How much do "big name" club touring musicians make?

[Kapo_Polenton]

So I saw Eric Johnson last night in a smaller venue.. first off I have to say that he was unbelievable. I knew a bit of his stuff but really seeing him in his element was inspiring. Fantastic musician and great band. But I got to thinking, at say 44$ a ticket and maybe 200-300 tickets sold, how do these guys make their money and what are they pulling in? I saw at least 2 stage hands to take down gear and a guitar guy. That's at least 7 people strong including musicians. Then I have to imagine there is a good size truck and trailer at least and some hotel bills. Assuming the bar/club pays out say 8k to have him play and keeps the money from booze and food and a small portion of the ticket.. how does it all break down? The band sells a bit of merchandise for sure and they will play bigger venues along the way but i am interested in what the bottom line looks like for guys like this or any of the 80's bands now doing smaller gigs. Anybody know more or less how it all breaks down?

 

[8len8]

I'm sure it's not that much, and not enough.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I'm sure it's not that much, and not enough.

Agreed in a lot of cases.. but knowing now what we know about albums making little to no cash for the artists, they have to tour to make a living. I am still guessing given the shows he does that a guy like Johnson has got to be pulling in over 200k a year still and that is def nothing to be embarassed about but he sure as hell ain't making Axl money that's for sure.

 

[GITTarzann]

I have thought the same thing over the years.

I saw Gary Hoey play in Fresno years ago. They were in an 80's RV type rig (POS for sure). I LOVED the show but kinda felt sorry for him.

But, I have been told by some more knowledgeable musician friends that some of the names we see coming around to smaller gigs use the opportunity to fill their pockets with a little cash in between bigger better paying gigs. I don't know if they are right or not ?

 

[Rdodson]

I think you are right on the money. EJ probably makes ~ $250K. It is all about finding the right promoted shows and stringing them together in a way that makes it efficient. Very hard work for good, but not fantastic, money.

Also, he could supplement his income I'd guess by selling off his used/vintage gear after every tour with his provenance. That isn't a huge amount, but can add up.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

I think you are right on the money. EJ probably makes ~ $250K. It is all about finding the right promoted shows and stringing them together in a way that makes it efficient. Very hard work for good, but not fantastic, money.

Also, he could supplement his income I'd guess by selling off his used/vintage gear after every tour with his provenance. That isn't a huge amount, but can add up.

I got to meet EJ at my local shop as he & the owner are friends.

Eric was playing a 59 ES-335 thru a Vintage 20 watt Marshall.

Eric wanted Mike to lower his price on the 335 but Mike wouldn't, he doesn't do that for anyone as the market dictates prices.
It was Eric's day off from the Experience Hendrix Tour and he commented he had spent a ton of money on the Tour and didn't have enough to buy the Gibson.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I think you are right on the money. EJ probably makes ~ $250K. It is all about finding the right promoted shows and stringing them together in a way that makes it efficient. Very hard work for good, but not fantastic, money.

Also, he could supplement his income I'd guess by selling off his used/vintage gear after every tour with his provenance. That isn't a huge amount, but can add up.

I got to meet EJ at my local shop as he & the owner are friends.

Eric was playing a 59 ES-335 thru a Vintage 20 watt Marshall.

Eric wanted Mike to lower his price on the 335 but Mike wouldn't, he doesn't do that for anyone as the market dictates prices.
It was Eric's day off from the Experience Hendrix Tour and he commented he had spent a ton of money on the Tour and didn't have enough to buy the Gibson.

Ouch! using star power and guilt trip to try and lower the price... he is a normal guy after all! The Hendrix experience tour I think had more hands in the pot though. Also, promotionally, the organizers were skimming a lot off the top. I think on his own tour he would stand to make more but still a ton of work. My buddy commented on the fact that touring in your 20's and 30's might be good times but imagining into your 50's and now 60's? You really gotta love it.

 

[stephen sawall]

He's not making $200 G a year. I would bet he does not make $100 G. His total net value is $700 G. That's not even enough for a decent home around here. That is more typical of someone at his age that has made $50-60 G a year..... and has made decent investments in property, etc.

You can probably look up what he charges to do a show. Anyone can usually hire someone like him.

http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/eric-johnson.htm

 

[Racerxrated]

When you see a big name act(relative I know) at a small club, chances are that it is an add-on that the promoter grabbed after the main higher paying tour dates were booked in advance. I've seen a few shows, Winery Dogs for one, that I've caught well after the original tour was published. Really small club in Iowa/Illinois quad cities area, maybe 150 people at most. It was an add on date, no way the bar made much if any profit but who knows how much the Dogs charged. But I think the band would rather play a show for a lower price than stay idle too long, even if they are lower paying.
I think the money for lots of these bands/players is really overseas, I've been told that before by guys that have been roadies for a few bands from the 80s.

 

[engage757]

He doesn't make anywhere close to $200k. Not even a question. He would be lucky to make $50-75k these days, not including sig model sales.

 

[8len8]

I'm guessing the bar is in it just to make money off the drinks. I know with the smaller places in my area if we pull in more than about 40 people we get the whole door.

