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Do you love working backstage at events? Do you love organization and planning?
Then a career in tour management may be for you!
What does a tour manager do?
Tour managers take care of everything that goes on behind the scenes of a tour and are responsible for ensuring that the tour runs smoothly and without complication.
They provide administrative and organizational support to entertainers and crew for the tour duration. This includes finding accommodation and coordinating relationships between sound and lighting techs, the venue, and the entertainer.
Skills needed to be a tour manager
Strong interpersonal and communication skills are needed to work with a range of people.
Having a tightly packed schedule and a large number of day-to-day tasks means that time management and organizational skills are invaluable to a tour manager.
Industry knowledge is needed to ensure tours are operating to the industry standard.
Problem solving skills are needed to address issues quickly and effectively so that disruption is minimal.
Flexibility to adapt to diverse and quickly changing situations.
What's it like day-to-day?
Being a tour manager is a very multifaceted career. The day-to-day life of a tour manager varies greatly and is dependent on the type of entertainment that is being managed as well as the individual needs of entertainers.
Some tasks commonly completed by a tour manager include: ensuring equipment is in good condition and ready to use, budgeting, and making sure the program is running to schedule.
Check out the video below to see an example of the day in the life of a tour manager working for an EDM artist!
Some tasks the tour manager is responsible for in the video:
Meetings
Meet and greets
Lighting and camera setup
Pyrotechnic safety checks
Programming
Soundcheck support
Performance support
Packing up
Education and learning the role
There are many pathways to securing a job as a tour manager.
Getting a university degree in music business or entertainment management is a great place to start!
Consider your past work experience and determine if any of your skills are transferable. If they are you may already be on your way to securing a position.
Get some experience by volunteering or completing an internship. Offer your skills to small scale tours and start building your reputation.
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Quiz
What can you do to build your reputation when you're new to the industry?
If you're new to the entertainment industry, you can build your reputation by networking with other touring professionals and showing you're open to learning. While following artists on social media may show you some tour content, it's unlikely to yield any real results as far as getting you hired. Starting a tour company may sound like a good idea but is far out of reach for someone new to the entertainment industry.
What are the pros and cons?
Take Action
So you've decided tour management is the career for you.
What next?
This Byte has been authored by
Amy Smith
Learning Designer
BContempMus, MEduStu