WHY And WHEN You Should Go On Tour

WHY And WHEN To Go On Tour

In this training you’re going to learn 14 reasons why and when you should go on tour. When you’re done reading/watching this, make sure you download your free artist management start-up kit which comes with 10 free templates and guides!

All our training’s are now available in both audio/visual (video) as well as written (article transcript) format. The article transcript can be read directly below the video.

First of all, touring can mean anything from a 3-night trip to a few venues just outside your home market, or it can mean a friggen world-wide year-long like the superstars do. Generally, when I’m talking about tours I’m talking a month-long tour across your country or another country. But what are the reasons that you’ll want to go on tour

Reason #1: You have a finished album or will have a finished ready to promote.

This is generally the biggest reason. When you start planning your album release you should also be planning your live performance strategy to perform your new album to new and existing fans.

Reason #2: You have a hit song on the radio outside of your local market.

You don’t always need a full album to go on tour, sometimes you can go on tour to support a single that is getting massive traction on the radio or streaming platforms.

Reason #3: You already have a local following and just want to branch out.

If you’ve already built up a following in a certain market, then it might be time to expand beyond that market. That may mean expanding to other towns, other cities, or even other Provinces or States. It is important to play your local markets first, and then make your way around your country – but for some artists it ends up working out better for them to tour another country, gain a reputation there, and then back home. This one depends on your genre, where your fans are, and what cultures and markets tend to pick up your vibes.

Reason #4: You already have an online following outside of the local following.

If you’re aware that you have fans in surrounding markets that follow you online, then it might be time to book yourself a tour! Check Facebook, Spotify, Instagram, Google Analytics, and any other kind of geographical stats you can find about your fans. I talk about this more in another training called “how to draft a tour routing”.

Reason #5: To perform your music for your existing fans.

Put yourself in the shoes of a fan. Think about your favourite artists, big or small, and how pumped you get to see them live – and remember that when it comes time to you booking a tour. Your fans of your recorded music want to see music live.

Reason #6: To become better known and reach more fans that don’t know about you.

Not only do you want to perform for existing fans, you want to allow potential new fans to discover you from attending shows in their hometowns with their friends who brought them to your show.

Reason #7: To convert Non-Fans.

Hear me out on this one. I personally couldn’t tell you the amount of times I was NOT a fan of an artists’ music, but became a fan, sometimes even a raving fan, AFTER I saw them live. Live music not only converts people into fans, it converts the anti-fans into raving fans (if your show is great).

Reason #8: To get on the radar of industry personnel and increase chances of getting signed.

A lot of industry people say that touring is just as important as making the album. Not to mention, managers, agents and labels often don’t want to work with artists who won’t tour. When you’re touring it shows your dedication to your career as a performing artist, your dedication to your fans, and your dedication to the marketing of your album.

Reason #9: To get song writing inspiration.

This isn’t necessarily a reason why, but it’s a positive reason to tour. The more you experience the more you have to write about, so being on the road can bring lots of writing inspiration. Also, there’s a lot of down time on the road which can be time spent writing instead.

Reason #10: You got booked on a showcase or festival.

As I talk about in “how to draft a tour routing”, a good idea is to route a mini tour around an important showcase or festival that you’ve been booked to play. Instead of driving or flying all the way to the festival just to perform that one show, you want to make it financially worthwhile, so book shows around it. Just make sure they don’t have radius clauses, and if they do then book outside or around it.

Reason #11: To be able to open for other larger acts.

Going on tour will definitely open the doors for you to be able to open for larger acts. And I mean much larger acts. You really shouldn’t be headlining your first tour and should open for other local acts along the tour. But, If you want to be opening for huge acts, you’ve got to prove you can put on a killer show.

Which brings me to my next reason #12: An Amazing Show

You may simply have a killer live show and want to share it with the world.

Reason #13: To Improve your performance skills.

Whether you’re already amazing at performing, or suck at performing, the more you perform the better you’ll get, and the more ideas you’ll get.

Reason #14: To Make money.

As a beginner, there’s a strong chance you’re going to lose money on your first tour, but if you’re smart about it you can profit money. Sell more products off stage, negotiate better deals, keep your expenses down, or keep smaller stage sets. There’s much more that I could get in to on this topic but I’ll save that for another training.

And after all that, you might not necessarily be ready to tour, but there are lots of other ways to perform regularly, locally, and make some bucks. Maybe you can perform covers at local parties or events, or post covers online, or attempt to start a residency in your hometown, which means to perform weekly or monthly at the same venue for a certain amount of time.

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