r/TouringMusicians

Genuine question. I work with musicians on making payments while touring easier, and one thing I’ve been surprised by is just how important merch seems to be financially.

Before getting into this world, I assumed merch was a nice extra. What I keep hearing instead is: the shows pay for the tour, the merch pays the artist.

Obviously that’s a huge simplification, so I’m curious how true it actually is.

For those of you touring regularly, how much does merch matter to the economics of the tour? Could you realistically tour without it?

Myself and majority of a band I used to play with just left a touring artist gig we'd been with for 7 years. Artist felt he couldn't pay what we wanted for a raise and the band decided to walk. Ultimately while things got tense during negotiations we all left on fairly good terms with one another. The artist has since contacted multiple band members asking for the Main Stage show files many of us have developed over our time working with him so he can give them to new band members. Would you charge for these show files and if so how much? Same goes for edited IRs and NAM files we were using for his show. Thanks!

I work on the manufacturing/merch side of the music industry and have spent a lot of time dealing with tour merch — forecasting, manufacturing, inventory, venue settlements, logistics, reorders, etc.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of artists treat merch like:

make some cool shirts → bring them on tour → sell them

But once you're playing decent-sized rooms, merch really becomes its own little business traveling alongside the tour.

A few things I think artists should be thinking about:

1. Don't manufacture based purely on venue capacity.

A 1,500-cap room doesn't mean 1,500 merch customers.

Look at expected attendance, historical spend per head if you have it, your audience demographic, ticket price, city, and what you're actually selling.

If you've toured before, your previous sales data is incredibly valuable. Use it.

2. Don't have 15 products just because you can.

More SKUs aren't necessarily more sales.

I'd rather see an artist have 4-6 strong products with clear price points than a merch booth filled with random stuff.

Have an accessible item, your core tee(s), something premium, and maybe an accessory/collectible.

Make the buying decision easy.

3. Your size breakdown matters almost as much as your total quantity.

Ordering 1,000 shirts correctly but getting the size curve wrong can still leave you with hundreds of units nobody wants.

Your Shopify/e-commerce sales can be a great starting point for figuring out your audience's actual sizing.

Then adjust as you collect tour data.

4. Build your pricing backwards from the economics.

Don't just say, "Other bands charge $40, so we'll charge $40."

You need to understand:

sale price
minus manufacturing
minus venue merch cut
minus card/payment fees
minus freight/logistics
minus merch staffing/commissions
minus other direct costs

= what you're actually making.

A $50 shirt is not $50 of revenue in your pocket.

5. Venue merch cuts need to be accounted for BEFORE the tour.

This one catches people off guard.

Depending on your deal/venues, you're potentially giving up a percentage of merchandise sales before you've even considered your COGS.

Know your venue deals and build them into your forecast.

6. Keep inventory counts religiously.

Count in.
Sell.
Count out.
Settle.
Repeat.

If you're moving thousands of units across dozens of cities, tiny discrepancies become very expensive by the end of the tour.

You should know what you started with, what sold, what's damaged/missing, and what physically leaves every venue.

7. Plan replenishment before you need replenishment.

The worst time to figure out how you're going to manufacture another 500 shirts is when you have 80 left.

Know your manufacturing lead times and identify the products that can realistically be replenished mid-tour.

If something starts outperforming your forecast, reorder early.

8. Don't underestimate logistics.

Making the merchandise is only half the battle. UPS/FEDEX/Local Trucking always has issues.

It has to get to the first show, move between cities, get into venues, get counted, get displayed, get sold, get counted again, and potentially get replenished from another facility while the tour keeps moving.

That becomes increasingly complicated as the tour gets bigger.

9. Track sales by show and SKU.

After every show, you should eventually have enough data to know:

attendance
gross merch sales
spend per head
units sold
best-selling SKU
size distribution
venue percentage
net proceeds

After 5-10 shows, your own data starts becoming much more valuable than whatever assumptions you made before the tour.

10. Treat merch like a business, not a souvenir table.

For the right artist, merchandise can become a meaningful revenue stream.

But the artists who do it really well tend to have systems behind it: forecasting, manufacturing, logistics, inventory management, reporting and someone actually accountable for the operation.

