Touring costs money. Gas, lodging, food, and general costs of being on the road can all add up. If you’re traveling with bandmates, costs can skyrocket. Going from city to city sharing your music is a lot of fun. But it’s even more fun to have funds in place to cover expenses associated with touring before you hit the road. I once had an artist tell me that had it not been for earning enough tips on the last stop of their tour, they wouldn’t have had enough gas money for the ride back home. That’s a really scary position to be in. Not knowing how you will pay for your tour once you’ve already hit the road can mess with your mind and get in the way of you putting on your best show or connecting with your fans. It doesn’t have to be this way. Generate enough cash ahead of time and give yourself peace of mind. In this article, I share 5 Ways to Generate Cash to Pay for a Music Tour.
Set a Goal
The first thing you’ll need to do in order to raise enough money is to set a goal of how much you think you’ll need. Be sure to include all associated costs such as food, gas, lodging, tolls, parking fees, and miscellaneous expenses for every day of your tour. I like to include all of my estimated tour expenses for each day in a spreadsheet. This gives me a full view of how much money I’m going to need to pay for the tour. It also gives me an idea of how much money I need to earn to either break even or turn a profit. Want help budgeting your next tour? Get my tour budgeting spreadsheet here.
Crowdfunding Platforms
One way to raise money is to crowdfund! If you have friends or followers who are willing to support you, set up a crowdfunding page and accept donations to fund your tour. There are plenty of platforms available such as Buy Me a Coffee, Patreon, GoFundMe, Kickstarter, etc. With these platforms, you can set up an attractive profile that allows you to explain your unique needs, what you’ll do with the money, and create a convincing pitch. I especially like Buy Me A Coffee, because you can create incentives such as a private virtual show, free merchandise, and other extras to increase your potential earnings. If you choose to go this route, you’ll need to implement an intensive marketing strategy to promote your crowdfunding project such as social media, newsletter, video marketing, offline marketing, and direct networking. Need help running a crowdfunding campaign? Check out this very thorough breakdown of crowdfunding tricks for musicians.
Plan a Profitable Tour
A ground breaking DIY e-book about building a music tour from the ground up with a profit in mind. This book covers everything you need to know, from budgeting to routing, to promoting, merchandising to negotiating and more.
Host a Series of Fundraising Shows
Some bands host a Tour Kickoff Show to raise money for their tour. But who says you can’t have more than one of those? Why not start planning your tour months in advance with monthly fundraising shows. You can even do tributes, invite vendors, invite sponsors, and run raffle prize contests, release special edition merchandise, create special honors for fans, and more. For more ideas about turning your shows into fundraising events, check out these ideas.
Pick Up a Side Hustle
Side hustles are a great way to earn a little extra income to fund a variety of projects. Dog walking, graphic design, virtual jobs, and running errands for seniors can create a good bit of extra income. Above all, you can do these small jobs whenever you want and for however long you want.
I’ve always been a side hustler ever since I was little. When I was in high school I once had my Mother buy candied apple supplies and ingredients. We made candied apples together and I went through my neighborhood knocking on doors offering them for a set price. To my Mother’s surprise, I ended up selling them all. To this day, I still engage in side hustles such as virtual admin work, social media marketing, graphic design, etc. Having multiple streams of income that you can pick up or put down at any time can really make a difference in your quality of life.
As musicians, we can venture off into any number of side hustles in order to supplement music income. For more side hustle ideas, click here.
Use Savings
Depending on how long your tour will be, you may be able to save money in advance. Or at least a partial amount. Start 6 months early and put some money aside every month. As little as $100 a month can translate into $600 after 6 months!
Get a Sponsor
In addition, there’s another way to fund your tour that we haven’t even mentioned yet. That’s getting someone or a business to sponsor your tour. Have them split the costs or cover 100% of the costs in exchange for you promoting their business while on the road. There are plenty of marketing and promotional opportunities you can offer as part of your tour. Add their name to your window or bumper. Add their name to your website and any flyers you create. Add their name to online marketing. Add their sticker to CDs on merch tables. Wear their t-shirts. Announce them from the stage. Put their name on your instruments or as a banner on or near the stage. Need help coming up with a sponsorship pitch? Check out my sponsorship proposal for some ideas.
Consider Using Credit
I saved this one for last because it can get you into a lot of trouble if you’re not careful. Although you have to pay it back, credit is a great way to seed-fund your tour initiative without having to invest starter funds immediately. If you are interested in obtaining credit, I recommend applying for a business card that offers travel points. That way you can earn money for using the card in the form of free or discounted future hotel stays. We do our vacations with travel points and it covers our airfare and lodging expenses. What cards offer the best rewards? Try Chase Rewards Cards here. Before applying, I have a step-by-step guide that can help you get an approval faster. Check out that guide here.
*Members Only Content* Excerpt: My personal strategy is a combination of savings and credit. I’ve tried all the other options and those two are my favorite by far. I’ll tell you exactly how I do it and why… (This content is for Crafty Community Members Only. To unlock this content either login below or become a member. Memberships start at only $5/month.)
Plan for profit on your next tour with the Tour Budgeting Spreadsheet.
Download the free Tour Budgeting Spreadsheet today.
Combine Them All
The great thing about fundraising is that there are many ways you can do it. For maximum results, try combining a few or all of these together to create a funding plan that works for you. With all the options available, there’s no reason to hit the road without a solid financial plan.
Crowdfunding, utilizing savings, working with credit, earning an income through a side hustle, and hosting fun fundraising events that your entire community can get involved in are great ways to fund your touring initiative. An ideal situation is if you could raise enough money to cover over half of the expenses or even as much as 100%. That way you can bring home all of your earnings without having to pay back tour expenses. It’s very possible.
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