More and more bands are severing ties with their record labels and making the choice to promote, market and sell their music and their brand themselves. Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, and Jamiroquai have all announced their intention of going it alone, and this was all announced in ONE WEEK!

While these bands have been supported by major labels for years, and are in a somewhat different position than 99% of the bands out there, the same major concepts hold true for both massive bands and upstarts. CD sales are down, traditional labels are still trying to find their way in this new music business economy, and artist’s are better served by understanding how the industry works and doing as much as they can to market and promote themselves without the help of a label.

CD sales are down from $800 million in 2000, to $553.2 million in 2006, according to the RIAA. However, Pollstar lists concert ticket sales as being up from $1.5 billion in revenue in 1999 to $3.6 billion in 2006. It’s clear that ticket sales and the associated merch sales are going to be a major source of revenue for artists going forward.

Like any other part of the record industry, there are many gatekeepers involved in the touring industry that you’ll need to work with in order to schedule, book, promote, and perform live events. While all artists that are in the beginning stages of their career tend to wear all of the hats, here are some of the main folks that you will be working with as your career progresses.

Tour Manager

The tour manager’s main responsibility sounds easy: be organized, and get the band from point A to point B with the least amount of trouble. But in practice, the role of the tour manager can be incredibly stressful. . For bands that are early on in their career and playing smaller club dates, the tour manager is responsible for getting the band to their destination city on time, getting the band to their sound check on time, and getting the band to any interviews, signings, or retail appearances on time. Not an easy task, especially when you are working with creative types that might not be focused on timing and punctuality.

Nick Light is the VP of Artist Development and Touring at Warner Brothers Records. Nick started his career in the business as stage hand, and them moved up to stage manager which created the opportunity to work for a prominent tour manager. Watch a video of Nick discussing what it takes to be a good tour manager: being organized and keeping the band on track by getting them where they need to be on time.

Booking Agent

It’s completely possible (and preferable) for artists to book their own shows when they are starting out. Not only is booking yourself helpful to understanding how the touring business operates, but when bands are just starting out, they need all the income they can get (agents typically take 10% of your guarantee). But when you are no longer able to handle the work yourself, it probably makes sense to bring in a professional. The role of the booking agent is to work with an agent to help route an artist’s tour, determine what particular venues the artist will play, and work with the promoter to figure out how much the artist will get paid.

Watch a great video of Jackie Nalpant, a booking agent with the large California-based firm Monterey Peninsula Artists talking about her day to day role as a booking agent.

Brad Wavra is Vice President of Touring at Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promotion company with booking rights to more than 160 major venues worldwide, including all House of Blues locations, Wembley Stadium, and New York’s Jones Beach. Watch a video of Brad discussing the role of a booking agency in advancing an artist’s career.

Club Owners and Promoters

The other side of the fence are Club Owners and Promoters, who have a vested intrerest in working with you to get folks interested in seeing your show.

Club Owners

Typically small club owners act as their own promoters. Their primary concern is to draw folks in to sell drinks. More often than not they offer little in the way of compensation for the band, as they are not interested in taking any sort of loss if the band is not successful.

Nic Adler is owner of the legendary Roxy Theatre located on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip. Watch a video of Nic discussing what it takes to play the Roxy.

Promoters

A promoter is a step up from a club owner. The promoter takes on much more risk than a club owner. Often in order to secure a popular touring artist, a promoter provides a deal to a touring artist that includes a guarantee of a minimum payment, with a deposit in advance. The smaller regional promoters usually do not own their own club or venue, but instead work with third party venues that are rented.

Daniel Seligman is the Creative Director of the POP Montreal Festival, an event created to be “a curated event for truly unknown artists and forgotten legends that we feel deserve a unique platform.” A former artist manager, Seligman also currently handles booking for the Montreal venue, Club Lambi. Watch a video of Seligman talking about the joys and difficulties of working with promoters and gigging musicians.

This is just an over view of the tremendous cache of Artists House touring-related videos and articles with forward thinking folks within the industry. For additional broad overview of touring, take a look at this piece I wrote awhile back. Additionally, Fred Rosen, founder of Ticketmaster, has some great information, here.