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

[NinjaRaf]

Just from some interviews I have seen and read...Devin Townsend makes about $65k a year, Robb Flynn has said that he makes around $75k, and Randy Blythe has said he makes around $200k.

I would consider Devin and Machine Head small club level, but LoG is the next level up, I think. They get on a lot of bigger shows and do some arena tours, granted not as headliners, but still.

Anyway...thats about all the reference I have. I feel bad for some of these musicians that were seemingly doing pretty well 15 years ago, but are now playing at the local venues that my band plays. Sucks.

 

[thiswaythatway]

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

Devin Townsend came out and said he's making around 60k a year! And when he's in Europe he plays to bigger crowds than here in the USA.

Sad thing is that in my area some cover bands were making more than that, but even that scene has changed. A friend of ours owned a bar in Hoboken NJ and on a Wed. night he had a band called the Nerds come in and he had to pay them 3k. They did/do have a following though. When the band I was in played we always made between $900 to $1800 a night. Still, after dealing with a light guy, sound guy, managment taking 15%, mailing list girl, lead singer with a coke habit, the money quickly dried up and eventually you'd have a big fight in the band room between sets with tables flying. Ahh, those were the days.

 

[zuel69]

The Nerds have taken over the WNY music scene.

 

[jabps]

Regarding Eric Johnson:
http://www.celebritytalent.net/sampleta ... c-johnson/
Minimum Fee - U.S. Dates
$25,000-$39,999

Ok, if true, this begs the question which promoter can make such a gig pencil out. Say a min. of $25k. If a place holds 300 and tix are $50 each, a sellout crowd still brings in only $15k. Do food/bev/merch sales make up the other $10k plus some profit? Tough business here.

I'm not so sure about those numbers either. For one, he ain't consistently selling out 2000 seat venues and I suspect to keep them fresh on tour, they want to play as many dates in a week as they can to maximize profit and keep chops up. Very likely depending on how many seats the venue can hold or tickets they have available for sale, they negotiate a lower price so everyone makes something. I mean, he can either play 3 nights a week and make say 25k or wait for the one show he will actually sell 1,000 tickets to which I don't think will be that many given is style of music unless he hits a festival. I am sure they aim for 25,000$- 39,000$ a show but not sure they always get it.

Doubt he's making that per gig. Few would book him.

One thing to add to what eternal said...one size doesn't fit all. Eric may be working from a guarantee which is honestly safer for almost any name touring band if you can consistently negotiate one that is profitable. If that is the case then the bar/venue/booker/promoter is gonna pay him regardless and take their shot on ticket sales and bar sales.

Most large touring acts work on guarantee's, that all became the norm in the 90's.

Great story from years back working with promoters - back when Kiss was negotiating the Reunion Tour deal, believe it or not, many of the promoters didn't think it would sell and refused the bands demanded guarantee. That's fact. So Gene being the business man he was, waived the guarantee and agreed to a 90/10 split. Meaning if they sold out, they got 90% profit. Well, every show on that tour essentially sold out and they took the promoters to the cleaners. Crazy in hindsight but you have to remember, most promoters were used to Kiss doing 40 - 75% business before that tour, in fact the Revenge tour was pulled for poor ticket sales. The makeup meant little to them believe it or not. I actually had the booker at the largest booking agency in Nashville at the time ask me what I thought...he told me makeup of not the band was dead. I just laughed.

 

[thiswaythatway]

The Nerds have taken over the WNY music scene.

Geesh, and they've been playing the same set list since 1999, seriously! For a few Summers a band I was in was a filler for them. When they couldn't make a show we'd go in and play. Some huge crowds those guys drew. But they're pros and never screw up and always get a crowd into it. Of course any guitar player in the room probably stands there with his arms folded in disgust.......unless you ignore them and focus on the women who go to their shows.

 

[eternal_idol]

Ej 20k-35k show in the USA. YUP this is legit not joking.

At the peak of Three days grace's career, the most they could get paid in Canada was 35K. Per show. In the states they were getting close to 80k USD at the time. per show.
they didn't Play Canada much outside the 4-6 music meccas. market Values are different EVERYWHERE

Derp, i forgot to mention guarantee!, Its a Contract, the GiG flops now it is on the venue and promoter. the band still gets paid at this level.

 

[Rick Lee]

Ej 20k-35k show in the USA. YUP this is legit not joking.

How does this pencil out?

 

[zuel69]

You nailed every point..and at least they aren't Tom Sartori.

The Nerds have taken over the WNY music scene.

Geesh, and they've been playing the same set list since 1999, seriously! For a few Summers a band I was in was a filler for them. When they couldn't make a show we'd go in and play. Some huge crowds those guys drew. But they're pros and never screw up and always get a crowd into it. Of course any guitar player in the room probably stands there with his arms folded in disgust.......unless you ignore them and focus on the women who go to their shows.

 

[eternal_idol]

Ej 20k-35k show in the USA. YUP this is legit not joking.

How does this pencil out?

what do you mean by that? if your expecting to figure out EJ net yearly earnings it won't give you an idea. as HE is only a minor facet in that total number.

this is what the EJ touring entity gets PER SHOW, I don't know their splits nor would I share if i did. it would be in rather poor judgement to share someone else's personal earnings.

how does this pencil out to me? 20 date season sounds good to me, considering EJ is what 62 or 63. Cant imagine he'd WANT to pull 10x that like guy's my age and up are still doing (i'm 33)

 

[Rick Lee]

No, I mean how does he command that kind of money when the number of tickets multiplied by the price doesn't come close to equaling that guarantee? Where is the promoter making up the deficit?