 

[eternal_idol]

So I saw Eric Johnson last night in a smaller venue.. first off I have to say that he was unbelievable. I knew a bit of his stuff but really seeing him in his element was inspiring. Fantastic musician and great band. But I got to thinking, at say 44$ a ticket and maybe 200-300 tickets sold, how do these guys make their money and what are they pulling in? I saw at least 2 stage hands to take down gear and a guitar guy. That's at least 7 people strong including musicians. Then I have to imagine there is a good size truck and trailer at least and some hotel bills. Assuming the bar/club pays out say 8k to have him play and keeps the money from booze and food and a small portion of the ticket.. how does it all break down? The band sells a bit of merchandise for sure and they will play bigger venues along the way but i am interested in what the bottom line looks like for guys like this or any of the 80's bands now doing smaller gigs. Anybody know more or less how it all breaks down?

From what I can and am willing to say, Its not a one size fits all sort of deal. but i can tell you atleast in THAT venue. the Stage hands are employed by the production company/venue, Them Local Boys.

I've worked this Venue when I've subbed in as tech for The Trews. so there are spesifics I am aware of that I feel I have no business repeating

so you are talking a band, A guitar tech and a FOH/Mon Guy. (you didn't see FOH, as he was dealing with front of house and then likely hospitality and merch.)

Final check would be North of 8k, atleast in our money.. Rider comes out of that check. Hotels at 98% of the time compensated and Covered by the Venue (venues get a deal on the rooms for bringing business there, simple business arrangement)

With a crowd like that, easy an additional 20% of the final check can be made in merch. with the right merch OFC

venue normally gets a very small % of both ticket and merch(only if they are supplying the body to run the merch), there is normally always a "sponsor" of some sort, local brewery , that sorta thing, the bar makes its money off people buying drinks.

and the bottom line looks like his previous 4 days. he is in the country 4 days, playing 4 shows in 3 music scenes and a festival, with a good 6 to 8 hour drive after the first day.

in the states its easier, its not as far between venues that are able to pay you. so the bottom line really is, you work for it frequently.

its enough to live off of and pay everything if you do it frequently enough

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

So I saw Eric Johnson last night in a smaller venue.. first off I have to say that he was unbelievable. I knew a bit of his stuff but really seeing him in his element was inspiring. Fantastic musician and great band. But I got to thinking, at say 44$ a ticket and maybe 200-300 tickets sold, how do these guys make their money and what are they pulling in? I saw at least 2 stage hands to take down gear and a guitar guy. That's at least 7 people strong including musicians. Then I have to imagine there is a good size truck and trailer at least and some hotel bills. Assuming the bar/club pays out say 8k to have him play and keeps the money from booze and food and a small portion of the ticket.. how does it all break down? The band sells a bit of merchandise for sure and they will play bigger venues along the way but i am interested in what the bottom line looks like for guys like this or any of the 80's bands now doing smaller gigs. Anybody know more or less how it all breaks down?

From what I can and am willing to say, Its not a one size fits all sort of deal. but i can tell you atleast in THAT venue. the Stage hands are employed by the production company/venue, Them Local Boys.

I've worked this Venue when I've subbed in as tech for The Trews. so there are spesifics I am aware of that I feel I have no business repeating

so you are talking a band, A guitar tech and a FOH/Mon Guy. (you didn't see FOH, as he was dealing with front of house and then likely hospitality and merch.)

Final check would be North of 8k, atleast in our money.. Rider comes out of that check. Hotels at 98% of the time compensated and Covered by the Venue (venues get a deal on the rooms for bringing business there, simple business arrangement)

With a crowd like that, easy an additional 20% of the final check can be made in merch. with the right merch OFC

venue normally gets a very small % of both ticket and merch(only if they are supplying the body to run the merch), there is normally always a "sponsor" of some sort, local brewery , that sorta thing, the bar makes its money off people buying drinks.

and the bottom line looks like his previous 4 days. he is in the country 4 days, playing 4 shows in 3 music scenes and a festival, with a good 6 to 8 hour drive after the first day.

in the states its easier, its not as far between venues that are able to pay you. so the bottom line really is, you work for it frequently.

its enough to live off of and pay everything if you do it frequently enough

Excellent, thanks for the break down. I was unaware of how the lodging might work out but had suspected the band as a whole was charging in and around 8k , MERCH would be X amount, and then the bar would make money on the booze alone.. maybe the bar only makes 2-3k that night but that still isn't horrible for them as you build clientele for future shows and bigger crowds will draw more consumption. There is also food..

 

[eternal_idol]

So I saw Eric Johnson last night in a smaller venue.. first off I have to say that he was unbelievable. I knew a bit of his stuff but really seeing him in his element was inspiring. Fantastic musician and great band. But I got to thinking, at say 44$ a ticket and maybe 200-300 tickets sold, how do these guys make their money and what are they pulling in? I saw at least 2 stage hands to take down gear and a guitar guy. That's at least 7 people strong including musicians. Then I have to imagine there is a good size truck and trailer at least and some hotel bills. Assuming the bar/club pays out say 8k to have him play and keeps the money from booze and food and a small portion of the ticket.. how does it all break down? The band sells a bit of merchandise for sure and they will play bigger venues along the way but i am interested in what the bottom line looks like for guys like this or any of the 80's bands now doing smaller gigs. Anybody know more or less how it all breaks down?

