174 is a magic number - STP

Your Tour Guide - 174 is a magic number
bands, musicians, musical artists, solo performers, and all the rest of you who are looking to make a living (or a bit of money) touring or playing out. i am about to write about one of the great secrets of the trade - something little discussed but something that will revolutionize your strategies for touring, doing shows, gigging, playing out, whatever u wanna label it.

the deeper maths
now, this might get deep into the math-a-matics, get out your pens and paper, dig out your calculators, shine up your abacus (or is that abacai?), take yer shoes and socks off, or whatever method you use to do the higher maths - cuz in this post i am going to show you the power of 174 - like i said, "174 is a Magic Number."

The Power of 174
If you are a solo artist or a band then you'll want to understand The Power of 174. Here is a simple equation to help you employ this powerful tool into your concert planning. basically, 174 answers the age of question of how much should you hope to make per show:

NBM (Number of Band Members) x 174 = APS (Amount Per Show)
APS x SPM (Shows Per Month) = MSI (Monthly Show Income)
MSI / 4 = WTI (Weekly Total Income)
WTI / NBM = weekly pay for each band member

let's plug in some figures

NBM = 4 x 174 = 696
APS needed is $696.00
696 x 10 = 6960
MSI (for 10 shows) = $6960.00
6960 / 4 = 1740
WTI = $1740.00
1740 / 4 = 435
weekly income for each band member is $435.00

if this can be achieved then each band member can earn $22620.00 a year from shows alone.

let's do this for the solo artist
1 x 174 = 174
174 x 10 = 1740
1740 / 4 = 435

the solo artist can make the same: $435.00 a week and $22620.00 a year from shows alone.

Things needed to make this model work:
1. A list of booked and open dates projected at least 3 months in advance (1 year if possible),
2. A commitment to do at least 120 shows a year, or 30 shows a quarter, or 10 shows month.
3. A map defining local show area, road area, and long haul area.
4. Monthly and Quarterly Thinking - Rolling Credits and Debits.

1. A list of booked and open dates projected at least 3 months in advance (1 year if possible)

Make a List
Begin making a list of every date you have free for concerts (include shows already scheduled on this list). It should look something like this:

05.01.07 - open
05.02.07 - open
05.03.07 - The Sunset Club 9:00PM
05.04.07 - open
05.08.07 - Barneys 11:00PM
05.14.07 - open

and carry this out for 3 months (or longer ... but aim for 3 months if you can do it)

06.30.07 - Shynola Convention Hall ... Battle O' Bands 4:00PM
07.21.07 - Mullet Central 7:00PM
07.22.07 - open
07.23.07 - open
07.24.07 - open

Open means that you, your band, your team, etc., are free do do a show that night. If Molly has AA on a night ... no show is really possible.

When should one begin making their list with respect to the calendar?
i know this sounds stupid or odd - but begin where you are. project out to 30 days if you can. However, (as we'll note below), think quarterly. So, if one began July 2, 2007 then one's quarter would end with August.

duh!?!
i know, it sounds simplistic and who doesn't already do this anyway? let's just say, it might be time to begin thinking strategically. to do this, it takes a plan - and this list is one of the key ingredients in the touring stew or pie or cake ... you pick the food metaphor of your choice. hmmm, donuts....

actually, this list will make a bit more sense when we get to the idea of strategic thinking - which includes thinking yearly, thinking quarterly, thinking monthly, and thinking weekly, and thinking show per show. we'll get to that ... like, now dude...

Think Yearly
Now when it comes to making lists for touring (or any project), my preference is to use a One Year at a Glance Calendar for planning. i like the total picture it gives when making plans ... i say, get yourself one of those and some wet erase markers (the dry erase rub off too easy - the wet erase need only a wet tissue to clean up). The best ones have the months broken up into 4 quarters ... so the year's already, visually, broken up for you into manageable chunks.

you can choose your own plan - but i think it really makes a huge difference to see the year, the quarters, the months, the weeks, the days, and the show dates all at a glance.

this leads right into the next important thing needed to make this strategy work...

2. A commitment to do at least 120 shows a year, or 30 shows a quarter, or 10 shows month.

Good Grief 120 Shows A Year?!!!
seriously, no performer is really going to be able to say, "I can play 10 shows a month" every month. That is why "making a list" and using the calendar are the first things to do. The list of open dates makes it possible for artist (and the band, musician, performer, etc.,) to know how many real, viable, open dates exist in each month and each quarter. such knowledge actually will give the artist a fighting chance at making goals on how much he wants and needs to make per show.

one two oh!
i know, the 120 shows a year might seem like a huge goal. 10 shows a month might not be possible. 30 shows every quarter might not be within reach. however, 120 shows a year isn't a bad goal for the purposes of planning - it's a about 1/3 of your year playing out. not a bad job if you think about it. we'll get into some more of this below under monthly and quarterly thinking.

mission possible
the issue here is - if you're going to make this system work and discover the power of the magic number 174 - then solo artist, band, team, you're going to have to make a commitment to do at least 120 shows a year. it's not mission impossible.

