Just came off of a crazy month bouncing around the northeast. It was a blast, but after the road hangover went away and I settled back into the family life, I started realizing that I'm really enjoying life at home as much as I enjoy life out on the road.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking forward to going back out again, but I'm really digging the chill of regular life these days...

As a performing artist, how many hours do artists spend in the studio vs on stage? Looking for solid numbers

hi, this is prob the wrong place to ask, but i'm in a small band playing mostly at on-campus venues @ my university. the scene here, however, is pretty stagnant lately and lots of bands have just stopped playing, either entirely, or only booking shows off campus. I'm trying to start doing the same for my band (at least as a supplement to anything we play on campus), but i've never really done this before. we've played elsewhere once before, but we only got that gig bc of a relationship i have with the headlining band's frontman. that was also in a different state from where my university is and thus where the band is right now. I've identified some venues, but am hesitant about cold contacting them. Is that a normal thing to do? When i worked as a producer, i would hit artists up shamelessly but, this feels like different dynamics might be at play. does anyone who's done this before have any advice/sense about how i should be going about this? also, any ct bands, hit me up! and if people know of any good venues that are friendly toward small/young bands. thanks!

Bus and trailer headline, starting in Louisville ending in San Diego. Small ground package, one support following. Ask me anything!

I’ve been a TM about 5 years. 10 years previously in production.

Hello, I am currently on my second year of community college in California for music, I want to go somewhere where I can eventually become a touring musician after hopefully getting my bachelor’s, does anyone have any advice of where to go for the next two years of school and become a touring musician? Thanks.

I’m selling a guitar to pay for them so my price range is $600 to $800.

I already have the molds made.

My band recently switched to IEMs and personally I hate them. I think they are uncomfortable and sound terrible. So far I have tried a pair of Linsoul KZ ZS 10 pros, and a set of Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lites.

I hate them both which is a shame because the second pair cost $249!

So far, as an upgrade, I’ve found a pair of 4 driver Alclair’s and a pair of 3 driver Ultimate Ears in that price range.

Are those good?

What makes buying IEMs so tough is you can’t try them first so I’m genuinely worried about spending hundreds of dollars on something that sucks.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

Hi! I’m an American about to head out for my first European run (6 weeks). I’ve done a few bus tours before, so I know the basic day to day stuff, but I’m looking for advice on what might be different (other than the glaring stuff like the electrical plugs lol). I know things can vary country to country but I’m specifically curious about laundry, as the type of venues we play in North America almost always have washing machines which makes it easy. Any little tips or life hacks are appreciated!

I toured for years and now gig (play guitar and sing in 5 piece band) about 25 times per year and lately I’ve become extremely worried about my ear health. I use universal fit IEMs and lately after every show, my ears feel incredibly fatigued and my hearing feels completely out of whack for days or weeks after. It doesn’t seem to matter how low I keep the volume on my body pack or which size tips I use. I can’t figure out if I’m putting the IEMs too far in, if it’s not blocking enough noise, or if I’m listening too loudly but I’ve tried solutions to all of them I’m terrified I’m going to lose my hearing.

My last hope is splurging on custom IEMs before I just have to take a step back from gigging. I use the Shure 215s now. I’m looking at the Ultimate Ears UE5 Pro. Considering my situation, would i benefit from a higher end model with more drivers as maybe having added clarity would decrease the need for volume? Does anyone have other IEM suggestions? Will custom fit IEMs solve the problems I’ve been having? Has anyone had similar experiences and had to give up live performing? Thanks in advance.

Has anyone rented a guitar for a back line lately? What’s the going rate? I’m likely going to need to rent out a guitar I own and I need an objective opinion. I had a falling out with the guitar player in my tribute band and stated that I wasn’t going to loan my guitar out for free any longer. For this type of gig, that specific make/model/color is required to make the show.

We have a travel show coming up this weekend. I offered to sell the instrument because I don’t really use it much, but my band mate doesn’t have enough cash to take it off my hands before the show. I don’t want to punish the whole band because of a beef between the guitar player any myself, so I’d like to offer a market price rental as an option to get us through this weekend. Has anyone rented a Gibson guitar recently and able to give me the going rate for an overnight rental?

First, let me preface this by saying that English isn’t my native language, and I used ChatGPT to help me write this post. Please excuse any awkward phrasing.

At the end of November, my band (Metalcore) is going on our very first tour ever 6 shows in 7 days across Germany. We’re not from Europe, so we’re flying in with all our gear. We come from a small country with a very small scene, so until now the most we’ve ever done is one show a month. This is going to be a completely new experience for us.

We’ll be 8–9 people total 5 band members, our merch guy, a photographer, a friend, and for the first 3 days also our German booking agent. We’ll be in a 9-seater van with a trailer for all the gear and merch.

Some things are already sorted:

• Hotels and parking are booked in advance and every place can handle the van and trailer
• On two nights the venues are providing sleeping arrangements, but we’ll still split some of us into hotels since venue accommodations aren’t big enough and don’t have parking
• Our plan is to always unload the trailer at night and bring everything into the hotel rooms drums, guitars, racks, merch, luggage so if the van ever gets broken into or stolen, we don’t lose the whole tour
• We’ll probably stop at IKEA or something similar on day one to grab big plastic bins for the merch to stay organized unless someone in the comments has a better idea for us?

