Concert tour

A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product (for example: Celine Dion's Courage World Tour or U2's The Joshua Tree Tour named after the albums). Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars (or the equivalent) in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist.[1][2]

A bird's eye view of Madonna's 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour in the national stadium of Santiago, Chile.

Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs".[3] The different legs of a tour are denoted in different ways, dependent on the artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there is a long break at some point), countries and/or continents, or different opening acts. In the largest concert tours it has become more common for different legs to employ separate touring production crews and equipment, local to each geographical region. Concert tours are often administered on the local level by concert promoters or by performing arts presenters. Usually, small concert tours are managed by a road manager whereas large concert tours are managed by a tour manager.

Logistics

The main challenge in concert tours is how to move the performance's logistics from one venue to another venue, especially for a transcontinental tour. Tour logistics should be very organized and everything has to happen on time and in the right order as planned.[4] Autoweek magazine estimated 30 to 50 trucks were required by Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour to bring all the stage, sound equipment, instruments, props, and clothes.[5] When Beyoncé visited the United Kingdom with her 2016 Formation World Tour, it took seven Boeing 747 air freighters and a fleet of more than 70 trucks to get her stage set and other gear to the venues. The logistics phase of that tour didn't include transportation of the backstage staff, musicians, performers, and the singer herself.[6]

Rock-It Cargo is one of the companies that provided freight forwarding for some of the biggest names in music, such as Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and The Police. Before the start of a tour, Rock-It Cargo had to move gear to a central location—either a rehearsal spot or the site of the first engagement. Then it arranged to transport whatever gear the band requires from one venue to the next. The company's vice president, Ed Butler, said "We use different freight modes—local trucking, cross-country trucking, air freight, and ocean freight. We also provide import, export, customs clearance, carnets (a document that allows a shipper—including a band—to move equipment across international boundaries and clear customs without paying duties)—everything a tour would need."[4]

Boxscore
Main article: List of highest-grossing concert tours

As of 2019, the highest-grossing concert tour of all time is Ed Sheeran's ÷ Tour, with a gross revenues of $775.6 million.[7] In second place is the U2 360° Tour, with a gross of $736,137,344.[8] The third-highest-grossing concert tour of all time is The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour, which earned approximately $558 million between 2005 and 2007.[9] Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour, which earned $408 million in 2008 and 2009 was the highest-earning tour by a female artist.[10] According to the 2014 report from Billboard Boxscore, five acts having made over US$1 billion in touring since 1990 were The Rolling Stones, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Bon Jovi.[11]

Global touring revenue reported to Billboard Boxscore exceeded $5.5 billion in 2016.[12] Due to the collapse of record sales in the 21st century, concert tours have become a major income for recording artists.[13] Besides the tickets, touring also generates money from the sales of merchandise and meet-and-greet packages.[14][15]

Response

The mobility of concert tours requires a lot of costs, times, and energy. British singer Adele expressed her unhappiness of concert tours, saying "Touring is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things."[16] A concert residency concept is offered as an alternative to performers who just need to stay in one venue and the fans come to see them.[17] American singer Lady Gaga, who cancelled the 2018 European leg of her Joanne World Tour, signed for a Las Vegas residency to help managing her fibromyalgia illness, which can be exacerbated by touring.[18]

The 2015 study by charity Help Musicians UK found that over 60% of musicians suffered from depression or other psychological issues, with touring an issue for 71% of respondents.[19]

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See also
  • Lists of concert tours

References
  1. "Hot Tours: Roger Waters, Mana, Bob Dylan". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  2. "Madonna Extends Record as Highest-Grossing Solo Touring Artist". Billboard. 2016-03-23. Archived from the original on 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  3. "What is a Concert Tour?". TourBeat. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015. A concert tour is an opportunity for musicians to perform over longer periods of time across several cities, which are differentiated by segments known as "legs." Legs of tours of can be denoted by a series of dates that have no long break between them, by geographical regions or destinations, or by different opening acts. Each city or region may have the same opening act for each leg, or they may change opening acts at each city.
  4. "Taking the Show on the Road - Inbound Logistics". www.inboundlogistics.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  5. "How many trucks does it take to put on a Taylor Swift show?". autoweek.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  6. "What it takes to get Beyonce on a world tour - BBC News". Bbc.com. 2017-06-07. Archived from the original on 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  7. "Ed Sheeran Concludes 'Divide' Tour, Sets All-Time Touring Record At $775.6M". Pollstar. August 27, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. Waddell, Ray (29 July 2011). "U2 Set to Wrap Biggest Concert Tour Ever". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  9. Pietrolungo, Silvio (April 9, 2007). "Rolling Stones Tour Grosses More Than Half A Billion". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  10. "Madonna Closes Tour In Tel Aviv;Second Highest Grossing Trek Of All Time". Billboard. September 2, 2009. Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  11. "These Five Artists Have Made Over a Billion Dollars Touring". consequenceofsound.net. 27 May 2014. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  12. "How 'The Shared Live Experience' & Even Streaming Fueled the $25 Billion Concert Biz". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  13. "With Touring Still A Focal Point, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC And U2 Fight For Top Honors In Rock And Roll History". Forbes.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  14. "Nine Ways Musicians Actually Make Money Today – Rolling Stone". Rollingstone.com. 2012-08-28. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  15. "$1500 packages to meet rock band KISS sell out in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth ahead of Australian tour". News.com.au. 2012-11-14. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  16. "'This is it': Adele hints to fans she may never tour again". sky.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  17. Lerner, Rebecca. "Meet The Celeb 100 Stars Cashing In On The Vegas Residency Boom". forbes.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  18. Savage, Mark (August 7, 2018). "Details of Lady Gaga's Vegas shows revealed". Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  19. Britton, Luke Morgan (25 June 2015). "Insomnia, anxiety, break-ups … musicians on the dark side of touring". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
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