Things I learned from touring independently
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- Опубліковано 12 чер 2024
- Tour Tee's are now available online!! bad-snacks.myshopify.com/
big huge smushy thank u to everyone involved in this tour !! :') pls feel free to leave questions in the comment section below!
Special thank you to Anomalie & Modern Lover for making this possible for meeeee
Anomalie: @anomaliebeats
Modern Lover: @modernlover.wav
now back to the studiooooooooo
Links to my music:
Bandcamp: badsnacks.bandcamp.com/
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/5gZDp...
Apple Music: / artist .
Soundcloud: / bad-snacks
As per usual, let's get social:
IG: / lilbadsnacks
TW: / lilbadsnacks
FB: / badsnacks
E-mail: badsnacks@naymlis.com
Thank you for sharing this!
Huge fan of these industry-focussed videos. So informative and enlightening, and so important that stuff like this is talked about!
Glad you had a fun tour Snacks!
What an eye opening inside look at touring life!
Very cool look into what it's like to tour for an artist like yourself. I think it's really sad that what used to be one of the last ways for an artist to make some decent money has been transformed into what's basically a marketing expense as you said, but I'm glad you still enjoyed touring and performing. I most *certainly* enjoyed your set, and I would love to be able to see you live again (maybe for a full length set even at some point!??!!) I think I would really struggle with the sleep aspect as you did, with tinnitus and carpal tunnel already joining forces to destroy my chances at a good night's sleep, I have a terrible time getting even a wink in anywhere but my own bed. I'll look forward to grabbing your shirt when it restocks online, I'm so sorry that venues are so greedy with merch sales, I really hope the KC venue wasn't screwing you over as so many were. I will of course be eagerly anticipating new releases as well, those vocal tracks were the HOTNESS!!! 🔥🔥
HELLLLO 🌼 such a pleasure to have toured with you, missss you ❤️❤️🌼 xxx
Bad Snacks, thank you for sharing your experience and view points.
The fact that a venue would take such a large portion of your merch sales, if any at all, is surprising. Especially with no advanced notice!
Home Sweet Home, huh? 👊🏽😏
Cool to hear about all the other aspects of tour! You were great in chicago, and it was nice to meet you after! Our "awkward covid photo" was hilarious. Thank you for sharing your art live!
These are pretty truthful insights about touring musicians, Music is a business that provides entertainment not the reverse. Making more than a living as a musician is rare unless you are uber successful. Regarding the 20% merch cut, there is some logic to this. Venues cost a lot of money to run (I have some experience in this). Venues make all of their money out of events. The hiring feee alone does not cover the cost of running the venue, so they aim to make money out of the merch fees, food and beverages and so on. From a fan's perspective, it costs a lot of money for a couple of hours entertainment! If there were no fans, there would be no music industry. Anyway, keep doing what you are doing and enjoy it, most of all.
Wait, venues take a cut of your merch sales?! I've never heard of this before. Don't know if I'd be okay with a 30% cut - I'd rather just sell them out the back of my car after the venue closes
Thank you so much for sharing so much insight on the tour life. These are all things we need to know/ are curious about as indie artists and you provided some good insider info! Love watching your journey it’s so inspiring as another upcoming artist! Much love 💗
Love your very honest and down to earth approach, and your music always inspires me, all the time. Thank you!
I’m SO stoked I got to see you in Toronto, ON! 🇨🇦 I was over from the UK visiting family when I found out via a poster in a record store 2 hours before the show that you & Anomalie were playing! Bought my ticket there and then and I’m so glad I did! ❤️❤️❤️
It was so dope seeing you at the Seattle show! And this is such an interesting breakdown of the touring experience!
Glad you’re home safe & had a killer time!!
Home is where the puppy is ❤️🐶
Absolutely adoring you and your music!
Welcome home and congratulations!
congrats on the tour and thanks for sharing the candid experience
The way he looked in the start of the video, doggo could perhaps be called "Baked Bean" 🤣
As for the merch cuts, it's probably a trade-off; if you're selling enough volume of merchandise to easily surpass break-even on the cost of goods and venue cut, then the event could end up more profitable than if the venue were to simply charge more up front/on ticket sales and not take a cut on merch (in which case if you're selling a low volume, you might actually lose money even though the venue isn't dipping their hand into your pocket on that portion of your revenue). At what point one model is more advantageous than the other is tricky to figure out and probably really depends on individual scenarios.
Such a great performance in STL. Thanks for sharing your insights!
Thanks for sharing your insight on touring!
Nice vid and thanks for sharing. Congrats on your new place and the tour. I've always thought touring sounds like hell and it still does. 🤪
Thank you so much for sharing! Super insightful, appreciate it 💖
I am a light sleeper too and it impacts my whole life. As soon as I am in an urban setting, I struggle getting more than five to six hours of sleep. The following day, I am still functioning but everything is a little bit harder. It is refreshing to hear an artist talk about how this in combination with odd schedules impacts them.
Great insight on the touring experience!
