Tracks can be downloaded and shared illegally, but pirates cannot touch the timeless tradition of live music. Musicians have been touring since the days of vinyl records and it was a crucial part of career building. Elton John repeatedly reminds us that artists would go on tour BEFORE landing a record contract, back in the golden era of the 1950s and 1960s. How times have changed. Of course mainstream recording artists today use their tours to leverage their new material. But because nothing can be taken away from touring - as a concert goer must purchase a ticket before attending, it has become an even bigger money spinner in the modern day, despite the historic roots. Now tours can bring in a lot of money, but there are many people involved to pay. This is unlikely to change anytime soon and rightly so managers, dancers, promoters, crew and more are just as entitled to remuneration as the artist. Recent X Factor winner Sam Bailey was promised a ten date supporting spot on Beyonce's tour, which would have brought her in nearly £100,000. Sam has been in the public eye for a matter of months and has one cover single under her belt, so it just goes to show how much money still lies in live concert (even with such a small profile). An industry wide shift in touring is likely to be consolidated in 2014, which will see the maximisation of an artist's time to tour. Headlining a tour is obviously a fantastic brand builder - so lets take Olly Murs for example. In 2013 Olly went on his own 34 date arena tour around the UK and Europe. He played smaller venues in Australia and the US as well, but I just want to focus on the first two legs. It was 99% sold out and made a staggering $10 million USD. But why stop there? Olly then supported Robbie Williams on his stadium tour, as he doesn't have the fan base to support such a mammoth undertaking on his own. By doing this, he reached a new legion of Robbie listeners that mesh with his own brand (Olly is quite obviously being groomed as the next Robbie-let-me-entertain-you-Williams). The move was tactical and something that put some money into Team Olly's back pocket and boosted his album sales. Little Mix are also hitting the road in the US, but are piggy backing off Demi Lovato's headlining tour later this year. Cher Lloyd is on the same tour as they compliment each other having the X Factor connection. Pulling together artists will increase sales across the board and cement in fan bases, a move I see increasing this year. A similar touring schedule was employed by Jessie J back in 2011. She started off playing a slew of smaller music halls, but under her own headlining tour. She played bigger venues later in the year before rounding off her album promotion by joining the extensive festival circuit around the world. Festivals are built on musical diversity and importantly allow those who attend to discover new artists and the musicians themselves to carve out new fan bases. 2014 will see the return of massive annual festivals, but will also welcome Katy Perry and One Direction as they hit the world for another gruelling touring schedule, amongst many others. Expect to see many more concerts of all sizes during the next twelve months.
Sometime law student with a passion for writing & a love for British pop. English blood with Aussie upbringing. An avid Tweeter and you can find me @JonoGibson