From what I can and am willing to say, Its not a one size fits all sort of deal. but i can tell you atleast in THAT venue. the Stage hands are employed by the production company/venue, Them Local Boys.

I've worked this Venue when I've subbed in as tech for The Trews. so there are spesifics I am aware of that I feel I have no business repeating

so you are talking a band, A guitar tech and a FOH/Mon Guy. (you didn't see FOH, as he was dealing with front of house and then likely hospitality and merch.)

Final check would be North of 8k, atleast in our money.. Rider comes out of that check. Hotels at 98% of the time compensated and Covered by the Venue (venues get a deal on the rooms for bringing business there, simple business arrangement)

With a crowd like that, easy an additional 20% of the final check can be made in merch. with the right merch OFC

venue normally gets a very small % of both ticket and merch(only if they are supplying the body to run the merch), there is normally always a "sponsor" of some sort, local brewery , that sorta thing, the bar makes its money off people buying drinks.

and the bottom line looks like his previous 4 days. he is in the country 4 days, playing 4 shows in 3 music scenes and a festival, with a good 6 to 8 hour drive after the first day.

in the states its easier, its not as far between venues that are able to pay you. so the bottom line really is, you work for it frequently.

its enough to live off of and pay everything if you do it frequently enough

Excellent, thanks for the break down. I was unaware of how the lodging might work out but had suspected the band as a whole was charging in and around 8k , MERCH would be X amount, and then the bar would make money on the booze alone.. maybe the bar only makes 2-3k that night but that still isn't horrible for them as you build clientele for future shows and bigger crowds will draw more consumption. There is also food..

Unless you've got experience managing a bar that has large bands regularly, to have the faintest idea of what the bar make in Booze. What i can normally tell from the stage, nights like this the bartenders really do work for their tips, if their jars are looking like they normally do for a sold out show i can only imagine the booze tally at the end of the night.

greating thing about smaller clubs is, that you always hit fire code capacity. as its better to sell out and left people wanting in a smaller venue then playing a large half empty theater, less expenses all way around just to tad on another night or two. (i've personally witnessed two off days turn into show days during a 90min performance. like got the email of schedule and direct deposit pay additions DURING the first show. )

but like i said, not a one size fits all. sometime its only a 45 minute set and they are paid X for that and then there are times where they say, we want you to play for as long as you can and are prepared for, what will that cost us? so you can't really base a seasons earnings of one individual show.

There are also ALOT of shows that never get announced. as they are private "parties" or functions. This are normally scaled down extremely, BUT intimate, like people attending are expecting to be able to "rub shoulders" so to speak they are paying for a small show and meet and greet essentially. those are the pay checks you are in the range of. however in this case the expenses are shredded so tightly the profits on these are insane. and can normally be done between soundcheck and show on a show day. also keep in mind, Techs are Day Rate. depending on the complexity of the situation we might get an additional travel day pay, but that doesn't happen often. we don't get paid for two shows. only one day.

management charges as a whole, they take their cut and split it up according to contract. 95% of the time its a check, so the band and production crew need a float to run off. Management provides this ahead of time (where this comes from depends on their contract that i've got no clue one) In terms of that split. the artists are normally in pay parity with the TM/FoH guy, but the crew doesn't get any of the merch %. Most of that goes back to the band as its all pre paid. Such a killing for a 40$ signed vinyl, these are coming close to replacing T-shrits as the majority merch earners. Also Artists Frequently get private Hotel Rooms, which its exceedingly rare (like once a tour rare) for a crew guy to get private rooms.

its not always all monetary, Artists do well at this level, as do competent establishments. Is it as good as it used to be? Nope. Will it ever be again? I'm not holding my breath.
Is it still worth doing? *Vehemently Nods* Hell ya, it still beats most 9-5's. sure you are at "work" more but it really doesn't feel like work if this is what you want to do.

 

[Chester Nimitz]

You can be the crappiest band in town but if the club sells alot of booze you'll be back every week.

Its not about [music] its about selling booze & merchadise.

 

[Stealthtastic]

It depends so much on the person. Some musicians I know that have 1/10th the following of bigger guys make like $130,000+ a year consistently but they are smart and business minded. They aren't just good guitarists.

 

[mooncobra]

doesn't EJ do a lot of session work and have all sorts of signature products out like EJ strings, pickups, picks, pedals, guitar, amp, martin acoustic, etc.

 

[Atropos_Project]

Not nearly enough, considering time, effort, and up front expense.

 

[Blackbird]

He doesn't make anywhere close to $200k. Not even a question. He would be lucky to make $50-75k these days, not including sig model sales.

Yep. When a couple of guys mentioned between $200K-$250K, that sounded a bit unrealistic to me. I was thinking between $50K-$100K, probably on the lower side.

 

[Purpleibby]

Not nearly enough, considering time, effort, and up front expense.

Agreed 100%, sad.....but, folks have to have muh free shyte.