Welcome home! Love from the Philippines :) never heard of a merch cut. Crazy :(
Really enjoyed this recap, thank you for sharing Jessie! 🙏💙🎶✨
Congrats on tour. I'm so glad you made it to Detroit and that I got to meet you! you inspire me endlessly! Rest up and take care of yourself. see you next time 😎
Great video! Honestly the I think the main reason that venues take merch cuts is because they can, and it's just become a thing that happens. Fortunately in the UK more musicians are pushing back against it with the logic that venues aren't expected to give musicians a cut of the bar takings, but it's not unusual for musicians to set up their merch stand in another bar on the same street to dodge merch cuts - and the bar is normally very happy for the extra custom.
I love that you touched on the travel aspect of touring at the end, and yes you see a LOT of service stations and no you don't get to be a tourist but I love the fact that when you're on tour you normally see the 'boring' bits of a city - but there's a lot of beauty to be found there if you look hard enough! That's my experience in Europe at least, I don't know what it's like in the US - for me driving for 12 hours and not having to speak a different language when you get there would be very odd!
lil dawggy !!!!
This is excellent!!! I was very upset that I couldn't make it to Kansas City. Keep being Great and Unstoppable!!! I won't miss another opportunity to see you live💪🏿💪🏿🎶!!!!
got to meet you in Portland!!! So cool to see you live, PLEASE RELEASE YOUR HOME MUSIC
Hopefully you can negotiate that merch cut lower next tour and/or as you get more power. As mentioned above a flat fee to use venue space is more reasonable understanding that rents have gone up for venues that don’t also own the property. In the end if this merch cut model becomes worse I may shift & only buy merch straight from an artist’s Bandcamp.
Thank you for sharing your insights, Queen! 🤗
Thank you so much for making these videos, I love how you're not afraid to be extremely honest about your experiences - Very insightful!
Watching your video, it feels like there's no financial incentive nowadays to tour, and it's mainly about the personal experience you get as an artist/person. For me, sounds like it became more of a bucket-list type thing rather than something you do to push your music career forward. It'd be funny if it wasn't kinda sad, really. The industry is so different nowadays.
Very informative. Thanks for candid perspective. It is an important discussion for the modern musician. Blessings.
I still struggle to figure out how musicians make money nowadays. If touring isn't worth it, financially, then how do you go about it? Where do you put your attention?
I had a 9 hour shift at work today, in which I did nothing (I'm not joking - I did NOTHING, yes, in the most literal sense, NOTHING!) and that payed decently well.
Had I spent those 9 hours + another 9 days at home working my *ss off creating music, I would've earned.. oh yea.. nothing..
Can I keep my motivation and love for music going, when even the skilled musicians, I respect, struggle to get paid? Probably not.
Am I maybe just a bit frustrated right now? Probably yes.
Great video, btw! I really appreciated the insights! 🤗
a tiny bit from streaming and mostly merch i think
Great vlog, thanks for sharing your insights!
I haven't even started watching the video yet but I've already liked it because of the freakin' dog.
Thank you for sharing!
Really enjoyed this little series! thank you for sharing! It is pretty weird to think about how the easiest way to make money on music is to make hot sauce.
literally ur so inspiring.
I saw your show! Super fun and danceable.
Love the behind-the-scenes look, especially at the financials. I can't believe the venue can take a merch cut... That sounds like extortion!
such a cute dog!
I really really wanted to come see your show at The Record Bar in KC but it was a really bad week and I was super broke 🙁. I’ll definitely catch you next time you’re in the Midwest!
Omfg what a tour. Sheeeeesh.
You look great !!!
What a happy face.He's reallllllly happpppy.
Was this a tour buy on? Can you speak about tour buy on fees and whether you feel they’re worth it.
Can you speak about versus clauses and negotiations on box office percentages etc
Nice video Badsnacks.
Thanks for sharing this.
20-30% for merch sounds wild to me.
I used to work for a small concert promoter (100-600 seat venues) and we'd take a 15% cut (which was considered industry standard) AND provided a volunteer or two to run the table so that the artist didn't have to. I don't know how much of that was good faith to try and keep artists happy (small town, despite being on the transcanadian highway it was considered kind of out of the way for a lot of acts, the promoter was also a non-profit).
As a musician I've usually seen a similar 15% cut when offered a merch vending volunteer, or no cut if I'm running the table myself.
Either way, it was interesting to get your perspective on this since it varied so much from my experience.
thank for sharing your experience ;-)
That merch cuts thing is insane. Not sure if that was written into the contract somewhere but if it wasn't I feel like you'd be pretty justified in telling them to go screw and not give them any cut - can't imagine they could do anything about it other than not welcome you back to that venue.
I've heard so many scummy stories from other artists about shows / tours - promoters doing absolutely zero promoting and complaining to the artists about promoting the show, venues cancelling dates a week before the show due to low sales and breaking contract, refusing to pay the advance / bonus despite hitting all terms of the contract, and now apparently taking cuts of merch.
