How the firm helps musicians complete a successful tour
Okay, we may not be headlining, but we do lend a lot of support to musical artists on tour, whether traveling domestically or internationally. It’s just another example of the kind of work we do in our Business Management group.
Here’s how we help one of our clients recently completed a 20-date, month-long tour of Europe, with stops that included Monte Carlo, Montreux, Istanbul, Turin and Antibes. The process for the business side started with the Tour Manager creating a budget of anticipated revenues and expenses. We reviewed this budget with the Personal Manager to ensure that the profitability was appropriate. Our next task was to make sure that all funds were properly collected as the tour proceeded.
During the tour, we also had the responsibility of paying all the bills. In this case that included payroll for a dozen band and crew people, airfare, hotels, and other travel expenses. The tour manager paid some additional expenses with a fund he was given and we controlled that carefully to ensure that the funds were properly accounted for. Of course, we also dealt with the agent, attorney, and insurance brokers as well, and happily fielded challenges like when a cell phone wasn’t working in a remote spot.
Then, when the last song was sung, we compared the actual numbers to the budget, following up on any significant variances, and closed out the accounting for the tour.
Our role in pulling off a successful tour is the same as it is with everything we do…to provide peace of mind to our clients. After all, we don’t want the artist thinking about anything other than the performance. In this case, we also take care of all of the artist’s personal financial affairs, including check writing. So, whether on tour or not, SPS makes sure everything gets handled intelligently and efficiently.
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