Music tours are incredibly complex and sometimes difficult to manage, but very rewarding when everything comes together. This responsibility often falls on the shoulders of the tour manager whose job is to ensure the tour runs smoothly and provides an unforgettable experience for the performers and audience alike.
It’s a challenging role and one that requires a number of key skills if you are to succeed. Your roles and responsibilities will likely change depending on the artists you are managing –more established acts will require more people and operations management whereas smaller bands or artists may need a wider range of tasks completed. Below we’ll explore the essential skills you’ll need to be a more successful music tour manager.
People skills
To manage wide-reaching operations and the variety of stakeholders involved in a music tour you need to be confident in interacting with people and developing strong relationships. A tour party can change every night and evolve as the tour goes on, so you need to stay on top of the people in and around the group as well as collaborate with third parties that are responsible for venues, staging, security, promoting, ticketing and so on.
Management and logistics
Tour managers are effectively project managers, which means they need organisation, communication and problem-solving skills to ensure the tour goes off without a hitch. Logistically speaking, tour events require equipment, people and transport to be in a certain place at the right time or else the whole operation can grind to a halt. Other considerations like booking serviced accommodation for tour members and ensuring other personal needs are met are also significant for tour managers.
Financial management
Tour finances need to be carefully controlled and managed to ensure that the whole operation is profitable or at least breaking even. The tour manager typically plays an integral role in this process, overseeing the income and outgoings of the tour party and the tour itself. Financial acuteness is important here because you need to be able to keep track of all the money coming in and out and these can be substantial amounts with bigger tours especially.
Comfortable on the road
As a tour manager, you’re going to be away from home for weeks or even months at a time and you need to be comfortable with this. Your choice of accommodation and other factors such as lifestyle and diet are important here and you should take some home comforts to keep your spirits up, especially if you’re leaving family behind.
It’s a challenging but potentially extremely rewarding role if you can manage a tour effectively. How would you approach tour management?
People skills
To manage wide-reaching operations and the variety of stakeholders involved in a music tour you need to be confident in interacting with people and developing strong relationships. A tour party can change every night and evolve as the tour goes on, so you need to stay on top of the people in and around the group as well as collaborate with third parties that are responsible for venues, staging, security, promoting, ticketing and so on.
Management and logistics
Tour managers are effectively project managers, which means they need organisation, communication and problem-solving skills to ensure the tour goes off without a hitch. Logistically speaking, tour events require equipment, people and transport to be in a certain place at the right time or else the whole operation can grind to a halt. Other considerations like booking serviced accommodation for tour members and ensuring other personal needs are met are also significant for tour managers.
Financial management
Tour finances need to be carefully controlled and managed to ensure that the whole operation is profitable or at least breaking even. The tour manager typically plays an integral role in this process, overseeing the income and outgoings of the tour party and the tour itself. Financial acuteness is important here because you need to be able to keep track of all the money coming in and out and these can be substantial amounts with bigger tours especially.
Comfortable on the road
As a tour manager, you’re going to be away from home for weeks or even months at a time and you need to be comfortable with this. Your choice of accommodation and other factors such as lifestyle and diet are important here and you should take some home comforts to keep your spirits up, especially if you’re leaving family behind.
It’s a challenging but potentially extremely rewarding role if you can manage a tour effectively. How would you approach tour management?
