The idea of using a concert (music) tour manager is to make sure the tour is running smoothly, all band and crew are happy, performance revenue is being collected, and tour-related bills are being paid.
(I use the term ‘concert tour manager’ so as not to confuse the subject with travel tour managers – people who help tourists when they travel.)
The following is a guide to the work you should expect from every concert tour manager you work with.
The Role of the Concert Tour Manager (CTM)
A concert tour manager (CTM) is the person who takes care of booking all the accommodation, transport, equipment, and crew involved with the tour. The tour manager will then travel with the band on the road, dealing with the day-to-day activities, issues, and challenges. The CTM also acts as an accountant; producing budgets, picking up cash for performances, and paying suppliers and other expenses as the tour progresses.
On concert tour tours of large-capacity venues (>10,000 – capacity), the role of a band’s CTM may be split between three or four different people – CTM, production manager, production assistant, and tour accountant (s).
Artists or their management companies usually employ freelance CTM and pay them from the tour funds. CTMs work at a daily or weekly rate. The tour usually pays for the CTM’s accommodation, travel, communication costs, and other expenses.
As a general rule, CTMs do not book or arrange the shows. This is the job of the booking agent working with promoters.
The CTM’s job really begins once the booking agent books the dates. Next, the artist’s management will hire someone to run the tour. Management might check with the tour manager about the venues and whether they can get to all the cities in time before they confirm the final route. In any case, the CTM will work off the list of proposed concert dates – the ‘date sheet’.
The CTM’s work then falls into three areas of activity:
- Budget the tour
- Advancing the concert dates
- Going on-the-road
Caution:
There are no regulations for CTMs. Concert tour managers do not need to sit exams or hold related qualifications. Anybody can call themselves a concert tour manager.
I am not aware of specific courses that deal with concert/band tour management, although there are related academic and vocational courses such as theatre stage management and event management courses.
I mention this as a concert tour manager is supposed to relieve you of the stress of organising and administrating your concert tour. It is therefore important to know that the concert tour manager you are retaining has some experience in the role or can offer you a good, non-conditional guarantee. Or both.
Budgeting the Tour or Festival
The artiste’s management should review the costs before agreeing to the tour. This is something the concert tour manager is usually called on for, due to their experience.
The manager should have received a list of the music artists tour performance fees from the booking agent. The person in charge of producing the budget (usually the CTM) should then deduct estimates for potential expenses to create an overall view of the predicted profit.
When compiling a budget or list of possible expenses I use the following categories:
- WAGES
- PER DIEMS*
- ACCOMMODATION
- TRANSPORT
- PRODUCTION – SOUND, LIGHTING, BACK LINE, VIDEO, STAGING & SET
- REHEARSALS
- OTHER EXPENSES**
The responsibility of the CTM is to present the costs as he or she perceives them and to offer solutions if the costs are too great.
The income minus the expenses will give either the profit or loss (shortfall) for the tour.
*Per Diems is a daily amount paid to touring crew to cover living expenses, food etc. From the Latin ‘for the day’. Apparently.
** Other expenses would include any foreign artist taxation, management commission and agents commission.
Advancing the Concert Dates
Once the concert tour manager and everyone involved agree on the budget or list of predicted expenses, the manager will begin to advance the shows.
There is a saying, ‘the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.’
Or, ‘hope for the best, plan for the worst.’
Advancing is the way CTMs’ ‘sweat in peace’. Concert tour managers contact each promoter and venue to ensure the entire artist’s technical and hospitality needs are met. They also anticipate and resolve any potential problems the promoters or venues might have.
The concert tour manager will also ask about contact names and addresses, arrival times, equipment load in times, sound check, and performance times, any supporting/opening acts and finally what time all live music has to be finished by.
Common problems are incorrect venue addresses, limited physical access to venues (i.e. lots of stairs to hump gear up!), clashing sporting or other musical events, sound level limits, and insufficient or inappropriate technical equipment.
Good concert tour managers will have an encyclopedic knowledge of these problems and be able to expect them and/or advise the touring party well ahead of time.
By anticipating these problems, the CTM will save the tour both time AND money.
Going On-The- Road
Once the advancing has been done and the concert tour manager has all the venue information, contact details, and schedule information, they can produce the tour itinerary (AKA ‘the tour book’ or ‘book of lies’).
This itinerary, which details all the information for the tour in a day-by-day format, is given to all touring personnel, as well as to related offices, friends, and family.
The CTM will then travel with the act on the tour. Depending on the type and success level of the act, the job on the road varies enormously.
The following items are definitely part of a band CTM’s day-to-day workload:
- Overseeing hotel departures on time
- Settling accommodation bills
- Overseeing travel arrangements, i.e. band and crew onto the bus or to the airport in good time
- Paying per diems to band & crew
- Overseeing venue arrival – double checking hospitality and technical arrangements
- Arranging up to date running order with venue and promoter
- Overseeing promotional activities, i.e. TV, radio, and press interviews at the venue or at other locations
- Supervising any support or opening acts
- Ensuring the venue is ready to open on time by supervising sound check times
- Liaising with the transport department regarding the next days’ travel
- Ensuring all acts perform on time and for the allotted time
- Settling performance fee with promoter and collecting any due cash
- Ensuring all touring equipment is re-packed and loaded back onto tour transport
- Preparing band and crew schedule sheets for the next day
- Overseeing band and crew onto overnight transport, or to the next hotel
- Reporting this show’s attendance figures to the artist’s management and the booking agent
End
Thanks for reading. This is my take on the work of the concert tour manager. I have included none of the concert tour managers’ responsibilities regarding the selling of merchandise (‘merch’) – t-shirts, hoodies, vinyl, posters, etc in this article.
Please let me know in the comments if you would like this information.
You can also read my book about the live music business and concert production industry – The Live Music Business – Management and Production of Concerts and Festivals