 

[eternal_idol]

No, I mean how does he command that kind of money when the number of tickets multiplied by the price doesn't come close to equaling that guarantee? Where is the promoter making up the deficit?

The Show mentioned in the OP, wasn't In the USA.

Regarding Eric Johnson:
http://www.celebritytalent.net/sampleta ... c-johnson/
Minimum Fee - U.S. Dates
$25,000-$39,999

Venues are smaller in Canada, On average atleast. If i remember correctly I can only recall 2 maybe 3 clubs in the upper part of the states that had this low of a capacity.

all times it was with a Canadian band touring the states and if you did the conversion of currency they made more than they would in the same room in Canada.
I'd be willing to bet, the Ottawa show in question had the lowest if not the second lowest capacity of this whole season for him. Rookpile Holds 500+, festivals are going to be in the 1'000s if not 10'000s.

so you are look at what this venue will/can pay, with an above average ticket price. (not much but still above), and the 3 other shows in the 3 proceeding days made this show worth while. Then back to the States for a real pay check.

 

[rsm]

Then there's Allan Holdsworth. IIRC, his family needed a gofundme to for his funeral costs.

suffer for your art?

Or like CC Deville, with an estimated net worth of $10M

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/riches ... net-worth/


YMMV

 

[TheWhiteShadow]

Then there's Allan Holdsworth. IIRC, his family needed a gofundme to for his funeral costs.

suffer for your art?

Or like CC Deville, with an estimated net worth of $10M

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/riches ... net-worth/


YMMV

Indeed suffer for your art. It's not easy to do but I admire them that do but it's not for everyone and it's very difficult to stick to your guns with all that corporate pressure.
I think that's what EVH was trying to do for Allan, somehow make his stuff more commercial but just so he could make a few bucks, nothing wrong with that either.
Being a corporate whore is something altogether different.

 

[controlled_voltage]

Allan could have EASILY went full blown pat metheny / frank gambale muzak and be heard on SKYMALL and elevators worldwide and or dealt with John Wetton's dismal super group ASIA and joined the money train.
He chose art not the cash,and indeed had a harder time but still did it HIS WAY with zero compromise EVER.
In the end he created his own school,technique,chord system and changed the instrument's limits forever.Not many have done that with such a commoner's instrument as the guitar.
Time will catch up with his greatness as it did to Coltrane who died as broke as AH at the age of 40.
The holdsworth estate will flourish in decades to come.
As for the rest of this discussion I know for a fact many metal bands survive off of working in Europe/Japan.
A few that spring to mind-manowar,exodus,overkill,testament,etc.they make a lot more dough over there and in Japan as the fans are more dedicated and still buy recordings.Mr Big still sells out arenas in Japan.
America is a much harder place to be profitable due to the size of the country,lack of air play etc.
I mean for fucks sake classic rock never plays ANY new material by the bands they have in constant rotation.If the Who dropped a new album tomorrow I seriously doubt viacom/clear channel would play it at all.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I think CC got lucky in that the music he played was popular not for his technical ability, but on it's own merit while getting women down to their panties and into hot tubs. So really, the artist doesn't really choose how popular they become or how their music will be perceived, they just write what they like and what they can play. (Or in CC's case, what he can roll around on the ground to) So props to Holdsworth for staying true to himself and to Malmsteen for kicking, throwing as many picks as the notes he plays, and for still pretending that he makes over 1 mill a year ..

 

[paulyc]

CC's not losing any sleep over what we all think...good for him. And Mick Mars too.

 

[NewWorldMan]

Then you have folks like the guys in Diamond Head that cite royalty checks via Metallica's album(s) as keeping the lights on for them at times:

"If it hadn't been for Metallica, and Lars, and the songwriter's royalties that me (Brian Tatler) and Sean [Harris, former vocalist] get, I don't know what we would've done. We'd have probably slipped into obscurity along with, I don't know, Angel Witch or something. But they've managed to keep the money coming in for us and raise our profile by covering four Diamond Head songs on an album that's sold over five million copies, that's just…you can't buy that sort of thing you know? I must've seen hundreds of articles where Lars is raving about Diamond Head, and it's just brilliant, more power to 'em."

While they may have gotten their start by ripping off Diamond Head, I guess what better way to repay your idols than to get some royalty checks in the mail to them.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Then you have folks like the guys in Diamond Head that cite royalty checks via Metallica's album(s) as keeping the lights on for them at times:

"If it hadn't been for Metallica, and Lars, and the songwriter's royalties that me (Brian Tatler) and Sean [Harris, former vocalist] get, I don't know what we would've done. We'd have probably slipped into obscurity along with, I don't know, Angel Witch or something. But they've managed to keep the money coming in for us and raise our profile by covering four Diamond Head songs on an album that's sold over five million copies, that's just…you can't buy that sort of thing you know? I must've seen hundreds of articles where Lars is raving about Diamond Head, and it's just brilliant, more power to 'em."

While they may have gotten their start by ripping off Diamond Head, I guess what better way to repay your idols than to get some royalty checks in the mail to them.

No kidding, 4 tunes no less that weren't theirs. In fact , I was listening to Am I Evil the other day and Kirk and gang essentially "covered" (ripped) it note for note. Not even a spec of originality there. I also liked the originals better! Luckily they have been fairly compensated. That would have been ironic (to say the least) had they not been after Lar's hissy fit regarding Napster.

 

[Rick Lee]

How much or what kind of royalty cut do you have to pay to the write if you cover their song? I thought you just had to get permission or give an album credit.

 

[stephen sawall]

There are people that have recorded covers of my material over the years. One is going to be released in a few weeks if I understand correct. I expect to make little or nothing. Songs I wrote that ended up in movies I never made crap off either. But none of these bands or movies were big money makers.