How Much Money Can You Make Being a Tour Manager for a Band?
Long relegated to toiling anonymously behind the scenes, tour managers have gradually become as famous as the rock bands they serve. Behind the image of movies like "Rock Star," however, is a pay scale that varies dramatically. Wages range from $150 per show for up-and-coming bands, to $2,000 per week and higher for big name acts that tour for months. Additional percentages and per diems are available to high-profile tour managers, depending on their reputation.
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Function
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Although their pay varies enormously, tour managers must handle multiple tasks with good humor and grace, Skeeter Durham said, in an interview for Southwest Missouri State University's Entertainment Management program website. Major tasks include coordinating routing between shows; making sure that hospitality arrangements are acceptable once the band arrives; and settling box office receipts. For all these responsibilities, and more, Durham recalled earning a salary range of $100 to $1,500 per week.
Increased Responsibilities
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Although tour managers' responsibilities have increased dramatically, their status and wages have not kept pace--which remains the major contention within the live music industry, Andy Reynolds advises in "The Tour Book," published in 2007. This situation occurs because most tour managers must ensure a continuous flow of work as freelancers, while negotiating their own wages. For these reasons, would-be tour managers should request monthly earnings, or a portion of their advance upfront, he adds.
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Effects
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For tour managers like Steve Stemac, freelance work is the overriding reality of how they earn a living. According to Stemac, who mostly works with Christian music acts, a club tour pays $150 to $250 per night--while more established acts might earn about $10,000 for a three-month tour. Even then, those figures are salaries, with no accounting for how many hours are actually spent on the job, Stemac told Southwest Missouri State's website.
Considerations
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As Stemac noted in his interview, his estimates also did not include other tasks that tour managers are called in to handle--such as those of a production manager, which is how his career started. Life gets better with names like U2, whose backline crew earned $2,500 per week during the band's "Elevation" tour, says Reynolds. Experienced tour managers command $2,000 to $4,000 per week, depending on the band's fortunes and the types of venues they play.
Potential
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Prospects are limited because most tour managers land their jobs through personal recommendations, according to Durham--whose resume includes stints with Billy Joel, Eddie Money and 'NSync, among others. Getting paid can be trickier still, even when the tour manager's earnings come from a top band's or management's pockets, says Reynolds. Large companies often impose numerous conditions before paying out invoices. Failing to heed these details may deprive tour managers of greatly needed income to pay their bills.
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