Are you ready to hit the roads? If yes, then you will need to work on these aspects to realize your tour. Starting from making a team to online marketing you will need to make sure that you are making this tour an ultimate success. This is going to be a life-changing step that can take your career to the next level. So, without wanting any more time, let’s learn about these four mandated steps of starting your tour as an individual artist.
1. Make Your Team
If you are hitting the roads then you will need to understand that you must have a team. In a team, you need to have a manager first who will organize the rest of the team. If your manager is comfortable then ask them to manage your online presence as well. If not, you can also ask your friend to do this for you. It would be best if you had a team you completely trust.
• A Tour Manager – to manage the team, also to put your team together and if possible handle your social media posts.
• Booking Agent or an Agency – to complete your books for you and arrange accommodations according to your route.
• Book Artists – you can be a great singer and you will have a bit of pre-recorded music as well, but when you are touring you might want a few artists to accompany your singing.
• Book Opener/ Host – yes, this is becoming fancy, but, having an open to boost your audience is a great way to have a more engaged audience.
These are the people who should be a part of your team and based on your budget you can add more or work with a lesser number of people in your group. There are many instances where a manager has been the sole person for arranging these shows. But, if you have the sum, then invest it to get a lot more in return.
2. Work out your Budget
The next step is to know what expenses you will have during this tour. There are some aspects you must consider about your budget. These aspects will make sure that you have your budget in check and also at the same time you will understand the structure of proper return by the time you conclude your shows and the tour.
• Understand the basic revenue structure of tours
• Calculate your expenses
• The transportation cost should include renting a van or a truck and calculating gas expenses
• Shipping and lodging charges (if applicable for your tour)
• Have a budget for food for the entire team
• Accommodation charges (with a bit of party)
• Marketing costs and promotional costs for the success of the tour
• Fees of your crew and other team members
• The cut of your Tour manager and booking agent
• Equipment charges (If rented)
• Split of profit based on contribution between team members
These are some important aspects which will allow you to learn about your budget in a better way. You need to chalk things out and make sure that you have reached a unanimous decision that will help you have a hassle-free tour for you and also for your team members.
Also Read: Exploring YouTube's Role in Discovering Independent Artists
3. Plan Your Tour
The next big step is to plan your tour. This might be the biggest step that will help you to arrange your tour effectively. For a budding music artist, there’s nothing more empowering than getting recognition. With these following aspects you will be able to book for your shows and also route your trajectory and pick dates.
• Choose Your Concert Areas – based on your videos and audience demographics, you will need to chalk out a trajectory that will take you to people who like your craft a lot.
• Chalk out your Route – based on the picked areas you can map out where to go first and how to move from there and reach the next location. There should be a map for each of the members to let them know how you are planning this tour.
• Select Dates – choose dates based on how many days it will take you to reach the next location, and whether you will need some rest or not. You need to make sure that your performers are having a good time, over-exhausting them is not a good option.
• Pitch your Show – based on those locations you will need to pitch your show to the venue authorities and wait for their confirmations. Need to share your video along with the live videos of your previous shows and the dates and see whether they are available for the night or not.
• Book Venues – On their confirmation you need to book for the venues and mark them in your map.
• Find Accommodation – You also have to find accommodations to make sure that you are giving your tour members a hospitable ambiance for them to rest after a tiring performance.
Lastly, you need to Deal with Logistics and there are multiple ways to organize your logistics and ensure that your route is secure. This step would be completed by the manager so you as an artist don’t need to bother too much.
4. Start Tour Promotions
Last, yet not least, you need to work on your promotions. There are three types of promotions that you can use for the following aspects. You can use various Streaming Platforms to promote your upcoming tours. You can use Social Media and invest in a short video to create excitement amongst your audience. If you can, you can also invest in limited Merchandise as well to create a more thriving outcome for your tour.
There are various ways you can use to popularize your tour and gain a better foothold as an artist. However, the success of the show will be determined by how creative you can be with your tour and how largely you can engage them with your songs.
