#145 - 3rd September 2024 - I like them
There‘s this ~90min talk between Mary Spender and Adam Neely who apparently are friends for a very long time.
Both are indie artists with a YouTube channel.
Adam has started embracing the touring musician lifestyle a couple of years ago.
Mary is about to embark on that journey.
Naturally, the clip is a lot about what it means to be a touring musician:
- to stay healthy and sleep well so you can perform your best version every evening for the audience that paid a lot to come and see you
- because every evening for 1-2hrs you‘ll be giving your absolute maximum
- to come prepared, rehearsed, with an entertainment mindset
- to be willing to put in all the work that goes into preparation of a tour and then touring itself
- to have a team to split the work
- to pay that team fairly and afford proper accommodation
All of this, for the very likely outcome to make a loss or good case - if you’re lucky - break even.
I don‘t know how many tickets their bands sell. From the venue Mary plays in London, I would say it is in the 300-500 pax range.
Also Adam‘s band Sungazer is definitely below the 1000 pax threshold.
I think that‘s not too bad. And I also would have thought a little profit would remain in these venue sizes. Because from what I recall, Adam says the loss on his tour was post merchandise sales. Tough pill to swallow.
On the other hand: F*xk it all. It‘s for the lolz so what does it matter.
But I‘m part economist. And that part of me finds it all ludicrous.
Mary promises to document her tour and share the profit & loss statement in the end. Let‘s see.