in the till, the two groups that matter, the band and the fans are the ones getting ripped off
I remember riding to a gig with all of our gear in the back of a stripped out work van, sitting on the floor... Sharing a pack of smokes and sweating in the Texas summer heat.
"The good life" 😂😂😂
I think the order of progression for a musical or artist has changed over time. Playing live and touring used to be the first steps but now, it seems reserved for acts that already have a following online. Many might see it as putting the cart before the horse. Now it wouldn't be unusual to make a few music video before ever playing live, which would have never been the case back in the day. But the fact is, it's more cost-effective and reaches a much larger audience.
I should have gone to The Fillmore West or Winterland earlier but my first concert was LZ for Houses at KEZAR when i was 16 in '74.
The ticket price was i believe $12.00. Alot. I almost didn't go but equated the price as around the list price for a two record set.
it was worth it ;)
Short time later, like $6.00 at Winterland for 3 good bands. (CDB, LS and MTB is a fave memory).
Then the gas crisis hit,,,,three bands became two with a price increase to $8.00 (Al DiMeola and Weather Report, or Leslie West and Elvin Bishop. Pretty great).
My point is, I saw VH for 1984 (Cow Palace). Heaps of shows by then.
Read an interview with Eddie where he said they didn't make any money because they were hauling around their own sound and lights,,,,really ?
I don't know how bands survive today,,,,fuel costs have levelled off some but still pricey. CD sales hopefully help. Thank goodness bands can gig now. Pretty sucky couple of years there.
So many clubs near me that used to showcase up-start and the mid-tier bands are now closed. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems anyone trying to make it today has to travel a further geographic footprint to get their name out there if they aren’t using social media to its fullest extent. More travel means more money and many of the bands I know that “tour” make embarrassing low money at these stops. They can only afford to go out in short bursts because they have to work. It just feels like if you aren’t an old nostalgic rock band, you have no shot anymore of growing an audience through touring.
I live in Philly and all the clubs seem to be corporate now. It’s a big market too. This is a problem.
...at least us non-essentials are safe!
I don't think the going rate for a unsigned band, has kept up with the same premium signed bands make. One thing that hasn't changed is that you have to do it for the love of the music, and your band mates...or you're done already.
I have 2 accounts... gave you 2 likes, 2 bells, and, 2 subs. I never win sh!t....CHANGE MY LUCK. I lost 5 guitars, and 3 amps, in a house fire...12 days into 2022. I sure could use that Silver Sky. Rock on, and keep up the format.
Back in the early 80's, many of the bands that made it were living off of their girlfriends. Anyone that could buy food for them was good to go. Granted, many of those bands were strung out on drugs, but they still stayed the course.
This was quite an interesting video.
The whole working several jobs thing, right now it feels like places get real jealous about people having another job, lotta scheduling bullshit to make you choose which job you're "really" working. Just scheduling pettiness all around.
I love bands that you can see in smaller venues, Bowery Ball Room, Webster Hall, etc. Generally these are the folks that have put in the time and effort and can be considered successful even though they aren’t filling stadiums.
Spend money to make money...
We didn’t have cell phone bills because we didn’t have cell phones. But we did have long distance charges. And if you weren’t careful you could get bills over $1000 without even paying attention.
And when we did finally get cell phones, we also got “roaming charges”
A lot of guys had one or two pedals, no huge pedalboards, the had a lot of 88 Watt Fender twin reverbs. They were common as dirt. A Strat or even a Fender Squire bullet when they came out in 82 because the new Fenders were just not held in high regard. I was jazzed when I got my first Gallien Krueger, a big step up. The gear was so much simpler, I didn't even have a compressor. Yeah I remember bouncing around in 20 degree weather in the dark of a cargo van with gear sliding all around just to play at CBGBs on a Sunday night.
No money for gigs, the venues take a% of the merch and no CD sales? So what does a tour do for name value do if you can’t make money on merch and CDs.
