Pomplamoose Tour Profits from 28 day tour.

When I read this, it was very real.

It’s inspiring on one end, and a little disheartening on the other.

Pomplamoose has posted a breakdown of their spending and their profits from a recent tour.

Though I will continue making and performing music until the final, I’m certainly interested in making it my main source of income.

Until now, the playing field for being a successful musician meant getting signed to a Major label and getting sucked into the machine.

Fortunately, new technology and mass internet consumption have changed the game.

What happened?

Pomplamoose is a band that has a large internet following, and they’ve been touring to build their fan base for a long time. This enabled them to sell around $100,000 in tickets over a 28 day tour.

New bands cannot do this and require time to build that audience.

The final breakdown, after paying for Band Members, Van rental, Sleeping Arrangements, and more, they ended up making $135,983.

To make the round trip, they spent $147,802.

That’s $11,819 loss for a very successful tour to sold out shows.

Kind of scary right?

What would I do?

Fortunately, I have a job that I can do while traveling, so that saves me from losing money on the road.

We also have our own van, we have our own equipment, and we do not necessarily need to ‘pay’ ourselves yet as long as the ‘band’ is making money.

I think it’s important as a DIY musician to realize that more often than not, it’s a slow growth to success. Most businesses are this way, and a band being a business is no different.

Keep building your audience, keep playing shows to people, and keep your money right.