Follow me on Twitter! Join me on Facebook! The Tour Book on MySpace! RSS

Welcome to Andy Reynolds’s Live Music Business – BETA

by Andy Reynolds on November 4, 2009

Welcome to Live Music Business  - a production and management resource for bands, groups, artist managers, booking agents, promoters, venues, tour managers,  sound and light technicians and roadies.

My name is Andy Reynolds, I am a freelance concert tour manager and live audio engineeer who has been working in the concert touring industry for nearly 25 years.I also lecture in Live Sound Production at Buckinghamshire New University and have written several books about the live music business.

This is a BETA site – I am still adding functionality and design elements. The posts and tweets are real and will be continuing.Thanks!

Traffic monetization

Master Tour from Eventric – new website

by Andy Reynolds on June 29, 2010

Eventric Master Tour on mobile

Eventric, the people behind Master Tour tour management software, have produced an all-new website with lots of product information. They are also offering a 30-day free trial of Master Tour. Check it out here:

http://www.eventric.com/master-tour/master-tour-pricing-signup
Continue Reading

A picture of the fron loung of a sleeper bus

(Image courtesy of NiteTrain Coach)

It is festival season again which means bands and their crews are clambering aboard sleeper buses in order to travel around Europe and sit in muddy fields for hours on end.

Of course, touring by sleeper coach goes on throughout the year on both sides of the pond; it is by far the most convenient and cost-effective way to move large numbers of people around whichever continent you are touring. However, as any touring artist or crew person will tell you, life on a sleeper bus can be hard. Louise Weiner, the former singer of UK band Sleeper, wrote about her experiences of sleeper bus tours. “There is nowhere to wash on the bus. Nowhere to hide. No escape,” she says.

Even after 20 odd years of touring, I still love sleeper bus tours. Everything is so easy for a concert tour manager on a sleeper bus tour. All your people, your home, your belongings, your office and your beer are all in one great big box on wheels, which is (hopefully) parked right outside the gig. Touring personnel are less likely to go missing or be late for departures if ‘living’ on the bus – that box on wheels is also their home with all their belongings in it; if they are not on it when they should be then there is a good chance it is going to rumble off into the night without them.

It is true though that touring on a sleeper bus does present its own unique set of logistical and emotional challenges. You need to be aware of these issues, whether you are a touring veteran or are picking your bunk for the first time.

Therefore, here is my guide to the rules and conventions of sleeper bus touring.

Continue Reading

8 comments

A new report, “Moving arts: Managing the carbon impacts of our touring – Volume 1: Bands”,
and set of online tools will help you to evaluate the impact your live music has upon the environment.

The information is produced by Julie’s Bicycle, “a broad coalition of music, theatre and scientific experts committed to making [the live music] industry green.”

There is some fascinating information here. For instance it is obvious that flying around the world to play gigs is going to have an impact on the environment. However the report also explains how the t-shirts and CD’s you sell at shows are having an equally negative effect on our planet.

You can download a copy of the report here (registration required).

You can make a Heap of money from touring. Or then again…

by Andy Reynolds May 28, 2010

This item is from the Guardian newspaper:
http://bit.ly/c1RdfM
Novello-award-winning Imogen Heap has tweeted to her 1.4m followers about the precarious state of her tour finances.
Let me know what you think.

Continue Reading

Survey – Concert Tour Management for the Live Music Business

by Andy Reynolds May 12, 2010

Concert tour managers, touring crew people, artist managers, booking agents, record company people – please complete this survey on Concert Tour Management:
Concert Tour Management Survey
I am researching the role of concert tour managers for my new book. The survey aims to gather information on skills and attributes the modern tour manager requires, [...]

Continue Reading

Accept credit card payments for merch at your shows – on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone

by Andy Reynolds May 11, 2010

Square allows you to accept credit card payments for your band’s merch using your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Nexus One or Droid mobile phone.
Being asked “Do you take credit cards?” is always a bit of a kick in the teeth when selling merch at shows – you know you are leaving [...]

Continue Reading

Do you have a tattoo? Then you can become a roadie!

by Andy Reynolds April 16, 2010

This article comes from the Guardian newspaper. It is a concise and irreverent description of the ‘rock’n’roll’ jobs in the live music business. I’m not sure if I amused or annoyed at the suggestion all touring road crew are tattoo covered, drug-taking baby sitters.
There have been quite a few pieces written about ‘roadies’ and [...]

Continue Reading

How You Can Get Bigger and Better Gigs for Your Band

by Andy Reynolds April 15, 2010

I want to help you understand how to get bigger and better shows, get a music agent and learn how the live music business works. I’ve made a short video to explain the basics of the whole gig booking process and have posted an expanded transcript after the break.

Continue Reading

Concert contracts, riders, tour budget, itinerary and advance sheets

by Andy Reynolds March 22, 2010

I have posted my concert contracts, riders, tour budget, tour book day sheets, itinerary sheet and advance sheets here:
http://livemusicbusiness.com/artist-resources/tools/
Download and enjoy!

Continue Reading

What does a music agent do – and how can you get one?

by Andy Reynolds March 21, 2010

Finding and organising shows for your band can be a time consuming and frustrating experience. You have to play live and you need to reach as many existing and new fans as possible. Yet, with all the indications that the live music business will continue to grow (worldwide concert ticket sales were $4.4bn in 2009, [...]

Continue Reading