They’re losing $ because they stop putting me on the list with a +1
Edit:
I hope this comment wins me a guitar lol I was here before a million subs !!
I make steady money during tourist season playing classic rock on an acoustic, dressed like a Pirate with some comedy interaction... Lots of talent out there; most far better than me. I’m a campfire bozo... lol Call it a Sellout or paying bills or survival... but a gimmick is a modern necessity for many of us. Like carneys or gypsy variety. Point is, we get to play and getting paid for it is a Blessing beyond measure. Humble and true to reality is how ya roll, gang. Love this show guys! Cheers!
You guys should make more videos about things people were talking about six years ago
What these new bands don't realize is how much overhead there is with touring, especially when opening for another band.
I think society consumes music differently now. So the cost of reaching more people outweighs what you get.
Look at Tictok almost every night. Someone is playing live and reaching people. I have no idea if they are making money.
But we know we didn't make much riding around in a van either. I guess close to the same results without the suffering.
Soft or smart? I have no idea. I'm just trying to enjoy playing music again.
Touring is not what it is about in the post COVID reset. It's all about the Cottage Industry Product that Home Studios are enabled to produce and distribute. I'm working on making a high quality product to sell without having to leave my home studio.
I don’t care if I win the guitar. I’ll watch and like your videos anyway. I love you two cats!! ✌🏻
I see some people complaining that Clubs, bars etc. today want your band to have a following and bring in customers. I have been playing in bands for more than 50 years and I can tell you that this is not a new phenomena. It's always been that way. Places book your band because you bring in customers. I don't know any place that I play where the owners/managers has entertainment because they like music. It's a business and if you can't bring in a following that can at least cover what your band expects to be paid, you won't be back and you may get nothing. In the late 70's early 80's I toured with two different bands who were linked to an agency that booked places across the US where up and coming bands with a good track record in their local area could go out for weeks (or months) and play several places a week. Your band was responsible to live on the small bit of money you were making on the road usually sleeping in the vans or in better cases a motel (not a hotel) room at the cheapest dump available. All the band often crammed into one room on most nights sleeping on the floor. You hoped that the money the band made would cover enough gas money to get to the next nights gig 300 miles away (gas, tires, trailer rentals, food etc.). We usually got a per diem (daily) pay of $5-10. That was your food money for the whole day. It was enough to cover a loaf of bread and assorted cold cuts or you and another band member split a pizza. If you were a smoker when the "tour" started you generally became a non-smoker by the end of the first week because you couldn't spend your food money on cigarettes'. Eating became much more important than cigarettes. Luxury's were scarce and usually were consisted of new guitar strings and drum sticks.
I'm not complaining though because I have great memories of my times on the road playing 4-5 times a week and seeing a lot of the US from Bismarck, ND to Dallas TX, to Omaha NB and back home to the north east where I lived but that life isn't for most bedroom/basement players with teen dreams of rock N roll stardom. It's tough and you sacrifice friends, girlfriends, family life and anything resembling a normal income. I doubt it's any different today. If you have the passion by all means do it. Just be realistic.
The industry is not kind to real musicians. Music will be industrialized
I'd argue it's already industrialised since probably the 1980s onwards, good comment though and you are right.
Great video today-I passed by on Wednesday on my way from Martinsville, Va back to Jacksonville, Fl. Didn’t time it well and passed by 45 minutes before you opened. Hope to get by again soon. Be well guys! Happy new year!
I think a part of it is back in the day being on tour was the one of the biggest things about being in a band. It was part of the adventure and showed a degree of success; you had enough gigs to tour. Today young kids aspire to going viral on social media and so young bands perhaps aren’t that bothered about touring. If they don’t see touring as something to aim towards then they’re not likely to do everything to make ends meet: sleeping in the van, sharing food etc.
Our trailer hitch broke between where you pay and the entrance to the Holland tunnel, big fun and u er profitable lol😂
Oh, Jeez...