That's ultimately why we built TourMerch.co through Limitless MFG. We were already handling manufacturing and tour operations for artists and realized there should be a dedicated side of the company focused specifically on touring.

Not trying to turn this into a sales pitch though, genuinely happy to answer questions in here about manufacturing, margins, forecasting, venue cuts, inventory, staffing, POS, or tour merch logistics if it's useful.

I'm in a mid-level touring band with a strong but niche following. We have been relying on social media promotion for many years to let fans know about our tour dates. The frustrating thing is that we will post tour dates on Instagram and Facebook, post individual concert posters, live images/video with info about upcoming shows in the captions, etc; and over and over again, people will post comments about "oh you just played in my town and I didn't know."

We think part of the problem here is that the algorithm isn't targeted/sophisticated enough to show people time-sensitive information in a timely manner. Like it's showing our content to our fans, but they may not see it the day we post it, they may see it any number of days later, or they might see a poster for a show far from them and not do the legwork to see if we're playing in their city too. Then the day after we played in their city and we post a picture of the show, that will come across their feed and then we get the comment "I can't believe I missed it."

We started a mailing list to try and address this but I don't think it's moving the needle very much on this problem. We would also like to try and get new fans to our shows, which a mailing list doesn't really help with.

A friend mentioned that someone she knows runs meta ads in the specific markets where she is going to be playing, and that she has gotten a lot more people at her shows since she started doing that. No one in our band has ever used meta ads before, and I'm hoping that some of you fine people have some expertise to share.

I'd love info on best practices for using meta ads for events in specific markets, and any thoughts on using mailing lists in conjunction with ads. Thanks!

This disgusting dj has had multiple reports of rape, and harassment, including graping underage girls and sexually harassing his own employees.  He cheats on girls and he targets vulnerable girls, putting on a spiritual front.  He is a predator and is not safe to be around.

I'm a experienced jazz dancer and I dated with other men dancers cause we are in the same scene of social dancing and we share our passion. But I can see how relationships between musicians and dancers are most likely to last longer, I think is because a musician and a dancer (of the same type of music/style) have admiration for each other and their egos are not colliding (something that happens between musician/musician and dancer/dancer). What do you think male virtuos musicians? Why some genius musicians seem to not like dancing at all the music they really understand? What do you feel when you see a dancer perfoming with musicality the music you are playing on a stage? I'm asking cause I kinda have a crush on a musician and we never interacted face to face but I can see how we look each other, me from the dancefloor and he from the stage, but because we don't have the moment to meet each other I don't know if I'm just imagining things because I admire him or in fact, it's a mutual crush.

hey, guys! thinking about going to college for social work. I've had about 5 amazing years of being a full time touring musician, but I'm starting to feel like I would enjoy branching out a bit. my career isn't slowing down, but I'm not sure I want to spend the next 10 years living on the road. any of y'all ever started an online program while touring? would love to hear thoughts and experiences!

Hi everyone

Was wondering how crowded it would feel?

Also wondering how's the shower in a Bandwagon? Is that usually your main shower during the tour?

I am touring with a band next month and I need to transport my cymbals, snare, and pedals (at least). I just need to get them down to Texas from Colorado and once I’m there I will ride with the band in their RV. My car is reliable so driving out isn’t an option. I am 19 and can’t rent a vehicle so that is also out of the question. Any tips or recommendations please?

Originally it was hoped we'd have some bunks on the headline band's bus, but this week we found out there isn't any space, so we will be driving ourselves. We are very used to this in Europe, but looking at how best to do it in the USA. 600-1400 cap shows. We are main support.

4 people plus gear (4 piece kit, 2 4x12 guitar cabs, 5 guitars/basses in cases, 2 6u rack cases (IEM etc) and some boxes of merch.

We want to keep costs as low as possible. And looking at the drives/plot its no further than some of our more poorly routed European tours in terms of distances.

All 4 of us drive. Usually in the EU and UK we stay in Air bnb's and have our system down to a fine art. Drive in a Mercedes Sprinter/Splitter. All the gear fits no problem, and there's room for the 4 band and 3 crew.

