Discussion Thread

 How effective is touring around the country, eg. Canada and particularly in small towns? Is it all worth it? I would love to hear some feed back from those of you who are or who have been touring lately.

I'll take a stab at the "is it worth it?" part of the question. The word "worth" makes me think of money, so I'll focus on that. It should be noted that there are tons of musicians (our band members included) that think it's worth playing out no matter when and where. They just enjoy it and it doesn't matter how many people we play to or how much money we make. If you have the bug to play live, you'll do it regardless and it's pretty much always worth it.

So, with that disclaimer out there, here's some of Randy and my general thoughts about playing live:

Traditional touring is a slow way to build a fanbase. By traditional we mean "touring in your area and later in concentric circles outside your area". In the past, this was the only way to build a following. You had to bring the music to the people. And without a distribution method, the only way musicians had the power to bring the music to the people was to play live. This is one of the reasons why in the past most musicians focused on getting signed -- getting signed meant getting distribution and getting heard. That's not the case anymore...

Touring can be a good way to make an income if you do it right. This is especially true in the age of the internet since selling pre-recorded music doesn't rise to the level it once did when the methods of distribution and getting heard were controlled and gated off. Playing live is unique. You can only be in one place at one time. Because of this, it cannot be commoditized. It's worth something to people.

Now, touring can and is likely to continue to be a/the significant source of income for indie musicians. This is even more true if you have a fanbase already. 

If you don't have a fanbase yet. Then, we think one of the best ways to go about this is to first build a presence online that shares your music with the world. This costs less to develop and can result in a bigger payoff since you can instantly introduce your music worldwide to a ton of potential new fans. Plus, the internet is on 24/7. Your website and web presences are constantly working for you -- even when you sleep.

But here's the key, you need to integrate Eventful's free Demand Tool in all your web presences so all the hard work you're doing to get interest in your music also results in "Demands" to play live in their areas. This will help you map where your fans are. Once you know where they are, you can now strategically plan your tour so that it's likely to be profitable. See the free Eventful E-book we wrote for more about this. 

If the internet strategy isn't your style, building a fanbase through traditional touring is always an option. It worked in the past and can work for you as well. The important thing to keep in mind is patience. It's a numbers game, so to build a fanbase quickly is to play out often. As I said at the beginning, there's a lot of musicians we know that are eager to play out often. It's in our DNA. To help build a fanbase a bit quicker, we suggest in our book to network with established bands in your area who already have a following. Opening or sharing the bill with them is a great way to introduce your music to an existing audience. The major labels have done this for years, and it's a technique that can work for indies as well. All the more reason why it's important for all musicians to realize they are not in competition with one another and that all of us have something to gain when we work together. Which, of course, is why we continue to build and develop this site...!

Hope that answers some of your questions. It's a great question and one that could take a few beers to truly talk out!  

I've done a few tours in the recent past, and I'm getting ready to start another one. Touring as much as you can is definitely beneficial: 1) as long as you have a steadily growing fan base, and 2) as long as you don't overly-saturate any single market or skip important markets entirley. If you do it right, its good money.