Considering booking your own tour? This collection of articles will help provide you with the advice and resources you need to start booking better shows, get great audience turn out, and help you use your gigs to sell merch and music and build your fanbase. For more help, check out Soundfly’s free course, Touring on a Shoestring.
One of the worst things about being an independent musician is the feeling of stasis: when you have no shows coming up, or you just put out an album, but you still feel like you’re going nowhere. You feel powerless against the forces of the music industry and the insane number of other people just…
During a live gig, the relationship between the artist and audience is beyond that of simply performer and observer. Physically and emotionally, there’s little separation between both parties and a huge deal of direct interaction, both explicit and subliminal. Self-assurance is essential and, as with so much in life, confidence is the key. If a…
By Marihiko Hara I love how time flows in Kyoto, not too rapidly and not too slowly. A five minute walk will lead me through streets, temples, and gardens, where I can feel that I am in ancient spaces. To know where I stand, all I have to do is find out which direction points north.…
Playing in a new town can be intimidating, particularly for those of us who have yet to become household names. Luckily, Jeremy Young sat down with a host of great bands to find out how they go about attracting audiences for our (free!) course, Touring on a Shoestring. Here are some of the things they…
By Andreas Oskar Hirsch Köln or Cologne, Germany, offers a vivid scene with regards to experimental, new music, electronica, classical music, jazz, cross-border projects, improv, and more. To me, the city is quite well-connected to sonic exploration, research, and experiments. In German we call it, “Klangtüftelei,” which means working with sound in a playful and…
A lot of musicians want to play colleges, but most don’t really know what that means. As someone who has played over 100 official university sponsored shows around the country, it’s a field I know quite intimately. From the schools surrounded by a hundred miles of corn to the those with 40,000 students located in…
By Coley Dennis of Maserati Athens is a microcosm unlike any other city I’ve ever seen — equal parts indie rock mecca, college party animal house, and football-obsessed mental ward. Yup, I’ve called this place home for 15 years. It’s a strange environment that only attracts the true slackers and let’s them thrive. If playing in…
After the breakup of seminal emo band, The Get Up Kids, frontman Matt Pryor said he found himself at a confusing spot within the work environment. Since he had been on tour for so many years, it seemed to be all he knew. He soon realized that being in a small but successful rock band taught…
It’s January again, and just like every January, Pollstar has released their 2015 year-end touring data. Pollstar only publishes the top 100-200 artists in every category so don’t expect your forever-touring hobo-sludge band to be on here. In fact, don’t expect anything you wouldn’t already expect to see here; you’ve got your Taylor Swifts, your…
Money, such as it is, is hard to come by in the music business of the 21st century — so most bands have to jam econo just to break even (if that). Fortunately, there are lots of cost-efficient options for the modern touring band — especially those who are only able to make regional jaunts. So I thought…