However for this tour, it is just the 4 of us and it has been suggested we might be best off getting an RV and sleeping on the road, using gym memberships for showers. I have no idea on how big RV's are and if we will fit our gear in one with enough room to sleep. Is a trailer common for this sort of tour? First show is in Chicago, last one in LA.

I imagine I have left out a load of relevant info, because I don't even really know the questions to ask. So please, any help really appreciated!

edit: Spelling

EDIT: The State of Band Touring via Vans 2026 - Sorry I could have made that clearer!

We had some fun putting this together. We took a look at over 1,500 tours over the past year and put this report together: https://www.bandago.com/touring-data/state-of-band-touring-2026/

• International acts are fading. After a full post-COVID recovery in 2022-23, the international share of US music tours has fallen three straight seasons to 4.7%, the lowest level we have recorded outside the border closures. Canadian acts dropped the most.
• The average band tour runs 16 days and 4,334 miles (the typical tour: 12 days, 3,135 miles). 1,532 touring bands drove 9 million miles last season, enough to reach the Moon and back 19 times!
• Bands now book their tour vans twice as far ahead as before the pandemic (median 35 days out, vs 21 in 2015-16).
• Bands leave on Wednesday. Ordinary renters peak on Friday; tour departures peak midweek.
• Tour launches are decentralizing: LA, New York and Nashville were 65% of launches a decade ago; they are 52% now.

More at the link, but fascinating to watch how the industry is shifting and changing over time.

A few years ago, I was recommended MusicPro Insurance for my band. It seemed they had good reviews and testimonials on Reddit. We never moved forward with getting insurance but we need to now.

What insurance company are other indie artists using?

Follow and hit me up on Instagram if your band is going on tour and you need help with a date in Philadelphia

I can provide full backlines for shows as well

Looking for - Punk/HC Punk/DBeat/Oi/Garage/Thrash

https://www.instagram.com/idiot\_lips?igsh=aDRlbjEwZnpnNWoz&utm\_source=qr

I like my street shoes and I’m also a keen hiker, I’m curious about what people are using day-in day-out on the ground on tour. We obviously get a lot of steps in, we want good support but also like to keep it trendy.

Seen lots of ASICS, Salomons, Keen’s etc. knocking about, also the new La Sportiva Evo’s are cool. My Salomon XT6’s have served me well for the last 3 years but they’re rotting away now. Any other standouts or old reliables people always track back to?

Hey everyone!
I'm looking for a female vocalist to record lead vocals for an upcoming release. The track is fully arranged, and both the lyrics and vocal melody are completely finished. I just need someone with a great tone to bring the performance to life!
Track Info:
• BPM: 125
• Key: B Minor
• Genre: R&B
• Status: Beat, structure, lyrics, and guide vocal/ melody are 100% complete.
What I Provide:
• Guide track with the exact melody line to follow.
• Lyrics sheet.
• Professional mix & master once vocals are in.
• Handling full distribution Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
The Deal:
• Royalty Split (via automated distributor split).
• Featured Artist / Co-Artist Credit on all streaming platforms.
If you're interested and have a clean recording setup (condenser mic / treated space), please send me a DM or drop a link to some of your previous work below!

I bring my tablet out on the road to run my mix and to have a nice bright setlist but the holder I have, while sturdy and great, is kind of a pain in the ass to fit in my cymbal case for fly dates. Like it fits but it's just awkward and I like to travel light, anyone have any recs for a really sturdy yet compact tablet holder?

Posting from my dummy account:

A band I work with has been offered a buy-on to a large metal fest in Portugal for 2027. They were told by the agent offering that it's a $4k USD buy-on and that seemingly time slot, day, etc, are a crapshoot and may not know until just before arrival. They spoke with another person who has helped bands buy-on to European fests that it's closer to a $1500-2000 USD buy-on.

Obviously these prices don't include airfare, lodging, any visa costs, etc.

Both agents are US based, and I am refraining from naming them.

The band is trying to get more information from the first agent, the contract to review with details regarding slot, backline availability, actual cost, etc. Due diligence before dropping $4k on what could be a bad deal.

So, have any American bands here bought onto this festival? Does the buy-on price seem legit? Also, if you have bought on, what was your merch situation as far as selling goes?

Gotta be my least favorite thing to happen on tour.