LOOK AT HIM
I am so happy for you. Thanks for sharing. I could never tour with my anxiety, just the idea would kill me on the spot. But that's just me and I do another kind of job so it's ok I guess. If you are an extrovert, touring must be the 💩
Venues take a cut of the merch?!?!?!? That's insane!
Venues taking merch cuts, like WTF... One question about the financial side of things, if you've been involved in the process: did Anomalie and you hire the venues and take all the ticket sales? Was it a half/half kinda deal? Or did you get a flat fee per venue and they kept all the ticket and drink sales? Would be very interested in knowing what the mix between all those was!
Usually a headliner will take a mixture of getting paid in guarantees and ticket sales, which are used for operating expenses and payouts (someone of Anomalie's level can probably get mostly guarantees based on expected ticket sales.) For ticket sale shows, many venues will take the first several hundred dollars in ticket sales as operating expenses. The opener is paid a set fee (artists have commonly paid as little as $100, hopefully Snacks got more, but it depends on what Anomalie could pull via guarantees). The opener is expected to subsidize their opener fee via the merch booth. Touring members also generally get a per diem for necessities such as food consumption, although the per diem doesn't always cover everything.
Okay wait, so if releasing music is a promo expense, touring is also a promo expense and venues take cuts from our last revenue resort, merchandise. Then what exactly are we promoting? Are we all just music teachers with an expensive hobby? I am flabbergasted... Could you perhaps do an updated version of how you are making money as a freelance musician? Anyway, thanks for the insight!
music industry 101 since the 1800 : musicians try to do stuff, and everyone around them try to screw them and call themselves "the industry"
Hey! You're saying that touring is more of a "marketing expense" than real income. Then what is the marketing for? What is the real income? It can't be streams right, or is it? Anyways, thanks for the insights :)
bean is the best lol
So if touring is now a marketing expense, it begs the question, given streaming revenue is nothing, no one really buys CD and vinyl is expensive for the consumer and the producer, where does a producer make their money other than work for clients and some UA-cam income?
On the smaller scale, local shows would probably be your best bet
I like how you say "tour".
So are you back on the West coast now then?
I know nothing, but I'd assume the venues take merch cuts because they can, maybe because you just don't say no or try to negotiate the percentage, or because they really don't need you to play there as they have enough 'customers' anyway. Anyway, it really sucks, but yeah, businesses generally try to maximize profit in any way they can, it is the exception if they care about anything else.
I have been a touring keyboardplayer in one of the best bands of the moment in an eastern country.Socialist times.Man that was fun and about money.....it was a lot.Adding the figures that you put down ..,we where doing soooo much better.That's crazy.Anyway you get to meet your public.Lovely dog.
Hi badsnacks
You guys need to fire the tour manager who set up those terms for the venue to take a percentage of merch…and if they do not comply go to another one…if there is not one in that city too bad…byeeee….that is totally unacceptable…shame on people for caving in to this to the point it’s become a thing now
you look lucky. Greetings from germany.
So are you saying that when your tour, you... DON'T SLEEP
micro-dose snacks
Venues taking a merch cuts is criminal
Merch cut? Damn that's low.
So messed up that venues would take a cut of merch, especially when they are not even offering any help or incurring any of the costs. Seems like some mafia stuff
😹😹😹
Shouldn't the income from the entrance fee bring in enough revenue? Maybe there is not enough audience due to this pandemic situation. Hopefully that will change again sometime so that touring is worthwhile. The sales of music files/data media don't really bring much either. 🙏
It's all the people with their fingers in the pie that have the power to nix the event. They squeeze till the point just before the artist or their management say "Nah, not worth it".
Need hot sauce
It’s frustrating to hear that everyone else is getting their cut while the artist barely breaks even - especially on the merch.
Wait till you do a long tour once you hit six week or more touring gets starts tough dealing with seeing the same people everyday, living in hotels or bus same boring walls, tensions starts to rise. In long run I like tours with small bands that we were in a place three to five days so we did get a change to get to hang with some locals and see the city and most important do laundry.
If you make so little money streaming and you can't make that much $$$ touring (plus you have to pay merch cuts), how can you make any money as a musician???
Cute white girl
Harry Potter hates Ohio
You are a really good looking woman with a interesting character ! I like that.
11:00 - they take the cuts because they have mortgages and staff to pay. And they are probably also not doing as well as one might contemplate.
A 20% cut when they are not providing a meaningful service is completely unreasonable; the merch person service fee is separate. Musicians should opt to sell merch outside of the venue after the show if this is going to be the case.
They're taking cuts because they have economic leverage.
@@ProfoundPlasticBag it is opportunity costs. They could put any product there to sell but they are putting your product there to sell. Just charge 20% more. Problem solved.
@@dougb70 "they are putting your product there to sell" they aren't putting anything or selling anything though. It's up to the musician to put up and tear down the merch stand, process transactions, handle merchandise, etc. At the most, the venue should charge a flat fee for letting you use their crusty 40 square feet of space.
@@ProfoundPlasticBag I'm telling you, it will be the same to me if you charge me 24 bucks instead of 20. I will not make my decision to buy based on 4 bucks