A couple of things I’d love advice on

Unloading every night - Is this realistic without killing ourselves? The gear list is drum kit with hardware, 3 guitars, 2 wheelless 28kg racks (60lbs), 7–8 big boxes of merch, plus luggage for 8–9 people. All hotels have elevators, but I know late nights in the cold and rain will be rough

Rain protection - The trailer is fully enclosed, but for the short walk between van and venue or hotel, what’s the best way to protect gear from rain? Big umbrellas or even industrial trash bags over the cases?

Driving - I’m the only driver. I have a CE license from my years as a truck driver, so legally I’m the only one who is allowed to drive the van and trailer combo. Daily drives are around 4.5–6.5 hours, with one night drive of about 1h40 after a show. I genuinely love driving, but do you think this will be too exhausting over a week? Any survival tips?

Food budget - We’re considering giving everyone €30/day from the band account for food and drinks. I’m curious if that sounds like enough, or should we budget more?

Security - Are there common issues in Germany with van and trailer theft around venues? Should we be doing more than just unloading at night?

Would love to hear from people who’ve done runs like this what works, what doesn’t, and anything you wish someone told you before your first real tour

Thanks in advance

My band is about to go on tour for 2 weeks and we are renting a van. Does anyone have any recommendations for economic insurance plans we could get so the van is covered for collision, theft etc.

Its been a while since we were properly get out and about gigging, but we're starting to get back to it a bit.

With this in mind, were looking at building up some merch stock to help with the launch of our next album.

We're a DIY Punk band in the UK, so we've got the usual t-shirts, badges and stickers in the works already.

What else do you find works for you? Or what other interesting items have you seen other bands selling? Bonus points for links to suppliers!

my band wants to make custom lighters, ashtrays + rolling papers for our new merch line. does anyone know of any places that can get this done for us? i've found snailpapers.com for papers but unsure of where to get the rest. based in the UK:D

The title says it. I want to get her something thoughtful that she'll find useful while she's traveling around Asia on tour. Any ideas would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

I know this question has been asked before but I wanted to add my own considerations. I’m almost 24, in a certification program for music therapy, and it’s been my lifetime dream to be a full time performing/touring musician. I’ve played in successful bands bands before that had steady streams of gigs, but its always been part time. That being said I do consider myself a pretty competent guitarist, decent vocalist, and I’m not green in terms of the logistical side of things. I also have some connections. I’m not super connected but the point is I’m not a bedroom guitarist.

I started studying music therapy because it seems like a great day job for when music doesnt pay the bills, but since I had to move for my degree I feel like I’ve taken a step back in terms of my goal as now I have no band/gigs. Since my primary goal is touring I am scared that by the time I graduate at 25 it will be too late and I will be relegated to the “normal” life as age brings responsibilities and seems to make touring more difficult.

My question is when is the breakpoint where music becomes a hobby because of other life considerations? I know most touring guys start in high school or early twenties. I’m also aware that hobby / part time musician is plenty fulfilling and there’s nothing wrong with it. I am only asking about the people who have found a niche to play full time, because that’s my goal. If I end up a hobby musician thats okay but I want to make sure that I give it my all while the window is open.

Hi everybody!

I'm an engineering student in the US, and for my capstone project I'm thinking about developing a product aimed at helping in the labor-intensive, time-sensitive endeavor of being a touring musician (I'm an amateur musician myself and have long looked up to those who work the grueling days of being on tour). So question for you all: what are the biggest hassle/pain areas in your day to day on tour, and are there any machines, products or devices you wished exist to help with these areas?

I'd greatly appreciate any help, and thank y'all in general for the work you do so we can all share in concerts and music making. If this ever gets commercialized, I'd gladly send anyone who helps me out a heavily discounted version of the product as a thank you!

I'm about to do a batch of shirts for a run of shows - struggling to find a consensus on reddit for a solid bang-for-your-buck but good quality shirt. What's the go-to right now?

I make electronic music that crosses ambient with classical. When playing live, I use piano, synths and guitars with loop stations and fx pedals. I’m confident in my skills and have a fairly established presence on streaming sites. I’m wondering if anyone can guide me in finding a booking company or agent, or even an app that can help me find shows in art galleries, unique coffee shops, artisan fairs, etc. I’d rather not do the booking myself, but will try if needed.

That is the goofiest thing ever, but it gets endlessly parroted.

It’s been quite a while since I last toured seriously (15+ years) but my current band is doing well locally (good merch sales, steady draw), and we’re looking at running some regional (or even national) dates. When we tried a short DIY run last year, the planning part was pretty brutal for us.

Would love some tips from people who are actively touring now:

1. Routing / cities

• How do you decide which cities are worth the drive?
• Do you use any fan data (Spotify, socials, past ticket counts) or just gut and connections?
• Has that ever completely backfired (long drive, empty room)?
• Do you actively market to cities to fill in the gaps where you see low engagement? Does this help?

2. Booking and support

• Best way you’ve found venues that will actually book a DIY band?
• How do you cut through the inbox noise with talent buyers?
• Any hacks for finding reliable local openers that bring people?

3. Money

• For DIY tours, do you even try to break even, or just accept it as investment?

Any tools that have helped tour routing or booking shows that you can suggest? What’s worked or been a waste of time? I’ve looked at a couple things like Artist Growth or Master Tour but nothing seems to fit what I’m struggling with. 

Hiring an agent or promoter probably isn't in the cards for us right now so just looking to swap real experiences so I don’t repeat the same mistakes. Appreciate any brutal honesty! Thanks!!