3. A map defining local show area, road area, and long haul area.
the next thing you will need is a clear map defining your local show area, your road trip area, and beyond here be dragons area (long haul area). there's a huge financial reason for this.

your local show area
this depends on where you live and your bands (or personal) financial shape and time availability. how far can you travel on a given night, on your own money, in a time frame which doesn't negatively effect your life or livelihood.

pay for commute?
think about it, your boss doesn't pay you to drive or commute to work - the gas or train or bus is on your ticket - and it's the same with your music biz - you don't pay yourself to get to work. everything within this local show area is the same as your "day job" in this respect - you don't seek money for travel to every location within this circle (usually it's an odd roundy kinda shaped thing - not a perfect circle) on your map.

target zone primo numero uno prime one etc...
to be honest, this is your target zone - you'll want to work the fool out of this area - because this is where your bread money shows will be coming from. when you look at cities and places on this part of the map you think - book it book it book it - every open date is an opportunity for something in this zone - every one of them.

your road trip area
i actually think this next part of your map is easier to do if you do not think in terms of making a circle on the map at first. instead, play out the points on the compass N,S,E & W. look to the north and see what city or places you have natural connections or have opps for shows in which are beyond your local area. your familiar drives northward. now, do the same in each direction around you.

a kinda trip tic
from louisville - i consider nashville at 3 hours drive to be local. however, beyond nashville it gets into the road trip zone for me. for some the 3 hours to nashville will be road trip time (it just depends on finances and time). but, i have connections in murpheesboro, chattanooga, dalton, atlanta, macon, and knoxville, pigeon forge, wilksbar damn, and lexington, ky are places i have connections on a return route. my family lives in atlanta - i go there from time to time and so there's a natural connection and once drawn on the map - this little circuit opens a great many places known and places in between (not yet known) where i could play or do my knife throwing act .

road trippin'
once you've drawn out your star - you might find that you have several little pathways - 4 - 8 - more going off around you where you could seek out and do some shows.

beyond here be dragons
after you've drawn out your road trip area - a kind of shape will appear where you'll need some extra money and a bunch of extra time to travel that far to play. i'd say circle - but to my southwest and southeast - i can tell you there are places closer on the map than nashville and yet they're further and more costly for me to travel to. so, now you'll want to draw that final circle - the "long haul" touring area. you'll need to get some travel money for shows out in these directions. IOW, it'll cost you - maybe more than you can make to do these shows - so choose carefully.

4. Monthly and Quarterly Thinking - Rolling Credits and Debits.
now, we're back to the money thing and that magic number. with the "174 is a magic number" plan - you're going to need to make $1,740.00 a month per person from shows. this simply is your goal if you are going to make this work.

scenario one
let's say that as a solo artist you make $150.00 for 6 shows in a month. and that's all you make.

thinking monthly, you are short for that month - $840.00.

scenario two
let's say that captain solo artist has made $200.00 for 12 shows this month.

thinking monthly, you are $660.00 ahead for that month.

thinking monthly (rolling credits and debits)
so in scenario one - the solo artist will need to roll this debit over into the next month - and see if the biz can make up the shortfall of $840.00.

in scenario two - the solo artist is going to have to roll the credit forward into the next month. now, the next month begins $660.00 ahead of the game and only need to make $1080.00 for that month.

thinking quarterly
unlike monthly, it's probably a good idea to settle up at the end of each quarter when it comes to debits. if your goals have not been met - then close out the quarter at a loss - but do not roll that loss amount into the next month.

example: solo artist is down $2000.00 for the quarter. it will be too discouraging to continue to carry this sense of "I am not succeeding in my plan" any longer than 3 months in a row. so, close the quarter out and leave it. this isn't shady book keeping btw, the shortfall is still there ... there's just no use carrying on trying to overcome it. leave it be and move along.

however, it still might be a good idea to roll credits over each quarter. there's no sense eating all the nuts and berries during summer and fall when a harsh winter is coming. so, keep yourself ahead of the game - it's much easier and encouraging to know you're up and going upward. set new goals next year based on successes this year - unless you just really explode.

How Do We Get Paid?
From your day job stupid ... how else can musicians get paid?!!! if you haven't caught on - your music biz is a biz and if you follow this plan you'll be issuing yourself pay based on weeks of work - either every week or every two weeks or once a month (your choice).

starting out
when you begin - it might be good to see if you could actually get 3 months ahead money wise - or calculate how much you would need to be 3 months ahead and get that amount socked away before you start paying yourself. probably impossible - however, i did mention the day job didn't i?

seriously, with budgets - if you can honestly get 3 months ahead - you'll spend your year simply replenishing that fund and a great amount of stress will be removed.

174 is a magic number
actually, i suppose it could be a magic number - it's really just a number i picked out of the hat - to use as a simple device in considering these aspects of making a plan for touring (playing out) and making money while doing it. it's so complicated (at a certain level) that i did not want to write a book - but i did not want to write a short and sappy post on this topic either. so i chose a number, made a wild claim, and then offered it as the basis of discussion and this plan.

actually, i think you could drive this 174 thing up and down the block and get some traction - even mileage. one should think - how much do we need to make per band member (and team) per show.

but, wait? why not cut the money at each show?
you can - the math will work out the same. but, will you be making a living? will you think strategically about what you need to make each month - or for each show the rest of the month or quarter? will you know that you have the freedom to take a small gig and make only $50.00 at the end of the month? what will you know without a plan.

paychecks are nice
a regular paycheck - even $100.00 a week is better in my thinking that drifting from big money to little money to no money. it just depends on whether you want to make this a biz or a lark IMHO.

taxes, independent contractors, job status, LLC's, inc's, etc.
yep, there's a bunch to this topic which i have not covered - even in the line above. depends on one's country and tax system and such. many choices to be made concerning what is even legal for a band to name itself as a business in different countries and states. in the U.S. some bands will "band" together into entertainment companies - which have different laws over them - and draw pay from that. and i am not going to get into this in this post. my mind has begun to ramble - probably just a copped buzz from pondering the power of 174 the magic number.

peac4d.
amos dettonville

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