My car works perfectly and the holland tunnel F’ing sucks.
Back in the 90s I was a traveling stand up comedian. In the clubs it seemed so glamorous and cool, especially when you killed, and you’re signing autographs and getting drinks bought for you. Then, after the show, you either slept in a crappy hotel or your car, then drive 600 miles to the next gig.
I can’t imagine that lifestyle with a whole band. You’d definitely need to make sure the folks in the band were people you really care about, or it would be tough.
Great video. I remember doing this many MANY years ago, and it was a struggle. I can only imagine what it’d be like now. So much has changed.
I love most all of your guys videos. Great channel! Liked, subscribed, and one of the few I hit the bell for. HA! Keep it up, guys!
I lose a little on every show but I make it up in volume! Cheers Casino!!
BTW an MIM strat and a D'Ville is a hell of a rig!
I guess if you're doing something that you love like playing music and just about surviving, then even the worst day fishing is better than the best day working!
Hey I love this channel so much that just to make things easier for everone, ill go ahead and volunteer to be the person to receive the PRS Silver Sky!! Thanks for everything you guys do!!
I really liked the mystery guy off stage voice over! You should make it part of your video strategy!
These guys are the most interesting thing on UA-cam. I completely enjoy these posts.. well done
I don't know about touring in the USA but, in Canada in my experience, sometimes you pay to play and other times you get paid very well... it seemed to depend on the town or city the show was being played in. I played around 300 shows in 2.5 years and some were huge venues (arena, festivals) and some only had the staff and 5 people in a bar as the audience. It was weird but at the end of the day we always played our best regardless of the size of the crowd... it was a great experience but definitely not what the dreamers think it's like. I personally got tired, quickly, of always eating at restaurants and staying in hotels; none of us were into partying either as we left the venue, got some sleep and up early the next morning to drive to the next venue. I do think bands need to tour at least once as it helps the overall quality of the musicianship and provides topics for songwriting.
I told my son the other day I'd like to have a Silver Sky. Keep that in mind. :)
long distance land lines for touring probably comparable in cost to a cell phone with free long distance.
Thanks for removing the scam bot comment. I hate when the only like I get is from a scammer....do my comments make me sound like an easy mark or what?
I’m glad the guys in the back spoke up. I actually think this conversation warrants a hr long discussion with everyone on camera. Lots of opinions and I want to hear em!
Back in the 1970's - 2000 bands made decent money playing live. We would get the door late 1970's and it was $1,000-$1,200 ( $4,700 in 2023 money ) at a decent bar 200-250 cap. People went out to see bands and places were packed and people drank. In the 80's there were huge clubs in NJ that held 1,200-2,000 people. Hammerjacks in Baltimore one of my favorite clubs held 3,700 people. That is a lot of big hair.
No more econovans , no more $300 'long distance' bills, no more postal mailing 'we'll be in your town' flyers to your 'mailing list'. You can create a following on social media. Create your image, buy your way on to a tour, pay influncers to promote you, Go Live from your basement. No more driving to fargo ND. You can create a million down loads or even make a toon of money without ever leaving home.
To this day I refuse to own a cell phone (I refuse to be "on-demand" 24/7 so you can tell me your exciting story of waiting in line at McDonald's lol), and it's amazing how people think me weird and treat me like a leper (not good) when they find out. So I started "carrying" a cell phone, but is not activated. and I tell people I cannot give out the number cuz its 4 business lol! And yet I'm still alive, and yes do actually have a life. One that I choose, and is not thrust upon me by charlatans trying to suck my wallet dry. I do have an "old Skool" land line with answering machine and it works just fine. lol
And today's Motley Crue being one of the worse examples of what is supposed to be a "Live" touring band. :( And Nikki, Tommy and Vince deserving only a few hundred bucks a night, with the rest going to Mick. :)
Our local band Proxima Parada has been around San Luis Obispo since 2011 and one guy (influencer) liked one of their song and now they have blown up on Spotify. It is changing their lives as we speak. New deal and all the good stuff. You guys should check them out!
