Touring The Artefact.

Having explored ‘the artefact’, physically or digitally, the next part of my ‘music industry 101’ explores touring, so what is it?

So... here’s the theory, once musicians gain exposure through various channels, they can harness this momentum by embarking on a tour to promote their music release. In modern times, this approach has shifted, with musicians releasing music more frequently rather than focusing on one major long-term album campaign.

A significant factor shaping today’s music industry is the increased emphasis on live performances due to the decline in digital income. Musicians now tour more often and for longer durations to counterbalance the reduced revenue from physical sales (e.g., CDs, vinyl, etc.). Another profitable aspect of touring is merchandise sales, encompassing items like T-shirts, mugs, and other branded products.  

Touring can be an exhilarating yet destructive experience, which I will only touch on briefly, as numerous books and research delve into this topic. Most academic research on musicians’ mental health focuses on this area, but I find these perspectives mostly narrow and overly simplistic (normally written by those that have never toured). Touring is challenging, with constant travel, the emotional demands of performing, the isolation of hotel rooms, and the unpleasant realities like the smell of a hot tour bus. I’ll dive into my own experience in next week’s blog.

This ‘touring’ is often where hedonistic behaviours occur such as after shows, parties, drinking, drugs, and the relentless pursuit of the 'buzz'. Such dynamics rely on an infrastructure of individuals all collectively facilitating this often messy process. Typically, it is our agent who collaborates with our manager and label to structure the tour in terms of fees and scheduling.

The agent then sells the shows to promoters who (sometimes along with venue owners) take the risk of booking venues. This model hinges on the musician generating enough interest to at least cover the costs of the venue (and promotion), commission for agents and managers, and modern expenses like ticket agent fees (another cog in the touring industry’s profit-driven machinery). 

It's a whole ecosystem and one that Tonic Music support with their peer groups within such areas as The Music Venue trust or the Independent Venues Community. I’ve written lots on these vital environments.

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Adam Ficek hosts a monthly show 'Tonic Music' on Totally Wired Radio, where he talks to various guests about music and mental health. You can listen again to any of the previous show on the Tonic Music Mixcloud page.