Education Courses That Can Help You Work As A Music Tour Road Manager
Working as a music tour road manager provides you with a chance to see the country, hear the music you enjoy, and amass enough memories to last a lifetime. If you want to excel in this role and stay busy, it can be a good idea to pursue some educational courses when you're not on the road — or, possibly take some courses by distance education while you are on the road. Although experience will be perhaps the best education you can get, some formal training in the following subjects can make life on the road easier for you and the musicians you're handling.
Accounting
You don't need to study to be an accountant, but it's a good idea to take some type of accounting course to help you understand budgeting and other related topics. Being a tour manager on the road involves a significant amount of budgeting. Typically, you'll have a certain amount of money from the record company, and it will need to last for the entirety of the tour. By budgeting for all your day-to-day expenses, as well as understanding the need to put some of the money aside for unexpected expenses, you'll ensure that the money doesn't run out until the tour is over.
Conflict Management
A course in conflict management can make your life easier when you're on the road. Whenever there's a conflict, the musicians will turn to you to solve it. This means that you might be dealing with a conflict between your group and a venue. For example, perhaps the venue is making changes to the revenue-sharing agreement after the fact. You'll need to use expert conflict management techniques to see the issue from both sides and come up with a win-win solution that won't jeopardize the band's chance of playing and earning money.
Marketing
Depending on the size of the group and its record label, there may be a dedicated marketing team working for the band — or perhaps that job comes down to you. If the latter is the scenario you're facing, you'll want to receive some formal education in marketing. This type of course can help you understand how to effectively market the band through tactics such as using social media, booking publicity interviews with local radio stations and newspapers, and using traditional marketing methods such as printing posters to display around town. A marketing course can help you draw interest to your band even if there are several other events in a given city when you visit.
For more tips and advice, contact a music tour road management company like Blue Alley Touring.