I haven't played out much for the last 10 years... but back in the day (2005-2012), my nightclub-party-cover-band would get about $800 a show... for 3hrs. We'd split it 5 ways and I'd get 2 cuts.... since I owned and ran the sound system. $160 per member, and $320 for me. I'd kick back 25 bux per member who acted as roadies by helping me with the sound gear. Oftentimes, if the venue didn't want to pay the fee, we'd offer to play for the door, put our own ppl to collect at the door, and would make about $800 anyway. I haven't dipped my foot into the current pool... but I imagine it's quite a bit different now. For one thing, no one is going to allow the size of PA i'd bring to gigs back in the day. HAHAH!
Hey Casino Guitars... You guys just realistically summed up what ALL of us have experienced to some degree or another. THIS is why I watch you guy's! I'm retired from the "scene" and have experienced the "scene" you just described over and over til I said "NO MORE"... At age what do I have to show???? Well... I moved to the mountains of NC to get peace of mind, and to mature the nature of my slide playing.... At what point is it really about your craft or is it about paying dues and making the rent? You guy's tend to talk too much, but.... wow, this was a tear jerker... because this is the way it does happen for MANY.
I would love nothing more than to roll doll the peidmont and visit y'all.
The reason is because people are into "urban" music. They don't give AF about rock bands. You'd have to have a huge trust fund to even think about starting a serious rock band as a 20s something.
Bands lost money on tours until 2000 or so, whenever recod/CD sales died. The purpose of touring was to sell albums. I dont remember urban music in the 70s and 80s. Then we went through the opposite, tours were where you made money. Small bands never made money, this is an odd conversation.
Sad but true! I played in a metal band and we toured with some bigger names, but in the early 2010 i got into urban music. i made in one month more than all the years in a band. but i stopped it, because the music is sh*t. now i play rock again in a good but, and i make no money at all. but thats my passion
What??? I don't understand... you're telling me I'm not going to get rich??? Now I'm sad...
MY buddy bought a used utility company van for $500, with a million miles on it, back in the 70's. He toured the midwest, and he was happy when they got a $30 room in a crappy hotel. They were decent, but didn't make it. Once he asked me to go to gig and cheer for his band, so the club would sign them to return. They were decent warmup back, the main band, who was unknown at the time, I thought this is now a kick ass band. That band was Cheap Trick when they were starting out. My buddy would tour for maybe 3 months until they ran out of money, and came back. The wedding band he was in made tons of money, but he really hated playing songs like the hokey pokey over and over again. Ironically he opened for several "to become famous" bands, but he never made it.
bands can’t afford to play,..fans can’t afford tickets ,yikes! Grilled cheese merch table time!!!2 for 5 👋 everybody wins😂
This is terribly disturbing since the main revenue musician's or bands used to make was on record sales. Say what you want, but Lars from Metallica had it right regarding Napster and online music. Because today's bands make few dollars with their albums thanks to the internet, so touring correctly is crucial. Iron Maiden being probably the Pinnacle of what a touring band can be.
Hey guys- yall want to become my heroes? I just had to return a classic Vibe 70s Strat HSS model- something was wrong with the neck. I bought two things for xmas for myself- since i have no family or anything I buy for myself- and the guitar arrives damaged and the JHS moonshine pedal I ordered with it- got cancelled. The seller said they had already sold it and just hadn't taken the listing down yet. Do you guys have a 70s Strat HSS with the maple fingerboard and neck?
I played some larger venues and never had to split merchandise profits with the venue. The only time I ever see that is when the venue provides staff for the bands to sell their merch. Most of the bands profit was from merch sales
If Baxter won't, then I will be the old curmudgeon. It seems to me that, in the instagram age, 0-28 year olds are more concerned with how they're seen to be rather than how they actually perform. They wear huge sunglasses as if anyone wants to take their picture, they wear shabby-chic weird clothes like John Phillips back in the day (Mama's&Papas), they play reliced guitars, and think they deserve the rock star treatment when they have $#it-show talent. There are exceptions, of course, but those are the 0.1%. I warned you that I was a curmudgeon.
Accessibility. It's too easy to listen to music now. There's no hunt for that particular record. No excitement opening up the record, and reading the notes while you listen to it. Therefore, people don't care about music like they used to. And, that's why people aren't willing to dish out the money for whatever. Also, they used to stick it to the man. Now, they're on the man's side, politically. Also, they tend to suck.
I would absolutely shred on that USA Sliver sky. Pick me, I’m that Guy. If not I’m still happy with my 98 fender Mexico Stratocaster lol
Man- I'm 53- when we were younger and gigging, we toured in an old 1982 Ford Station wagon. We played 18 shows across the southeastern US over a 3 month period- living out of that station wagon basically. Sometimes, if we knew the club owner- we would ask to park in the parking lot because we always got messed with if we went to Walmart- and if we just went and found an alley, we were scared we'd get robbed. We did it two years in a row and both times ended up stranded in Orlando Florida, the last stop, with no money and no way to get home. The first year the drummer's wife came got us- the second year we were stuck living on the beach for about 2 weeks- until I broke down and pawned my guitar to get home. That was just par for the course though- every band went through this. In fact, I'd say we did better than a lot of them. We tried to help one another when we could- like 2-3 bands would get together to rent a room- then we'd sneak the other ten guys in via the fire escape. I wouldn't trade back even one second of it though- I loved it. Well- maybe a couple nights when it was really hot down in Orlando- sleeping in that car was rough. And some nights we would get run off by the cops just over and over until we just hit the road for the next town. They obviously didn't want us there. We made 50 bucks a show- if we were lucky. That's after paying everyone out and splitting it up. You have to do it because you love it- not to make money. You can make way more money staying home and punching a clock.
Anyone notice that Jonathan’s voice sounds like mf’ing Kenny Powers ⚾️
The big difference is that there is no 'pot of gold' at the end of the tunnel in 2024. Please name me some 'rich and famous' rock stars who 'made it' in the last 5 years.
A UA-cam channel, music store selling guitars and equipment, lessons, and gigs? You must love what you do, because that still sounds like you are working more than a few jobs. The only people I know making it big in the music business are ticket resellers.
Dudes, can’t beat tangible perpetual road education through sweat and stress... The new gen is entitled a bit much. That’s why they are looking back to Robert Johnson and Les Paul and where it all began.They want that juju, though unearned. Just a take on it from an old cat.
Great points, but have you seen what some of these bands are charging for tickets these days?? I'm talking about arena bands mostly.. and some of it can be blamed by Ticketmaster but hell you can't tell me touring doesn't make money at 300 bucks to sit in nosebleeds
Solo you can make some good side money…very competitive…kids with an iphone and capo are killing it for old farts like me who actually learn songs…” how many FB followers do you have” it’s a young man’s game.
Only played as a hobby in a band so didn’t need to make a lot of money. Started as a kid and we made $75-100 for a gig in the 60s. Bars pay not very much so playing summer gigs outside pays a bit better and is better in many ways. Weddings pay decent but are a big time eater usually.
Bands and artists today don't think that they should have to "pay their dues." They want to start off on top with the Prevost tour bus, the nice hotels, huge lighting, audio, and stage packages.
Love you guys. But I'm older than you, so you probably didn't:t have to scrounge and pick up change on the street so you could use a pay phone to call the venue to get directions because you did not have aap of that city or town. Hey we felt rich if we had $1.50 to eat on that day.
I remember a song from a group I think they were called AC/DC? I think the song was it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll?! Lol